The New Nation - Internet Edition

Muktijoddha beat Badda Jagarani

UNB, Dhaka

Muktijoddha Sangsad KC took lead in Group B of the Protiti Pharma Victory Day Club Cup Football Tournament beating giant killer Badda Jagarani Sangsad by 2-1 goals at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Saturday.

Veteran striker Alfaz Ahmed and national defender Hasan Al Mamun scored for the freedom fighters team Muktijoddha during the first half while Rana netted the lone goal for Badda Jagarani in the dying moment.

With the day's win, Muktijoddha secured four points from two matches to dominate the group after making a goalless draw with first division side Dhaka Wanderers Club.

Despite the day's defeat, Badda Jagarani, also the first division club, keeps their semifinal hope alive with three points from two matches, beating B league champions Dhaka Abahani in the opener.

Muktijoddha SKC will play tough Abahani Limited at 5:pm while Badda Jagarani meet weaker Dhaka Wanderers Club at 3:pm on Monday in the remaining Group B matches.

In the day's match, Alfaz Ahmed opened the Muktijoddha account in the 28th minute by a well-judged shot from top of the D box off Parvez Babu pass (1-0).

National captain Hasan Al Mamun sounded the Muktijodda margin just two minutes later by a rebound shot when an earlier attempt of medio Arman Miah came his way defecting one of the opponent defender (2-0).

Rana of reduced arrears for Badda Jagarani in the injury time by a header inside from the box utilizing a cross of Milan (2-1).

Mini Handball Tournament (Boys) begins today

Sports Reporter

The SunnyDale fifth Mini Handball Tournament (Boys) begins today at the Dhanmondi Women's Sports Complex.

A total of 14 schools splitting into four groups are taking part in the three-day long handball meet. SunnyDale, BIS, Siddiquis' International School are in Group A, Bhasha Shainik Abdul Jabbar Ansar VDP High School, Purbo Khilgaon Primary School, South Breeze School, Play-Pane are in Group B, SOS Shishu Palli, Canadian International School, Banani Biddya Niketon are in Group C and Mery Curi School, Loreto School, South Point School, Scholastica are in Group D.

The champions of Group A will take on the champions of Group in the first semifinal on February 5 while the champions of Group B will meet the champions of Group C in the second semifinal on the same day.

The winners of the two semifinals will face each other in the final on the same day.

To mark the ensuing handball competition, a press conference was held in the office room of Bangladesh Handball Federation on Saturday. General Secretary of Bangladesh Handball Federation Asaduzzaman Kohinoor, Vice-Chairman of the Tournament Committee Begum Yasmin Habib, Secretary of the Tournament Committee Mizanur Rahman Munna spoke at the press conference.

The budget of the tournament has been estimated at Tk one lakh and ninety five thousand while SunnyDale, the sponsor of the meet has given Tk eight thousand to Bangladesh Handball Federation (BHF) and BHF will bear rest of the expenditure.

Founding President of Bangladesh Handball Federation Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) MA Hamid, psc will inaugurate the meet today at 11:00 AM as the chief guest while Principal of SunnyDale Mrs Tajin Ahmed will be along with him as the special guest

Easy win for Pakistan

AP, Sheikhupura

Younis Khan and debutant Khurram Manzoor hit half centuries Saturday as Pakistan thrashed Zimbabwe by seven wickets with 19 overs to spare in the fifth and final limited-overs international.

The Pakistan victory completed a 5-0 whitewash for the hosts.

"It's good for us that we won all the matches - especially after losing to South Africa at home and against India last year," said captain Shoaib Malik, who also won the man of the series award.

Khan hit better than run-a-ball 63 while Manzoor made a confident 50 off 74 balls with Pakistan wiping off the meager 182-run target for the loss of three wickets in only 31 overs.

Misbahul Haq (31 not out) completed the rout when he lofted left-arm spinner Ray Price (2-38) for a straight six over long off while Fawad Alam remained unbeaten on 14.

"We should have won at least two games, but in the end it was disappointing to lose the series 5-0," said Zimbabwe's stand-in captain Hamilton Masakadza.

"Lots of our batters got starts in the series but nobody could went on to convert it into big scores."

Under heavy overcast skies, Zimbabwe bowlers struggled to contain the free-scoring of Khan and Manzoor.

Khan, who was rested in the previous game, added 97 runs off 100 balls in partnership with Manzoor before he was well caught by stand-in captain Hamilton Masakadza at mid-on.

Khan hit eight fours and a straight six in his 51-ball knock that delighted the crowd of around 18,000 at the Sheikhupura Stadium.

Manzoor followed Khan in Price's next over when he was clean bowled while attempting a cross-batted shot.

Earlier, the debutant pace duo of Abdur Rauf and Wahab Riaz grabbed five wickets between them to shoot Zimbabwe out for 181 in 45.4 overs - the visitors' lowest total in the five-match series.

Rauf took 3-45 while left-arm Wahab (2-19), got the prized scalps of in-form Sean Williams (19) and Tatenda Taibu (6) in his first three overs as Zimbabwe was bowled out in 45.4 overs.

Brendon Taylor (49) top scored and shared an 85-run sixth wicket stand off 123 balls with Elton Chigumbura (34) before both fell in successive overs as Zimbabwe lost its last five wickets for 29 runs.

Zimbabwe had a bad start after Masakadza won the toss and opted to bat. The top five wickets fell for just 67 runs with Williams top edging to fine leg and Taibu brilliantly caught in the covers by Rizwan Ahmed in Riaz's opening spell.

Taylor and Chigumbura did the repair work before Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik (2-35) struck and had Taylor clean bowled off a delivery that kept low. Taylor faced 79 balls and hit five boundaries.

Chigumbura departed in the next over when he was smartly stumped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed off left-arm spinner Fawad Alam, who had earlier dropped a hard catch when Chigumbura was on 15.

Rauf, who earlier caught Masakadza off his own bowling, struck twice in one over and quickly finished off the innings when he clean bowled the last two batsmen Ray Price and Chris Mpofu cheaply.

Pakistan made wholesale changes as it rested experienced Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounder Shahid Afridi. It also dropped fast bowlers Kamran Hussain and Sohail Khan, while opening batsman Khalid Latif was also left out. Beside Riaz, Manzoor and Rauf ,leg-spinner Ahmed also made his debut.

Zimbabwe's regular captain Prosper Utseya could not recover from the ankle injury that had sidelined him since playing in the second match at Hyderabad. Fast bowler Tawanda Mupariwa also missed a second game in a row after spraining his ankle in the third match.

Abahani keeps semifinal berth alive beating Dhaka Wanderers

UNB, Dhaka

Abahani Limited kept their semifinal berth alive as they beat Dhaka Wanderers Club by 3-1 goals in the Protiti Pharman V-Day Club Cup Football Tournament at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Saturday.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Abahani Limited suffered a solitary goal defeat to Badda Jagarani Sangsad while Dhaka Wanderers Club forced Muktijoddha Sangsad KC to play a goalless draw on Thursday.

With this win, Abahani Limited secured three points while Dhaka Wanderers Club remained at their previous credit one point, both playing two matches.

In the day's match, striker Zahid Hasan Ameli struck twice and Sahajuddin Tipu scored one goal for the winners. Substitute Ashraful Islam netted the lone goal for the losers. The winners led the first half 2-0.

Tipu scored the first goal for Abahani Limited in the 28th minute by an angular shot from inside the D box giving no chance to opponent custodian Jhangir Alam (1-0).

Ameli doubled the winners' margin in the 30th minute with a gentle push from handshake distance capitalizing on a right wing Zahed Pervez cross (2-0).

After the lemon break, Ashraful pulled one back for Dhaka Wanderers Club in the 50th minute with a placing shot from inside the D box after dodging past two opponent defenders and finally custodian Biplob (2-1).

Ameli scored his second goal and third for his team in the 66th minute with a placing shot from inside the danger zone utilizing a left-wing Tipu cross (3-0).

The 'sky blue' Dhanmondi outfit Abahani Limited dominated the entire proceedings in the match and missed several scoring chances while Dhaka Wanderers Club failed to create any real move, except the only goal.

Today's matches: Arambagh KS vs Youngmen's Club (3pm) and Mohammedan SC vs Victoria SC (5 pm), both at the same venue.

3-day inter-club player transfer begins today

UNB, Dhaka

The three-day Inter-Club Players' Transfer for the Metropolis Premier and First Division Cricket Leagues 2007-08 begins today (Sunday) at the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) office at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS).

The transfer process will take place everyday from 4pm to 7pm.

The Metropolis Premier Division Cricket League is likely to begin on March 1 while the First Division Cricket League on February 15.

Ahead of the one-day versions, the Twenty20 Cricket League will start on or before February 13.

Meanwhile, each Premier League club is eligible to register maximum three players from the National Pool. Maximum three foreign players are allowed in each club but only one will be eligible to play in a match in the Premier Division Cricket League. No foreign player will be allowed to play in the Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League.

Team C outplays Team A by 6 wkts

UNB, Dhaka

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan-led Team C outplayed Mohammad Ashraful-led Team A in the 2nd preparation match by 6 wickets ahead of the ensuing home series against South Africa at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) on Saturday.

Coin-favoured, the Team A batted first to be all out for 190 in 44.4 overs with dashing left-hand opener Junaed Siddiqui topscoring 92 off 124 balls, hitting eight fours and a six, while Mehrab had been the 2nd highest scorer with 30 off 51 balls, including three fours.

One down Ashraful 22, Shamsur Rahman Shuvo 12 and Farhad Reza 11 were the other notable scorers for the Team A, which earlier outplayed Team B by six wickets in the first preparatory match on Friday.

Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr was the most successful bowler claiming four wickets for 37 runs in 9 overs while pacer Mohammad Sharif, Mohammad Shahjada and Shakib took one wicket each.

Replying to a moderate target, two useful half centuries from opener Rajin Saleh and middle order Shakib steered the Team C to victory as they scored the required 191 in 39.3 overs at the loss of four wickets.

Shakib remained till the end hammering an unbeaten 57 off 56 balls featuring six fours while Nayeem Islam was the other not-out batsman with 42. Earlier, Rajin played a healthy knock of 51 sparing 70 balls decorated with eight fours.

Spinner Mosharraf Hossain Rubel bagged two wickets for 35 runs in 9 overs while Talha Jubair and Sajedul Islam took one wicket each.

The Team C plays against the Team B on Sunday in the 3rd practice match, also at the SBNS.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selected 39 players equally dividing them into teams A, B and C to hold one-day practice matches.

The South African side is scheduled to arrive here on February 14 to play two tests and three ODIs against Bangladesh.

Annual sports competition of Motijheel Ideal School and College held

UNB, Dhaka

The annual sports competition of Motijheel Ideal School and College (Boys) held on Saturday at its Banasri Campus.

Additional Secretary of the Chief Adviser's Office Mostafa Kamal Haider inaugurated the daylong meet. Additional Deputy Commissioner and School Governing Body member Syed Lokman Ahmed and school Principal Shahan Ara Begum were present on the occasion.

The day-shift students of the school took part in 40 events of the meet.

Bangladesh U-19 concedes 73-run defeat to West Indies U-19

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Under-19 team conceded a 73-run defeat to West Indies Under-19 team in the 2nd of the four-match one-day series at the BKSP in Savar Saturday.

The West Indies U-19 team chose to bat first after winning the toss and managed a moderate 185 for all in a curtailed over match.

Opener M Miller topscored with 66 off 103 balls featuring two fours and three sixes while D Bravo made 26, middle order S Jakobs 24, skipper S Brooks 22 enabling the West Indian side to put a score around 200.

Right-arm hosts pacer Dollar Mahmud captured four wickets for 26 runs in seven overs while Nasir Hossain took two wickets for 20 runs.

In reply, Bangladesh U-19 team collapsed totally in batting as they lost their first six wickets in just 40 runs in the face of some fierce bowling by the visitors.

Number six Mahmudul Hasan contributed innings highest 30 off 48 balls featuring four boundaries. Tail ender KM Shakil not out 21, opener Mohammad Mithun 19 and Dollar Mahmud 10 were the other batsmen to reach the double figures.

J Dawes took four wickets for 25 runs while Brooks and Jacobs grabbed three wickets each for 9 and 28 runs respectively.

The 3rd and 4th matches between these two sides will be held at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium (NOS) on Monday and February 6.

Earlier, on Thursday, the first one-day match between the two youth teams, had to be abandoned due to wet outfield at the BKSP.