The New Nation - Internet Edition

India crush Sri Lanka to reach finals

AFP, Hobart

India claimed a spot in the tri-series finals with a crushing seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their one-day match here today.

A spectacular middle-order collapse saw Sri Lanka make just 179 from 47.1 overs and India had few problems reaching the target in 32.2 overs, scoring 180 for three.

Although Sri Lanka still have one game remaining in the series, against Australia on Friday, they cannot reach the finals and it has been a disappointing tournament for last year's World Cup finalists.

Importantly for India, star batsman Sachin Tendulkar burst out of his form slump ahead of the finals against Australia with his first half-century of the series.

Tendulkar was back to his brilliant best as he punished the bowlers, hitting three successive boundaries off seamer Ishara Amerasinghe in making 63 from 54 balls, including 10 fours.

Gautam Gambhir continued his impressive form with an unbeaten 63, while Yuvraj Singh looked dangerous with a rapid 36.

Sri Lanka had appeared to be cruising towards a big total at 72 for one after being sent in to bat, with veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya back in some touch and Kumar Sangakkara continuing his good form.

However, Sangakkara's dismissal for 33, caught behind by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the bowling of the recalled Praveen Kumar, sparked a destructive collapse.

Sri Lanka lost 6-21 in just over 11 overs to slump to 93 for seven.

Kumar, who was named man of the match, and teenage paceman Ishant Sharma did most of the damage, claiming four wickets apiece.

Sharma again impressed with 4-41, while Kumar, playing just his second game of the series, grabbed three wickets in as many overs to tear the heart out of the Sri Lankan batting and finish with 4-31.

The teenager has 13 wickets in the tri-series at 19.46.

Sangakkara was quickly followed back to the pavilion by captain Mahela Jayawardene, caught by Rohit Sharma from the bowling of Kumar for just three.

With the skipper gone, the innings quickly fell apart.

Chamara Silva's struggles continued when he fell for a duck and Jayasuriya then threw his wicket away when he top edged an attempted pull from the bowling of Irfan Pathan on 34.

Tillakaratne Dilshan made just eight and Chaminda Vaas played a poor shot to fall to Sharma for a duck.

It was then left to Chamara Kapugedera and tail-ender Lasith Malinga to add some respectability to the innings, the pair putting on 46 before the latter became Sharma's fourth victim.

Kapugedera showed rare fight late in the innings, making a stylish 57.

Premier Division Twenty/20 Cricket League resumes on Mar 1

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Premier Division Twenty/20 Cricket League will resume on Saturday (March 1) at three separate venues with three matches scheduled for the day.

On the day, Abahani Limited will play Surja Tarun Club at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mohammedan SC face BKSP at Narayanganj Osmani (Fatullah) Stadium and Sonargaon Cricketers meet City Club at the BKSP ground-2.

The league was postponed on February 19 due to unavoidable circumstances.

Bangladesh U-22 team whitewash CAB U-22 team with 31-run in third match

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Under-22 team whitewashed Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Under-22 with a 31-run win in the last match of the three-match twenty20 cricket series in the 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah on Tuesday.

Bangladesh team, which played in the Indo-Bangla Games under the banner of Combined Divisional Under-22, earlier confirmed the event's gold beating the West Bengal team in the first two matches in Bogra and Rajshahi.

In the day's lone and closing event of the five-day Games, the home side batted first after winning the toss and scored 114 for 9 in stipulated 20 overs.

Two down Nayeem Islam hammered 46 runs off 43 balls with four fours and a six and later took one wicket for 8 runs in three overs with a maiden to be adjudged man of the match.

Besides, skipper Mahmudullah Riyad scored 21 runs off 27 balls with one boundary while Nazmul Hossain Milan made 12 off 17 balls.

CAB skipper Soham Ghosh grabbed three wickets for 20 runs in four overs while Banti Gwala and Ritam Kundu took two wicket each giving away seven and 24 runs respectively.

In reply, CAB Under-22 team scored 83 runs for 8 in quota 20 overs although they lost five wickets for 29 runs in 7.5 overs.

Lower order batsman Swagata Dutta made 22 off 25 balls with one four and another lower order Gitimoy Basu scored not out 11 off 13 balls with a boundary.

Apart from Nayeem Islam's one wicket, pacer Kamrul Islam claimed three wickets for 13 runs while Mahmudullah Riyad took two for 13.

Two best performers of Indo-Bangla Games

UNB, Dhaka

Two best performers of the just concluded 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games - swimming prodigies Monalisa Mondal and Rubel Rana - were honoured by sports journalists at a function at the NSC conference room on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Sports Writers Association (BSWA) and Bangladesh Sports Writers and Journalists Community (BSWJC), separately selected both Monalisa Mondal of West Bengal and Rubel Rana of Bangladesh as the best athletes of the 2nd Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games that concluded on Tuesday.

Bengal's wonder girl Monalisa, a 16-year-old Class X1 student from Hoogly, came to limelight as the most outstanding swimmer of the meet securing nine gold medals with six new Games records. She grabbed seven individual gold medals and two from team events.

Rubel Rana, a petty officer of Bangladesh Navy from Kushtia, emerged as the best male athlete of the meet clinching five swimming gold, including one from team event. He created Games record in all the four individual events.

Taking to UNB, Monalisa, who earlier won four gold medals in the Indian national championship, expressed complete satisfaction over local hospitality and facilities at the swimming pool and hoped to do better in next year's South Asia Games in Bangladesh.

BOA Secretary General Kutubuddin Ahmed, also the secretary general of the South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), handed over the prizes to the two swimmers.

BOA deputy secretaries general Ashrafuddin Ahmed Chunnu and Ishtiaque Ahmed Karen, and CEO Col. (retd) Wali Ullah were also present on the occasion.

Despite the amazing solo effort of Monalisa Mondal, Bangladesh finished top in the Games swimming with 18 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze medals while West Bengal bagged 14 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronzes.

Dhaka Wanderers beat Agrani Bank by 5 wickets

UNB, Dhaka

Dhaka Wanderers Club beat Agrani Bank Cricket Club by five wickets in a match of the Metropolis First Division Cricket League at the Jahangirnagar University ground on Tuesday.

Sent into bat first, Agrani Bank CC was all out for 146 in 39.4 overs with Prosenjit scoring 48 runs. Tanhar claimed four wickets for 29 runs.

In reply, Dhaka Wanderers Club easily reached their target of 147 for 5 in 30.1 overs with Shafiqul contributing 59 runs. Mozammel and Uttam took one wicket each for 20 and 25 runs respectively.

Results of the day's other matches: Brothers Union Club (163/6) beat Young Pegasus B (162/10) by four wickets at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium; BD Boys Club (192/9) defeated Azad SC (165/10) by 27 runs at the Dhaka University ground; Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity (104/9) earned a narrow one- wicket win over Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club (103/8) at the BKSP-1 while the match between Orient SC and Lalmatia SC at the BKSP-1 was abandoned due to rain.

Bogra DSA reaches zonal final in JFA Cup

UNB, Dhaka

Bogra DSA beat Chapainawabganj DSA by 5-4 goals in tiebreaker, in a match at the Pabna Stadium on Tuesday, to move into the zonal final of the 4th JFA Cup Under-15 Football Championship.

The match rolled into tiebreaker after the regulation time ended 2-2.

In another match at Cox's Bazar Stadium, Noakhali DSA were declared winner by 2-0 goals to advance to the zonal semi-final, as their opponent Rangamati DSA did not turn up.

Earlier, Dinajpur, Narayanganj, Moulvibazar, Khulna, Bhola DSAs and BKSP team emerged zonal champions to confirm their final round berth.

Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship begins

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh Golf Federation will host Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship (BAGC) from 27 February to 01 March at Kurmitola Golf Club (KGC). This is the premier amateur international golf tournament of the country. The first BAGC was organised in 1982. Cotton Group is the sponsor of this prestigious tournament.

The Championship will be on stroke play format and there will be both individual and team trophies. Men will play 72 Holes in four rounds. However, there will be a cut after the 2nd round. In the team event, first 2 round's aggregate scores will be considered for the team trophies. Ladies will play 36 Holes on 29 Feb & 01 March 2008. In the event of a tie for the best gross score over 72/36 holes, the winner will be decided by "Sudden Death" play offer after the final round.

Each participating country will send two men and two ladies amateur golfers with one Team Manager. A total of 36 foreign participants and about 200 local golfers will participate in the tournament including local experts.

The draw for the first round was posted on the notice board of Bangladesh Golf Federation by 4 PM on 26 February. The draw of the subsequent rounds would be made and displayed as per the score of the previous days play. Foreign participants will receive draws of next day from KGC or from the Hotels reception at 2000 hours each day.

The national team and top amateur golfers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Mayanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will participate in the championship. Moreover, there are many expatriates including ladies taking part as private entry in this tournament. Golfers from other golf clubs of the country shall also participate. Top ranking amateur golfers named Mr K A Chandradasa and Mr Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka, Mr. Jasjeet Singh and Mr. Abishek from India and Mr. Tareq Mahmood and Mr. Safdar Khan of Pakistan are participating in an attempt to win the championship. Bangladesh, India & Sri Lanka are considered to be the most favourite teams of the tournament.

The tournament was inaugurated by Vice-Admiral Sarward Jahan Nizam, ndu, psc, Chief of Naval Staff on Tuesday at 1530 hours. The Prize Distribution Ceremony will be held on 01 March 2008. Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam, ndu, psc, Chief of Naval Staff has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest and giveaway the prizes to the winners.

Beckham to play exhibition game in Hong Kong

AFP, Los Angeles

David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy will play an exhibition match March 9 against Hong Kong Union at Hong Kong Stadium, the Major League Soccer club announced Monday.

The match will be the third game of the Galaxy's exhibition tour of Asia which begins next week.

The Hong Kong game will mark the final game of the tour designed to tap into Beckham's huge popularity in Asia.

The game will follow matchups against FC Seoul in Seoul, South Korea on March 1 and Shanghai-Hong Kong United in Shanghai, China on March 5.

"We are very excited to be able to add this important third match to the Galaxy's Asia Tour 2008," said Galaxy assistant GM Tom Payne said.

Last week, the Galaxy finished third in the inaugural Pan Pacific Championship tournament in Hawaii, losing their opening game 1-0 to Japanese club Gamba Osaka before beating Australia's Sydney FC 2-1 in the third-place game.

The Galaxy were due to leave Hawaii for Seoul on Monday.

Armanitola crush Narayanganj 15-0

UNB, Dhaka

Armanitola High School crushed Narayanganj High School by 15-0 goals in a match of the Dhaka Bank Shaheed Smriti School Hockey Tournament at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

In the day's other match, Subhadya High School of Keraniganj drubbed Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah School by 8-0 goals at the same venue.

Ctg Metropolis Sports Asson emerge zonal champion

UNB, Dhaka

Chittagong Metropolis Sports Association emerged champion of Kha zone in the EXIM Bank 18th National Men's Handball beating Chittagong DSA 17-14 in the zonal final at the Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong on Tuesday.

The winners led the first half 9-6.

Ovijit and Litu scored five goals each for the winners while Tapu netted five goals for the losers.

College cricket final held in Pirojpur

Our correspondent

The final match of the Twenty20 cricket tournament of Pirojpur Govt. Suhrawardy college was held at its playground on Monday.

The match was played between Political Science and combined H.S.C. Batting first, Political Science were dismissed for 95 runs. In reply, combined H.S.C team reached to the winning target by losing 3 wickets. Captain of Political Science Imran Hossain who scored 69 runs and took 4 wickets was declared the man of the match and the man of the series.

The cricket match was presided over by professor Md. Abdul Halim, Principal of the Govt. Suhrawardy College Pirojpur. All the teachers of the college were also present. Besides the interesting match drew a large audience including the students of the college.