The New Nation - Internet Edition

South Africa play exhibition cricket match with orphans today

UNB, Dhaka

Touring South Africa Cricket team will play an exhibition cricket match with Warid Telecom team, comprising its staff and underprivileged youngsters of Sir Salimullah Orphanage, here today (Monday).

The 10-over-a-side match will begin at 1:00 pm at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Country's fast growing mobile operator Warid Telecom, which is sponsoring the ongoing Warid Test and ODI series between Bangladesh and South Africa, organized the match to inspire and give the orphans some happy moments playing with the South African cricket stars.

Warid Telecom handed over cricket gears to Sir Salimullah Orphanage for the occasion.

Rebel league launches India's T20 season

AFP, New Delhi

The rebel Indian Cricket League begins its second edition later Sunday, determined to prosper despite facing a daunting battle against the official, super-rich Indian Premier League.

The ICL, bankrolled by the country's largest listed media company Zee Telefilms, organised its first Twenty20 tournament last December with a host of retired and semi-retired international stars and domestic players.

The event, held in remote Panchkula in northern India because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to release regular grounds to the rebel outfit, barely created a ripple.

Held at the same time as the official India-Pakistan home series, the tournament drew poor television ratings and big- spending sponsors kept away despite the presence of ageing stalwarts like Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq.

The second edition offers little respite as the powerful BCCI moves to crush any opposition to its multi-million dollar IPL that will debut on April 18.

The first match, between the Ahmedabad Rockets, led by Australian Damien Martyn, and the Chandigarh Lions, captained by New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns, will again be played in Panchkula.

Cricket boards around the world have banned players joining the ICL from playing official matches, a move that has irked new recruits like New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond.

"We're professional cricketers and we should be able to play anywhere and for anyone," said Bond, who will play for Delhi Jets in the month-long, 10-team competition.

"I'm just disappointed that players are getting banned. I just don't think that is fair. All boards want to make money and they have been quick to jump in with the BCCI, basically doing what they told them."

The ICL has kept players' salaries a secret, unlike the BCCI that organised last month's publicised auction of leading players for the IPL, which has already netted an astonishing two billion dollars in rights and sponsorship.

India's one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was bought by the Chennai franchise for 1.5 million dollars to play a minimum of 14 Twenty20 matches over 44 days.

The price for other top stars ranged from 500,000 dollars to a million dollars.

In contrast, top-earners at the ICL like Lara, Inzamam and Bond are reportedly in the 500,000-dollar bracket, a sum still big enough to attract players from around the world.

New recruits to the ICL, besides Bond, include fellow Kiwi Lou Vincent, South African Justin Kemp, Heath Streak of Zimbabwe and Wavell Hinds of the West Indies, according to the organisers.

With 15 players from across the border in the bag, the ICL opted to field an all-Pakistan team called the Lahore Badshahs (Lahore Kings) in a bid to cash in on the traditional rivalry between the two nations.

"A Pakistan team add a whole new dimension to the league," said Himanshu Mody, the ICL's business head.

A financial services company bought the title rights for the upcoming ICL edition for five million dollars, half of what the BCCI bagged for naming the IPL after a real estate giant.

But monetary comparisons were unfair, according to Kapil Dev, the legendary Indian all-rounder who heads the ICL's executive board.

"It's not about how much you pay the players but how serious they are about the event," Dev told AFP.

"My domestic players are motivated because they get a chance to play against the game's greats. The international stars we have are also determined to make the ICL a success because they have been snubbed by their own boards.

"We are promoting the game, is there anything wrong with that?," Dev asked.

New Zealand win over England

Reuters, Hamilton

Kyle Mills ripped the top off England's batting and Chris Martin took two wickets in an over to bowl England out for 110 and give New Zealand a 189-run victory on the final day of the first test on Sunday.

Mills took four wickets before lunch to destroy England's possible run chase for 300 to achieve victory, while Martin bowled Tim Ambrose and had Ryan Sidebottom caught behind by Brendon McCullum in one over after lunch to end their hopes.

Ian Bell top-scored for England with 54 not out while Mills finished with figures of four for 16 off 13 overs and Martin had three for 33 off 13 overs.

England had been set the target in a minimum of 81 overs after New Zealand declared their second innings on 177 for nine early during the first session.

It was New Zealand's biggest victory margin in terms of runs against England, surpassing the 83-run win at the Oval in 1999. It was just their eighth test win in 89 matches against England since they began playing each other in 1930.

Resuming on 36 for four, Bell hit the first ball after lunch off Jeetan Patel for four and looked positive at one end, while Paul Collingwood looked to occupy the crease.

It took 33 balls for Collingwood to get off the mark, but he only added one more to his total, off a further 17 balls, before he chopped a Daniel Vettori delivery on to his stumps.

He had already survived two confident leg before appeals from the New Zealand captain in the over.

IMMEDIATE SUCCESS

Martin then replaced Patel at the other end and had immediate success, bowling Ambrose with a delivery that just seamed away and took the off bail. He then had Sidebottom caught by McCullum off the last ball of the over.

McCullum also snapped up Matthew Hoggard off Martin for four, before Patel had Steve Harmison caught by a juggling Stephen Fleming for one.

Monty Panesar was the last man out when he edged Jacob Oram to McCullum for eight.

Prior to lunch, Mills had ruined any faint notions England had of chasing down the total by blasting through the top four.

He had Alastair Cook caught by McCullum for 13, trapped England captain Michael Vaughan lbw for nine, then had Strauss caught for two by McCullum.

The dangerous Kevin Pietersen was then trapped by Mills for six to give the Auckland pace bowler figures of four for nine off seven overs at lunch.

New Zealand declared shortly after Vettori was caught by Cook for 35 off Sidebottom, who ended the match with a hat- trick and his first 10-wicket haul in tests.

Both super six, relegation league matches end 1-1

UNB, Dhaka

Both the super six and relegation league matches of the Metropolis Senior Division Football ended in one-all draws on Sunday.

Sunrise SC played to 1-1 draw with Jatrabari KC in a "super six" match at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium (BSSSMMS) at Kamalapur in the city.

Shariful scored for Jatrabari KC in the 11th minute while Sajedul Islam Shanta netted the equalizer for Sunrise SC in the 31st minute from a penalty.

After the day's match, Sunrise SC remained at third slot in the league table securing 24 points and Jatrabari KC in the fifth place with 21 points, both playing 13 matches.

In the relegation league match, Wari Club split points with City Club, also in a one-all draw, at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS).

Zulfiqur Ali Jonny scored for City Club in the 10th minute while Afsar for Wari Club in the 14th minute.

Wari Club earned 13 points and City Club 10 points, playing 13 matches each.

Purbachal Parishad will play Dipali Jubo Sangha in Monday's lone relegation league match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

New Zealand men, women qualify for Beijing

Reuters, Sydney

New Zealand completed a rare soccer double over the weekend when they won the men's and women's Oceania qualifying tournaments for the Beijing Olympics.

New Zealand wrapped up the women's qualifying event when they beat Papua New Guinea 2-0 on Saturday then added the men's event by thrashing Solomon Islands 8-0 on Sunday.

The results ensured both teams finished at the top of their final pools and qualified for the Beijing Games in August, pending approval by the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

New Zealand's men only needed a draw from Sunday's final qualifier against the Solomon Islands in Fiji after beating Fiji and Vanuatu in their earlier games.

"We were always going to win this match, it was just a case of how many," coach Stu Jacobs told the New Zealand Press Association.

"But you still have to maintain your professionalism and the lads certainly did that on Sunday."

Azimpur School beat Sunbeam School in girls twenty20 cricket

UNB, Dhaka

Azimpur Girls School & College earned a facile 60-run victory over Sunbeam School in a match on the inaugural day of first-ever Girls' School Twenty20 Cricket tournament at their home ground on Sunday.

Batting first, hosts Azimpur School scored 99 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs and later they bundled out Sunbeam School for 30 runs in 10.5 overs.

Earlier, National Sports Council secretary Akbar Hossain inaugurated the meet as chief guest. Principal of Azimpur Girls School & College was present as special guest.

The day's inaugural match between Ansar & VDP School and Viqarunnisa Noon School could not be held, as the later team refused to play complaining of overage of some Ansars players.

Bangladesh play Afghanistan in AFC Challenge Cup opener May 5

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh will play Afghanistan in the opening Group C match of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifying round on May 5 at the Bishcake Central Stadium in Kyrgyzstan.

Bangladesh have been placed in Group C of the AFC Challenge Cup Football with Afghanistan, Laos and hosts Kyrgyzstan.

In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Laos on May 7 and Kyrgyzstan on May 9 at the same venue.

Bangladesh, which hosted the 16-team inaugural AFC Challenge Cup Football in 2006, made early exit from the meet for the emerging Asian nations losing to champions Tajikistan by 1-6 goals in the quarterfinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here.

In the group matches, Bangladesh beat Cambodia 2-1, Guam 3-0 and drew 1-1 with Palestine to qualify for the last eight with Palestine.

Tajikistan emerged champions in the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup Football beating Sri Lanka 4-0 in the final at the BNS in April 2006.

Exim Bank 18th National Men's Handball Competition begins

UNB, Dhaka

Rajshahi DSA beat Kushtia DSA by 33-23 goals after leading the first half 17-11 in the opening final phase match of the Exim Bank 18th National Men's Handball Competition at the Outer Stadium handball ground on Sunday.

In the day's other matches, Faridpur DSA beat Natore DSA by 24-18 goals, Kushtia DSA defeated Dhaka DSA 21-18, Chittagong Metropolis edged past Chapainawabganj DSA 24-22 while Jessore DSA beat Chittagong DSA by 20-18 goals.

Earlier, private satellite channel ATN Bangla chairman Mahfuzur Rahman inaugurated the 12-team meet as chief guest while EXIM Bank Director and chairman (audit committee) Nurul Fazal Bulbul was present as special guest.

ATN Bangla telecast the opening match of the competition live and will also telecast live the semi-final and the final.

Nine district teams along with Bangladesh Rifles, Bangladesh Police and Bangladesh Ansar, split into four groups, are taking part in the final phase.

Teams:

Group A - Bangladesh Rifles, Faridpur and Natore DSAs;

Group B - Bangladesh Police, Jessore and Chittagong DSAs;

Group C - Bangladesh Ansar, Chittagong Metropolis and Chapainawabganj DSA;

Group D - Dhaka, Kushtia and Rajshahi DSAs

Both the semi-final matches between the group champions will be held on Mar 12, while the final and third-place decider on Mar 13 at the same venue.

Jatrabari KC beath Kathalbagan GCC by 6 wickets

UNB, Dhaka

Jatrabari KC beat Kathalbagan GCC by six wickets in a match of the Metropolis First Division Cricket League at the CCG Ground here Sunday.

Coin-favoured Kathalbagan GCC batted first to post 201 for all in 49.5 overs with Monjur Morshed scoring team highest 57 runs, while Zahid made 51.

Shafiqul and Ashraful claimed three wickets apiece for 45 and 53 runs respectively.

In reply, Jatrabari KC reached their target of 202 for the loss of four wickets in 47.4 overs with Mazharul Haque top scoring 63 runs.

In the day's other matches, Uttara SC (132/5) defeated Badda Ekota SKC (129/10) by five wickets at the Dhaka University Ground (DUG), Gazi Tank Cricketers (221/9) beat Rupali Bank CC (163/10) by 58 runs, CCS (197/8) defeated Dhanmondi Club (196/10) by 2 wickets at the BKSP Ground-2 while Brothers Union (189/9) edged past Orient SC (188/10) by one wicket.

3rd round of premier division cricket league begins today

UNB, Dhaka

The third round matches of the Metropolis Premier Division Cricket League begins today (Monday) at different venues in the city and adjoining areas.

Holders Abahani Limited will play City Club at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah, Surjotarun Club face Kalabagan KC at BKSP ground 2 while newcomers BKSP meet all-losers Partex SC at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium on Monday.

After the first two rounds, Dhaka Mohammedan SC and Bangladesh Biman dominate the league table securing full four points each while defending champions Abahani Limited followed the leaders with three points as they were forced to split points with BKSP in a rain-abandoned match.

Six teams -- Victoria SC, Old DOHS SC, Young Pegasus Club, Kalabagan KC, City Club and Surjotarun Club -- collected two points each playing same number of matches.

BKSP bagged one point, while Sonargaon Cricketers and Partex SC are yet to open their account, playing two matches each.