Stats from Bangladesh’s win over Sri Lanka

Bangladesh managed to reignite their confidence after winning their opening T20 World Cup fixture against Sri Lanka in New York on Saturday. Having come under immense scrutiny in their build-up to the major event, Najmul Hossain Shanto's side seemed to have turned a corner and now eye a place into the Super 8s of the tournament following the thrilling win against the Lankans. With an encounter against South Africa up next, The Daily Star's podcast Pitch Perfect brings you a discussion about Bangladesh's chances to go through to the next stage.

Highlights

*Bangladesh possess a very bleak record against South Africa in T20Is as the Tigers are yet to win a game against the Proteas. The Tigers lost all eight of their encounters.

*Bangladesh have faced South Africa three times in T20 World Cups, suffering convincing defeats each time.

*Bangladesh's 104-run defeat against South Africa in Sydney in the 2022 T20 World Cup is their biggest margin of defeat in the tournament.

*Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar faces the challenge of not achieving the record of registering the most ducks in T20Is. With 13 ducks in 83 innings, Soumya is now tied at the top of the unwanted list with Ireland's Paul Stirling, who also managed the same number of ducks in 143 innings.

The 2022 Asia Cup will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while still being officially hosted by Sri Lanka, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said in a statement on Wednesday. The ACC said that the tournament has been moved to the UAE "considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka". It will be played between August 27 and September 11.

"Considering the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka, the ACC after extensive deliberation has unanimously concluded that it would be appropriate to relocate the tournament from Sri Lanka to the UAE," the ACC said in a statement.

Sri Lanka has been reeling under economic and political turmoil. However, they had hosted Australia in a bilateral series and are currently hosting Pakistan. The ACC said that it had made every effort to host the tournament in the country.

"Every effort was made to host the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the decision to shift the venue to the UAE was taken after much deliberation. The UAE will be the new venue while Sri Lanka will continue to retain hosting rights," ACC president Jay Shah was quoted as saying. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly had earlier said that the tournament had been moved out of Sri Lanka to the UAE.

This will make it the second consecutive time that the tournament will be played in the UAE. The six-team Asia Cup will be played as a T20 tournament this year. India are the defending champions, having won the tournament in 2018 while it was still played in the ODI format.

The Asia Cup will be played in T20 format this time and serve as preparation for the World Cup in October. It will start with a qualifying round of matches between UAE, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong. The winner will go on to the main tournament and play Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Durdanto Dhaka pacer Shoriful Islam's maiden T20 hattrick, teams comfortably posting and chasing totals over 150, and the crowd coming in numbers at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur -- the opening day of the 10th edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) had events aplenty to hook the cricket lovers. 

Apart from these, there was one other thing that caught viewers' eyes yesterday. It was how Sylhet Strikers skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza got going. 

From imposing ridiculous rules -- like in 2019 when it was made compulsory for teams to include a leg-spinner and a fast bowler who clocks north of 140kph -- to glaring graphical errors made by broadcasters, the BPL has always found a way to remain in discussion for peculiar reasons. 

The latest edition of the country's only franchise-based T20 tournament opened yesterday on the back of a lot of promises, as usual. Competitiveness, obviously, remains a constant promise from the BPL -- a league that had started over a decade ago with aspirations to follow in on the path of the most successful and watched franchise league, the Indian Premier League. 

However, when a 40-year-old Mashrafe, far removed from his prime, took about three strides and got the wicket of Imranuzzaman with his very first delivery, it showed why the BPL is perhaps miles behind other fast-evolving and high-demanding franchise leagues across the globe. 

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BPL: A league without a purpose

Not only the oddity of Mashrafe's bowling run-up but also the fact that it was the first time in over eight months that the cricketer was bowling in competitive cricket made the scenario all the more amusing. The former Bangladesh skipper, who is also a ruling party parliament member, last played in the Dhaka Premier League in May last year. 

The most successful Bangladesh captain could not, however, lead his side to victory yesterday as Mashrafe's Sylhet Strikers began their BPL campaign with a seven-wicket defeat against Chattogram Challengers in Mirpur. Mashrafe ended a drab day with figures of one for 25 in 2.3 overs. 

With the inclusion of new technologies, including the availability of the Decision Review System (DRS) for the entirety of the tournament for the very first time, this edition of the BPL seemed to have finally taken the initial steps in the right direction. 

Only day one has passed of the 43-day long tournament, and it is indeed too soon to judge or predict how it is going to pan out eventually. But one department that the BPL certainly came through on the opening day is its well-known capability of amusing the fans in its own unique way. 

Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza praised the way New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced their squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup, to be held in India in October-November. 

In a never-before-seen style, NZC posted a video of the family members of the players calling out their names for the World Cup squad on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

The video featured the wife and kids of Kane Williamson, followed by the sons of Trent Boult, wives of Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, daughters of Daryl Mithcell and Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson's fiancé, Jimmy Neesham's grandmother, Will Young's mother, and Rachin Ravidnra's parents.
  
"New Zealand included the family members [of the players] on cricket's biggest stage. No selectors, instead, the wives, children, parents, and at times, grandmother of the cricketers announced their names for the squad. Did not really know that this could also be a way to do this. 2023 World Cup team, New Zealand. How wonderful," Mashrafe wrote on his personal Facebook account on Monday.   
 

Bangladesh's former ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza picked up a five-wicket haul for Legends of Rupganj in his return to action against Gazi Group Cricketers in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) today.

Mashrafe could play just five matches in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) before he had to leave the tournament due to political engagements.

Sent in to bat, Gazi were skittled out for just 136, courtesy of Mashrafe's five for 19 in 8 overs.

Mashrafe opened his account with a caught and bowled to remove Pritom Kumar for 14. Although he was still bowling with a shortened run-up, his line and length along with movement were still troubling for batters.

He produced a double-wicket over to remove Sabbir Hossen and Foysal Ahmed before returning next over to pick up Moin Khan for one.

He went on to complete his fifer in the 23rd over with the wicket of Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby. It was Mashrafe's eighth List A five-wicket haul with only Abdur Razzak ahead of him amongst Bangladesh bowlers with nine five-wicket hauls.

Rupganj chased down the target in 28 overs as Chowdhury Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 44-ball 47 while Shamim Hossain played a cameo 16-ball 26 to help Rupganj to a six-wicket win.