The world of cricket

Nafees added to the century he scored in Zimbabwe in August

Shahriar Nafees made 123 as Bangladesh completed a 101-run consolation win over Zimbabwe in the Champions Trophy.

Dropped in the covers on nought, Nafees shared 84 in 20 overs with Saqibul Hasan (37) and 80 from only 14 overs with skipper Habibul Bashar (30).

Brendan Taylor hit a patient 52 but two comical run-outs and tight slow bowling saw Zimbabwe skittled for a paltry 130.

Neither team was able to qualify for the main tournament after both were beaten by Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Looking to atone for a 3-2 series defeat in Zimbabwe in August, Bangladesh made a nervous start, losing Rajin Saleh who was trapped in front in the fifth over after making no contact with an agricultural swipe across the line.

Aftab Ahmed soon joined him in the pavilion when he gloved a leg-side delivery and was superbly snaffled one-handed low to his left by diving wicket-keeper Taylor, leaving Bangladesh 26-2 in the 10th over.

Nafees and Saqibul rebuilt the innings slowly, bringing up the 100 in the 28th over, with the opener completing his fifty from 92 balls shortly afterwards.

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Andrew Symonds smashed an unbeaten century to help Australia score a 67-run victory over Bangladesh in the second One-day international here on Wednesday.

The Queenslander’s 103 not out helped the tourists set a tough 251-run target for Bangladesh on a pitch not conducive for strokeplay and the home side were bowled out for 183 in reply.

Captain Habibul Bashar (70) batted well for but could not help prevent the world champions from taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The 3rd and final one-dayer will be played here on Friday.

Symonds, who came in at the fall of three quick wickets, added 140 for the fourth wicket with Michael Clarke (54) to help the tourists total 250-5. Symonds, who began cautiously, opened up later to smash six fours and two sixes in his fifth hundred in 145 matches.

Clarke was content to nudge the ball for singles during his 18th half-century, hitting just two fours off 90 balls before he was caught by Alok Kapali in the covers off spinner Mohamad Rafique. (more…)

After being on the brink of an embarrassing defeat in the first test, Australia will have a point to prove in the second, Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore warned on Saturday.

Australia needed an unbeaten century from skipper Ricky Ponting to grind out a three-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first test in Fatullah.

“I think the second test is going to be probably harder than the first test,” Whatmore said in a news conference.

“Because the first test gave them a bit of a scare, they are going to come back very hard. It will be the biggest test for us.”

Bangladesh have won only one of their 43 test matches since 2000, that victory coming over a depleted Zimbabwe side.

The Bangladeshis also lost their first two tests against Australia in 2003 by an innings.

But Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar said the first test would have given his team confidence to face Australia in Chittagong on Sunday.

“We will take to the field with more confidence riding on the achievements of the first test,” Bashar said.

Bashar added that while Australia were undoubtedly flagging after their tour of South Africa, Bangladesh had also had a tough schedule.

“We are also pretty tired playing Sri Lanka and Kenya in February and March,” he said.

See also Australia vs Bangladesh, 2006.

In the end, the scorebooks will record that on April 13, 2006 Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets at Fatullah. But that does little to showcase a thrilling match in which Bangladesh were the dominant side for the better part. On a frenetic fifth afternoon - a day this match was not even supposed to go into - Ricky Ponting’s awesome 118 not out sealed a great win but the battle was much, much harder than it seemed.

Those who have followed this match knew that another classic twist was always around the corner as Ponting marched into the nineties. Brett Lee was dimissed for a vital 29 by Mashrafe Mortaza - rewarding his captain’s decision to take the new ball - and then Ponting was given a slice of luck that had Bangladesh going into lunch shaking their heads. Shahadat Hossain banged one short, Ponting swiveled into his favourite shot, the ball spiralled high to deep backward square leg where Mortaza dived and dropped a swirling chance. A push through covers for four off Mortaza brought Ponting his sensational hundred and the bowler walked back to his mark knowing that he had dropped the match.

A flurry of boundaries after the interval took Australia to within three runs of victory and all but sealed the affair, but still Bangladesh refused to cave in. Shahadat sent down three bouncers in a row to Ponting, one of which struck him square in the helmet. Bowler stared down batsman, words were exchanged, and in the end the match concluded in the same in-your-face aggression that had played out for four days. (more…)

Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, has envisaged a bright future for his side, but in the meantime promises “to push it as far as we can”, as they prepare to take on the mighty Australians in a two-Test and three-one-day series, starting in Fatullah on April 9.

The Australians landed at Dhaka Airport on Thursday morning, fresh from the 3-0 clean sweep in South Africa last week, and Whatmore was under no illusions about the task that lies ahead. “Nothing’s really changed in terms of the ICC rankings table,” he told Cricinfo on the eve of the series. “We’re still No. 10 and they’re still No. 1.”

Even so, in the three years since Whatmore took charge of the team, Bangladesh cricket has come a long way. His first series as coach was the corresponding tour to Australia in 2003, when two schoolmasterish centuries from Steve Waugh helped put an overawed side firmly in their place.

“There’ve been three years since we last played each other, and I feel the team’s improved a little bit,” said Whatmore. “We’re playing in our own conditions, and they are going to have to adjust a bit to their last six months in South Africa and Australia. We’re very keen to go out there and compete against the No.1 ranked team, knowing that we’ve played some good teams in the last three years. (more…)

Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, has promised there will be no let-up in the aftermath of their 3-0 series win over South Africa, as they prepare to take on minnows Bangladesh in the first Test at Fatullah, starting on Sunday.

“We are here to play our best Test cricket,” Ponting told AFP on the eve of the Test. “Things have been going according to plan for us in the past few weeks and we will try to freshen up and get our focus back.”

The last time the two teams met was in the NatWest Series in England last summer, a tournament that will forever be remembered for Bangladesh’s shock victory in the opening encounter at Sophia Gardens. It was arguably the biggest upset in the history of the game, but Ponting did not envisage a repeat performance.

“There is more luck involved in the one-day game than in Test cricket,” he said. “I am sure the exposure they have had against some top teams would have helped them, but we don’t want to bother about what they are capable of and want to focus on what we can do.”

Australia are a depleted side, with Glenn McGrath missing for personal reasons, and Michael Kasprowicz, Justin Langer and Shaun Tait all sidelined through injury, but Ponting did not believe that their absences would impact on the outcome of the series. (more…)

Bangladesh are expected to confirm reports that they will host a three-match one-day series against Kenya in February when the Bangladesh Cricket Board meets on Friday.

“The board is planning to host the African nation for three ODIs before Bangladesh’s home series against Sri Lanka, but things have not yet been finalised,” a board official told Reuters. “We had a meeting to discuss preparation of the venues ahead of the Sri Lanka series and some other important issues,” explained joint-secretary Rafiqul Islam Babu. “But we have to wait until the general secretary returns from Singapore after treatment.”

It had been Bangladesh’s intention to host a tri-series involving Kenya and Zimbabwe, but overtures to the Zimbabwe board from both the BCB and the ICC have remained unanswered. Given Zimbabwe’s Cricket’s current state of near anarchy, it seems unlikely that they would have been able to raise a side anyway.

A provisional itinerary, suggested by the ICC, would see Kenya arrive on February 4 with the three matches on February 10, 13 and 16.

Since playing in the World Cup semi-final in 2003, Kenya have taken part in only five ODIs, the last being 16 months ago in the ICC Champions Trophy. The Kenyan Cricket Association have been lobbying the ICC to get more fixtures, and the ICC are known to have been working hard behind the scenes to help them.