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NEWS UPDATE : Asian Cricket Third Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI abandoned due to rain COLOMBO: The third One-day International between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was abandoned due to rain here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. The umpires made this decision after consulting ... Australia want to master all forms of game: Clarke SYDNEY: Australia's limited-overs tour of England and Ireland represents the start of a two-year campaign to make them the top nation in all three forms of the game, captain Michael Clarke said ... Bopara glad to be back for England SOUTHAMPTON, England: Ravi Bopara is eager to make up for lost times as he tries to revive his ... South Africa name unchanged squad for England series JOHANNESBURG: South Africa have kept faith with a winning formula by naming an unchanged squad for the three-Test series in England starting next month, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on ...


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Shehzad hands Pakistan morale-boosting win

Updated at: 2034 PST,  Tuesday, February 15, 2011
DHAKA: Ahmed Shehzad and Misbah-ul-Haq helped to put Pakistan's recent troubles behind them as the duo hit centuries to steer their team to a morale-boosting 89-run victory over Bangladesh in a World Cup warm up match on Tuesday.The win would have helped to put the players in the right frame of mind for the Feb 19-April 2 tournament after their recent on-field exploits were overshadowed by the ban handed to three former team mates for spot-fixing.Pakistan scored 285 for nine in their 50 overs before skittling out Bangladesh 196 in the 42nd over, with the hosts losing their last three wickets for the addition of just two runs.Bangladesh were put on the back foot from the start as they lost opener Tamim Iqbal when Abdul Razzaq knocked over his bails with the very first delivery.Shehzad made the most of benefitting from two dropped catches to hit 103 from 122 balls with a six and nine boundaries while Misbah smashed a 100-ball century with four sixes and eight fours.Suhrawadi Shuvo and Abdur Razzak dropped Shehzad while he was on 42 and 56 respectively, which allowed the match to swing Pakistan's way."I am not disappointed with the (dropped) catch by Razzak as he has never been our best fielder but the other catches which went down were disappointing," said Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons.Pakistan play their first World Cup Group A match against unfancied Kenya on Feb. 23 in Hambantota.Bangladesh meet fellow co-hosts India in Group B in the opening match of the tournament on Feb. 19 in Dhaka.