BPL Final | Sunil Narine half century gives Comilla a tremendous start

Comilla Victorians got off to a flying start against Fortune Barishal in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League on Friday, 18 February at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.

Choosing to bat first in what looked like a flat track, Comilla were able to put the pedal to the metal quickly after Sunil Narine started in his classical style - throwing his bat at everything that was bowled to him.

The first two overs went for 36 runs, with Afghan Mujeeb Ur Rahman going for 18 in his first over and young pacer Shafiqul Islam belted for the same amount of runs by the West Indian batter.

Narine looked in ominous touch, timing the ball exceptionally well till the third over bowled by Shakib Al Hasan, which put screws on the runflow. Giving just four runs away in the third, Shakib also managed to dismiss Liton Das who did not put much contribution in the partnership. The right handed Bangladesh opener scored just 4 runs off his six balls.

It needs to be noted that Sunil Narine scored the fastest T20 century in Bangladesh in the last match of the tournament scoring his half century in just 13 balls. This game was no different from the last as Narine notched up another half century in the tournament completing his feat in just 21-balls.

At the time of writing, Narine had just been dismissed in the second ball of the 6th over with Comilla being at 69/2. Faf du Plessis had just walked into the pitch to partner Mahmudul Hasan Joy

Discover more

Ranji Trophy | Sakibul Gani becomes first cricketer to score triple-hundred on First Class debut

22-year-old Sakibul Gani became the first ever player to score a triple hundred on First-Class debut. The incredible feat was achieved on the second day of the current Ranji Trophy season where Bihar were playing Mizoram in Kolkata. Gani, a middle order batter stitched a massive 538-run partnership with Babul Kumar - who scored his individual double century and remained not out at 229 runs. Gani’s innings, a rapid one at that saw him hit 56 boundaries and 2 sixes playing his shots all over the ground. Gani surpassed the previous standing record of Ajay Rohera of Madhya Pradesh who had scored a scintillating 267 in the 2018-19 Ranji campaign. At the time of writing, Mizoram were not at all in a good position replying to Bihar’s 686/5 and had already lost three wickets in the first 20 overs, just scoring 40 runs. The Ranji Trophy has been a joyous occasion on its return after a two-year absence with big players making their presence felt on Day 1. Heavyweights in Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey scored their respective hundreds on the first day, while U19 World Cup winning captain Yash Dhull scored his century on debut.

How about having both of us in one team: Tendulkar on better player between him & Virat Kohli

Former India captain Virat Kohli is often considered to be the natural heir to Sachin Tendulkar in Indian cricket and Kohli has proven his worth donning the Indian jersey over the years. Tendulkar in interaction with American journalist Graham Bensinger was asked as to who is the better batsman between him and Kohli, the former Indian batter came up with a perfect reply. "Better cricket player - Sachin or Virat?" asked American journalist Graham Bensinger while interviewing Tendulkar on his YouTube channel. "How about having both of us in one team?" replied Tendulkar. Though, Kohli has a number of times said that Tendulkar has been his inspiration. “You can only compare those who are worthy of the comparison. You are comparing me to someone because of whom I started playing cricket in the first place." "I stand no chance in terms of skill level. He’s the most complete batsman ever. Then how can you even compare? I’ve always said it’s not fair no him." "Because of what he’s given us, he doesn’t deserve to be compared to us. This generation, no chance,” he told Gaurav Kapur in Breakfast With Champions. While Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the most number of international centuries (100), Kohli on the other side has 70 tons to his name at the highest level.

Ravindra Jadeja on course for return against Sri Lanka

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is set to return in the T20I series against Sri Lanka which starts on February 24 in Lucknow. The left hander has not played a game since the first home Test against New Zealand due to a knee injury and even till recently had been recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Jadeja’s comeback is a welcome news for India who are stretched a little thin at the moment in the lower middle order with Washington Sundar injuring his hamstring. Alongside him India would in all probability see the return of Jasprit Bumrah who had been rested after going through a strenuous schedule last year. As per a Cricbuzz report, Jadeja has already reached Lucknow and is going through the quarantine protocols. India will play Sri Lanka right after the island nation's series against Australia, where they are currently struggling at the moment battling Covid-related issues and poor form. They have already surrendered the series and are not in a very good position in the fourth T20I as well. However, the team is expected to do better in the subcontinental conditions aided by the guile of their spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.

NZ vs SA | Outplayed South Africa on the verge of submitting Test on Day 2

The writing is on the wall for the Proteas in the first Test match in Christchurch after they were thoroughly outplayed on Day 2 on Friday, 18 February. Henry Nicholls’ century along with two half centuries from Tom Blundell and Matt Henry set the hosts for a big on before they returned to pick three quick wickets in the South African batting order. The Proteas were dominated from the first session itself with nightwatchman Neil Wagner starting on a very aggressive note. He hit 7 boundaries and 2 sixes and fell just one run shy of the half century mark. He added 80 runs with Henry Nicholls and set the tone for the rest of the day. New Zealand’s batting efforts were aided by uncharacteristically poor fielding efforts by South Africa who leaked boundaries every now and then. Later in the day Mark Boucher pointed out the same and stated that the energy levels of the visitors were below par. While he did not point out what could be the reason behind the same, one can safely assume that the 10-day hard quarantine might have something to do with it. NZ’s domination with the bat meant that Nicholls 105 runs off 164 balls before getting out and two significant contributions from Blundell (96 off 138) and Henry (58 off 68) secured a huge first innings total for the home side. The last wicket partnership between the two of them saw 94 runs being added before Blundell feather edged one to the keeper. Returning to bowl, Matt Henry and Tim Southee once again showed mastery over their home conditions. One after the other South Africa batsmen once again departed from the middle, with the score being 4/3 inside the first 5 overs. Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma arrested the flow of wickets and at the end of day’s play the visitors were struggling at 34/3 after playing 9 overs. South Africa are strongly placed in the Test match and it is very likely that they will finish the job on moving day tomorrow.