Sports

MNA Sports Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday expressed the hope for a bright future of the country’s football in the global sports arena. Male and female players being groomed up through Bangabandhu Gold Cup and Bangamata Fazilutunnesa Mujib Gold Cup primary school football tournaments would take forward the country’s football to a more successful position in the global arena in future, she hoped. The Prime Minister was distributing awards among the winners of Bangabandhu Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament-2017 and Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament-2017 at Bangabandhu National Stadium here. Sheikh Hasina said ...

MNA Sports Desk: Isco scored a hat-trick as Spain hammered an Argentina side without Lionel Messi 6-1 in a friendly on Tuesday, while Brazil defeated Germany 1-0 in their first meeting since the 2014 World Cup. Gareth Southgate’s England were denied victory over Italy at Wembley after the visitors were awarded a disputed late penalty in a 1-1 draw following consulation with the video assistant referee. Spain underlined their status as chief contenders at this year’s World Cup in Russia as they extended their unbeaten run under Julen Lopetegui to 18 matches in sensational fashion in Madrid. Diego Costa bravely ...

MNA Sports Desk: Iceland’s leaders will not attend the soccer World Cup in Russia this year as part of an international response to punish the Kremlin for a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England that the British government has blamed on Moscow. Despite the tiny island nation of just over 300,000 people making it to the finals of the world’s biggest soccer tournament, there will be no Icelandic diplomatic presence at the World Cup, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday. “Among the measures taken by Iceland is the temporary postponement of all high-level bilateral dialogue with ...

MNA Sports Desk: Steve Smith and David Warner have stood down as captain and vice-captain for the remainder of the third Test in Cape Town. They will play on for the rest of the Test, with Tim Paine the acting captain. The move follows the ball-tampering scandal on day three, where Smith instructed Cameron Bancroft to tamper with the ball during South Africa’s second innings. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said: “Following discussions with Steve Smith and David Warner they have agreed to stand down as Captain and Vice-Captain respectively for the remainder of this Test match. Smith’s departure from ...

MNA Sports Desk: Australia captain Steve Smith was fighting to save his job and reputation on Sunday after admitting he was the chief plotter in the ball-tampering scandal which has plunged the game into crisis and sparked a Cricket Australia probe. Smith insisted he will not quit after teammate Cameron Bancroft was caught using a yellow object to alter the condition of the ball on Saturday’s third day of the third Test against South Africa at Newlands. But the matter could yet be taken out of Smith’s hands after Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed Sunday that they were sending a team ...

MNA Sports Desk: Amsterdam police said on Friday they had arrested almost 100 England football supporters ahead of a friendly international against the Netherlands, with videos posted online showing crowds packing the narrow streets and bridges in the canal city, singing and cheering. “The number of arrests of England supporters has now climbed to close to 90,” the Amsterdam police said in a tweet. The men were mainly accused of disrupting public order, the police said. One video on the Dutch public broadcaster NOS showed police wielding truncheons, and backed by horseback officers, wading into the crowds to restore order ...

MNA Sports Desk: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has accepted the resignation of the assistant coach of the national team Richard Halsall, said a BCB media release. “Richard has officially submitted his resignation. We understand that his decision is from family considerations and he wishes to stay close to home especially to be by the side of his ailing father. The Board respects his priorities and has accepted the resignation,” BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said. “Richard has been an integral member of the Bangladesh team management during the last four years and part of many successes of the national ...

MNA Sports Desk: West Indies edged closer to a place in the 2019 World Cup when they defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the latest qualifying match on Monday. Chasing 290 to win, the two-time champions reached their target with six balls to spare after surviving a worrying mid-innings collapse. The West Indies lead the Super Sixes qualifying table with six points but will still need to avoid defeat against Scotland on Wednesday in their last pool match to be sure of a place in next year’s finals. Zimbabwe, on five points, can still make the 2019 finals by beating ...

MNA Sports Desk: India captain Rohit Sharma praised Bangladesh for their “fearless cricket” after the Twenty20 minnows came within a ball of a shock victory in the tri-series final in Colombo. Tenth-ranked Bangladesh pushed their illustrious neighbours 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. Karthik’s eight-ball 29 took India over the line after a tense 167-run chase that saw Bangladesh concede 35 runs off the final two overs at the R Premadasa Stadium. But Sharma, who gave his team a blazing start with a 42-ball ...

MNA Sports Desk: Shardul Thakur’s career-best 4-27 and a mature 42 not out from Manish Pandey helped secure India’s comprehensive six-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in their Twenty20 tri-series match on Monday. Paceman Thakur led India’s disciplined effort with the ball to restrict Sri Lanka to a below-par 152 for nine in a rain-hit match which was reduced to a 19-overs-a-side contest. Pandey combined with Dinesh Karthik, who made 39 not out, in a 68-run partnership to help India overwhelm the target with nine balls to spare. Having avenged their loss to Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, India top ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh denied host Sri Lanka by five wickets with two balls remaining in the 3rd T20I of the tri-nation Nidahas Trophy—recording the world’s 4th and the Tigers highest successful run chase—at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday. The Tigers chased down a target of 215 runs for five wickets in 19.4 overs where man of the match Mushfiqur Rahim displayed a dashing innings of unbeaten 72* off  35 balls firing five boundaries and four boundaries. Tigers started the tri-series with a six-wicket loss against India on March 8 in the tournament, while Sri Lanka started ...

MNA Sports Desk: The World Cup is a prime opportunity for the host country to burnish its international image-but Russia’s tensions with the West mean that will prove tricky this year. After a former Russian spy was attacked with a nerve agent on an English street, Britain is considering pulling its officials from the tournament in June and July if it is proved that Moscow was behind the poisoning. Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper complained that Western countries would hand Russia a “sheen of acceptability and normality, a bloody stamp of approval” by taking part. But for Simon Chadwick, a professor ...

MNA Sport Desk: The Tigers will start their Nidahas Trophy campaign on Thursday taking on India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The T20I match of the tri-nation tournament, organised commemorating the 70th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence, will begin at 7:30pm Bangladesh time. Bangladesh Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarker, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Haider Rony, Abu Jahed Rahi, Ariful Haque, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Nazmul Islam Apu and Liton Kumar Das. India Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh ...

MNA Sports Desk: Kusal Perera hit a blazing half-century to power Sri Lanka to a five-wicket win over India in the opening Twenty20 international of the tri-nation tournament on Tuesday. Chasing 175 for victory, the hosts rode on Perera’s 37-ball 66 to achieve their target with nine balls to spare at Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium. The left-handed Perera, who hit 6 fours and 4 sixes, overshadowed Indian opener Shikar Dhawan’s career-best 90 that saw the visitors post 174-5 after being put into bat first. Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar hurt Sri Lanka’s chase by picking up two wickets each ...

MNA Sports Desk: In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence, the seven-match Nidahas Trophy will kick off at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday. Bangladesh and India are the two other parties of the day-night T20I tournament, which will open with the match between host Sri Lanka and India at 8:00pm (Bangladesh time). Bangladesh Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarker, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Haider Rony, Abu Jahed Rahi, Ariful Haque, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Nazmul Islam Apu and Liton Kumar Das. ...

MNA Sports Desk: Lionel Messi put Barcelona on a clear path to the Spanish league title after scoring from a free kick for a third straight game on Sunday. Messi’s goal gave Barcelona a 1-0 win against second-place Atletico Madrid and widened the gap over its closest rival to eight points with 11 rounds remaining. The Argentina forward dipped a shot over the wall in the 26th minute to take his league-leading tally to 24 this season and 32 in all competitions. It was Messi’s sixth goal from a free kick this season, and his third straight after successful free ...

MNA Sports Desk: Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has reached yet another landmark in his career, with his first strike in Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Getafe taking him to 300 La Liga career goals. Ronaldo reached the mark just before half-time at the Bernabeu, when he took Karim Benzema’s clever disguised pass, held off his marker and steered a low shot to the net from 15 yards. The Portugal captain is only second player ever to reach 300 in the Spanish league — Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is the other — but Ronaldo did it in 48 games ...

MNA Sports desk: The head of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has resigned, citing health reasons. Chief Executive Scott Blackmun recently revealed he was battling prostate cancer, but has faced extensive criticism in the wake of an abuse scandal involving US gymnastics. His departure was announced at the same time as initiatives to tackle abuse. Former Olympic doctor Larry Nassar was jailed last month on hundreds of counts of abuse spanning decades, reported news agency. Two US senators called for Mr Blackmun’s resignation earlier this month after a report in the Wall Street Journal newspaper suggested he had been ...

MNA Sports Desk: Reports had suggested the Brazilian attacker was to have surgery that would keep him out until May having broken a metatarsal against Marseille Unai Emery has dismissed reports Neymar is due to have surgery on his fractured foot that would keep him out until May. The Brazilian star was forced off the Parc des Princes pitch in tears on Sunday after suffering the injury in an innocuous-looking incident. PSG won the match 3-0, but Neymar’s injury marred the contest, as he rode a challenge from Bouna Sarr and twisted his ankle upon contact with the turf, while ...

MNA Sports Desk: Romanian tennis ace Simona Halep has returned to world number one in women rankings, reported news agency. She replaced Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki, who held the top spot for four consecutive weeks. Wozniacki, 27, did not compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, leaving the way open for the Romanian to return to World No.1. Halep was also absent in the Dubai Duty Free Open due to an ankle injury. She is now over 400 points clear of the second-placed Dane. Garbine Muguruza is at the third spot after reaching the semi-finals in Dubai, while ...

MNA Sports Desk: Russia’s Olympic ban will be lifted if there are no more doping violations from their athletes at Pyeongchang 2018, the International Olympic Committee has ruled. However, the IOC says Russian athletes will not be allowed to parade under their own flag at the closing ceremony. Russia was banned because of state-sponsored doping at Sochi 2014. A team of 168 competed in South Korea as neutral Olympic athletes from Russia (OAR) but two failed drugs tests. Alexander Krushelnitsky won bronze in the mixed curling but was stripped of his medal after being found guilty of doping while Nadezhda ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand Cricket (NZC) defended Eden Park Tuesday amid criticism the Auckland venue is too small to host international fixtures such as the T20 tri-series final. The decider on Wednesday features New Zealand and Australia, who produced a run-fest at the same ground on Friday that left some purists fuming. A total of 488 runs were scored at 12.7 an over as the sides smashed 32 sixes before Australia completed a world-record run chase of 245 to claim a five-wicket win. The sight of mis-hits sailing over the boundary for six prompted veteran Australian commentator Jim Maxwell ...

MNA Sports Desk: Smith, Lyon, Knight, Fakhar, Amir win awards for 2017.  Steven Smith, Nathan Lyon, Heather Knight, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Amir are among the winners of the ESPNcricinfo Awards for the best performances in cricket in 2017. Smith’s battling 109 in Australia’s unexpected win in Pune won for best Test batting performance, beating his eight-and-a-half-hour 141 not out at the Gabba, and Shai Hope’s match-winning final-innings century in Headingley, among other performances. Lyon’s 8 for 50 was picked for the Test bowling award, over R Ashwin’s 6 for 41 in the same Test, in Bengaluru. Knight, the England ...

MNA Sports Desk: Virat Kohli was in dazzling form as he hit 129 not out off 96 balls to take India to an eight-wicket win with 17.5 overs to spare in the sixth one-day international. It completed a crushing 5-1 series victory for India, who started the series second behind South Africa in the one-day rankings but finished as the undisputed number one side. The series was a personal triumph for Virat, who hit three centuries and became the first player to score more than 500 runs in a bilateral series. He finished with 558 runs at an average of ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to bat first against Sri Lanka in first T20 international match in Mirpur on Thursday. Bangladesh are going to play the match with four debut players. Bangladesh Team: 1 Zakir Hassan, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Afif Hossain, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Sabbir Rahman, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Ariful Haque, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Nazmul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Rubel Hossain. Sri Lanka Team: 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Danushka Gunathilaka, 5 Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Akila Dananjaya, ...

MNA Sports Desk: South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir was allegedly subjected to racial abuse during the fourth one-day international against India at the Wanderers Stadium last Saturday. In a brief statement, Cricket South Africa said it was aware of video footage of Imran being circulated on social media. According to the statement, “Imran Tahir was verbally and racially abused by an unknown man. Tahir reported the incident to the stadium security, and was subsequently accompanied by two security personnel to identify and to have the man ejected from the stadium. “Tahir made no physical contact with the offender or any ...

MNA Sports Desk: Pyeongchang Winter Olympics organizers confirmed on Sunday that the Games had fallen victim to a cyber attack during Friday’s opening ceremony, but they refused to reveal the source. The Games’ systems, including the internet and television services, were affected by the hack two  days ago but organizers said it had not compromised any critical part of their operations. “Maintaining secure operations is our purpose,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams. “We are not going to comment on the issue. It is one we are dealing with. We are making sure our systems are secure and ...