Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez has said his side would also seek positive bowling performances from bowlers other than Saeed Ajmal to be successful in the three-match T20I series against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2012Pakistan will not be depending on Saeed Ajmal alone during the three-match Twenty20 series against Australia, their captain Mohammad Hafeez has said. The series starts in Dubai on Wednesday with Australia having won the ODI series 2-1.”Ajmal is a world-class bowler but we are not depending on him alone,”Hafeez told . “I think other bowlers must support him from the other end.”Allrounder Abdul Razzaq and batsmen Yasir Arafat and Imran Nazir will return to the side, as will fast bowlers Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami to lead the attack and help Ajmal.Ajmal troubled the Australian batsmen, taking ten of the 22 Australian wickets to fall in the series, but Australia exploited the other bowlers to win from tricky positions in the first and third matches.”It’s disappointing not to win the one-day series but we have got a good Twenty20 side and I am confident that we can beat Australia,” Hafeez said.Australia rode on the performances of captain Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, and newcomer Glenn Maxwell scored a vital half-century in the decider. Maxwell, who played Ajmal intelligently, also made crucial contributions of 28 and 38 in the previous two games.”Glenn was someone [coach] Mickey Arthur and I pushed really hard for (at selection) just because of the X-factor and the versatility that he has,” Australia’s T20I captain George Bailey said.The side will see the return of Shane Watson, who is returning from a calf-injury he suffered in the ODI series against England, Ben Hilfenhaus, Pat Cummins and Clint McKay. “There’ll be a nice injection of some energy and enthusiasm into the group. We’ll try to find a settled lineup as quickly as possible, particularly with the batting. These will be really important games against Pakistan,” Bailey said.The games will also be important as they serve as a build-up to the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Pakistan won the tournament in 2009 after losing the in the final two years previously, and Australia were runners-up last time. The only time Pakistan couldn’t reach the final of the tournament was in the West Indies in 2010, when Mike Hussey smashed 60 off 24 balls, including 23 runs from the final over off Saeed Ajmal, to snatch the game from Pakistan’s hands in the chase.

The BCB has decided to revert to the old format of the National Cricket League, overturning its earlier decision of incorporating the proposed franchise system

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2012The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to revert to the old format of the National Cricket League (NCL), overturning its earlier decision of incorporating the proposed franchise system. The players will be paid match fees according to the previous season’s payment scheme. To keep the franchises, which have already been signed, the board is planning another first-class tournament involving four teams after the NCL.The decision to retain the old format and create a new tournament for the franchises was taken at a meeting on October 10, though the BCB only announced the franchise system during a press briefing addressed by senior vice-president Mahbub Anam.”After the West Indies series, we will host a four-team, regional first-class tournament, which will be franchise-based,” Tournament committee chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain told . “The NCL will be held as it has always been.”The change means that the divisional cricket authorities kept control of administration and won the tussle against a section of the BCB that had already brought in two companies and were about to sign two more to take over as franchisees. It was assumed that the four other teams, apart from the franchises, would be financed by the BCB.The 2012-13 NCL will have some changes, though. The board hinted at a change in the points system, with more points awarded for winning matches rather than bonus points. The tournament will have only one group, with each team playing the other once.The international cricketers have been asked to play the first two rounds of the NCL, between October 20 and November 2. Mashrafe Mortaza, however, is likely to miss out due to a slow rehabilitation process. Mortaza was told earlier this year by medical staff that it would take more than a year for him to play long-form cricket.The proposed franchise competition will have a zonal allotment: players from Rajshahi and Rangpur will make up the team for the northern region, Barisal and Khulna players will be in the southern region’s team, Chittagong and Sylhet players in eastern region and Dhaka Division and Dhaka Metropolis players in the central region. The national selectors will be asked to give a list of approximately 80 cricketers, with emphasis on under-25 cricketers.

Andrew McDonald is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury that will require surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2012Andrew McDonald is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury that will require surgery. McDonald, the Victoria allrounder, will have an operation on Monday to repair an ongoing problem with his hamstring that has worsened in the past few weeks, ending any hopes of a recall to the national side this season after he captained Australia A against the touring South Africans earlier this month.McDonald, 31, started the Sheffield Shield season in outstanding form with the bat, scoring 101 at better than a run a ball against Western Australia at the WACA, followed by 64 at the MCG against Tasmania. It’s an unfortunate case of déjà vu for McDonald, who two years ago began the Shield season with three centuries in three games, but then broke his hand and was not able to capitalise on the strong form.”Timing is everything in this game. Unfortunately I’m injured now so my timing’s not great,” McDonald told the . “What we put our bodies through in terms of playing cricket … your body every now and then is going to let you down. Bowling’s not great on the body, I think that’s just part and parcel of playing cricket.”One thing about this is I’ve got to get my body right. I feel as though I’ve got a lot of good years left in me. The way my batting’s improved over the years, I think I can hold down a spot as a batsman, and once I get this hamstring problem fixed my bowling will be back to where it was a few years ago.”McDonald played four Tests, all against South Africa in early 2009, and would have come into strong consideration this summer had the selectors decided to replace the injured Shane Watson with another allrounder. He was also part of Australia’s Ashes tour of England in 2009 but did not play a Test.

Australia captain Michael Clarke remained hopeful of his participation in the Boxing Day Test despite a hamstring injury, but was confident of his team’s prospects under Shane Watson’s leadership if he wasn’t fit to play

Andrew Fernando in Melbourne25-Dec-2012Australia captain Michael Clarke remained hopeful of his participation in the Boxing Day Test despite a hamstring injury, but was confident of his team’s prospects under Shane Watson’s leadership if he wasn’t fit to play. Clarke twinged his hamstring at the crease on the fourth day of the first Test, and was unable to continue his innings. He led the side to a series lead on the field in the fourth innings, but was significantly hampered by the injury, which rarely allowed him to budge from his position at first slip.Clarke, who underwent a fitness test on the eve of the match, believes he is nearing full fitness, but said he would take the final call before the toss. He had had seven days to recover in between the two Tests, but Australia are unlikely to risk further aggravation of the injury with an important tour of India on the horizon, and back-to-back Ashes series to come later next year.”I need to see how I pull up tomorrow morning from the workload yesterday and the training today,” he said. “Like I’ve said from day one, I’m pretty positive that I’ll be alright for tomorrow. Getting through today has only confirmed that in my mind, but there’s no guarantees. I need to wait and see.”I certainly won’t go into the game tomorrow if I think it’s going to affect my batting. If I can, I’m keen to get out there and be a part of it. But, if I cannot play at my best in this Test, I’m not doing the team justice by taking part.”Vice-captain Watson will take the reins for the first time in a Test if Clarke is absent, with Usman Khawaja slated to step into the middle order. Watson captained the side in eight ODIs early in the year after Clarke became injured, securing the title in the home ODI tri-series in the deciding final, and squaring a five-match ODI series in the West Indies. Clarke said he had no qualms about leaving the side in Watson’s command, even in as important a Test as the Boxing Day fixture.”I think Watto did a fantastic job in the CB series final and the ODI tour to West Indies. The team is in great hands. I have no doubts about his captaincy ability on and off the field. He’s a very good vice-captain. It’s about backing your thinking. Watto’s a good enough player and has certainly played enough cricket at the highest level to feel what he knows is right. I’m confident that if I don’t play, it will have zero impact on the result.”Australia have also brought Tasmania fast bowler Jackson Bird into the playing XI, after Ben Hilfenhaus was ruled out of the Test, having also suffered an injury in Hobart. Bird, 26, is in his second season of domestic cricket for Tasmania, and has collected 87 wickets at 19.72 in first-class cricket. His path to a debut was also paved by the selector’s decision to rest Mitchell Starc for the Test, given he is Australia’s only bowler who regularly finds a place in all three teams.”I’ve seen a lot of Jackson. He’s been around for a long time. He’s had a really good 12 months. I guess the reason he has had so much success is because of his consistent line and length. He’s got good height, he’s got good pace and he can swing the ball. Across all the wickets in Australia, he’s been able to hit that length consistently. I have no doubt that if he bowls like that at this level, he’ll continue to have success.”As disappointed as Mitchell is to be missing this match, in two months, six months or twelve months, he might be thanking the high performance team for saving his career. By him not playing this Test match, it might mean he can play in Sydney, and the one-dayers, and he can tour India and play the Test matches there. I think we need to be looking at it as a positive. It’s full credit to our first-class system that we can rest a player like Mitchell and bring Jackson Bird or Mitchell Johnson in, who can cut it at the top level.”

There were a couple of glimpses of the vintage Ponting in his final innings, but he will be content to have made the right call to retire

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA03-Dec-2012There was one tiny consolation for Ricky Ponting as he walked off a Test field for the last time. He knew he’d made the right decision to retire. In the WACA gym on Thursday, Ponting was asked how tough it was knowing he would not be part of next year’s Ashes tour. Not at all, he replied, because he had made up his mind that he was not good enough to get there. A spectacular, match-winning hundred in Perth might have forced a rethink. Few people would have complained.As it was, Ponting farewelled Test cricket with a brief innings at the WACA, the ground that launched his Test career 17 years ago. It was an emotional 40-minute stay that started with a guard of honour from the South African players and finished with a series of handshakes, the last of which came from the man who had caught him, one of Ponting’s few remaining contemporaries from the early stages of his international career, Jacques Kallis.Then came the moment that will live on forever in the memories of the 7000-strong crowd. As he approached the boundary, Ponting turned around for one last look at Test cricket from the middle. In his right hand he raised his Kookaburra bat, in his left he held up his helmet. The South Africans continued to clap; the standing ovation from the spectators grew louder. Seventeen years of international cricket had come to an end.But not without a couple of glimpses of vintage Ponting. He began his innings with a nimble jump across his stumps to leave a ball from Morne Morkel and in Morkel’s next over got off the mark with a trademark Ricky Ponting pull, forward of square for four. A crisp on-drive provided the rest of Ponting’s runs, a boundary off Dale Steyn that beat Morkel at mid-on. Steyn asked some serious questions of Ponting and the batsman was up to every challenge.In the end, it was left-arm spin, of all things, that ended Ponting’s career. Spin at the WACA. With less than five minutes until lunch, Ponting sensed the chance to go to the break with some momentum. He rocked back to Robin Peterson and tried to crunch the ball through the off side. His edge was snapped up by Kallis at first slip. Ponting stood and stared for a moment, processing what had just happened. His Test career was over.There was some modest celebration from the South Africans, but they appreciated the historical significance. As Ponting walked off, Graeme Smith ran to Ponting to shake his hand, as he had during the earlier guard of honour. Smith’s team-mates flocked from all parts to follow his lead. It was fitting that Kallis, in the twilight of a grand career like Ponting, was last.As Ponting walked off the WACA, his wife Rianna and two daughters, and his parents Graeme and Lorraine, watched on from the stands. He left the field with 13,378 Test runs to his name at an average of 51.85. In his final Test series, he scored 0, 4, 16, 4 and 8. He was content that he had made the right call.Though never a showman, Ponting has entertained with his skill and his final raise of the bat was a poignant curtain call. It was about Ponting acknowledging what the game had given to him for the past 17 years. It was also about the game giving Ponting, unquestionably one of the modern greats, his due. As he walked off, the WACA scoreboard said it all. Two words, in huge letters, were all that were required. “Thanks Ricky”.

The amended constitution of the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been declared
illegal by the Dhaka High Court

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2013The amended constitution of the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been declared
illegal by the Dhaka High Court. Delivering the verdict on Sunday, the
court said the National Sports Council, the regulatory body of sports
associations in Bangladesh, does not hold the authority to make the change.
The order implies that the amended constitution of 2008 has been upheld,
and the next elections would be held under it.Justice Sarah Mahbub and Justice Abdur Rab delivered the verdict after
hearing the writ petition jointly filed former BCB director Mobasher
Hossain and Yusuf Jamil, a local organiser. In December last year, the
court had asked the NSC why the amended constitution should not be
considered illegal, putting a stay order on the new constitution for three
months.”The NSC, on November 29, through a letter sent an amended constitution to
the BCB. That letter along with the amendments has been declared null and
void,” Mahbub Shafique, one of the lawyers appointed by the petitioners,
told reporters. “As per Article 26 of the BCB’s constitution the NSC has
no authority to amend the constitution. According to Article 11, they have
the authority to accept the proposed amendments sent to them by the BCB.”The NSC last year had approved the BCB’s new constitution by bringing in
changes to the one that had been sent to them after an Extraordinary General Meeting [EGM] on March 1 last year. The new constitution called for an election of the BCB president
by the directors. The EGM had decided to elect the president by
councillors’ votes (members of various clubs, districts, divisions, certain institutions and former players who hold voting rights in BCB elections).The other changes were made in the number of councillors from among the Dhaka Premier League clubs and by selecting three directors (as opposed to just one) from the NSC itself, to increase the size of the directors’ body, and increase the government’s influence in the board because the NSC itself is a government agency. The BCB is largely a democratically elected body that has 24 directors (23 elected and, until now, one NSC representative) and a government-appointed president.

It was probably fitting that England sealed victory against New Zealand with an enormous six over mid-wicket

The Report by George Dobell15-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlex Hales overcame a sticky start to lead England to victory with a string of boundaries•Getty Images

It was probably fitting that England sealed victory against New Zealand with an enormous six over midwicket: they had dominated this game throughout and the margin of victory – 10-wickets with 44 deliveries to spare – does not mislead. This was slaughter. The result secured a 2-1 series victory for England.Michael Lumb and Alex Hales rushed them to victory with the team’s highest-ever opening stand in T20, but this was a result that also owed plenty to an excellent performance in the field. England bowled with pace and discipline and fielded with consistent skill to limit New Zealand to total that always looked inadequate on another good T20 surface. It was only the second time that England have won a T20 by 10 wickets; they also beat West Indies by 10-wickets at The Oval in 2011.Lumb and Hales will take the plaudits and probably rightly so. By the latter stages of their run chase they were treating the bowling with a disdain rarely seen at this level. With victory in sight, Hales thumped Mitchell McClenaghan for 22 in four deliveries – three sixes and a four – driving anything pitched-up over long-on and pulling anything short over midwicket.It must have seemed a long time for McClenaghan since he started his spell with a maiden. Lumb and Hales’ stand was the second highest for any wicket England have achieved in this format, following the partnership of 159 between Hales and Ravi Bopara against West Indies at Trent Bridge in 2012.In truth, New Zealand had not set a competitive total with the bat. Limited to 139 by an excellent performance in the field from England, they were never able to find any fluency and were always chasing the game.It was no surprise that England elected to bowl after winning the toss, despite Stuart Broad admitting he was wrong in the previous match. All four previous T20s at this ground had seen the side batting second winning the game and, with dew expected as the game wore on, it was anticipated that gripping the ball could become difficult for bowlers later in the match.Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, admitted that he would have bowled first*, too, though ultimately the match was over before the dew became relevant. New Zealand’s bowlers were unable to replicate the tight control of line and length of their counterparts and offered too much width and too many over-pitched, short or wayward deliveries.That New Zealand were able to set any sort of total was largely due to Martin Guptill. The opener, while far from fluent for most of the innings, batted into the 19th over and contributed 59 runs to give his side some sort of target to defend. But he could not hit a boundary until the eighth over of the innings and did not manage another until the 18th as New Zealand struggled to get going against a purposeful performance from England’s bowlers.Broad and Steven Finn were particularly impressive. Both bowled with pace and found enough assistance in the pitch to allow them to stick to their natural length. Broad bounced back from his mauling in Hamilton with a frugal spell. He was thrashed for 53 in his four overs in the previous game, including 22 in his final over, but here conceded just 15. Each of his three wickets came with sharp, well-directed short deliveries which may bode well for a man seeking to prove his fitness ahead of an ODI and Test series.But England’s spinners also claimed the key wickets. Joe Root, called into the side in place of Samit Patel, provided another demonstration of the calm head that has seen him step-up to international cricket with apparent ease in his encounter with Ross Taylor. Taylor had just slog-swept Root for six over midwicket but the bowler, keeping his head, tossed the next ball up a little slower and little further outside off stump and drew the batsman into the shot once more. This time Taylor was unable to connect so cleanly and top-edged the ball to deep midwicket where Jonny Bairstow, as reliable a catcher as England have, held on safely.James Tredwell accounted for Brendon McCullum who had won the game for New Zealand in Hamilton with an innings of 74 in 38 balls, but might have been a victim of the larger boundary in Wellington. Certainly the slow-sweep he played would have travelled for six in Hamilton but here it again found its way to the sure hands of Bairstow at deep midwicket.James Franklin thrashed three boundaries, including two in a row off Jade Dernbach in the last over, to keep New Zealand’s head just above water but, with Finn and Broad conceding just 33 between them in their eight overs, England could feel very satisfied with the first half of their evening’s work.If New Zealand were to have any chance of defending such a modest total they had to take their chances. But Hales was dropped on 6 by Taylor – a desperately difficult chance – jumping at slip in an attempt to cling on to a top-edge off Ian Butler, and then again on 11 as Brendon McCullum, running round from behind the stumps to square leg, insisted on trying to claim a top-edge off McClenaghan that might have been best left to a closer fielder.Lumb should have been run out on 46, too, Nathan McCullum failing to remove the bails despite standing right by the stumps, but by then it was too late anyway. England were all but home.While Hales’ late assault was eye-catching, Lumb had looked assured throughout. It was Lumb who kick-started the England chase by hitting McClenaghan for successive sixes in the fourth over – the first a drive and the second, when the bowler pulled his length back, a pull – and his fluency allowed Hales the chance to find his form. A wild over from Butler, the fifth of the innings, cost New Zealand 23 – and helped Hales pick-up three leg-side boundaries and begin to settle. Neither he or Lumb looked back.11.15am GMT, February 15. This story was amended to correct Brendon McCullum’s remark

Mushfiqur Rahim was wary of the work still ahead for Bangladesh to achieve an encouraging draw in the first Test in Galle

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle11-Mar-2013Mushfiqur Rahim was wary of the work still ahead for Bangladesh to achieve an encouraging draw in the first Test in Galle, after the visitors amassed their highest-ever total of 638 in the first innings. Mushfiqur and Mohammad Ashraful provided the backbone of the mammoth innings with a 267-run fifth wicket partnership, in which both men eclipsed the previous highest score by a Bangladesh batsman.Mushfiqur also made history by becoming the first Bangladesh batsman to make a double-century in internationals, while Ashraful perished early in the day for 190, having been unbeaten on 189 overnight. Nasir Hossain was the third batsman to score a century, while Mominul Haque had made 55 earlier in the innings.
Sri Lanka went to stumps 48 runs ahead and with nine wickets in hand in the second innings, but despite a draw being the likeliest outcome, Mushfiqur insisted Bangladesh had plenty to do to achieve it. In their last series in November, Bangladesh had been in a similar position late in the Test, but collapsed for 167 all out against West Indies on the final day, in pursuit of 245 for victory.”Still a long way to go before we can say it was a good draw,” Mushfiqur said. “Tomorrow it’s day five and anything can happen. If we can manage to draw that, probably it will be a huge boost for us. It’s our main target to play consistent cricket over the five days in a Test, and we can take a lot of positives. We didn’t do well with the ball in the first innings, but on the second day we came back with the ball – although we didn’t get many wickets.”Mushfiqur said he was ecstatic with his double-hundred, but reiterated praise for Ashraful, for also shouldering the responsibility of replying to Sri Lanka’s 570 for 4. The pair had come together with their side in danger of failing to pass the follow-on target, at 177 for 4.”I thought that if I got the chance to bat long and if I got a partner at the other end, I would like to score a big hundred. Fortunately Ash really batted well, and also Nasir, so I had partners. I really played well. We really needed it badly, because they scored huge and we needed to avoid the follow-on. That was our first target. Our second target was to make sure we cross their total, so we did that.”When you have a good partner at the other end who can rotate the strike and score the odd four, it’s really helpful. Ash was telling me, “If you play well and if you don’t play a silly shot, you will get a lot of runs on this track. If we play session by session, and bat well, don’t look at the scoreboard.” That’s what we did.”Ashraful was playing his first Test since December 2011, and only found a place in the XI after injury had ruled out both Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. Sri Lanka is his favourite opponent, having made five of his six hundreds against them, including three in Sri Lanka.”When Shakib is not here and Tamim is not playing, Ash came into the team and we had a lot of pressure and expectations on him, because he has always played well against Sri Lanka. He’s probably a bit unfortunate that he didn’t score a double hundred. Hopefully next time he can make it. We’re really happy to see him make big runs.”The Galle pitch showed few signs of wear, even at the end of the fourth day. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara put on 99 runs for the second wicket and were unbeaten at stumps.”On the fourth day, in the last session it spun a bit, but still it’s a good wicket to bat on. Hopefully if we bowl really well tomorrow in the first session and take a couple of wickets, probably we can put pressure on them.”

Rangana Herath marked his birthday with a seven-wicket haul that set Sri Lanka up for victory in the Colombo Test

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran19-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rangana Herath became only the third Sri Lankan to take 200 Test wickets•Associated Press

Since Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement in 2010, Sri Lanka had won only four Tests. Rangana Herath’s figures in those are: 9 for 128, 12 for 171, 5 for 121 and 11 for 108. They completed their fifth victory on Tuesday at the R Premadasa Stadium, and Herath was instrumental yet again – marking his 35th birthday with figures of 12 for 157 to strangle Bangladesh and set up a 1-0 series win.There was the added joy of completing 200 Test scalps for Herath. In the last two years alone, he has taken more Test wickets than any Sri Lankan has in their career, barring Murali and Chaminda Vaas.His heroics have smoothed Sri Lanka’s transitional phase. Regulars like Thilan Samaraweera and Prasanna Jayawardene have been discarded, and the Sri Lankan captaincy spot has been a bit of a merry-go-round in the past few years. Anything less than a victory in this series would have heaped the pressure on the new leader, Angelo Mathews, who hasn’t had the best of times in the two Tests.The experienced Herath began the trek towards victory with his bagful of wickets, after which two other senior statesmen, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, quickened the march with brisk half-centuries that left Sri Lanka on the brink of another series win over Bangladesh.Herath had undone 80 overs of good work from Bangladesh yesterday with a double-strike late in the final session. In his first three overs today, Bangladesh’s chances nearly evaporated. The sixth ball of the day spun and Mominul Haque’s attempt at working it to the leg side resulted in a catch at short leg, and soon after he removed the usually reliable Nasir Hossain, who looked to launch the ball towards long-on only for it to turn past his bat and hit the middle of middle stump.

Smart stats

• Rangana Herath became the third Sri Lankan bowler to reach the 200-wicket mark. In 47 Tests, Herath has picked up 200 wickets at an average of 29.52 with 16 five-fors.

• Herath is now joint-ninth on the list of spinners with the most five-fors and level fourth among subcontinent spinners with the most five-wicket hauls.

• Herath’s 7 for 89 is his best-ever innings bowling performance in Tests surpassing his 7 for 157 against Australia at the SSC in 2011. It is also Herath’s finest match bowling performance and the seventh-best by a Sri Lankan bowler.

• Sri Lanka’s win is their 13th in 14 matches against Bangladesh. Since 2001, the highest number of matches Sri Lanka have won against any other team is six (West Indies).

• Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 441 runs in the series is the fifth-highest by a Sri Lankan batsman in a series in which he has played a maximum of four innings.

With the lead only 65, it left Mushfiqur Rahim as the only recognised batsmen. To the credit of the Bangladesh lower order, they didn’t collapse completely against the rampant Herath. Even between those two early Herath strikes, Mushfiqur charged out and slammed a straight six, and the big strokes regularly flowed as the Bangladesh tail searched for quick runs.Sohag Gazi typified that approach. In the first over of the second new ball, he was put down in the cordon by Dimuth Karunaratne, which only prompted a series of boundaries – three off his next four deliveries before he was caught at long-on looking to clear the rope.Sri Lanka’s catching has been below-par in this match, but Angelo Mathews snapped up his second sharp take at slip to dismiss Mushfiqur for 40, with the lead at 122. There was no quick finish as Abul Hasan, who hit the headlines with a whirlwind debut century last November, again showed off his hitting ability, striking a couple of big sixes to push the lead past 150.With the tailenders hitting out against the spinners, Sri Lanka turned to the pace of Shaminda Eranga. It took him only five deliveries to finish off the innings, following up a bouncer with a yorker that cannoned towards the base of offstump, leaving Sri Lanka a target of 160.Sri Lanka began the chase brightly, but Dimuth Karunaratne failed again, which means he has only one half-century in his previous 10 Test innings. Karunaratne shouldered arms to an incoming delivery to be lbw for 16. Any nerves for the home side though were eased by a stream of boundaries from Dilshan, while Sangakkara continued to show the form that has fetched him three centuries in three innings in this series. The pair put on a 94-run stand to erase any doubts over a Sri Lankan victory.It was another defeat for Bangladesh, but it wasn’t all gloom for them, especially considering the hammering they have usually received on visits to Sri Lanka. Though it was a flat track in Galle, Bangladesh’s notoriously fragile batting showed plenty of backbone after Sri Lanka had piled up a big total. Even in this defeat, they regularly pushed Sri Lanka, making the home side work hard for victory. There was improvement, but not enough to force a favourable result.

A round-up of the Minor Preliminary Finals of the Ford Trophy 2012-13

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2013
ScorecardColin Munro’s aggressive 118 led Auckland to a comprehensive 128-run victory over Canterbury at Seddon Park. The win puts them in the Ford Trophy final on March 31. Auckland batted first, losing opener Dusan Hakaraia with the score on 10. Wicketkeeper-captain Gareth Hopkins and Craig Cachopa combined for 57 runs for the third wicket to help steady the innings. Colin Munro and Donovan Grobbelaar built on that stand with 116 runs for the sixth wicket. The rest of the batting order chipped in as Auckland finished with an imposing 314 for 9. Munro finished with 118 off 81 balls, smacking nine fours and six sixes. Ryan McCone was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 48.A burst from seamers Chris Martin and Kyle Mills reduced Canterbury to 87 for 5. Rob Nicol (45), Shanan Stewart (71) and Cole McConchie (30) were the only batsmen to provide any kind of resistance, as Canterbury’s batting order folded for 186. Chris Martin finished with 5 for 21, and was ably supported by Kyle Mills and Bhupinder Singh, who picked up two a piece. Canterbury will get a second chance in the Major Preliminary Final game to be played on March 27, where they face off against Wellington, who beat Northern Districts.
ScorecardWellington chased Northern Districts’ total at Basin Reserve to book a clash against Canterbury in the Major Preliminary final on March 27. Northern Districts were put into bat and their openers put up a solid 97 runs. However they proceeded to lose their next nine wickets for the addition of a paltry 43 runs. They were all out for 140, with Jeetan Patel picking up 4 for 21.Wellington started promisingly with a 58-run stand for the first wicket. Once Michael Papps fell, Luke Ronchi and Grant Elliott combined for 44 runs for the second wicket. Ronchi’s 76 off 59 had nine fours and three sixes, and allowed the other batsmen to bat around him as he accelerated quickly. Elliot and Jesse Ryder finished things off in the 23rd over, as Wellington romped to victory with eight wickets in hand.