Bangladesh crush New Zealand
Bangladesh bowled out New Zealand for 60, their joint lowest total, and chased it down with seven wickets remaining. Shakib Al Hasan was adjudged Player of the Match for his contribution with both bat and ball.
Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers, with three wickets. Shakib conceded just 10 runs from his quota of four overs and picked two wickets as well. Mohammad Saifuddin and Nasum Ahmed were the other bowlers to pick two wickets each.
Bangladesh lost both Mohammad Naim and Liton Das early, but Shakib's 25, along with 16 from Mushfiqur Rahim and 14 from Mahmudullah, was enough as they chased the target with five overs to spare.
Ireland beat Zimbabwe
At Bready, Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 40 runs to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. Asked to bat, Paul Stirling batted through the entire Zimbabwe innings to finish on 115 not out from 75 balls, with eight fours and eight sixes. Ireland put up 178/2.
Zimbabwe started well, scoring 50/2 inside the Powerplay, but they lost too many wickets thereafter. Some resistance came from captain Craig Ervine (33 in 18 balls), but it was never going to be enough against Mark Adair (3-11), Josh Little (2-18), Ben White (2-23) and Shane Getkate (2-32). Zimbabwe crashed to 138.
Pakistan announce squad for New Zealand series
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a 20-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. As many as three ODIs will be played in Rawalpindi, beginning from 17 September.
Shahnawaz Dahani earned a maiden call-up after a breakthrough season with Multan Sultans in Pakistan Super League 2021. Mohammad Wasim retained his place after doing well in the T20I series against West Indies, while Sarfaraz Ahmed and Sohaib Maqsood failed to make a cut.
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (c), Iftikhar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir and Zahid Mahmood.
Bangladesh announce annual retainership for 2021
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the annual contract list for 24 players across five categories. Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam joined an elite group, consisting of Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das, as the only players with contracts across all formats.
Mosaddek Hossain, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Mithun failed to make the cut. Tamim Iqbal and Mehidy Hasan have got Test and ODIs. As many as six players have been offered only Test contracts.
Mustafizur Rahman, Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah are named in both T20I and ODI list.
Plunkett to join Major League Cricket
Liam Plunkett has signed a three years contrat with a Philadelphia-based team in the USA’s Major League Cricket. Plunkett is married to a a Philadelphian, and this was one of the major reasons to chooe this team. Plunkett recently featured for the Welsh Fire in th inaugral edition of the Hundred. Plunkett’s biggest achievement of his playing career came in 2019, when he won the ICC World Cup in 2019.