Journalism of Courage
Afghanistan won their second game on a trot as they ran right through the Bangladesh challenge by seven wickets in Asia Cup Group B match. With the win, the Afghans finished their group stage on a perfect note and have become the first of the four teams in the Super four stages.
Having won the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat first in Sharjah. The spin duo of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan split six wickets equally amongst each other as they pinned Shakib Al Hasan and co. to 127/7 in 20 overs.
Fired by Ibrahim (42 of 41) and Najibullah Zadran (43 off 17), Afghanistan finished the game with nine balls to spare.
“We plan to take early wickets to be ahead in the game,” said Mohammad Nabi post match. “Everyone knows that we have power hitters in our team. We finished the game really well.”
Coric into the US Open 2nd round
Cincinnati champion Borna Coric began his US Open campaign with a win against Enzo Couacaud in the fifth set of their first round match. The Croatian was stretched to his very best by the Frenchman in his 6-2, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5 win.
In fact at one stage in the fifth set, Coric was trailing 3-5 against his 27-year-old competitor.
Coric arrived into the fourth and final grand slam of the year with the Western and Southern Open triumph where he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6, 6-2 in the final, signalling his return to full fitness from shoulder surgery and showing that he will be a threat at the U.S. Open.
de Grandhomme retires from international cricket
New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme has called it quits to his international career after representing the Blackcaps in 105 matches across formats, scoring 2,679 runs and claiming 91 wickets.
“I accept that I am not getting any younger and that the training is getting harder, particularly with the injuries,” de Grandhomme was quoted by New Zealand cricket on their website.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to play for the BLACKCAPS since debuting in 2012 and I’m proud of my international career – but I feel this is the right time to finish.”
