COLOMBO: India captain Rohit Sharma praised Bangladesh for their “fearless cricket” after the Twenty20 minnows came within one ball of a shock victory in the tri-series final in Colombo.
Tenth-ranked Bangladesh pushed their illustrious neighbors all the way in Sunday’s final before wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik smashed a six off the last ball to secure a four-wicket win.
With the packed 20,000 crowd cheering India, in anger at Bangladesh’s tactics in the semifinal, Karthik’s eight-ball 29 clinched it after a tense, 167-run chase that saw Bangladesh concede 35 runs off the final two overs.
But Sharma, who gave his team a blazing start with a 42-ball 56, said Bangladesh were a “very good team” who have vastly improved over the past three years.
“(Bangladesh) play fearless cricket, it’s always good. Sometimes, it can bite you when things don’t go your way but that is the style of cricket they want to play,” Sharma told reporters after the final.
“They are certainly a very good team... in the last three years, we’ve seen how they’ve changed their style of cricket.
“A few of the guys who are experienced are nurturing the younger guys.”
Sharma said the unusual Sri Lankan support for his team had been “very crucial” at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
Home fans were angry at Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan briefly withdrawing his batsmen in the final over of their win over Sri Lanka in protest at an umpiring decision.
“We didn’t feel that we were playing outside India,” the captain said. “They supported us throughout the course of 40 overs.”
Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who registered two half-centuries in the series, senior batsman Mahmudullah and skipper Shakib Al Hasan played key roles as the Tigers beat hosts Sri Lanka twice to book the title clash with third-ranked India.
Bangladesh’s Rubel Hossain, who sent down the 19th over in the final that conceded 22 runs, and Soumya Sarkar, who was entrusted with the final six balls which went for 13, were the unfortunate bowlers on the receiving end of Karthik’s explosive innings.
But Sharma had comforting words for Soumya, an occasional medium-pace bowler, after his final ball disappeared for six as Karthik took India to 168 for 6. Soumya conceded just seven runs from his first four deliveries and then had Vijay Shankar caught at long-on with the fifth, leaving India needing five runs.
But his wide half-volley was drilled over the extra cover rope by Karthik as the India dressing room erupted in wild celebrations.
“We always knew Soumya Sarkar is not a premier bowler. He’s a part-time bowler at the most,” said Sharma.
“It can happen to anyone when you bowl those big overs. It’s never easy at the death. The pressure is always on the bowler not the batsman,” he added.
Shakib also lauded the performance of his team, who have never won a T20 match against India in eight meetings so far and have also lost 11 of their last 14 games in the shortest format.
“We were very close but in the end India was on the winning side. Credit goes to them but we cannot take anything away from us for the way we played throughout this tournament,” said Shakib.
“We have showed some good character and played the game in the right spirit and I cannot ask more than that from my team,” the all-rounder added.
‘Fearless cricket’ — Bangladesh praised after India near-miss
‘Fearless cricket’ — Bangladesh praised after India near-miss
Benzema grabs hat-trick on Al-Hilal debut as Blues cruise to victory over Al-Okhdood
RIYADH: Karim Benzema had a debut to remember on Thursday, just days after completing a blockbuster move to Al-Hilal from Al-Ittihad.
The Frenchman, who had scored eight goals for his former side this season, took his tally to 11 as he grabbed a hat-trick against home side Al-Okhdood.
Benzema, wearing the No. 90 jersey, led the line in Najran as Al-Hilal sought to hit the 50-point mark in the Saudi Pro League and maintain their lead at the top. With Al-Ahli just three points behind and playing at the same time against Al-Hazem, victory was imperative.
Flanked by Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari, Benzema enjoyed a comfortable first outing with the Blues. As he dropped deep to overload the midfield and drifted intelligently between attacking channels, a goal on his debut always felt inevitable.
After a goal resulting from slick combination between Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari was ruled out because of a foul by Ali Lajami in the build-up, the game remained goalless in the opening half hour.
But then Benzema, targeting the same channels as Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari, dropped deep to initiate a move before advancing into the six-yard box to backheel the opener in the 31st minute.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Kalidou Koulibaly won possession high up the pitch before releasing Malcom into space, who squared for Benzema to tap home his second.
Al-Dawsari created Benzema’s third just three minutes later, after Milinkovic-Savic carried the ball toward the box and gave the winger a chance to pick out Benzema with a low cross.
Pundits on official broadcaster Thmanyah highlighted the role Benzema was playing in helping Al-Hilal diversify their attacking play. With the trio of Malcom, Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari missing a consistent, clinical striker to provide for until now — 10 players in the league have scored more goals than Al-Hilal’s top scorer Marcos Leonardo — Benzema provided the final piece of the puzzle and completed it with full marks on his first appearance.
With the clock ticking down, Al-Hilal capitalized as Al-Okhdood tired, and Malcom grabbed his side’s fourth goal in the 70th minute, before Al-Dawsari added a brace to complete an emphatic 6-0 rout.
Over in Jeddah, Al-Ahli faced a visiting Al-Hazem side led by the last striker to guide the Greens to a league title, Omar Al-Somah. The Syrian striker failed to make much of an an impact on his return to Al-Inma Stadium, however.
After a difficult first half against resilient opponents, Ivan Toney finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute to extend his tally at the top of the Pro League goal-scoring chart to 19. It came when veteran keeper Ibrahim Zaid, deputizing in goal for Bruno Varela who was forced off in the 33rd minute due to injury, spilled a corner, allowing Toney to pounce and tap in from close range.
Any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 76th minute when Sultan Tanker bundled the ball into his own net following a low cross from Mohammed Abdulrahman.
Earlier, Al-Fayha defeated Al-Najma 3-0 at home to move ahead of Al-Hazem into 11th place in the league. The visitors continue to endure the worst start to a season in Pro League history, becoming the first team to go 20 matches without a victory.
On Friday, NEOM host Al-Riyadh at 5:25 p.m. and Al-Ettifaq face visitors Damac at 6 p.m., before the weekend’s blockbuster match-up as Al-Nassr host Al-Ittihad at 8:30 p.m.
