The New Nation - Internet Edition

BCB name 24-member probable squad for home series against NZ, tour of South Africa

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Sunday named a 24-member probable squad for the upcoming home Series against New Zealand and the tour of South Africa.

The players have been asked to report to head coach Jamie Siddons at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) today (Monday) at 9:00 am.

Bangladesh will host New Zealand for three ODIs and two Tests in October before traveling to South Africa for three ODIs, two Tests, and a Twenty20 international.

The New Zealand Cricket team will arrive here on September 30 for a month-long tour during which they will play three ODIs, and a two-match test series against the Bengal tigers.

The Kiwis will play a warm-up match on October 7 against a local selection.

The New Zealand team will start their Bangladesh campaign with an ODI match on October 9 at the SBNS in Mirpur. They will play the 2nd ODI match on Oct. 11 at the same venue.

The Kiwis will play the 3rd and last ODI match on Oct. 14 at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong (BSSRAS).

After the ODI matches, the visitors will play the two-match test series -- 1st test on Oct 17-21 at BSSRAS in Chittagong and the 2nd test on Oct 25-29 at SBNS in Mirpur.

Bangladesh squad (probable): Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddiqui, Mohammad Ashraful, Roqibul Hassan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain (Jr.), Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Nazmul Hossain, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Dollar Mahmud, Nafis Iqbal, Rajin Saleh, Tushar Imran, Enamul Haque (Jr.), Imrul Kayes, Shamsur Rahman, Nayeem Islam, Sohrawardy Shuvo, Mahbubul Alam and Sahagir Hossain (WK).

GP-BCB Academy team beats Sri Lanka Development X1 by one wicket

UNB, Dhaka

Touring GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team earned a hard-fought one-wicket win over Sri Lanka Development XI in the first one-day of the three-match one-day series at Khettarama Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

The curving victory in Sri Lanka must reduce the grief of the touring side, which suffered a 65-run defeat to Sri Lanka Cricket Academy team in the 2nd four-day match.

Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka Development XI were bundled out for paltry 127 runs in 36.3 overs against disciplined bowling attack by the visitors.

Nasir Hossain claimed four wickets for 13 runs while Ziaur Rahman and Arafat Sunny grabbed three and two wickets respectively for 13 and 32 runs.

In reply, GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team reached their target making 128 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 38.2 overs with Imrul Kayes contributing 45 runs.

At one stage, GP-BCB National Cricket Academy were in awkward situation losing wickets on regular intervals despite chasing an small target, but two tail-enders Ziaur Rahman ( not out 35) and Arafat Sunny (not out 14) added 43 runs in the last wicket partnership to guide the visitors towards victory.

The GP-BCB Academy team will play the 2nd one-day match on Tuesday (Sept 23) at the SSC ground and the third and final one-day match on Thursday (Sept 25) at the NCC ground.

Zvonareva crushes Peng to win Guangzhou Open

AFP, Guangzhou

World number nine Vera Zvonareva came from a set down to deny Peng Shuai her first WTA title Sunday, crushing the Chinese star 6-7 (4/7), 6-0, 6-2 to claim the Guangzhou Open.

It was the Russian's seventh career title and second of the year, after winning at Prague in May.

The top seed held a 3-0 head-to-head record over fourth seed Peng going into the match and it looked like her winning run could be grinding to a halt when she lost the first set.

But Peng self-destructed, losing 11 games in a row to throw away her chance of becoming only the third Chinese player after Li Na and Zheng Jie to win a WTA title.

The victory capped a remarkable month for Zvonareva, who won singles bronze at the Olympics in August and followed it up by helping Russia claim the Fed Cup title.

Peng took an early break to go 2-1 up in the first set then broke again in the fifth game for a 4-1 lead.

But Zvonareva hauled herself back into the match by breaking in the next game and held serve for 4-3.

It went to serve till Peng lost her nerve when she was serving for the set at 5-4, with the Russian pouncing on a series of errors to make it 5-5.

The set went to a tiebreak and Peng, cheered on by a patriotic home crowd, knuckled down to win it 7-4 in 72 minutes.

But Zvonareva was not ready to roll over and pulled off some remarkable shots to race through the second set 6-0, leaving a stunned Peng pondering how to halt her slide.

The Chinese star's confidence, though, was shattered and she went 5-0 down in the decider before finally breaking for 5-1. But it was too little too late as Zvonareva completed her charge to the title in two hours 20 minutes.

Ctg Mohammedan force Sk Russell KC to 1-1 draw

UNB, Dhaka

Chittagong Mohammedan SC forced giant Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra to a 1-1 draw in the only match of the Citycell 2nd B. League at the Chittagong Stadium on Sunday.

This was the second consecutive draw for the port city team after they held another Dhaka giant Brothers Union club to an identical 1-1 result, while Sheikh Russell KC earned a hard-fought 3-2 win over Farashganj KC, both in their respective opening match.

In the day's match, veteran striker Alfaz Ahmed scored for Sheikh Russell KC in the 36th minute (1-0), while Camara scored the equalizer for Chittagong Mohammedan in the 57th minute (1-1).

Parvez Babu of Sheikh Russell KC received marching order for his double yellow cards.

Today's match: Khulna Abahani vs Brothers Union (Khulna Stadium 3:30 pm).

Wang beats Zhou to win first major title

AFP, Tokyo

China's up-and-coming Wang Yihan outduelled former world number one Zhou Mi 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 to win her first major international badminton title at the Japan Open here today.

Wang, 20, who won the world university championship in May, came from behind in each game to overcome Zhou-who won the Olympic bronze medal for China in Athens and switched her allegiance to Hong Kong last year-in 61 minutes.

Zhou, 29, the winner of another Super Series event in South Korea in January, took a 9-5 lead in the opening set but Wang tied her at 12-all. The Shanghai university student again came back from 14-18 to catch Zhou at 18- all.

At game point, Zhou failed to handle Wang's smash, deflecting it outside the court.

In the second game, Wang also rallied back from 14-20 down, winning four straight points but losing the set when Zhou smashed in.

The final game saw Zhou jump to a 8-4 lead, but a persistent Wang tied her at 10-all. At 13-all, Wang applied the pressure, and finally bested her former teammate when Zhou's drop shot went short.

Dwi Kuncoro defeats Lee at Japan Open

AFP, Tokyo

Indonesian ace Sony Dwi Kuncoro upset world number-one and defending champion Lee Chong Wei 21- 17, 21-11 to win the Japan Open here Sunday, avenging his quarter-final defeat to the Malaysian at the Beijing Olympics.

Top-seeded Lee, struggling for form following his Beijing final defeat to China's Lin Dan, jumped to a 16-12 lead after 10- all in the first game.

But Dwi Kuncoro, seeded second here and ranked sixth in the world, caught Lee at the 17th point and went on to win the set as the Malaysian slumped with a number of unforced errors.

The 24-year-old Indonesian led the second game all the way from an opening 5-0 gap, outpacing Lee with a variety of shots including three solid jumping smashes.

Dwi Kuncoro, who won the Indonesia Open in June, sealed his second Super Series title of the year when Lee's backhand shot at 20-11 landed outside the baseline.

The Indonesian, who bowed to Lee 21-9, 21-11 in Beijing, was scheduled to compete next week at the eighth Super Series event, the China Masters in Changzhou. But Lee has pulled out of the event to rest.

USA, Russia keep Davis Cup hopes alive

AFP, Paris

Defending champions USA and two-time winners Russia kept their hopes of reaching the Davis Cup final alive on Saturday after both teams clinched marathon doubles wins in their semi-finals.

In Madrid, the makeshift pairing of Mike Bryan and Mardy Fish enjoyed a 4-6, 6-4, 6- 3, 4-6, 6-4 win for the 32-time champions over Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco to trail Spain 2-1.

Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, Russia, who slumped to a dispiriting 2-0 deficit against Argentina on Friday, saw Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov defeat David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-1, 6-7 (9/11), 3-6, 8-6.

Both ties will be decided in Sunday's reverse singles when Spain's world number one Rafael Nadal tackles Andy Roddick and David Ferrer meets Sam Querrey.

Argentina, who have never won the Davis Cup, will have Nalbandian up against world number six Nikolay Davydenko and teenage sensation Juan Martin Del Potro facing Igor Andreev.

Bryan said he was pleased the way he and Fish had responded to the pressure of playing in the intimidating 22,000-capacity Las Ventas bullring in Madrid.

"The crowd was very loud and it wasn't easy, but we stayed tough," said Bryan who was paired with Fish for the first time after his twin brother, and regular playing partner, Bob withdrew from the tie with a shoulder injury.

At stake on Sunday is a place in the final which takes place from November 21-23.

Tursunov and Kunitsyn could have wrapped up their rubber in straight sets but squandered three match points in the third set.

However, Tursunov said that Russia's captain Shamil Tarpischev had wanted a five- set win more than straight sets.

"When we were up two sets to love he basically said: 'Keep David out there as much as you can because if you win in three sets it's not really helpful because he's still going to be able to play tomorrow,' so we tried our best to keep him out on the court," said Tursunov.

In the play-offs, where the winners will secure places in the World Group in 2009, Olympic doubles champions Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka came back from a set down to beat Belgium's Olivier Rochus and Xavier Malisse.

The Swiss duo won 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 6-3 in Lausanne to give their team an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Serbia also opened up a 3-0 winning lead over Slovakia in Bratislava. Viktor Troicki teamed with Nenad Zimonjic, the 2008 Wimbledon doubles champion, to defeat Michal Mertinak and Filip Polasek 7-6 (10/8), 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/5).

Troicki, the world 128, came in as a late replacement for Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.

On the clay courts of Antofagasta, world number 80 Chris Guccione and Carsten Ball, the 189th-ranked player, clinched a memorable win for Australia to keep their country's hopes alive against Chile.

Guccione and Ball defeated former Olympic champions Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a four-hour, doubles marathon to cut the deficit in their play-off to 2-1.

In Bucharest, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes kept India alive in their tie with Romania beating Horia Tecau and Adrian Cruciat 6-4, 7-6 (7/0), 6-4 to reduce the overall deficit to 2-1 ahead of Sunday's concluding two singles.

Great Britain's hopes were left hanging in the balance after Austria won the doubles to take a 2-1 lead into the final day at Wimbledon.

Jurgen Melzer and Julian Knowle made short work of Jamie Murray and Ross Hutchins, racing to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 win.

Elsewhere, Israel opened up a 2-1 lead over Peru at Ramat Hasharon after Andy Ram and Harel Levy beat Mauricio Echazu and Matias Silva 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

At Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, the Dutch also led 2-1 thanks to Peter Wessels and Jesse Huta Galung seeing off Jun Woong-Sun and Lee Hyung-Taik 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

In the day's other play-off, Croatia were 2-1 ahead of Brazil in Zadar after Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa defeated Ivo Karlovic and Lovro Zovko 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 to keep the South Americans in the tie.

Aussies hope game can return to Pakistan

AFP, Sydney

Cricket Australia said Sunday it hoped the security situation in Pakistan would calm down so that international cricket could again be played there, following a massive bomb blast in Islamabad.

At least 60 people were killed and 200 others were injured in the truck bombing Saturday night at the Pakistani capital's Marriott Hotel, where rescuers were combing through the debris for possible survivors.

"Our reaction is that it's terribly sad and tragic news," CA public affairs manager Peter Young told Australian Associated Press.

"We enjoy playing against them and we have tours coming up there next year of course," he said.

"Everyone is praying quite fervently that the domestic situation there settles down so people can live their life in peace and hopefully we can start playing cricket there again."

Australia was one of the nations that declined to tour Pakistan this month for the International Cricket Council's Champions Trophy on security grounds, which led to the tournament being put off by a year.

Australia also refused to undertake a Test tour of Pakistan last March-April over similar fears, instead agreeing to split it in two parts in 2009 and again in 2010.

"We do have cricket scheduled in Pakistan in 2009 and as always we'll do a pre- tour assessment before we travel there," Young said.

CA did decide to proceed with next month's tour of India even after a series of deadly bomb attacks in New Delhi, prompting criticism from Pakistani officials.

As for the Champions Trophy, Young said the ICC was "trying to come up with dates and venues for that."

"Of course, we were due to be there today. We would have been in Pakistan had the originally scheduled dates gone ahead," he said.

News briefs

Safina beats Kuznetsova to win Pan Pacific Open

AFP, Tokyo

Olympic silver medallist Dinara Safina powered past Svetlana Kuznetsova in an all-Russian final for her first victory at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament today.

Safina, the 22-year-old French Open finalist and world number five, notched an easy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion and world number seven.

Romania beat India to stay in World Group

AFP, Bucharest

Romania retained their place in the Davis Cup World Group after forging to an unassailable 3-1 lead in the play-off with Inida here Sunday.

Leading 2-1 overnight, victory was assured when Romania's Victor Hanescu defeated Prakash Amritraj, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Victor Crivoi comes up against Somdev Devvarman in the remaining dead singles rubber.

India were bidding for a place in the World Group for the first time since 1998 and had given themselves a lifeline, after going 2-0 down on Friday, when Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes saw off Horia Tecau and Adrian Cruciat 6-4 7-6 (7/0) 6-4 in Saturday's doubles.

Three-times finalists Romania and India have met three times in the Davis Cup.

Uttar Baridhara blank Gazir Chat

Sports Reporter

Uttar Barihara Club blanked Gazir Chat SC 4-0 in the Second Division Football League at the Banani Bangladesh Army Stadium on Sunday.

Shawpan of Uttar Baridhara Club scored two goals and his teammates Shapla, Hasan netted one each.

Meanwhile, East End Club made a goalless draw with Kadamtala Sangsad in the day's other match at the Kamalapur Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium.

Today's matches :

Bangladesh Boys Club vs Sadharan Bima KS

Venue : Kamalapur Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium.

Police AC vs Bassabo Tarun Sangha

Banani Bangladesh Army Stadium.

Sumit, Dolon, Abid champions in Armanitola Table Tennis Tournament

Sports Reporter

Sumit emerged as the champion of the boys' singles (under-14) event of the Armanitola Table Tennis Tournament beating Rakib by 3-1 sets in the final at the Armanitola JS Table Tennis Club on Sunday.

In the girls' (under-14) singles event, Dolon became champion when she defeated Rubi by 3-1 sets in the final at the same venue on the same day.

In the boys' (under-12) singles event, Abid won the championship title when he outplayed Akash by 3-0 sets in the final at the same venue on the same day.

After the final matches President of Armanitola JS Md Faruque distributed the prizes among the winners as the chief guest.

A total of 30 players took part in the table tennis meet.

Gough ready to call it quits

AFP, London

Former England paceman Darren Gough hinted on Saturday that he may have played the last match of his career.

The 38-year-old had already announced this would be his final season and after suffering a series of niggling injuries in the county championship summer, he may skip the final game against Sussex next week.

"I wanted to go out in style today - and that proved to me I am ready to retire, I am absolutely shattered now," said Gough after Yorkshire's drawn clash with title-chasing Somerset at Scarborough.

"I bowled as quick as I have for a long, long time in my first spell. I had the opposition saying that is the quickest they have faced all season and when they say stuff like that, I'd like to finish on that note.

"When I look back I'm glad my last wicket was Justin Langer. I've had some great battles against him and it's nice to know my last wicket in Yorkshire was someone as good as him."

Gough will decide over the next few days whether he is fit to play at Sussex.

"I will see how I rock up on Monday morning and how the other bowlers are," he said.