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On what will go down as a red-letter day in Bangladesh’s cricket history, their batters stood tall with important contributions right through as they inflicted a 2-0 clean sweep over Pakistan with a six-wicket win on the fifth afternoon in Rawalpindi.Chasing 185, Zakir Hasan scored 40, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque made steady 30s, and the experienced pair of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan wrapped things up, sparking celebrations in the Bangladesh change room. There was a sense of calmness with which Bangladesh went about achieving their third-highest successful chase in Test cricket.An overseas Test victory, let alone a series win, is a rare event in Bangladesh cricket. This was only their fourth win in 20 overseas Tests in the last seven years and just their third Test series victory overseas.Related

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For Pakistan, it added to their misery, with this loss extending their winless run at home to ten Tests. Since a win against South Africa in early February 2021, they have had four draws and six defeats, which include series defeats to Australia, England and now Bangladesh.Heading into the second session, Bangladesh required 63 runs with eight wickets in hand. Shanto tried a few reverse sweeps and even got a four through backward point but failed to carry on for long. It was the softest of dismissals, with him bunting a straight delivery from Salman Agha to Abdullah Shafique at short leg.Mominul, who was mostly sedate in the first session, got busy after Shanto fell. He cut Agha through point before getting another four off Mir Hamza, albeit off an edge. By then, Pakistan were desperate for wickets and burnt two reviews in two balls for lbw appeals against Mushfiqur; there was an inside edge onto the pad both times.Mominul’s aggression got the better of him when he mistimed Abrar Ahmed straight to mid-off. But Mushfiqur and Shakib made sure there were no more errors. They took their time, rarely played a shot in anger, and inched towards the target. Shakib hit Abrar for a straight six to bring the target under 20 before hitting the winning four off the same bowler through covers. With the win, Bangladesh jumped past England to be fourth on the World Test Championship table.Mominul Haque and Najmul Hossain Shanto added 57 for the third wicket•Associated Press

In the morning, Bangladesh resumed from 42 for no loss. Shadman Islam began with a crisp square cut to get things going but the Pakistan bowlers dictated the terms for the first 45 minutes. Mohammad Ali should have had Zakir’s wicket when the batter went after a good-length ball outside off and seemingly missed it. Replays showed there was a bottom edge but none of the fielders appealed.Zakir didn’t last long, though. Hamza, who had found the right spot on good length outside off, got a ball to angle in from the over-the-wicket line. It beat Zakir’s outside edge and took the top of off stump.Hamza and Ali bowled a string of dot balls, ensuring no easy runs. When Shanto finally got off the mark off his tenth ball, it was the first runs in 25 deliveries. Hamza then induced a thick outside edge off Shadman’s bat but it flew to the left of Agha at second slip. He made a valiant effort, diving one-handed, but failed to latch on. It would have been a regulation catch for third slip, but that position was left vacant.Shadman failed to make much of the reprieve, falling eight balls later to a loose drive. Khurram Shahzad bowled one full outside off, with the opener driving on the up and straight to a pumped-up Shan Masood.But Shanto and Mominul quashed Pakistan’s hopes of a comeback. The hosts did have their chances, drawing the odd edge but the ball evaded the fielders. Shanto and Mominul knew time wasn’t the issue, and they got the target down slowly.Shanto still took the aggressive route a few times, like uppishly flicking Ali through midwicket and then smashing Shahzad down the ground, but Mominul was content with singles. The only time Mominul showed some aggression was when he slog-swept Abrar through midwicket for four.Masood rung in the changes and brought back Hamza, but Shanto and Mominul managed to survive till lunch. Pakistan did dislodge the duo eventually, but there weren’t enough runs to defend, and they went down in front of a sparse home crowd.

Yorkshire dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on a four-wicket Vitality County Championship victory over Division Two pacesetters Sussex at Scarborough during the fourth morning to boost their hopes of promotion.Resuming on 28 for 2 from 10 overs in pursuit of 103, the home side clinched a 21-point haul in exactly an hour’s play despite losing four wickets to offspinner Jack Carson.Opener Adam Lyth top-scored with 40 as Yorkshire claimed their third successive Championship victory dating back to June, consigning the league leaders to only a second defeat in 10 matches this season. The excellent Carson claimed his four consolatory wickets to finish with a career-best 9 for 120 in the match.Yorkshire started this fixture in third, 27 points behind Sussex, but are now only nine adrift with four rounds remaining.The White Rose county have won three Championship matches in a row for the first time since the early stages of 2021 when they beat Kent and Sussex away and Northamptonshire at Headingley.Upon clinching victory, Yorkshire moved to second in the in-play Division Two table – but dropped back to third after Middlesex beat Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors’ School.Yorkshire and Middlesex face each other at Headingley from Thursday. Sussex, meanwhile, host Derbyshire at Hove next as they look to bounce back from a first defeat since May.Lyth set the tone in the day’s third over when he took back-to-back boundaries off Jaydev Unadkat’s left-arm seam – one flicked to fine-leg and the other cut through backward point.He then pulled Carson over midwicket and cut Ollie Robinson over backward point for sixes in the following two overs, taking the score to 59 for 2. The writing was on the wall for Sussex.They actually started the day minus three on the over rate, with counties deducted a point for each over they are behind the rate.So it was no surprise to see Carson employed early by captain John Simpson in a bid to speed things up. Realistically, improving that was their main target for the day, and they achieved it.Although Lyth led the way, he was importantly helped out by nightwatcher Dan Moriarty, who contributed 17 to a third-wicket partnership of 51. They came together at 18 for 2 late on day three and extinguished Sussex’s slim hopes of a turnaround.Moriarty, Yorkshire’s regular No. 11, was lbw to Carson – 69 for 3 – before the same bowler had Lyth caught behind down leg at the second attempt by Simpson with a further seven runs added to the total.Carson also trapped James Wharton lbw to bring Jonny Bairstow to the crease with only eight to win, and he holed out to deep midwicket for a two-ball duck. Yorkshire captain Jonny Tattersall hit the winning runs.

Chamari Athapaththu’s fighting 63 off 48 balls and Anushka Sanjeewani’s unbeaten 24 off 22 helped Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by three wickets in a last-over thriller in the second semi-final of Women’s Asia Cup 2024. The win saw Sri Lanka march into the final for the second successive edition.Two years ago in Sylhet, they held their nerve with the ball to overcome Pakistan by one run in the semi-final. Once again, Sri Lanka will meet India in the title clash.On Friday, momentum swung multiple times during the course of the match. After restricting Pakistan to 140 for 4, Sri Lanka had to dig deep in the chase as Sadia Iqbal spun a web around their batters with a four-wicket haul. But Athapaththu stayed firm and found able partners, first in Kavisha Dilhari and then in Sanjeewani. With the latter, Athapaththu shared a match-changing stand of 42 off 29 balls for the fifth wicket. However, Iqbal dismissed Athapaththu in the 17th over to turn the tide Pakistan’s way yet again.At that point, Sri Lanka needed 21 off 20 balls with five wickets in hand. They lost two more wickets but with three required from three balls, Sanjeewani and Achini Kulasuriya took the team home.Muneeba Ali was the top-scorer for Pakistan•Asian Cricket Council

Muneeba, Feroza put up solid opening stand

Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza continued from where they left off against UAE. The Pakistan openers set the tone early by adding 45 runs in the powerplay.Feroza, coming off two consecutive fifties, was off to a flying start, punishing seamer Achini Kulasuriya for three fours in the third over. After a quiet over from Sugandika Kumari, Muneeba swept Athapaththu for two fours and started the next over, by Udeshika Prabodhani, with an elegant straight drive.

Prabodhani, Dilhari’s double-strikes; Sana’s cameo

Sri Lanka pulled things back in the middle overs, conceding only 56 runs between overs 7-16 and picking up four wickets. Playing her 100th T20I, Prabodhani removed Feroza when the opener miscued one to deep midwicket in the tenth over of the innings. Five balls later, she cleaned up Muneeba as the batter shuffled across too much to sweep and exposed her stumps.Nida Dar broke the shackles with a six and a four off Kulasuriya in the 14th over but Sidra Amin, who was struggling at the other end, holed out to short third when she mistimed a reverse sweep off Dilhari in the next over. Four balls later, Dilahri trapped Dar lbw.At 101 for 4 after 16 overs, Pakistan found quick runs from Fatima Sana. She smashed Dilhari for two fours in the 17th over and Inoshi Priyadharshani for another boundary on the first ball of the 19th. Her unbeaten 23 off 17, and an unbroken stand of 41 off 31 balls with Aliya Riaz, lifted Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s fielding was disappointing as they dropped catches, missed run-out chances and had several misfields.Sadia Iqbal’s 4 for 16 kept Pakistan in the game•Asian Cricket Council

The frantic chase: Athapaththu’s fifty, Iqbal’s four-for

Sri Lanka lost Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama early and ended their powerplay on 35 for 2. But Athapaththu and Dilhari steadied the innings by adding 59 off 46 balls for the third wicket. Athapaththu, after a sedate start, picked up the pace and found the boundary at a steady rate.With 63 needed from 52 balls, Pakistan stormed back into the game, thanks to Iqbal’s double-wicket over that left Sri Lanka at 78 for 4. But Sanjeewani and Athapaththu blunted Pakistan with a flurry of boundaries in the next few overs. En route, Athapaththu also notched up her 11th T20I half-century. That Pakistan were also sloppy in the field – Muneeba missed stumping Dilhari and later failed to appeal when she stumped Athapaththu – didn’t help them either.Just when it looked like Sri Lanka would have it easy, Pakistan fought back again through Iqbal. She dismissed Athapaththu in her final over to finish with figures of 4 for 16. In the following over, Hasini Perera was run out after a mix-up. Nashra Sandhu then conceded 13 of the penultimate over, where Kumari hit two fours to bring the equation down to three needed from six balls.Dar brought herself on for the final over and dismissed Kumari off the second ball but it wasn’t to be for Pakistan.

The weather may have a big part to play at the T20 World Cup 2024 over the coming days in Florida, where three Group A matches are scheduled over the next three days. A tropical disturbance has brought a rare flash flood emergency to much of southern Florida, including in Broward County where the venue for the matches – in Lauderhill – is located.The first World Cup match at the venue – Nepal vs Sri Lanka – was washed out, and three more fixtures – USA vs Ireland, Canada vs India and Ireland vs Pakistan – could also be affected, with the forecast suggesting heavy rain all through.According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), a “flood watch” remains in effect for all of southern Florida through Friday evening. The matches are set to be played at 10.30am local time.”Heavy to excessive rainfall over southern Florida may continue to bring areas of flash and urban flooding, with locally considerable urban flooding possible, at times into this weekend,” the NWS posted on X.