The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Riding on an unbeaten ton by Gazi Salauddin, hosts Chittagong Division scored 289 for 9 in 92 overs against lowly Sylhet Division at stumps on the first day of the four-day round-five match of the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 9th National Cricket League at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong on Sunday.

Opener Gazi Salauddin hammered 138 off 269 deliveries with 17 fours and one six for Chittagong Division, which opened the innings first after winning the toss. Kamrul Islam and Saju Dutta were the other batsmen in the crease with 8 and 7 runs respectively.

Top order national batsman Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury contributed second highest 46 runs while skipper Ehsanul Haque Sezan score 30 runs and Faisal Hossain Dickens made 11.

Nabil Samad claimed four wickets for 60 runs, Rashedul Rahman grabbed two wickets for 67 runs while national all-rounder Alok Kapali, pacer Tapash Baishya and national colour spinner Enamul Haque Jr took one wicket each.

Brief score: Chittagong Division first innings - 289/9 in 92 overs, Gazi Salauddin 138, Nafees 9, Nazimuddin 0, Aftab 46, Ehsanul 30, Faisal 11, Dhiman 7, Arafat 1, Tareq 5, Kamrul batting 8, Saju Dutta batting 7; Nabil 4/60, Rashedul 2/67, Alok 1/18, Tapash 1/42 and Enamul 1/74

At the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, sent into bat first, national cricketer Tushar Imran scored not out 122 off 244 balls with 20 boundaries giving Khulna Division a good start as they scored 312 for 6 in 90 overs against second ranked Barisal Division on the opening day of the day's another four-day match.

National all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan contributed another useful 81 runs for league leaders Khulna Division.

Talha Jubaer grabbed two wickets conceding 39 runs while Abul Bashar, Sajidul Islam and Arafat Salauddin took one wicket each for 19, 56, 60 runs respectively.

Khulna Division first innings - 312/6 in 90 overs, Nazmus 3, Imrul 0, Habibul 13, Shakib 81, Mostafizur 29, Sahagir 1, Tushar 122*,Ziaur batting 20, Mashrafe 17*; Talha Jubear 2/39, Abul Bashar 1/19, Sajidul 1/56, Arafat 1/60.

At the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium, hosts Rajshahi Division scored 257 for 5 in the stipulated 90 overs against Dhaka Division at stumps on day one with skipper Khaled Mashud Pilot contributing not out 68.

Pacer Mohammad Sharif captured two wickets for 51 runs while Niaz, Mahbubul and Mosharraf took one wicket each for 40, 43 and 45 runs.

Rajshahi Division first innings - 257/5 in 90 overs, Junaed 18, Jahirul 19, Naeem 19, Farhad Hossain 55, Mushfiqur 65, Khaled Mashud 68*, Alamgir 2*; Sharif 2/51, Niaz 1/40, Mahbubul 1/43, Mosharraf 1/45

BBC online

Dale Steyn finished with 10 wickets in the match for the second Test in succession as South Africa beat New Zealand inside three days.

Steyn took 6-49, his best in Tests, as New Zealand were all out for 136, losing by an innings and 59 runs.

The easy victory at Centurion gave South Africa a 2-0 series win.

South Africa had been 272-3 overnight before Mark Gillespie (5-136) hustled out the middle order, but the hosts already had more than enough runs.

Steyn was helped by two generous lbw decisions from English umpire Mark Benson, who ajudged Lou Vincent and Stephen Fleming out despite evidence to the contrary.

But New Zealand, who crumbled to their eighth defeat in their last 10 Tests on South African soil, never really looked likely to challenge the hosts.

Day three began with South Africa in control of affairs on 272-3 with Hashim Amla on 89.

Amla duly went to his third Test century - all scored against New Zealand - before being caught in the cover ring on 103.

Ashwell Prince had already fallen at the very start of the day, to Gillespie, who proceeded to take three more wickets.

He bowled Mark Boucher, had AB de Villiers caught by wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum sprinting back to the boundary, and Paul Harris then went slashing behind.

South Africa had subsided to 323-8, but Steyn and Andre Nel added an entertaining 51 for the ninth wicket to give the hosts a 195-run lead.

With Craig Cumming (fractured cheekbone) unable to bat, South Africa needed just nine wickets to win, and Steyn supplied all but three of them.

While two of the wickets were fortunate, the rest were indisputable.

Michael Papps could not complain about the lbw verdict that went against him, while a couple of neat slip catches and a stunning diving catch from De Villiers in the covers gave Steyn three more successes.

Steyn then ended the Test in the most emphatic fashion, flattening Iain O'Brien's middle stump.

Fleming's stylish 54, including a hooked six off Steyn, was all that New Zealand had provided by way of real resistance.

It had taken just 21 balls for the last five wickets to fall.

AFP, Madrid

Goals from Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos gave Spain a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden here on Saturday to secure their qualification for next summer's Euro 2008 finals.

The victory in Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium maintained Spain's 100 per cent home record during their qualifying matches.

It also gave the famously taciturn Spanish coach Luis Aragones something to smile about after a campaign that got off to a shaky start when, in their first three outings, they lost back-to-back matches in Northern Ireland and Sweden.

"I didn't enjoy the insults I received back then but I did expect them. It comes with the job," reflected Aragones looking back smugly to when there were calls for his head.

"I always felt that Spain were going to qualify because we had the players who could make it happen, although you can never be sure because football is like that," he added.

If Sweden are to accompany Spain to the finals in Austria and Switzerland they now need at least a point against Latvia on Wednesday after Northern Ireland pulled off a 2-1 win against Denmark to keep alive their slim hopes of progressing.

"We still have a good chance of qualifying despite the defeat but we should have clinched it two months ago when we could only draw at home with Denmark," said Sweden coach Lars Lagerback.

Northern Ireland can qualify for their first major final since the 1982 World Cup if they beat Spain in Las Palmas on Wednesday and the Swedes trip up at home against their opponents from across the Baltic.

Sweden, having never started a game in their history as late as the 10 o'clock at night kick off in Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium, often looking like they were ready for bed rather than thinking about battling Spain.

"No excuses, Spain were the far superior side. The surprise for me was that we conceded a goal from a corner. I think that's only happened once before in the last two years," added Lagerback.

Capdevila opened the scoring after 14 minutes, the first goal in his on-off international career which has seen him only accumulate 14 caps despite having made his debut back in 2002.

The Villarreal defender Capdevila managed to stick his right foot out and put the ball past Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson after Cesc Fabregas had laid off a Xavi Hernandez corner.

The goal gave Spain the luxury of being able to build up slowly from the midfield despite the fact that the news soon came through from Belfast that Northern Ireland had gone ahead 10 minutes from the end of their game.

After 30 minutes, the hosts nearly went further ahead when David Villa hit the post from a free kick 20 metres out and Spain eventually added to their tally six minutes before half time thanks to Iniesta.

Once again it was Xavi who started the move which lead to the goal, the Barcelona playmaker finding Capdevila on the left flank and his telling cross lead to Iniesta scoring with a left foot shot from the edge of the area.

Spain started the second half brightly and pinned Sweden down for the first 10 minutes and, despite occasionally relaxing, they were still motivated enough to add a third goal after 65 minutes from Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos.

Ramos scored with a right foot shot from close range after Capdevila, having the game of his life in a Spanish shirt, had his initial effort only partially cleared from the goal mouth by Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson. Spain are now on top of Group F with 25 points from 11 games, with Sweden now two points in arrears and Northern Ireland third on 20 points.

Nevertheless, the controversy over the exclusion of Real Madrid's on-form captain Raul Gonzalez continues to dog Aragones.

Part of the 70,000 crowd started chanting for Raul at the start of the second half.

The chorus went up again at the whistle, despite the celebrations and the fact that Spain have turned their qualifying campaign around without him.

UNB, Dhaka

The Friendship Cup Football, scheduled to be held Nov 28 to December 10 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, has been postponed following the devastating cyclone that ripped through south and southwestern region of the country.

The decision to postpone the tournament came at the directive of National Sports Council (NSC) chairman General Moeen U Ahmed during a preparatory meeting with the organisers at the Kurmitola Golf Club Sunday morning, said a press release.

Friendship Cup adviser and Bangladesh Olympic Association secretary general Kutubuddin Ahmed, co-chairman Anjan Chowdhury Pintu, secretary Badal Roy and member Kazi Nabil Ahmed were, among others, present at the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, General Moeen said it is time to do something for the distressed people, who lost their near and dear ones in the cyclone. He also urged all to stand beside the suffering humanity.

The NSC chairman said a fresh date for the Friendship Cup Football would be announced after the situation improved.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Army clinched the Office Hockey League title beating Sonali Bank SRC by 2-0 goals in the final at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium on Sunday.

The winners scored both the goals in the first half.

Skipper Sirajul Islam put the winners ahead with a field goal in the 12th minute (1-0) while Mostafa Sharifuzzaman doubled the margin in the 18th minute, also with a field goal (2-0).

Bangladesh Hockey Federation President and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman witnessed the final match as chief guest and later distributed the prizes.

Earlier, before the start of the match, a one-minute silence was observed in memory of those killed by the cyclone `Sidr' that ripped through the south and southwestern region of the country Thursday midnight.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Under-19 team arrived in Karachi on Sunday to play five one-day matches and one four-day match against Pakistan Under-19 team.

The Young Bangladesh side earlier left here for Karachi at about 3:00 am today.

Bangladesh U-19 will start the tour with a four-day match beginning Nov 20 at the National Stadium in Karachi and will travel to Hyderabad to play the first two one-day matches on Nov 26 and Nov 28 at the Niaz Stadium.

After traveling back to Karachi, the 3rd one-day match between the two youth teams will be played on Dec 2 at the DHA Ground. The 4th one-day match will be held at the Quaid-e-Azam Park (Steel Mills Karachi) on Dec 5 and the 5th and last one-day match on Dec 7 at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) ground.

The Bangladesh U-19 team is expected to return home on Dec 9.