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Burners burn Royal Bengals

Khulna Royal Bengals added four new players to their line-up but could not change their fortune as Barisal Burners handed them their second defeat in the Bangladesh Premier League at Mirpur on Sunday. Brad Hodge returned to lead the Barisal side after his Big Bash duty with Melbourne Stars and made an instant impact scoring 53 off 40 balls to orchestrate... Full story

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T20 success revives Hodge hopes

Successes in Twenty20 competitions have inspired Australia’s Brad Hodge to make a bid to win back his place in the Australia Test squad for the upcoming Ashes series. Hodge is one of the very few cricketers to have scored runs... Full story

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Chigumbura scripts Royals win

Elton Chigumbura and Nazmul Hossain Milon turned the corner to help Sylhet Royals post a four-wicket comeback win over Duronto Rajshahi in their second Bangladesh Premier League match on Sunday. Replying to Duronto’s modest 147-8, Royals looked down and out when they had lost six wickets for 80 runs before Chigumbura joined Nazmul... Full story

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Djokovic treble dream still alive after epic

Defending champion Novak Djokovic was dragged into a rerun of last year’s epic Australian Open final as he edged a gripping five-hour battle with Stanislas Wawrinka in the early hours of Monday. As women’s number two Maria Sharapova enjoyed the smoothest progress in tournament history, it was a very different story in the men’s competition... Full story

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Muktijoddha-Abahani match ends in stalemate

Hosts Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra held defending champions Abahani Limited to a goalless draw in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Gopalganj stadium on Sunday as the reigning champions finished their first-leg affair in third place in... Full story

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Khulna ready to host BPL

The stage is set for hosting the Bangladesh Premier League matches at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, the country’s newest Test venue. Steps have been taken to provide security to the players of the seven... Full story

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Bangladesh beat Pakistan in SA Basketball

Bangladesh made a big step towards their first South Asian Basketball Championship title after they beat a strong Pakistan side by 77-68 points in their third game of the five-nation competition at the Dhanmondi Basketball... Full story

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Young Nazmul creates a storm in U-18 cricket

Prodigious young cricketer Nazmul Hossain Shanto took the ongoing Young Tigers U-18 National Cricket Competition by storm when he made a century and a double century in back-to-back matches. Left-handed Nazmul, who is playing for Rajshahi in the competition, was 185 not out in the first innings of the previous match against BKSP and followed it... Full story

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Pakistan set for testing South African challenge

The Pakistan Test team are due to arrive in Johannesburg on Sunday night to take on world champions South Africa in a three-Test series. It is Pakistan’s first visit to South Africa in six years and their biggest... Full story

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De Villiers suspended for remainder of series

South African one-day international captain AB de Villiers will miss the last two matches against New Zealand after being suspended for a slow over rate in the first match in Paarl on Saturday. Full story

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Franklin steers NZ to victory

James Franklin batted skillfully with the tail to secure a tense one-wicket upset win for New Zealand in the first one-day international against South Africa at Boland Park on Saturday. Full story

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Philander returns for Pakistan Tests

Vernon Philander, the South Africa seamer, has recovered from the hamstring injury that had ruled him out of the second Test against New Zealand, and is part of the squad for the first Test against Pakistan in... Full story

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Australia-Sri Lanka ODI called off after rain

The fourth one-day international between Australia and Sri Lanka was abandoned after rain halted play on Sunday with the tourists chasing 223 runs to take the series. Sri Lanka needed 209 more runs off 46.4 overs with... Full story

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Federer saddened by Armstrong doping scandal

Roger Federer said he was saddened by the Lance Armstrong drugs scandal Saturday as players lined up to criticise the disgraced cyclist and Andy Murray backed tougher controls for tennis. Full story

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Niaz sharing top slot in Chennai Chess

Bangladeshi Grand Master Niaz Murshed jointly shared the top slot in the Chennai Super Kings 5th International Grandmasters Chess Tournament with eight other players securing 6.5 points each after the 8th round matches held in the Indian city of Chennai on Sunday. Full story

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Arsenal frozen out as Chelsea win snowy derby

Chelsea put Arsenal’s top-four challenge on ice with a 2-1 win over their London rivals at snowy Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Rafael Benitez’s side raced into a two-goal lead within the first 16 minutes thanks to Juan Mata’s strike and a Frank Lampard penalty and then weathered the storm in freezing temperatures as Arsenal threatened a... Full story

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Guardiola doesn’t plan big Bayern changes: Hoeness

Pep Guardiola does not plan to make major changes once he takes charge of Bayern Munich on July 1, according to club president Uli Hoeness. The 42-year-old ex-Barcelona manager will succeed current head coach... Full story

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Pogba at double for Juve

French teenager Paul Pogba scored a sensational brace to inspire depleted Juventus to a 4-0 rout of Udinese which helped the Serie A champions extend their lead over Lazio on Saturday. Juve started their 21st match of the... Full story

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Nations Cup opens with brace of damp squibs

The opening day of the Africa Cup of Nations produced a brace of drab goalless draws with hosts South Africa in particular disappointing tens of thousands of fans at Soccer City. Full story

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Clubs could be demoted over racism: Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said here on Sunday that clubs where racist incidents occurred could face punishments of anything from point deduction or even demotion. The 76-year-old Swiss added that without heavy... Full story

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Newcastle chase Yanga Mbiwa

Montpellier’s French international defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa could be on his way to the English Premier League after struggling Newcastle tabled an eight million euro bid. A source close to the French club said on Sunday... Full story

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Cisse joins Al Gharafa

Much-travelled former France international striker Djibril Cisse joined Qatari outfit Al Gharafa on loan on Sunday from English Premier League strugglers QPR. The 31-year-old, capped 41 times, has joined the ambitious... Full story

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Nothing friendly about Argentina’s summer clashes

River Plate striker Rodrigo Mora was true to his word when he scored twice in a 2-0 win over arch-rivals Boca Juniors in his second ‘superclasico’. The Uruguayan had said in the buildup to Saturday’s friendly that he... Full story

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Barcelona suffer first defeat of season

An injury-time strike from substitute Imanol Agirretxe condemned 10-man Barcelona to a 3-2 defeat at Real Sociedad on Saturday, their first of a record-breaking La Liga season. Lionel Messi matched another landmark by scoring in a 10th consecutive La Liga game to put Barca ahead after six minutes with Pedro Rodriguez doubling the lead. Full story

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Silva double trims MU lead

Manchester City cut Manchester United’s Premier League lead to four points by beating Fulham 2-0 on Saturday thanks to a brace of goals from Spanish midfielder David Silva. United are not in action until Sunday when they visit Tottenham Hotspur and defending champions City took advantage to breathe fresh impetus into their title defence. Full story

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Bayern back with win

After the euphoria of Pep Guardiola’s appointment as head coach for next season, Bayern Munich returned to Bundesliga action on Saturday with a 2-0 win at home to bottom side Greuther Fuerth. ‘We’re pleased we won and also kept a clean sheet,’ said Bayern’s current coach Jupp Heynckes, who will stand down at the end of the season. Full story

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SOCCERLINE

Barton is not ‘Secret Footballer’ Marseille midfielder Joey Barton said on Saturday he is not the Secret Footballer, the nom de plume of a player penning an irreverent column in the English media. ‘Many journalists have already asked me, but... Full story

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