Adam Zampa takes five as Australia hammer Bangladesh
Dubai, Nov 4: Leg-spinner Adam Zampa returned a career-best five-wicket haul in the shortest format as Australia crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets to take their second spot in Group 1 and keep their semifinals hopes alive in the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.
Bangladesh innings fell like house of cards as neither the batters could contend with the Australian pacers nor they negotiated the spinners well and were all out for just 74 in 15 overs after being asked to take first strike.
Zampa (5/19) maintained splendid line and length throughout to trouble the batters, who found it difficult to read him.
Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc (2/21) and Josh Hazlewood (2/8) shared four wickets between them while Glenn Maxwell (1/6) dismissed one batter.
Already out of the semifinal race, Bangladesh could not apply themselves even as the ball was coming nicely on to the bat. They could not win a single game, losing all five matches.
Australia knocked off the required runs in just 6.2 overs to replace South Africa in the second spot.
They now have six points, same as that of Proteas but the massive win boosted their Net-Run-Rate (1.031), which is now better than Temba Bavuma-led side (0.742).
Skipper Aaron Finch (40) and David Warner (18) added 58 runs in five overs for an explosive start.
Mitchell Marsh (16 not out) and Glenn Maxwell (0) took the side past the finish line.
Earlier, Starc provided the first wicket as Liton Das (0) dragged one back on to the stumps while Josh Hazlewood got rid of Soumya Sarkar (5), who also played on to the stumps.
Maxwell trapped Mushfiqur Rahim (1) while Zampa had Afif Hossain (0) caught in the slip region.
Hazlewood got his second victim in opener Mohammad Naim (17), who was caught by Pat Cummins at square leg when the batter miscued a pull shot.
Bangladesh were struggling at 33 for five and needed skipper Mamudullah and Shamim Hossain to repair the innings.
Mahmudullah (16) found two boundaries off Starc while Shamim too took on the same pacer for his first boundary.
Shamim also lofted Zampa confidently for a six over deep square leg. He was stroking the ball fluently but could not convert his good start into a substantial knock.
Zampa had the left-hander caught behind when he tried to play a cut shot and trapped Mahedi hasan in the next ball to be on a hat-trick. When he returned to bowl, wicket-keeper Matthew Wade dropped a catch to deny his colleague the hat-trick milestone.
The skipper too departed soon with Starc spelling his ouster by having him caught behind, leaving Bangladesh at 65 for eight.
Bangladesh were now in danger of not even competing their 20-over quota and Zampa did not let them by scalping the remaining two batters.
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Killing of Khamenei cynical violation of human morality, international law: Putin
Moscow (PTI): The killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in his message to his Tehranian counterpart, the Kremlin said Sunday.
Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Saturday during a joint Israel-US attack on Iran.
“Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,” Putin said in his condolence message.
Putin's condolence message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was published on the Kremlin portal.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia condemned the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran qualifying it as an “unprovoked” aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law and called for immediate return to diplomacy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also described the US and Israeli forces' strikes against the Iranian territory as “a pre-planned” act of aggression against an independent UN member state.
Putin also conducted an emergency meeting of the National Security Council online on Saturday to discuss the emerging situation following the US-Israeli strikes and Iran’s retaliation.
Meanwhile, according to reports more than 2,00,000 Russians are stuck in the region due to closure of their airspaces by Iran and Gulf countries.
The situation in the Middle East and the airport closures have affected not only organised tourists from Russia registered with tour operators, but also those travelling on business trips and independently, state-run TASS news agency reported.
“Approximately 2,00,000 people are unable to leave the UAE or return from vacations in the Maldives and other countries,” Alexey Volkov, president of the National Union of Hospitality Industry, told TASS.
UAE and its airports have become a main hub of access to Russia since the Ukraine conflict and closure of EU air space for civilian air traffic under sanction on Moscow.
“The situation remains complex and unpredictable: drone and missile strikes have hit key tourist locations in the UAE, including its most famous hotels.
“And then there are those who aren't counted as tourists at all, but are travelling around the world for business—the Middle East, for example, is currently a major business hub, home to a significant amount of Russian capital, investment, and business,” Volkov said.
