The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh earned a convincing three-wicket victory over Australia in a Sobers Group match of the Hong Kong International Cricket Sixes played at the Kowloon Cricket Club ground in Hong Kong today (Saturday).

Batting first, Australia scored 64 runs in five overs. In reply, Bangladesh reached their target scoring 68 runs in 3.4 overs with Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury making 35.

Junaed Siddiqui Imrose scored 10 runs while national skipper Mohammad Ashraful returned to the pavilion with duck.

But in the day's other two matches, Bangladesh lost to the All Stars team by 45 runs and to South Africa by 39 runs at the same venue.

Batting first, the All Stars team amassed 120 runs for one wicket in stipulated five overs.

Chasing 121 to win, Bangladesh were restricted to 75 runs for two wickets in allocated five overs with pacer Dollar Mahmud contributing 31 runs.

In the other match, South Africa posted 115 runs for one wicket in fixed five overs.

In reply, Bangladesh scored 76 runs for three wickets in stipulated five overs with national opener Junaed Siddiqui Imrose making 35, Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury 17 and Mohammad Ashraful 4 runs.

Sports Reporter

Sylhet Division conceded follow-on against Dhaka Division when they were bundled out for just 96 in the first innings in reply to Dhaka's first innings 351 for nine (declared) on the second day of the four-dayer match of the Ispahani Mirzapur Tea 9th National Cricket League at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra on Saturday.

Later, Sylhet Division were at the stumps with one for the loss of none.

Mehrab Hossain (Junior) and Marshal Aiyub of Dhaka Division resumed their first innings with the over-night score of 237 for the loss of four wickets.

Marshal Aiyub, who resumed his first innings with over-night score of 45 and then he was deprived from a century for just seven runs.

Aiyub hit a windy 93 off 76 amid three fours.

Mehrab Hossain (Junior) knocked a calm 60 playing 171 deliveries. He hit four shots beyond the ropes.

Mohammad Rafique and Mosharrof Hossain contributed 39 and 35 (not out) to Dhaka's first innings total.

Besides, Mr Extra added a notable 44 to Dhaka's total.

Nazmul Hossain of Sylhet Division got three wickets conceding 51 runs.

Later, Mahbubul Alam, Mohammad Rafique and Mohammad Sharif of Dhaka Division played the key role in wrecking Sylhet innings for just 96.

Mahabubul Alam harpooned four wickes for 14 runs while Mohammad Rafique grabbed three wickets giving away 36 runs and Moammad Sharif bagged a couple of wickets at the cost of 16 runs.

Besides, Mosharrof Hossain took one wicket in exchange of 26 runs.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim of Sylhet was the only notable run getter for his side. he knocked 36 off 97 balls.

Meanwhile, Barisal Division struggled to avoid follow-on as they scored 77 for the loss of nine wickets in the first innings on the second day of the four-dayer match at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium on the same day.

Earlier, Rajshahi Division piled up 301 in the first innings on the second day.

Rajshahi resumed their first innings with the over-night score of 187 for the loss of five wickets. Farhad Reza was the successful batsman for his side on the second day. He notched up a fine 52 utilising 110 balls. He sent the ball eight times through the ropes and one time over the fence.

Later, Shahriar Nafees (19) and Iftekhar Nayeem (13) of Barisal reached the double digit figures.

Nayeem Islam and Farhad Reza of Rajshahi claimed three wickets each in lieu of seven and 12 runs respectively which Suharawardy Shuvo bagged a pair of wickes for 24 runs.

UNB, Dhaka

Panchagarh and Dhaka DSAs reached the final of the First Invitational Women's Handball Tournament winning their semi-final matches at the Tetulia Pilot High School ground in Panchagarh on Saturday.

The final match will be held today (Sunday) at 3 pm.

UNO of Tetulia Upazilla Manjoor Alam Pradhan will be the chief guest in the final.

On way to the final, Dhaka DSA crushed Dinajpur by 15-3 goals after leading the first half 7-2 in the first semi final Saturday afternoon.

Mona scored four goals while Maleka and Rosy netted three goals each for Dhaka DSA.

In the day's other semi-final in the afternoon, Panchagarh DSA eliminated Rajshahi DSA by 15-10 goals after dominating the first half 7-5.

Shahida and Nishi scored six goals for the winners while Mina Khatoon netted four goals for the losers.

Sports Reporter

The Second Citi Cup Golf Tournament organised by Citibank NA concluded at the Kurmitola Golf Club on October 26. The two-day long event of the golf competition was held with great enthusiasm and fervor.

Commandant of National Defence College, Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka Lieutenant General ATM Zahirul Alam, rcds, psc inaugurated the two-day long golf meet as the chief guest on October 25 and distributed the prizes among the winners as the chief guest on October 26. Managing Diector and Citi Country Officer Mamun Rashid was present at the time.

Teb Marius is the winner of the Second Citi Cup Golf Tournament while Fatema Matiur is the winner of the ladies event and Arshi Haider is the winner of Best Gross trophy.

Besides, Masud Ahmed clinched the winner of the Senior Event, Shezad Raiyan achieved the trophy of the Junior Event, Min Gu Cho earned the Second Best Gross Trophy, Sharek Rahim annexed the trophy of the Back Nine, Group Captain Wasek Khan Majlish gained the trophy of the Front Nine, Syed Mohammad Ali become runnerup, Brigadier General (Retd) Abidur Reza Khan finished second runner-up, Fatema Matiur collected the runner-up trophy of the ladies event , Brigadier General (Retd) Anwar Hossain was the nearest to pin, RT Parash was awarded for longest drive, Brigadier General Ziaur Rahman gained the trophy of the nine hole event, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury became runner-up of the same event, Major General (Retd) Mostafa Kamaluddin gained the trophy of the senior nine hole event and Asafuddowla secured the trophy of the super senior nien hole event.

It may be mentioned that about 400 golfers took part in te two-day long golf tournamnet.

AFP, Lyon

The Lyon ATP tournament has been dominated by home players this week as three French competitors qualified for today's semi-finals.

France's Marc Gicquel beat Diego Hartfield of Argentina 7-5, 6-3 to set up a loast four clash with Colombia's Alejandro Falla, a 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 winner over Croatian fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic.

The other semi-final sees Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Sebastien Grosjean, both of France. Tsonga beat Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-2 and Sebastien Grosjean got the better of yet another Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 7-6 (7/4).

It has been an impressive week by Tsonga, ranked just 65th in the world, following his defeat of French number one Richard Gasquet on Thursday. Tsonga, putting his effective service to good use and full of confidence, was an easy victor of Rochus.

"I played well today with my serve going really well, but my return too," Tsonga said afterwards. "I played almost a perfect match and committed very few unforced errors.

"I have never played here at Lyon and it's new to me. I'm an outsider and I'm not yet among the best players and for me, each tournament is new."

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh will play their away match of the 2010 World Cup Pre-Qualifiers against Tajikistan at the Dushanbe Stadium today (Sunday) at 3pm Bangladesh time.

An 18-member Bangladesh national football team, which comprise 16 booters and two officials, reached Tajik capital Dushanbe on Thursday night.

Bangladesh, which played to a 1-1 draw against Tajikistan in the home match in Dhaka on October 8, need at least a 2-2 draw in the away match to qualify for the next round.

Earlier, Bangladesh played four matches against Tajikistan managing only one draw (1-1) in the home match in Dhaka on October 8 this year.

Bangladesh suffered identical 0-2 goals defeat in the prior home and away basis Pre World Cup qualifier matches and conceded a humiliating 1-6 goals defeat in the AFC Challenge Cup in Dhaka last year.

Bangladesh team: Players - Biplob Battachariya, Mazharul Islam Himel, Wali Faisal, Rajani Kanta Barman, Hasan Al Mamun, Ariful Islam, Mahmudul Hasan, Amit Khan Shuvro, Arman Aziz, Abul Hossain, Zumratul Hossain Mithu, Zahid Hossain, Enamul Haque Sharif, Mohammad Robin, Zahid Hossain Emily and Saifur Rahman Moni.

Officials- Amirul Islam Babu (coordinator) and Syed Nayeemuddin (coach).

AFP, Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Sixes produces many sights not often seen at a cricket match: boundaries virtually every ball, matches lasting no more than 45 minutes-and the world's greatest batsman keeping wicket.

Brian Lara, playing in an All-Stars side at the tournament this weekend, has welcomed the chance to don the gloves and deal with deliveries from teammates Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Anil Kumble.

Normally a slip-fielder before he retired from the international game, Lara said he was keen to take on the challenge of keeping wicket to some of the game's greats.

"One of the reasons I have been looking forward to the Sixes is the chance to do some wicket-keeping," he said. "Playing alongside Shane and Glenn is new, and it is equally unusual for me to be behind the stumps."

Lara, Test cricket's top run-scorer, took to the task with ease, securing the All- Stars' first wicket of the weekend when catching Australian opener Nathan Reardon for 19.

For Lara another advantage of keeping wicket was not having to bowl-all other fielders in the six-a-side team have to deliver an over.

In Lara's glorious 131-match Test career, he bowled only 60 balls and never took a wicket.

"I thought Brian kept well," said All-Stars colleague Heath Streak from Zimbabwe. "He got through it all right and I think he would prefer that to bowling."

AP, Ahmedabad

Indian selectors Saturday dropped former captain Rahul Dravid from the limited-overs team to play Pakistan. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar said Dravid had been left out of the Indian team for the first two one-day internationals at home against Pakistan next month.

Dravid, who was India's captain until last month, has been struggling as a batsman. His lean form in recent one-day matches against Australia saw Dravid omitted for the last match of the limited-overs series that India lost 4-2.

Dravid resigned as captain last month after leading India for two years, expressing a desire to concentrate on his batting.

Vengsarkar said Dravid had been given a break and would soon return to the team.

"Dravid's form and fitness has made us give him a break, he's a great player and should be back soon," Vengsarkar told reporters after the selection panel's meeting.

The selectors also left out Dinesh Kartik from the 15-member squad, while recalling out-of-form opener Virender Sehwag and rookie all-rounder Praveen Kumar.

Left-handed batsman Gautam Gambhir reclaimed his place in the squad after recovering from the hamstring injury that made him miss four one-dayers against Australia.

The first two one-dayers of the five-match series will be played at Gauhati (Nov. 5) and Mohali (Nov. 8).

India squad: Mahendra Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Shantakumarn Sreesanth.

Sports Reporter

Khulna Division took the upper hand when they posted 410 in the first innings against Chittagong Division on the second day of the four-dayer match of the Ispahani Mirzapur Tea 9th National Cricket League at the Bir Sreshtha Matiur Rahman Stadium in Khulna on Saturday.

In reply, Chittagong Division made 231 for the loss of seven wickets before the bails were drawn for the second day.

Khulna resumed their first innings with the over-night score of 361 for the loss of seven wickets.

Mohammad Salim of Khulna was the remarkable scorer for his side on the second day. He knocked 39 off 86 balls amid four fours.

Tareq Aziz, the medium pacer of Chittagong shone with the cherry claiming three wickets in the space of 82 runs.

Later, Faisal Hossain and Dhiman Ghosh of Chittagong got success in batting.

Faisal Hosain hit a nice 85 facing 150 deliveries including 13 strokes beyond the ropes which Dhiman Ghosh made 46 off 78 balls with six fours.

Murad Khan of Khulna Division captured four wickets giving away 67 runs.

Besides, Mashrafee Bin Mortaza and Syed Russel took one wicket apiece.