MANDHANA HITS JOINTFASTEST TWENTY20 FIFTY
NEW DELHI: India’s Smriti Mandhana continued her stupendous run in the Kia Super League (KSL) as she scored the joint-fastest fifty in women’s T20s on Sunday. Playing for Western Storm, the left-handed opener raced to the landmark off just 18 balls – including five fours and four maximums – to propel her team to 85/2 in six overs in the rain-hit game at Taunton. Loughborough Lightning could only manage 67/0, losing by 18 runs. The overall record for the fastest fifty in women’s T20s belongs to Sophie Devine (18 balls) of New Zealand, a record Mandhana now co-owns.
Mustafizur in Bangladesh side for T20s vs Windies
DHAKA: Fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman will return to Bangladesh’s squad for a three-match T20 series against West Indies next month, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Sunday. Mustafizur missed the T20 series against Afghanistan in June due to a toe injury suffered while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL in May. He also missed a Test series in the West Indies but played a vital role in Bangladesh’s 2-1 win in their ODI series with five wickets in three matches. Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Nazmul Islam Apu, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Haider, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque.
Fixing allegations against Ranatunga, Aravinda
COLOMBO: Former Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala said 1996 World Cup winners Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva were the first players from the country to be named for alleged match-fixing. “Arjuna and Aravinda were the names mentioned, they were alleged to have taken $15,000 from someone named Gupta,” said Sumathipala. He said his (SLC) administration at that time was blamed for not investigating the complaint of alleged match fixing by Ranatunga and de Silva. Sumathipala was firing a salvo at Ranatunga in the duo’s long running public slanging match. Ranatunga, a minister, had earlier accused Sumathipala’s family of having links with bookies.