The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bangladesh Women's Football team snatches gold

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh Women's Football team snatched gold medal in the football competition of the Second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games when they beat West Benal Women's team by 4-2 goals in a hard-fought tie-breaker at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Monday.

Bangladesh Women's Football team beat West Bengal Women's team by a solitary goal in the third match at the big bowl on the same day.

Earlier, Bangladesh team made a goalless draw with West Bengal team in the first match of the best of three matches at the Narsingdi Stadium.

Later, the hosts conceded a lone-goal defeat by the visiting side a t the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium.

Yesterday Bangladesh took a sweet revange as the hosts beat the touring side by 1-0.

Dalia of Bangladesh team scored the all-important goal in the 51st minute of the play.

As the best of the three-match series ended in a draw thus the fate of the gold medal was decided in the tie-breaker. Bangladesh won in the tie-breaker and clinched the gold in this event.

After the entertaining tie-breaker, Yousuf, the coach of Bangladesh team said that his players bounced back after conceding defeat in the second match. He also added that the women's of Bangladesh successfully struck in the penalty shootout. The players of Bangladesh team had worked hard before they took part in the games, Yousuf added.

Dalia, the skipper of Bangladesh team said, "I fell good. She added that the result could be the turning point for Bangladesh's football.

Bangladesh dominate in Indo-Bangla Games with 45 gold, 29 silver, 18 bronze medals

UNB, Dhaka

Hosts Bangladesh completed their second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games campaign on Monday with huge satisfaction as they clinched the top slot securing 45 gold, 29 silver and 18 bronze medals.

For once, Bangladesh exceeded its pre-Games target of winning 40 gold medals much to the disappointment of holders West Bengal, which finished a distant second with 24 gold, 40 silver and 27 bronze medals.

In the first edition of Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games in Kolkata last year, West Bengal took the top slot securing 38 gold, 34 silver and 32 bronze medals against Bangladesh's 30 gold, 24 silver and 18 bronze medals.

Bangladesh earned the top slot in all the nine disciplines of sports -- athletics, swimming, shooting, cricket, football, kabaddi, volleyball, kho kho and basketball.

Bangladesh grabbed highest 18 gold in swimming, followed by 11 gold in shooting and nine gold in athletics. Besides, they also won the team event gold in cricket, football, kabaddi, volleyball, kho kho and basketball.

The West Bengal team of India bagged 11 gold in swimming, and five gold each in athletics and shooting.

Final Medals Table (tabulated under gold, silver, bronze and total):

Team G S B T

Bangladesh 45 29 18 92

West Bengal 24 40 27 91

Games-wise medals:

Swimming

Bangladesh 18 15 10 43

West Bengal 14 17 18 49

Athletics

Bangladesh 9 7 4 20

West Bengal 5 7 6 18

Shooting

Bangladesh 11 7 4 22

West Bengal 5 9 3 17

Gloves off for Indian captain Dhoni

Reuters, Sydney

India's one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has escaped punishment despite being caught using illegal wicketkeeping gloves during Sunday's tri- series match against Australia in Sydney.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) ruled that Dhoni's gloves were in breach of the rules because they had extra webbing between the thumb and forefinger.

Dhoni was ordered to hand over his gloves to the ICC for inspection after the extra webbing was spotted by television commentators shortly after he pulled off a spectacular diving catch to dismiss Adam Gilchrist.

Dhoni later told a news conference after the match that he was unaware that the gloves were illegal but agreed to swap them as soon as the ICC informed him there might be a problem.

Bangladesh win gold in men's football beating West Bengal 2-1 in 3rd match

UNB, Dhaka

Hosts Bangladesh earned gold in men's football in the 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games beating West Bengal by 2-1 goals in the last of the three matches at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) on Monday.

Mishu struck twice for Bangladesh while Lall scored the lone goal for West Bengal.

After a barren first half, Mishu scored both the goals for the home side - in the 55th minute and 73rd minutes (2-0).

Lall reduced the margin for the visitors two minutes before the long whistle (2-1).

Earlier, Bangladesh made a flying start beating West Bengal by 2-1 goals to take 1-0 lead at the BNS on Saturday and played to a goalless draw in the 2nd match at the Narsingdi Stadium on Sunday.

Bangladesh win gold in kho kho competition

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh Kho Kho team won the gold medal in the Kho Kho competition of the Second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games when the hosts edged past West Bengal team by 15-12 points in the final at the Paltan Maidan on Monday.

Sohag Milon of Bangladesh Kho Kho team was adjudged the man of the match for his outstanding parformance.

After the entertaining final match Secretary of the Ministry of Information Jamil Osman distributed the prizes among the winners as the chief guest while Deputy Managing Director of the First Security Bank Shafiqul Islam was present as the special guest.

Australians fined for slow over-rate against India

Reuters, Sydney

Australia were fined for a slow over-rate during their 18-run victory over India in the tri-series match at Sydney on Sunday.

The Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who was named man of the match after scoring 124, was docked 20 percent of his match fee while his team mates were slapped with a 10 percent deduction after they fell two overs behind.

The Australians were also fined for a slow-over rate during the third test against India in Perth last month and International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Jeff Crowe said they had been warned to speed things up.

"Prior to the (first tri-series) match in Melbourne, I had talks with the Australia team management in which I had again reminded them of their responsibilities regarding over-rates," Crowe said in a statement released on Monday.

"I understand and accept that it was a close and high-scoring match.

"In such circumstances, getting through their overs in the early stages would assist them to have enough time available to work with the bowlers and set fielding placing when the match enters the last 10 overs or crucial stages."

Ashraful blames batsmen for defeat

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful Monday admitted that poor batting performance was the main reason behind the team's defeat to South Africa.

"The match was in our control on the first two days, but the failure of our batsmen to show a good batting performance in both the innings caused the defeat," he told reporters after a post-match briefing at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium Monday.

"The match results could have been different had we been able to score 100 runs more," he said when asked whether 204 runs were defendable.

"We bowled well after lunch on day 3 and put pressure on the opposition taking a couple of wickets, but the visitors batted really well to carry the team to a safer position,"

Ashraful said.

He, however, hastened to give credit to his bowlers saying, "Our bowlers bowled extremely well in the match."

He specially praised pacer Shahadat Hossain Rajib, who took nine wickets in the match. "He (Shahadat) is gradually improving and I do hope he would keep it up in the future."

Asked bout his plan for the 2nd test in Chittagong, beginning on February 29, Ashraful said they would focus on batting, particularly in the first innings. "It'll be easy for us to put pressure on the opposition if we have a healthy total in the first innings," he said.

Bangladesh coach Jemmy Siddons, who expressed his satisfaction over the team's performance, said the boys played a very good game putting pressure on stronger South Africa. "It's a good sign for Bangladesh. It won't be wise to expect early win in test against a strong team like South Africa. We need harder training."

After winning the tough match against Bangladesh, South African captain Grame Smith heaved a sigh of relief saying, "We feel good after wining the match."

He said, "The hosts have improved a lot compared to the team as we saw in 2003."

About Bangladesh's prospect in cricket, the South African captain said Bangladesh have got some young talented players who could contribute to the team.

India turn down Pakistan's one-day series invitation

AFP, Karachi

Pakistan's efforts to fill a gap in their cricket schedule received a setback today when India turned down an offer to play a short three-match one-day series next month, officials said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had invited India for a three-match one-day series starting from March 12 after Australia's tour was reduced to 30 days from a planned 48 days.

"The president of the Indian cricket board, Sharad Pawar, called up and spoke to the (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf explaining the tour was not possible due to a hectic schedule of the Indian team," PCB spokesman Ahsan Hameed Malik said.

The PCB last week said they received positive signals from India over a short series, but the off-schedule matches were always unlikely as India, currently playing a triangular series in Australia, host South Africa.

Indian players are also due to feature in the inaugural

Twenty20 Indian Premier League from April to June, making it hard to squeeze a week for the series against Pakistan.

The Indian Board has however promised to play a three-match series in Pakistan before the ICC (International Cricket Council) Champions Trophy, which Pakistan host in September and October this year.

The PCB now expects Australia to tour their troubled country despite security advice against playing here.

Australia are due to send a delegation to Pakistan to assess security arrangements before they confirm their tour which includes three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international.

Cricket Australia earlier this month agreed to send a security delegation and delayed the start of the tour from March 10 to March 29.

After the result, Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful told the press that their batting debacle in the second innings cost them the match. " Our collapse in the second innings spoiled the chance of winning. Even this target was not very easy, but with little bit of luck and their professional attitude, South African managed to score the runs in a difficult condition."

" Another 90 or 100 runs would have been enough but our batters failed to prolonged their innings and almost everybody got out when they needed to stay at the wicket a little longer. Our bowlers were good in the first innings, but in the second innings we allow them South African easy singles, which ultimately made things easier for our rivals."

Bangladesh skipper was not happy with the wicket. He said,

"We were told this will be a spinners' track and it will start

turning from the third day. But instead the pacers had more

advantage and the nature of the wicket never changed. There was

hardly any advantage for our spinners. Despite that Shahadat was

superb and Mohammad Rafique supported him well "

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith was excited to take the 1-0 lead. He said, " It is always wonderful to win the first test and take 1-0 lead in the series in such a hard fought win. Specially from the very difficult position in the first innings, we fought was back to win. It was total team spirit everyone and it has taken some time to get used to the conditions here when the pressure was on and it really counted the boys played well in the second innings."

" It is not easy for batters to enjoy batting in the sub-continent. Thanks to my teams for quickly getting acclimatizes to the local condition. Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Morne Morke and AB de Villiers were very impressive in this match. The win here will inspired us for the second test and the Indian series coming up".

Jacques Kallis for his 5 for 30 was adjudged as man of the match. He said, "It's nice to contribute with the ball. I put them in the right areas and got some reverse swing. The guys have been to subcontinent before and it's a learning curve for the young fast bowlers."

Dhanmondi Club earn 8-wicket win over Sadharan Bima

UNB, Dhaka

Dhanmondi Club earned an emphatic eight-wicket win over Sadharan Bima SC in a match of the Metropolis First Division Cricket League at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Sent into bat first, Sadharan Bima SC was all out for 119 in 35.3 overs with Swapan scoring 24 runs. Rumman and Ashraful claimed three wickets each for 23 and 38 runs respectively.

In reply, Dhanmondi Club easily reached their target of 120 runs in 32.4 overs for the loss of 2 wickets with Shahnoor contributing unbeaten 43 runs. Saikat and Shakil took one wicket each for 20 and 33 runs respectively.

Results of the day's other matches: Cricket Coaching School (219/4) beat Badda Ekota Samaj Kalyan Sangha (216/7) by six wickets at the BKSP-2; Uttara SC (161/5) defeated Rupali Bank CC (160/10) by five wickets at the BKSP-1; Gazi Tank Cricketers (232/9) outplayed Kathal Bagan GCC (182/10) by 50 runs at the Dhaka Uneversity ground and Jatrabari KC (216/10) beat Indira Road KC (197/10) by 19 runs at the Jahangirnagar University ground.

Bangladesh, West Bengal earn two gold medals each in shooting

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh and West Bengal clinched two gold medals each on the concluding day of the shooting competition of the Second Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games at the BKSP Shooting Range on Monday.

After finishing of the competition, Bangladesh captured 11 gold medals while West Bengal grabbed five gold medals.

A total of four shooting events were held on Monday.

In the women's 50 metre rifle, Sabrina Sultana of Bangladesh grabbed gold medals making 560 score.

Her compatriot Sharmin Shilpa bagged silver scoring 557 points while Amrita Das of West Bengal got bronze scoring 535 points. In this team's event, Bangladesh bagged gold while West Bengal earned silver.

In the men's 50 metre rifle, Joydeep Benarjee of West Bengal clinched gold while Toufiq of Bangladesh gained silver and Pankaj Poddar of West Bengal got bronze.

In this team's event, West Bengal captured gold medal while Bangladesh claimed silver.

Three teams emerge zonal champion to move final round of JFA Cup Football

UNB, Dhaka

Narayanganj, Khulna and Dinajpur DSAs emerged zonal champions to moved into the final round of the 4th JFA Cup Under-15 Football Championship beating their opponents, played at different places on Monday.

In Manikganj, Narayanganj DSA crushed Narshindi DSA 8-1 to reach the final round.

InKhulna, hosts Khulna DSA drubbed Chuadanga DSA

4-0.

The other match played in Dinajpur stadium, Dinajpur DSA beat Kurigram DSA 4-1 to confirm the final round berth.

Besides, Cox's Bazar Stadium, Chittagong DSA drubbed Laxmipur DSA 5-0 while Pabna DSA blanked Meherpur DSA 3-0 at the Pabna Stadium.

Ahmed Bawany Academy beat Mirpur Academy

UNB, Dhaka

Ahmed Bawany Academy crushed Mirpur Academy by 3-0 goals in a match of the Dhaka Bank Shaheed Smriti School Hockey tournament at the Maulana Bhasani National Stadium on Monday.

All the three goals for the winners came in the first half. Skipper Faisal Hossain scored two field goals - in the 28th and 33rd minutes, after Raihan Ahmed Kala opened the account in the 14th minute, also with a field goal.

In the day's other match, Shubhadya High School of Keraniganj beat Rayer Bazar High School by 2-1 goals at the same venue in the afternoon.

Skipper Helaluddin put the winners ahead in the 17th minute by a field goal while Shafiqul Islam doubled the margin in the 54th minute, also with a field goal.

Sohel Rana scored the lone field goal for the losers in the 67th minute.

South Africa fined for slow over-rate

Reuters, Dhaka

South Africa have been fined for a slow over-rate during their first test victory over Bangladesh on Monday.

"Captain Graeme Smith was fined 30 percent of his match fee while each of his players received 15 percent fines," an International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said following South Africa's five-wicket win.

ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle imposed the fines after South Africa were ruled to be three overs short of target when time allowances were taken into consideration, the statement added.