The New Nation - Internet Edition

Premier Cricket League:Abahani beat Mohammedans

Sports Reporter

Abahani Limited registered a two-wicket win over their arch rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club in their one-dayer match of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Electing to bat first, Mohammedan Sporting Club scored 162 in 49.5 overs.

In reply, Abahani Limited reached the winning spot in 46.4 overs making 164 for the loss of eight wickets.

Shahriar Nafees of Abahani Limited notched up a fine 57 facing 111 deliveries amid five fours while Nadif Chowdhury hit a polished 41 off 88 balls.

Mahbubul Karim was the other run getter for the winners who hit 24 off 25 balls including five shots across the ropes.

Abdur Razzak of Mohammedan Sporting Club claimed three wickets giving away 30 runs while medium pacer Tapash Baisya bagged a pair of wickets in the space of 21 runs.

Besides, Aqeel Ahmed and Suhrawardy Shuvo took one wicket each.

Earlier, Suhrawardy Shuvo, Dollar Mahmud, Abdur Razzak and skipper Mohammad Ashraful added 27, 25, 21 and 20 runs respectively to the Mohammedans total.

Arafat Sunny of Abahani Limited grabbed three wickets at the cost of 29 runs while Rezaul Karim, Talha Jubaer, Ziaur Rahman and Mohammad Rafique took one wicket apiece.

After yesterday's outcome, Mohammedan Sporting Club collected 18 points from 11 matches while Abahani Limited earned 17 points from as many matches.

Gunners count on fear factor to sink Liverpool

AFP, London

Arsenal will be hoping the fear factor outweighs Liverpool's vast European experience when the two sides cross swords in an all- English Champions League quarter-final.

Rafael Benitez has guided his side to two out of the last three finals of Europe's elite competition but Liverpool's Spanish boss will also be acutely aware that, on the domestic front, Arsenal have had the edge over his side in recent times.

Arsenal effectively destroyed Liverpool's best chances of silverware last season by knocking the Merseysiders out of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in quick succession, and defender Kolo Toure believes the mental scars left by those defeats can help his side take control of the tie in Wednesday's first leg at The Emirates.

"It is an exciting tie," the Ivory Coast defender said. "Last season we played them four times (twice in the league and in both domestic Cups) and we showed how strong we were - we beat them in three of those games.

"It is going to be really tight, we know that, but we have the quality and I think they will be scared to play against us.

"We need to show them that we have continued to improve and are even stronger than last season. We are used to playing against them, so we know we are in for a battle."

Arsenal go into Wednesday's match at Highbury buoyed by having snapped out of a five-match winless run in the Premier League in morale-boosting fashion, the 3-2 win over Bolton at the weekend having been secured from two goals down with ten men.

But Liverpool are also on something of a high after effectively securing their return to the Champions League next season by beating Everton, their only rivals for fourth spot in the league, 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday.

Fernando Torres's 28th goal of the season settled the derby clash and gave Liverpool a five-point cushion over their neighbours, as well as some room to breathe ahead of their trip to London.

"For the time being the pressure is off because we have got the five-point gap, even if we have a lot of hard games to come," admitted Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who has recently seen his role in the first team evolve to the point that he is now virtually a support striker for Torres.

Benitez has admitted that the success Torres has enjoyed in his first season in English football has exceeded even his expectations.

"You always have confidence in a player that arrives with energy and desire and who has great quality," Benitez told The Times. "However, the truth is that he has been a fantastic success. He has already scored 28 goals and the level of play he brings to the side and his commitment to the team is hugely significant.

"We formulated a plan when he arrived, focusing on trying to keep him up front close to the defenders because with the speed that he has, if you give him a good pass he'll latch on to it.

"The problem is, with so many games we haven't had bags of

time to work on specifics. We've tried with the group to work on

certain technical individual aspects as well as helping the

players to learn how to execute at crucial moments.

"In Fernando's case this involves tuning up his finishing, for example. We try to find time to work as well on Steven Gerrard's new role, which he is certainly enjoying."

PCB bans Akhtar for 5 years for disciplinary breach

AP, Islamabad

Pakistan's cricket board has banned fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar from international and domestic cricket for five years for making critical comments about the sport's national governing body.

Board chairman Nasim Ashraf announced the ban on Tuesday. He said Akhtar could appeal the decision.

Akhtar, who at his peak was the fastest bowler in cricket, appeared earlier Tuesday before a disciplinary committee after he reportedly criticized the PCB for not awarding him one of the top contracts to play for the national team.

Bangladesh U-15 beat CAB U-15 by 55 runs in 2nd one-dayer

UNB, Dhaka

Visiting Bangladesh Under-15 cricket team maintained their winning run beating Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) U-15 team by 55 runs in the 2nd one-day match at Malda in West Bengal on Tuesday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bangladesh U-15 team posted 207 for all in 48.3 overs with Rakin top scoring 78 runs while Didar made 24.

Abhimanyu claimed three wickets for 22 runs.

In reply, CAB U-15 team was dismissed for 152 runs in 40.2 overs in the face of some hostile bowling by the junior tigers. Abhishek scored team highest 38 runs for the host side.

Nasum captured four wickets for 21 runs while Shihab took three for 36.

Earlier, Bangladesh U-15 team registered a 65-run win in the first one-day match at Balurghat after winning the first two-day match by five wickets in Coochbehar.

Bangladesh U-15 team will play the 3rd and last one-day match against CAB U-15 team on Thursday (Apr 3) at Burdwan and the last 2-day match against the same side on Apr 5-6.

GM Zaiur Rahman shares 3rd slot in Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament

UNB, Dhaka

GM Zaiur Rahman of Bangladesh Biman shared the 3rd slot in the point table with other six players in the 3rd Kolkata Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament securing 6.5 points after the 9th round matches held at Gorky Sadan in Kolkata Tuesday.

GM Abdullah Al Rakib of Biman and IM Enamul Hossain Razib of Destiny earned 5.5 points each while GM Niaz Murshed of Leonine and FM Sk Nasir Ahmed of Destiny earned five points.

FM Minhazuddin Ahmed, FM Taibur Rahman of Destiny and FM Mehdi Hasan Parag of Biman earned 4.5 points each. Mohammad Javed of Destiny earned 3.5 points and Mohammad Ali of Chittagong Mohammedan earned three points after the 9th round matches.

Residential camp of national booters begins at BKSP

UNB, Dhaka

The residential training camp of the national football team for the two ensuing international soccer tournaments began Tuesday afternoon at the BKSP in Savar.

Twenty-three booters out of the preliminarily selected 28 joined the training camp on Tuesday at the national sports training institute, BKSP, under new coach and former national defender Mohammad Abu Yousuf.

Zahid Hossain and Zumratul Hossain Mithu of Mohammedan SC and Abul Hossain of Abahani Limited did not join today (Tuesday) while national skipper Hasan al Mamun and Zahed Parvez Chowdhury informed that they would join the camp today (Wednesday).

After reaching the BKSP at noon today, national players made light practice in the afternoon. The residential camp will continue until the team's departure in May for Kyrgyzstan to take part in the AFC Challenge Cup.

The full-fledged training program of the team begins tomorrow (Wednesday) in two sessions -- 7am to 9am and 4pm to 6pm.

Earlier, on March 22, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) initially picked-up 28 booters to form Bangladesh national team for the two upcoming international meets.

Bangladesh will take part in the qualifying round of the AFC Challenge Cup to be held May 5-10 in Kyrgyzstan, and the SAFF Championship on June 3-14, to be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and Maldives.

In the AFC Challenge Cup, Bangladesh have been placed in Group C with Afghanistan, Laos and hosts Kyrgyzstan. Bangladesh will play Afghanistan on May 5, Laos on May 7 and hosts Kyrgyzstan on May 9, all at the Bishkek Central Stadium.

In the 5th SAFF Championship, Bangladesh have been placed in Group B with Afghanistan, Bhutan and co-host Sri Lanka. Bangladesh will play Bhutan on June 4, Afghanistan on June 6 and hosts Sri Lanka on June 8.

Most of the selected booters made their practices at the Bangabandhu National Stadium for four days after reporting at the BFF office on March 27.

Bangladesh squad: Aminul Haque, Biplob Bhatachariya, Ziaur Rahman Zia, Hasan Al Mamun, Wali Faisal, Ariful Islam, Rajani Kanta Barman, Arup Kumar Baddya, Atiqur Rahman Mishu, Mahmudul Hasan, Kazi Mozammel Hossain Saikat, Zahirul Islam, Arman Aziz, Enamul Haq Sharif, Maruf Ahmed, Zumratul Hossain Mithu, Faisal Mahmud, Zahid Hossain, Zahid Pervez Zumratul Hossain Mithu Chowdhury, Mohammad Kabir Hossain, Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Kollal Kumar Ghosh Zuku, Mamunul Islam Mamun, Mehdi Hasan Ujjal, Abul Hossain, Mohammad Robin, Zahid Hasan Ameli and Abdul Baten Majumder Komol.

South Africa Academy team arrives in city

UNB, Dhaka

The South Africa Academy team arrived here Tuesday to participate in the triangular Grameenphone Academy Cup that also involves Pakistan Academy team and hosts GP-BCB Academy team.

The South Africans will begin their tour with the first four-day match against GP-BCB Academy team from April 4-7 at the Jessore Divisional Stadium (JDS) while the 2nd four-day match between the two sides will be held April 9-12 at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium (BSSRAS) in Khulna.

The Pakistan Academy team will be the 2nd side to arrive here on Apr 14, also to participate in the Academy Cup.

After the triangular one-day tournament, the Pakistani side will also play two four-day matches against their Bangladesh counterparts at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium (SCS) in Bogra -- the first on Apr 26-29 and the 2nd on May 2-5.

The five-week competition featuring one-day and four-day matches will be held at five venues -- Jessore, Khulna, Chittagong, Dhaka and Bogra.

South Africa Academy team: Matthew Arnold, Sammy-Joe Avontuur, Bradley Barnes, Richard Das Neves, CJ de Villiers, Reeza Hendricks, Rushdi Jappie, Mondli Mahlombe, Mafinki Serame, Mthokozisi Shezi, Abdul Aziz Temoor, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Dane Vilas and Neil Wagner.

Management: Grant Morgan (Coach), Barney Mohamed (Coach) and Rob Walter (Trainer).

GP-BCB team: Nasiruddin Faruk (Captain), Jahurul Islam, Imrul Kayes, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Shamsur Rahman, Nayeem Islam, Nazmus Sadat, Mushfiqur Rahim, Dollar Mahmud, Talha Jubear, Nazmul Hossain, Enamul Haque Jr, Raihanuddin Arafat and Suhrawardi Shuvo.

BKSP meet Faridpur Zilla School in final today

UNB, Dhaka

The final match between BKSP and Faridpur Zilla School of the Standard Chartered Young Tigers National School Cricket will be held today (Wednesday) at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium at 9:30 am.

The final match will be followed by award distribution ceremony. Vikram Issar, head of consumer banking of Standard Chartered Bank, will be present as chief guest on the occasion.

Inter-District Women's Volleyball begins Friday

UNB, Dhaka

The 11th Inter-District Women's Volleyball tournament, organised by Bangladesh Volleyball Federation, will begin Friday at the Dhaka Volleyball Stadium.

Nine district teams - Rajbari, Rajshahi, Pabna, Khulna, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Jessore and Bagerhat -- will participate in the four-day meet split into three groups.

The participating teams have been asked to report Thursday (Apr 3) at 6:pm at the Dhanmondi Women's Sports Complex.

Super league of Metropolis 1st div cricket begins Friday

UNB, Dhaka

The super league matches of the Metropolis First Division Cricket League will begin on Friday in the capital and adjoining areas with four matches billed for the opening day.

On the opening day, Gazi Tank Cricketers will play Indira Road KC at BKSP ground-2, Cricket Coaching School (CCS) meet Azad Sporting Club at BKSP ground-1, Rupali Bank CC face Orient SC at Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium while Brothers Union take on neighbors Bangladesh Boys Club at Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah.

In the second round matches on Sunday (Apr 6), Gazi Tank Cricketers will meet Azad SC at Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium, Cricket Coaching School face Bangladesh Boys Club at BKSP ground-2, Brothers Union play Orient SC at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadiumm while Rupali Bank CC meet Indira Road KC at Narayanganj Osmani Stadium.

The next two rounds of super league will be held on April 8 and 10.