BPL: Khulna outclass Chittagong by 44 runs

CHITTAGONG: Khulna Royal Bengals defeated Chittagong Kings by 44 runs with eleven balls remaining in the 20th Twenty20 match of the Bangladesh Premier League here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday.

Chasing 137 to win, Chittagong Kings were bowled out by Khulna bowlers for 93 runs in 18.1 overs.

Leg-break bowler Marshall Ayub captured four for 20 while left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and medium-pacer Dwayne Smith claimed two wickets.

For Chittagong Kings, Jason Roy was the top scorer with 20 while only two other batsmen succeeded to get into double figures.

Earlier, Khulna Royal Bengals made 137 for six in the allotted 20 overs after being put into bat by Chittagong Kings.

Nasir Hossain top scored with 42 while Enamul Haque Junior took three wickets for 22 and Kevon Cooper got two for 24.

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Cricket: NZealand recall Franklin, Ryder for S.Africa ODIs

WELLINGTON: New Zealand have named allrounder James Franklin along with big-hitting Jesse Ryder and paceman Andy McKay in a 14-man squad for the Blackcaps'
three-match one-day international series at home against South Africa starting on Saturday.

The trio replace injured pair of Dean Brownlie and Jacob Oram, and dropped teenager Tom Latham, from the squad that whitewashed Zimbabwe in their three-match series that finished earlier this month.

The 19-year-old Latham, who made his one-day debut against Zimbabwe batting in the middle order, had impressed during the series but would be sent back to domestic cricket to continue his development, New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.

"He remains in our thinking for the future," national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said.

"James (Franklin) has been in good touch during the current Twenty20 series while Jesse has shown that he is ready for a return to top level cricket.

"Andy McKay bolsters the bowling attack and deserves his spot after putting in consistent performances across the summer."

The one-day series opens in Wellington on Saturday, followed by matches in Napier (Feb. 29) and Auckland (March 3).

Squad:
Brendon McCullum (captain), Michael Bates, Doug Bracewell, Andrew Ellis, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Nathan McCullum, Andrew McKay, Kyle Mills, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson

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ICC deny clearing Pakistan spinner Kaneria

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council Monday denied it had cleared Pakistan's Danish Kaneria to play, after he was implicated in a spot-fixing trial that saw a former English county cricket jailed for four months.

Prosecutors in the case, which culminated last week, told the Central
Criminal Court in London that ex-Essex paceman Mervyn Westfield had been lured into the illegal scam after an approach by Kaneria.

The leg spinner denies the claim and has said the ICC had cleared him to play, as had the England and Wales Cricket Board and Pakistan Cricket Board.

But the ICC said in a statement that all three governing bodies "can
categorically deny that such a clearance certificate was ever issued".

"The PCB stated that, following the Westfield judgment, Kaneria will again be called to appear before the Integrity Committee to explain his position," it added.

His clearance was "pending" and the player had been asked to provide copies of the tapes of his police interview in Britain, it added.

Westfield was jailed for taking 6,000 pounds ($9,200) for deliberately
bowling badly in Essex's 40-over match against Durham in September 2009.

He pleaded guilty to the charge in January and was sentenced on Friday

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Australia squad named for next two tri ODIs

SYDNEY: Shane Watson was named in the Australia squad for the first time this season as selectors Monday made a big call and dropped former skipper Ricky Ponting for the tri-series with India and Sri Lanka.

Watson replaced Ponting in a 13-man squad after the ex-captain's lean run of form with just 18 runs in five knocks in the ODI series.

Selectors also recalled paceman Ryan Harris for Mitchell Starc and confirmed that Matthew Wade was their preferred wicketkeeper in the one-day form of the game to Test custodian Brad Haddin.

All-rounder Watson has not played for Australia this season since injuring a hamstring on the tour to South Africa late last year.

"Shane Watson is an all-rounder of proven class and the selection panel is keen to have him re-join the squad," chief selector John Inverarity said on Monday.

Inverarity said that Ponting had been axed due to his lack of form in the tri-series.

"The team will not seem the same without him, but moving on from the omission of players who have been outstanding over a long period of time is the nature of elite sport," he said.

Selectors also decided to stand down young left-arm paceman Starc to make way for the return of senior paceman Harris, who was rested from the team's last two ODIs.

"Mitchell will benefit greatly from the Tests and the ODIs he has played,"Inverarity said. "His development as a player of the future is most encouraging."

Amid criticism over selectors' handling of Haddin, who has not played in the tri-series, Inverarity made clear that Wade was now the preferred wicketkeeper for the Australian ODI team.

"The intention at this stage is to have both Matthew and Brad Haddin in the West Indies together for the duration of the (March-April) tour," he said.

The 13-man squad was named for Australia's next two tri ODIs against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday and India in Sydney on Sunday.

Australia lead the triangular series after their crushing 110-run win over India in Brisbane on Sunday.

Australia - Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson (vice-capt), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

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Cricket: Pakistan seek lift to avoid England clean-sweep

DUABI: Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan said his team will need to raise their standards in all three departments to stop England from a clean sweep of the one-day series in the fourth match here on Tuesday.

Pakistan are on the receiving end in the one-day series after blanking England 3-0 in the preceding Test series, with Khan stressing his team needed improvement.

"We have not played well as we did in the Tests. I will not take any credit away from England but we have to look at ourselves and we need to raise our standards in all three departments to avoid defeat," Khan said on Monday.

Pakistan have been outsmarted by England who rode on back-to-back hundreds by skipper Alastair Cook to win the first two matches in Abu Dhabi and then Kevin Pietersen hammered an unbeaten century -- his first since 2008 - to win the third match here on Saturday.

Paceman Steven Finn has taken 11 wickets in three matches to destroy Pakistan's batting.

England have whitewashed Pakistan in a 3-0 series once, on their 1987 tour.

Khan pinpointed fielding as the major difference between the two teams.

"We give away 20-30 runs in every match while England save 20-30 with their fielding so it comes to a 40 run difference. Our batsmen have not been able to capitalise on the good starts while England's batsmen did that," said Khan.

Asked was he disappointed at the prospects of being replaced by former Australian batsman Dav Whatmore next month, Khan said: "There is nothing to be disappointed. I will be there to help Pakistan cricket in any capacity."

Appointed on an interim basis after Waqar Younis quit in September last year, Khan guided the team to series wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (Tests and one-day) and England (Tests).

"I don't need any coaching qualification or need to do courses because I helped the team with my experience so I have no disappointments," said Khan, who is likely to take back his post as chairman of the selection committee.

Eoin Morgan admitted England have a good opportunity to blank Pakistan.

"There's certainly an opportunity to do that. We do want to win 4-0 and if the opportunity arises we could give players (reserves) a bit of experience, but the priority is to win the game," said Morgan.

Morgan said England have progressed well in one-day cricket after being thrashed 5-0 in India last year.

"In our last summer we've come a long way. But the stint we did in India -- when I wasn't there -- pegged us back a long way. So we're starting from scratch in terms of playing in this part of the world.

"We've got off to a fantastic start. But it comes back to a case of not getting carried away with where we are or where we want to be. Where we are is fifth in the world; where we want to be is number one in the world by the World Cup in 2015," said Morgan.

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BPL: Rajshahi’s easy win in high-scoring T20 against Barisal

CHITTAGONG: Duronto Rajshahi easily won the high scoring Twenty20 match by nine wickets against Barisal Burners with 17 balls remaining here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday.

Chasing a big target of 193 runs, Rajshahi completed its fourth victory in the tournament in 17.1 overs losing only one wicket.

Junaid Siddique guided the team for a big win with an unbeaten 89 from just 51 balls while Marlon Samuels also hit a half-century - 54 not out from 30 balls - and Shahzaib Hasan contributed 46 from 22 balls with two sixes and six.

Junaid smashed five sixes and seven fours while Samuels hit four fours and three sixes

Junaid made 93 runs with Shahzaib for the opening wicket stand and then added exact 100 runs for the unbeaten second wicket partnership with Samuels.

Earlier, Barisal Burners won the toss and elected to bat after which Phil Mustard and Ahmed Shehzad made 97 runs for the second wicket stand. Later Mustard added 62 runs for the unbeaten fourth wicket partnership with Ramiz Raja Junior.

Mustard remained not out on 88. He struck ten fours and three sixes in his 58-ball stay while Shehzad hit three sixes and two fours in his 44 from 33 balls.

Ramiz also made an unbeaten 26 off 15 balls with four boundaries.

Geo Super arranged a live telecast of this interesting match.

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Ponting considers playing future after ODI axing

SYDNEY: World Cup winner Ricky Ponting's one-day international career appeared over Monday after he was dropped from Australia's team after a dismal run of form, and was considering his future in the game.

Chief selector John Inverarity announced the axing of Ponting, the second all-time leading runscorer in ODIs, after he scored just 18 runs in five tri-series knocks against India and Sri Lanka.

"Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the (ODI) squad due to his lack of form in the five tri-series matches to date," Inverarity said.

Briefing reporters in Perth, Inverarity also said there were no guarantees Ponting would continue playing Test cricket, and that the former captain was
pondering his next steps.

"Ricky is going to consider his future over the next couple of days and he'll talk it over with his family and with his manager, and my guess is he'll be giving a press conference in the next two or three days," he said.

Ponting, 37, said earlier that he wanted to battle through his current slump. He has averaged just 3.60 in his five tri-series innings.

But Inverarity, while praising Ponting's contribution over a glittering 17-year ODI career, seemed to shut the door on any future for the veteran in Australia's one-day side.

"The team will not seem the same without him, but moving on from the omission of players who have been outstanding over a long period of time is the nature of elite sport," he said.

"He made a double century in his last Test match and we are hoping that he remains available for Test match cricket, but there can be no guarantees in elite sport and in the Australian cricket team."

Inverarity added: "If he drops out of the ODI team then there's a possible lack of momentum there.

"There are three Test matches in the West Indies (in April), then as I understand it there are no more Test matches until October or November."

The selectors dumped Ponting as they announced a 13-man squad with all-rounder Shane Watson returning for Australia's next two tri-series ODIs, against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday and India in Sydney next Sunday.

Ponting's sacking came a day after he led Australia to a crushing 110-run win over India in Brisbane as stand-in for injured skipper Michael Clarke. But while the other batsmen made merry, he scored just seven runs from 26 balls.

Ponting said after Sunday's victory that he had no intention of seeking a rest to freshen up.

"It's fair to say I've struggled in the first five games," he told reporters.

"I'm not going to put my hand up and say I want a break, because when you are going through a lean trot like I've had the last couple of games, you want to turn that around."

Ponting ranks second only to India's Sachin Tendulkar with most ODI runs (13,704) from 375 matches, while he has scored 13,200 runs in 162 Tests.

"Ricky's record speaks for itself," Inverarity said.

"He is one of the truly great performers in the history of Australian ODI cricket, with his reputation enhanced further by him captaining Australia to two World Cup victories."

Inverarity said that Ponting's contribution to the Australia ODI team went far beyond his batting statistics and brilliant fielding.

"The example he sets in every respect and his extraordinarily positive influence in the dressing-room is acknowledged by all," he said, while hailing Ponting's "selfless" willingness to stand in for Clarke recently.

Ponting's sacking comes less than a month after his dominant role in Australia's 4-0 clean sweep of the home Test series against India.

He was second for most series runs only to Clarke, scoring 544 at 108.80 with two centuries and three 50s.

Factfile on Ricky Ponting's career:

Name: Ricky Thomas Ponting
Right-hand batsman, right-arm medium
Date of birth: December 19, 1974 (Age 37)
Major teams: Australia, Tasmania, Somerset
Test debut: v Sri Lanka, Perth, December 8, 1995
ODI debut : v South Africa, Wellington, February 15, 1995
T20 debut : v New Zealand, Auckland, February 17, 2005

Career
Tests:
Matches 162, Runs 13,200, Highest 257, Average 53.44, Centuries 41 (including six double hundreds).

One-dayers:
Matches 375, Runs 13,704, Highest 164, Average 42.03, Strike-rate 80.39, Centuries 30

Twenty20 internationals:
Matches 23, Runs 477, Highest 98 not out, Average 23.85, Strike-rate 121.06.

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Cricket: Barisal crush Sylhet by nine wickets

CHITTAGONG: Barisal Burners achieved a big victory of nine wickets against Sylhet Royals in the 18th Twenty20 match of the Bangladesh Premier League here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Sunday.

Chasing an easy target of 121, openers Ahmed Shahzad and Brad Hodge provided an opening stand of 116 to make Barisal’s job much easier as it completed the victory in just 13.2 overs.

Shahzad made 60 off 40 balls with five sixes and three fours while his partner captain Hodge remained unbeaten on 54, made from 34 balls with five sixes and two boundaries.

Earlier, Sylhet Royals won the toss and opted for batting first but could make only 120 runs losing seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Its main scorers were Sohail Tanvir (33) and Naeem Islam (22) while Suhrawadi Shuvo captured three wickets for 20 and Farhad Hossain took two for 16.

Geo Super showed the match live from Chittagong.

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Cricket: Chanderpaul guides Khulna to 7-wkt win over Dhaka

CHITTAGONG: West Indies’s star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed an unbeaten 87 off 49 balls to steer Khulna Royal Bengals to a seven-wicket victory over Dhaka Gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League here at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Sunday.

Chasing 141, Khulna completed their fourth win in the tournament in 16.4 overs.
Man-of-the-match Chanderpaul struck eleven fours and a six and added 94 runs for the third wicket partnership with captain Shakib Al Hasan, who made 39 with two fours and as many sixes.

Earlier, Dhaka Gladiators made 140 for eight in the allotted 20 overs after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.

Bangladesh experienced batsman Mohammad Ashraful top scored with 53. He hit four boundaries and a six.

Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood also contributed a valuable 33 with four fours and a six.

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