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Sharjah, Aug 31 (IANS) Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has risen to No.2 in the men's T20I bowling charts following his superb spell of 3/22 in the Asia Cup Group B match, which saw the side crush Bangladesh by seven wickets here on Tuesday night.

This was Afghanistan's second successive win in the tournament following their victory against Sri Lanka in the opening game.

Rashid Khan also went past New Zealand pace bowler Tim Southee to become the second-highest wicket-taker in men's T20Is during the win over Bangladesh. The leg-spinner, who had started the match with 112 scalps in the format, picked up the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah, to go to 115 wickets, according to ICC.

Southee was second in the wicket-takers' list with 114 wickets before the match. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan holds on to his record with 122 wickets, the most by anyone in the men's game, and the second best in all T20Is, behind West Indies woman cricketer Anisa Mohammed.

Rashid, 23, has had a remarkable T20I career so far, averaging 13.73 and clocking an economy rate of 6.16 after 68 matches in the format. He has six hauls of four or more wickets in T20Is, which is again the joint-most in the men's game.

Rashid's spell, which followed an impressive three-wicket haul from Mujeeb ur Rahman, helped Afghanistan restrict Bangladesh to 127/7 in 20 overs. However, it still took a remarkable 17-ball 43 not out from Najibullah Zadran for Afghanistan to seal a win and establish their position at the top of Group B in Asia Cup 2022 and ensure qualification to the next round.

--IANS

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Dubai, Aug 31 (IANS) As a motivated and committed Hong Kong team gears up to face the tough India challenge in the Asia Cup later on Wednesday, Rohit Sharma would be reminded of the jitters his team got during the group stage of the tournament in 2018, with the minnows coming close to upsetting their applecart, before losing by 26 runs.

Aided by a century from opener Shikhar Dhawan in the Group A match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium in 2018, Rohit Sharma's India scored 285/7 in 50 overs (Asia Cup was a 50-over-a-side affair till 2018), but the plucky Hong Kong, riding on half centuries from openers Nizakat Khan (92) and Anshy Rath (73), were cruising along nicley at 174 without loss when they lost wickets in a heap to finally lose by 26 runs.

However, the side, comprising mainly of expatriates from Pakistan, has had a tricky period ever since, compounded by the pandemic.

They would be keen to overcome the disappointments of the last four years since the 2018 Asia Cup to once again show they are fast emerging as a force to reckon with when they take on India on Wednesday and Pakistan on September 2 in their Asia Cup Group A encounters here.

Nizakat Khan's side has been well-tested over a gruelling three months of cricket across the world, and defeats are by no means a foregone conclusion for a team with a reputation of causing an upset.

Hong Kong's greatest achievement in the T20I format came eight years ago, when they toppled Bangladesh in the first round of the 2014 T20 World Cup.

Nizakat played a key role in the shock win, taking 3/19 as Bangladesh crumbled to 108 all out. Hong Kong's chase was by no means straightforward, though the big hitting of Munir Dar and Haseeb Amjad ensured a famous victory.

Then came the encounter against India in the 2018 Asia Cup where they came close to beating the Men in Blue. Half a dozen of the members from that clash are still in the side as the competition moves to the T20 format, which could help Hong Kong mount a serious challenge against India.

Nizakat himself is in the runs of late, making runs in two of the three Asia Cup Qualifier wins, and a pair of half-centuries at the recent T20 World Cup Qualifier B. Vice-captain Kinchit Shah is reliable with bat and ball, as is top-order hitter Babar Hayat.

As for Hong Kong's next crop, there are more reasons to be upbeat. 19-year-old Ayush Shukla represents the future of the side, while Yasim Murtaza has made an impression in both white-ball formats since his introduction to the side earlier in the year, according to ICC.

Hong Kong are likely to play the same XI that defeated UAE in the final match of the Asia Cup Qualifier at Al Amerat and helped secure a spot in the tournament proper.

--IANS

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Sharjah, Aug 31 (IANS) Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan on Tuesday went past New Zealand pacer Tim Southee to become the second-highest wicket-taker in men's T20Is during his team's win over Bangladesh in a Group B match of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here.

The leg-spinner, who had started the match with 112 scalps in this format, picked up 3/22, including the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah, to go to 115 wickets and climb to No. 2 in the men's T20I bowling charts.

Southee was second in the wicket-takers list with 114 wickets before the match. Shakib Al Hasan holds on to his record with 122 wickets, the most by anyone in the men's game, and the second best in all T20Is, behind West Indies' Anisa Mohammed (125).

The 23-year-old leg-spinner has had a remarkable T20I career so far, averaging 13.73 and an economy rate of 6.16 after 68 matches in the format. He has six hauls of four or more wickets in T20Is, which is again the joint-most in the men's game.

Rashid's spell, which followed an impressive three-wicket haul from Mujeeb ur Rahman, helped Afghanistan restrict Bangladesh to 127/7 in 20 overs.

However, it still took a remarkable 17-ball 43 not out from Najibullah Zadran for Afghanistan to seal a win and establish their position at the top of Group B in Asia Cup 2022 and ensure qualification to the next round.

--IANS

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Sharjah, Aug 31 (IANS) Afghanistan became the first team to qualify for the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup 2022 with a convincing seven wicket win over Bangladesh in a Group B match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.

The victory for Afghanistan was set up by spinners Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan, while Najibullah Zadran's six-hitting spree and his unbroken partnership of 69 off 5.3 overs with Ibrahim Zadran took Afghanistan home with nine balls to spare.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Bangladesh batters couldn't get going for most part of the innings on a dusty pitch, which had a fair amount of grip and turns.

The Afghanistan spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/16) and Rashid Khan (3/22) bowled tight length and lines and spun their webs in the powerplay and in the middle-overs respectively.

When Mahmudullah (25 off 27) got out in the 15.4 overs, Bangladesh were 89-6 and it looked like they'd even fold for under 100. However, Mosaddek Hossain's 31-ball 48, and Mehidy Hasan's 12-ball 14 helped Bangladesh in some form of recovery and led them to a respectable total of 127/7 in 20 overs.

Chasing a respectable target, Afghanistan got off to a poor start as Shakib Al Hasan, playing his 100th T20I, got rid of operer Rahmanullah Gurbaz to give Bangladesh some hope. Bangladesh capitalised on the wicket as the runs were stifled.

The spinners were doing all the damage by not giving away freebies to Hazratullah Zazai and Ibrahim Zadran was content taking the chase deep. By removing Zazai and Mohammad Nabi in succession, Bangladesh appeared to have taken control of the game. Afghanistan were on the verge of going down as needed 66 from the final 7 after fetching only 62 from the first 13.

Thereafter, a couple of boundaries from Ibrahim Zadran ((42 not out off 41) brought the equation down to 52 from the final five overs which is when Najibullah Zadran (43 not out off 17) took over and stunned the bowling side.

For the first 35 overs of the contest, only one six was hit. But Najibullah added six more hits over the fence in the next four overs with his clean hitting. Mustafizur was hit for a couple of sixes and Saifuddin suffered the same fate in the following over as the pacers undid the spinners' good work.

The 22-run 18th over very much ended the contest as Afghanistan needed only 4 more from the final two overs with Najibullah clearing the ropes one more time to lead Afghanistan to a convincing win in 18.3 overs, with seven wickets in hand.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 127/7 in 20 overs (Mosaddek Hossain 48 not out, Mahmudullah 25; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3/16, Rashid Khan 3/22) lost to Afghanistan 131-3 in 18.3 overs (Najibullah Zadran 43 not out, Ibrahim Zadran 42 not out, Mosaddek Hossain 1/12) by 7 wickets.

--IANS

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Dubai, Aug 30 (IANS) All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who played a crucial knock in India's win over Pakistan, on Tuesday revealed that he was mentally prepared to bat at No. 4 considering that the opposition had left-arm spinner and leg spinner.

Jadeja, who made a crucial 29-ball 35 in India's win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the first game in the Asia Cup on Sunday, came out to bat after the wickets of opener K.L Rahul and captain Rohit Sharma.

He shared 52 runs with Hardik Pandya (33 not out) for the fifth wicket before getting out in the first ball of the last over. However, Pandya remained not out and sealed the game with a six off the fourth ball of the 20th over.

"Sometimes, left-arm spinners and leg spinners are bowling, so sending left-handed batters is easy and they can take chances. That is why I was promoted," Jadeja said in the press conference before the match against Hong Kong.

"We had seen their (Pakistan) playing XI, they had a left-arm spinner and leg spinner. So I was aware that I could face this situation. I prepared myself mentally accordingly. Luckily, I went and my knock was crucial," he added.

India take on Hong Kong, who made it through the qualifiers, next in the Asia Cup on Wednesday.

"We are going to play against Hong Kong with a positive mindset and we will not take them lightly. On a given day, anything can happen in T20Is. We will give our best and play positively," Jadeja said.

--IANS

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New York, Aug 30 (IANS) Playing in the U.S Open as World No. 1 for the first time, Iga Swiatek romped into the women's singles second round on Tuesday, brushing aside Jasmine Paolini in straight sets here.

The Pole found her stride to accelerate into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Jasmine Paolini on Day 2 of the Grand Slam.

"I think I just found my rhythm [and] could make her run a little bit more," Swiatek said on the court after the match. "I know she has great touch, so I wanted to use my angles and I think I did that pretty well."

"I like playing these first matches because it's a pretty good test for me and [I] can really find my rhythm. In the last tournaments, I started with byes, which is great, but sometimes it's pretty weird to play an opponent who has already played matches. Right now, we start from an even position and it's pretty cool because I can really implement what I've been working on in practice," she was quoted as saying by the official website on Tuesday.

The top seed collected eight consecutive points, punctuated by some computer game returns lasering towards the Italian's toes, for an early break lead.

Paolini kept launching into her shots and wrestled back the initiative to stay in contention, but each time trouble loomed, Swiatek responded with venom.

All of a sudden two volleys on the stretch and Swiatek snatched away the set with her fourth break of serve.

The 21-year-old is like a sprinter off the mark and reached a Paolini drop shot to fire away a backhand putaway. A bullet return winner down the line and Swiatek was cruising at 2-0 up, said a report on the official website.

The world No. 1 had found that extra gear and will have the rest of the draw worried with some of the ease of striking.

--IANS

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Pune, Aug 30 (IANS) Mumbai Khiladis defeated Odisha Juggernauts by 79-31 to conclude their campaign with a win in the inaugural edition of Ultimate Kho Kho at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex here on Tuesday.

Gajanan Shengal scored 17 points while Shubham Kachhi and Sreejesh secured 11 points each as Mumbai Khiladis, who are already out of the playoffs contention, ended Odisha Juggernau's' six-match winning run.

With 12 points, Mumbai Khiladis finished Ultimate Kho Kho Season 1 at the second last position after four victories from 10 games.

Odisha Juggernauts, with 21 points from nine games, are currently positioned on the top position in the points table.

For Odisha Juggernauts, Dinesh Naik was impressive in the attack as he claimed 12 points by dismissing four players with dives. He was supported well by Monoj Ghotekar who scored eight points.

Besides Odisha Juggernauts, Gujarat Giants (20 pts), Telugu Yoddhas (16 pts) and Chennai Quick Guns (15 pts) have already secured their playoffs spots.

Mumbai Khiladis put up a good challenge against table-toppers Odisha Juggernauts, who came into the match after sensational six back-to-back victories but the table-toppers managed to take a narrow lead of two points with a 12-10 score.

Having already cemented Top-2 place on the points table, Odisha Juggernauts entered the match without some of their top performers including Vishal, Dilip Khandvi and Dipesh More.

Mumbai Khiladis began the second turn aggressively. With Gajanan Shengal dismissing 4 defenders, they added 31 points to their tally to end the first innings with a 43-12 lead.

They further continued the momentum in the second innings with a good defence technique to allow just 19 points to Odisha Juggernauts.

Attacking in the final turn with a 47-31 lead, Mumbai Khiladis kept things under control as they captured 13 opposition defenders to secure the win.

Playoffs will begin on September 2 with eliminator and qualifier 1 while the qualifier 2 will be played the next day. The final will be played on September 4.

On the final day of the league stage on Wednesday, Odisha Juggernauts will lock horns with Telugu Yoddhas while Gujarat Giants play Rajasthan Warriors in the first match of the day.

--IANS

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London, Aug 30 (IANS) There are five Premier League matches on Wednesday which promise to show just how high some teams can aim this season and perhaps increase the pressure on others.

Liverpool's home match against Newcastle United is the pick of the bunch as Liverpool try to build on their 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth at the weekend.

Jurgen Klopp still has a long injury list limiting his options for squad rotations and it's hard to see him making more than cosmetic changes to the starting 11.

Newcastle travel after Allan Saint-Maximin's spectacular volley gave them a 1-1 draw away to Wolves, but the talented forward will miss the visit to Anfield with a thigh injury.

That should allow club-record signing Alexander Isak to make his debut in a match which will show if Newcastle can mount a serious challenge for the top-six this campaign.

Manchester City showed they can be hurt from set-pieces as they won 4-2 at home to Crystal Palace at the weekend, however, Erling Haaland also showed he is a huge threat in attack and recently-promoted Nottingham Forrest will do well to take anything from their visit to the Etihad Stadium.

League leaders Arsenal are favourites to make it five wins from five games when they host Aston Villa, who were booed off the pitch after their home defeat to West Ham at the weekend.

Pressure is growing on Villa coach Steven Gerrard and his side needs to turn its attacking ambition into clear chances, goals and points.

West Ham got their season rolling with that win at Villa Park and have a derby at home to Tottenham that will test both sides. Harry Kane is in fine form for the visitors, although visiting coach Antonio Conte could be tempted to rest an out of sorts, Heung Son Min and give a start to Richarlison, reports Xinhua.

The game may come too soon for West Ham to give a debut to record signing, Lucas Paqueta, who has joined from Olympique Lyon.

Finally, Bournemouth need to recover from Saturday's 9-0 thrashing at Anfield and Tuesday's surprise exit of coach Scott Parker when they entertain Wolverhampton.

Gary O'Neill will be in temporary charge for Bournemouth and the visitors have to see this as a perfect chance to end a run of 11 games without a win that stretches back into last season.

--IANS

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Osaka (Japan), Aug 30 (IANS) Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy advanced to the men's singles round of 16 at the Japan Open 2022 badminton tournament, here on Tuesday.

Prannoy, the world No 18, was leading 11-10 in the first game against Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus when the latter retired from the tie due to an apparent injury.

The Ng Ka Long Angus withdrawal means that Prannoy will get the must-needed rest for his next round encounter which will be against the 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.

The Indian, who reached the quarter-finals at the world championships last week after beating Kento Momota and Lakshya Sen along the way, will fancy his chances against Loh Kean Yew.

In the women's doubles, the pair of Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam were knocked out after they lost 15-21, 9-21 to South Koreans Baek Ha Na and Lee Yu Lim.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen will begin his Japan Open 2022 campaign against Kenta Nishimoto on Wednesday. The likes of Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal also begin their campaigns on Wednesday, as do the pairs of MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila and Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand.

However, two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion PV Sindhu is still recovering from a stress fracture on her ankle sustained during the Commonwealth Games and will miss the tournament.


--IANS
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Mumbai, Aug 30 (IANS) Actress Sara Ali Khan was photographed on a dinner date with cricketer Shubman Gill at a Mumbai restaurant.

A picture of Sara Ali Khan and Shubman enjoying a meal together is doing the rounds on the Internet.

Earlier there were rumours that Shubman was dating Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar's daughter Sara Tendulkar.

Sara Ali Khan is actors Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's elder daughter. She was earlier rumoured to be dating Kartik Aaryan, with whom she was seen in the film 'Love Aajkal 2'. Shubman Gill is part of the Indian cricket team and started his international cricket career in February 2017.

On the acting front, Sara, who was last seen on screen in 'Atrangi Re', will next be seen in 'Gaslighit' alongside Vikrant Massey. She also has Laxman Utekar's untitled project with Vicky Kaushal.

--IANS
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