West Indies mauled and ‘Mirazed’ by Bangladesh

Mohamed Isam in ESPNcricinfo, 2 December 2018, where the title is “Mehidy 12-for scripts record Bangladesh win”

Bangladesh 508 (Mahmudullah 136, Shakib 80) beat West Indies 111 (Mehidy 7-58, Shakib 3-27) and 213 (Hetmyer 93, Mehidy 5-59) by an innings and 184 runs

Nearly five months after being beaten 2-0 in a pace-dominated series in the West Indies, Bangladesh served up revenge on a spinning platter to the same opponents with an innings-and-184-run win in the Dhaka Test to complete a 2-0 series win. The victory was their first innings win in Test cricket. Mehidy Hasan Miraz underscored the supremacy of spinners with his match figures of 12 for 117, surpassing his own record for the best bowling figures for Bangladesh.

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Oust Kohli, Oust India –Windies Win

Sreshth Shah, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 27 October 2018, where the title is “Shai Hope and Ashley Nurse help West Indies draw level”

This really must be how opponents of Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan felt back in the day. It didn’t matter whether you neutralised the influence of the other eight New York Yankees batters or the other four men in the Chicago Bulls roster. But if you could negate the effect that Ruth or Jordan single-handedly brought to the game, then you were definitely going to win the contest. Simple.

Virat Kohli must give opposition teams the same feeling. After posting 283, West Indies were against the ropes all evening despite only one India batsman going past 35. That one batsman was Kohli, and as long as he was in the middle, West Indies looked unlikely to win. That’s when Jason Holder took his biggest gamble in the 41st over.

West Indies’ Ashley Nurse, right, celebrates the dismissal of India’s Ambati Rayudu during the second one-day international cricket match between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam, India, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018. On the left is India’s captain Virat Kohli. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Bangladesh down Windies in Last Over Thriller

Mohamed Isam in ESPNcricinfo, 5 August 2018

Another Bangladesh comeback, another major contribution from their seniors. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal powered the visitors to a 12-run win against West Indies to bring them back level in the T20I series. Towards the end of the West Indies chase, Mustafizur Rahman and Nazmul Islam took three wickets each, but the win was set up by Tamim, who top-scored with a quickfire 44-ball 74, while Shakib complemented his half-century with figures of 2 for 19 from four overs.

Bangladesh 171 for 5 (Tamim 74, Shakib 60, Nurse 2-25, Paul 2-39) beat West Indies 159 for 9 (Powell 43, Fletcher 43, Nazmul 3-28) by 12 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mushfiqur Rahim’s Unique Last-Over Blues

Mohamed Isam, in ESPNcricinfo, July 27 July 2018, where the title reads “

Georgetown. Dehradun. Bengaluru. Harare. These four cities, connected by a line more than 18,000km long, have one thing in common: tense chases in which Mushfiqur Rahim has been caught on the leg-side boundary in the last over.

It has now happened five times in the last seven years, and Bangladesh have lost on each occasion, heartbreakingly, from positions of strength. Georgetown was the latest entrant on this list. This time, Mushfiqur was out hitting a Jason Holder full-toss down deep midwicket’s throat, leaving the side with eight needed off the last five balls. He had batted brilliantly up to that point to score 68 off 66 balls.

The Decline of West Indian Cricket: A Bajan Voice

Revata S Silva, in Island, June 2018,

There are parallel discussions in Sri Lanka and the Caribbean now. The reason is due to a common understanding that the two nations, once domineering forces in world cricket, have slid from their supremacy. Sri Lanka won the 1996 World Cup and since then emerged a super power across all formats. West Indies added a different taste to this gentleman’s game particularly since the 60’s and remained undisputed kings of the sport through the entire 80th decade. But both sides are now in a patchy, topsy-turvy situ.

Perera Maawatha steers Sri Lanka to Victory …. consolidating Bowling Breakthroughs

Andrew Fidel Fernando, courtesy of ESPNcricinfo, 25 June 2018, where the title reads “Kusal, Dilruwan steer Sri Lanka in nervous chase to level series,” …. with highlights here being the Editor’s imposition

The Pereras – Kusal and Dilruwan – put on a luck-filled but plucky 63-run partnership to haul Sri Lanka to victory on the fourth afternoon of the third Test. There were heart-stopping moments for Sri Lanka in this session, particularly when their best batsman Kusal Mendis was hit in front of the stumps before the team could get off the mark on the day.

Chandimal’s Ball-Tampering and Responses to the Punishment

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, !8 june 2018, where the title is “Sweet v sandpaper – why Chandimal’s tampering is different”

Only two months ago, three Australia cricketers were slapped with long suspensions for their role in the ball tampering scandal in Cape Town. Dinesh Chandimal, however, is unlikely to face punishments beyond the one-Test suspension the ICC has dealt out for the tampering itself (the “spirit of cricket” charge is a separate one). Here is why the two incidents will be treated differently.

There is minimal outrage in Sri Lanka

Where Cricket Australia’s response was spurred by public condemnation of the Cape Town incident, Sri Lanka’s public has, at most, expressed only quiet disappointment so far. Two possible reasons why the public reactions have been dissimilar:

• Australian sportspeople are generally put on a high pedestal, and allegations of cheating – even for what was a Level 2 ICC offence – are taken seriously. Sri Lanka’s cricketers are widely admired, but do not face anywhere near the level of public scrutiny that many others from around the world contend with. Several former players, including the super-popular Kumar Sangakkara, have spoken of the relatively laidback nature of Sri Lankan fame. As such, there is not so high an expectation of morality, even from a Sri Lanka captain.