Bangladesh

Taijul Islam’s six-for helps Bangladesh bowl out the visitors for 328 in their first home series win over Pakistan.

Bangladesh have sealed a historic home Test series win over Pakistan after handing the visitors a 78-run defeat in their second Test in Sylhet.

Spinner Taijul Islam took six wickets to lead the spirited home side’s series win on the fifth day of the match on Wednesday.

Pakistan, who started the day on 316-7 while chasing a record 437, were bowled out for 328 in the first session after Mohammad Rizwan hit a valiant 94.

It was Bangladesh’s first Test series win at home against Pakistan and their second successive sweep after their 2-0 triumph on Pakistani soil in 2024.

Wicketkeeper Rizwan kept Pakistan in the hunt for an unlikely win with a 166-ball stay after the visitors had slumped to 162-5 on day four.

Rizwan put on an eighth-wicket partnership of 54 with overnight partner Sajid Khan, who made 28.

Taijul broke through to dismiss Sajid for his 18th Test five-wicket haul, and Shoriful Islam had Rizwan caught in the next over to end Pakistan’s resistance.

Taijul took the final wicket of Khurram Shahzad to return figures of 6-120 and trigger Bangladesh celebrations.

The left-arm spinner also took 3-67 during Pakistan’s 232 in the first innings.

Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das scored 126 in their 278 in the first innings.

Veteran batsman Mushfiqur Rahim scored 137 in the second to guide Bangladesh to 390, with contributions from Mahmudul Hasan Joy (52) and Litton (69).

Bangladesh, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, won the opening Test by 104 runs.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the Strait of Hormuz closure will hit crop yields, UNDP chief warns.

The Iran war will push more than 30 million people back into poverty, with the knock-on effects of the conflict likely to increase food insecurity in the coming months, the United Nations has warned.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the ongoing blocking of cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has already lowered agricultural productivity and will hit crop yields later this year, the UN’s development chief said on Thursday.

“Even if the war would stop tomorrow, those effects, you already have them, and they will be pushing back more than 30 million people into poverty,” said Alexander De Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He also warned of other fallouts of the United States-Israeli war on Iran, including energy shortages and falling remittances.

Much of the world’s fertiliser is produced in the Middle East, and one-third of global supplies passes through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the US are jostling for control.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait could lead to a global food “catastrophe”.

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt are among the countries most at risk, according to the FAO.

“Food insecurity will be at its peak level in a few months – and there is not much that you can do about it,” De Croo said.

Straining humanitarian efforts

The knock-on effects of the Iran conflict have already wiped out 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), according to De Croo, who noted, “Things that take decades to build up, it takes eight weeks of war to destroy them.”

De Croo, the former prime minister of Belgium, also warned that the Middle East crisis is straining humanitarian efforts in other parts of the world, with the sector already facing funding cuts.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which began on February 28, have also choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises.

“We will have to say to certain people, really sorry, but we can’t help you,” De Croo said. “People who would be surviving on help will not have this, and will be pushed into even greater vulnerability.”