The New Nation - Internet Edition

Watson, Haddin steady Australia against India

AP, Bangalore

Shane Watson and Brad Haddin shared a crucial 65-run partnership Sunday to carry Australia to 193 for 5 wickets and a lead of 263 going into the final day of the first test against India.

India's in-form bowling attack made the visitors work hard and looked as though it could have finished the fourth day with the upper hand when three wickets fell for 29 runs midway through the final session - reducing Australia to 128-5.

But Watson hit 32 not out and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin added an unbeaten 28 to ease some of the pressure after Australia had struggled initially to build a potentially match-winning total.

Australia, which took a 70-run advantage after dismissing India for 360 in the morning session, found scoring extremely tough in the face of an increasingly difficult surface at Chinnaswamy Stadium and probing bowling.

The tourists crawled through the middle session, making just 65 runs, and lost their way after the break until the Haddin-Watson recovery.

First-innings century-maker Michael Hussey looked comfortable until he was bowled for 31 after leaving a Harbhajan Singh delivery from around the wicket.

His dismissal followed Michael Clarke's departure for 6 when he drove hard at a wide, slower ball from Ishant Sharma and was caught at cover by Virender Sehwag.

Opener Simon Katich, who took the place of Phil Jaques for this match, assumed the anchor role for the visitors and spent 140 balls crawling to a painstaking 34.

Katich did not hit a four for 97 deliveries and he lofted the next ball from Harbhajan over mid-off for a third boundary to give V.V.S Laxman a catch at silly point.

Harbhajan returned figures of 2-76 while the dangerous Sharma had 2-27 from 12 excellent overs.

Captain Ricky Ponting followed his 123 in the first innings with 17 and fell victim to a vicious, five-over spell from Sharma in the middle session. Sharma hit Ponting on the glove, troubled him with swing and variable bounce, and removed him with a straight ball that was chipped to Laxman at short mid-wicket.

Matthew Hayden was the first to fall after lunch when he was trapped lbw on 13 to a fine inswinger from Khan that left Australia at 21-1.

A worry for India was a right-shoulder injury to captain Anil Kumble, who stayed off the field for most of the middle session.

Kumble, who is 38 on Friday, bowled only seven overs late in the day.

In the morning Khan hit a dogged, unbeaten half-century when India resumed the day on 313-8. The tail-enders frustrated the visitors for 85 minutes before Clarke finally bowled No. 11 Sharma for 6.

Top-scorer Khan brought up his second test half-century from 106 deliveries and was 57 not out when Sharma was dismissed.

Mitchell Johnson was the pick of Australia's bowlers with figures of 4-70, but he was unable to gain a breakthrough on the fourth morning and missed his first five-wicket haul.Watson, playing in his fourth test, also impressed with 3-43 and Clarke captured 2-38.

Khulna Division earn 35-run victory over Sylhet Division

UNB, Dhaka

Hosts Khulna Division made a good start in the four-day Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 10th National Cricket League beating Sylhet Division by 35 runs on the third day on Sunday at the Bir Shrestha Motiur Rahman Stadium in Khulna.

Chasing 291 runs for win, Sylhet Division resumed the 2nd innings Sunday morning with overnight 18 for 2 and were all out for 256 in 79.4 overs despite a brilliant century by national cricketer Rajin Saleh.

Sylhet Division were earlier bundled out for 74 runs in the first innings, while Khulna Division scored 178 runs in the first innings and 187 in the 2nd innings.

After the departure five top order Sylhet batsmen -- Golam Rahman (2), skipper Imtiaz Ahmed (5), Nazmul Hossain (0), Saikat Ali (10) and Mithun (2) -- for 34 runs in 11 overs,

Rajin Saleh played confidently to score a polished 135 runs in 292 minutes off 229 balls that feature eight fours.

Number seven Mohammad Sharifullah, who shared 86 runs in the 6th wicket stand with Rajin Saleh, made 38 off 93 balls that included four fours, while tail-ender Suvashish Roy contributed 33 runs with three fours and two sixes.

Rabiul Islam claimed five wickets for 60 runs in 18.4 overs with three maidens while pacer Ziaur Rahman grabbed four for 63 in 18 overs with four maidens.

Nabil Samad of losing Sylhet Division, who captured eight wickets for 61 runs in the first innings and took five wickets for 73 runs in the 2nd innings, was adjudged man of the match.

In the day's another match at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium, hosts Rajshahi Division resumed the first innings with overnight 162 for 7 to score 215 runs for all in 71.5 overs with lower order Mohammad Shahzada making 40.

In reply, Barisal Division, which scored 273 runs in the first innings, resumed the 2nd innings Sunday morning and scored 149 for 4 in 70 overs to take over all 207 runs lead against the home side when bails were drawn for the third day today (Sunday).

Nasiruddin Faruk (45), Uttam Sarkar (35), Nasir Hossain (30 batting) and skipper Imran Ahmed (17) were the main scorers for Barisal Division.

Alamgir Kabir, Shafaq Al Jabir, Suhrawardi Shuvo and Farhad Hossian took one wicket apiece.

Dhaka Division 210/10 in 1st innings against Chittagong

UNB, Dhaka

After two days of disruption due to wet outfield, the first round four-day match of the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 10th National Cricket League between Dhaka Division and Chittagong Division began Sunday at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium (NOS) at Fatullah.

A five-wicket haul by Mohammad Yunus enabled Chittagong Division to bowl out coin-favoured Dhaka Division for 210 in 72.4 overs in the first innings with No. 7 Nazmul Hossain contributing 45 off 76 balls that featured five fours.

Skipper cum opener Javed Omar came up with the 2nd highest 43 off 108 balls including four boundaries while middle order Marshall Ayub came up with a mediocre 36 off 82 balls coloured with four fours and a six.

Yunus captured five wickets for 59 runs in 26 overs while pacer Tareq Aziz Khan claimed 4-44.

In reply, Chittagong Division made a confident start to their first innings putting up 48 for none in 19 overs when the play was called off for the 3rd day.

Opener Gazi Salahuddin and skipper Nafees Iqbal were at the crease on 26 and 13 runs at stumps.

Brief score:

Dhaka Division 1st innings - 210 for all in 72.4 overs; Nazmul 45, Javed 43, Marshall 36, Mominul 22, extras 30; Yunus 5/59, Tareq 4/44.

Chittagong Division 1st innings - 48 for 0 in 19 overs; Salahuddin not out 26, Nafees not out 13.

Jankovic wins Kremlin Cup title

AP, Moscow

Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Kremlin Cup and her third straight title in as many weeks.

The 23-year-old Serb was coming off back-to-back titles at the China Open and the Porsche Grand Prix in Germany.

It was her fourth title this season and the eighth in her career.She was also runner-up twice this season, losing to Serena Williams in Miami and at the U.S. Open.

The No. 9-ranked Zvonareva could not challenge Jankovic in the first set and was broken twice.

After trading service breaks early in the second, Jankovic took a 3-2 lead with a break in the fifth game, but Zvonareva leveled at 4-4 only to be broken again in the ninth game.

Jankovic served and closed the match on her first match point when Zvonareva returned long.

Jankovic, who beat Zvonareva in her two previous events, said she knew she was going to have to work hard for every point.

"I was really expecting a tough match," Jankovic said. "I was really focused from the start of the match. I went out there aggressive and really played my game and I was really going after the shots.

"Especially the first set I played quite well. I was dominating.

But then the second set my level of tennis went down a little bit and I let her come back into the match. At the end of the second set I focused a little bit and changed the match in my favor."

Jankovic said she had a difficult year, with many injuries early in the season. But after the Olympics, she said she started to work hard.

"I'm quite close to finishing the year as the No. 1 player in the world, so it's really a huge achievement for me," she said.

Jankovic said she is committed to playing in Zurich next week but will then take two weeks off to prepare for the season-ending tournament in Doha.

Jankovic, who was on the top of the WTA Tour rankings for a week in August, took the top ranking from Serena Williams on Monday and will retain it next week because Williams, the runner-up in Moscow last year, pulled out with an injury.

In the men's final, former top-player Marat Safin played fellow Russian, Igor Kunitsyn.

Bangladesh, New Zealand teams reach Chittagong

UNB, Dhaka

The visiting New Zealand team and hosts Bangladesh reached the port city of Chittagong Sunday morning to play the series-deciding ODI and the first test.

After suffering a humiliating 7-wicket defeat in the first match, New Zealand bounced back in style in the ODI series with a thumping 75-run win over the Tigers Saturday.

The crucial 3rd match between the two sides will be held Tuesday (Oct 14) at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium (BSSRAS) amid huge anticipation from the port city crowd to clinch the series over the Black Caps for the first time.

Meanwhile, both teams decided to take rest Sunday.

Before Tuesday's match, the Tigers will have a 2-hour training session Monday from 1pm at the BSSRAS. New Zealand will also practice at the match venue from 2pm.

On completion of the ODI series, the two-match test series will begin with the first test billed for Oct 17-21, also at the BSSRAS.

Both the sides will then return to the capital to play the 2nd test slated for Oct 25-29 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS).

13-member Bangladesh contingent to take part in 1st Asian Beach Games in Bali

UNB, Dhaka

A 13-member Bangladesh contingent will participate in the First Asian Beach Games to be held October 18-26 in Bali, Indonesia.

Bangladesh contingent comprises one chef de mission, two team officials and 10 athletes.

Chef De Mission of Bangladesh contingent M Nazrul Islam leaves here for Bali on Oct 14, while the other members will fly for Bali on Oct 16.

Bangladesh will compete in men's beach kabaddi, men's volleyball and women's volleyball in the 45-nation Asian meet.

Men's Beach Kabaddi: Team - M Ziaur Rahman, Al Mamun, Kamal Hossain, M Sadequl Islam, M Maftun Haque and M Jayed Hossain;

Men's Beach Volleyball: Team - Al Mamun Sheikh and Mohammad Mashiur Rahman;

Women's Beach Volleyball: Team - Farhana Akther and Aleya Khatun.

Officials: Chef De Mission - M. Nazrul Islam, Kabaddi Official - Abdul Jalil, Volleyball Official - Tariqul Anwar Khan.

Meanwhile, members of the Bangladesh contingent will make a courtesy call on BOA secretary general Kutubuddin Ahmed at the BOA conference room today (Monday) at 3 pm.

Argentina end run of draws by beating Uruguay

Reuters, Dhaka

Argentina ended a run of six successive draws by beating neighbours Uruguay 2-1 in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero put Argentina 2-0 ahead within 15 minutes as they threatened to run away with the match.

In a game of ferocious tackling and punctuated by scuffles between players, Uruguay battled their way back into the contest and Diego Lugano pulled one back five minutes before halftime.

National football team go down in warm-up match

bdnews, Dhaka

The national football team suffered a sore 2-0 defeat to the B. League XI in the lone warm-up match on Sunday ahead of this month's Merdeka Cup in Malaysia.

Coach Shafiqul Islam Manik on Sunday picked a 20-member squad for the Merdeka Cup and played his possible eleven against a team that comprised players from B. League clubs, but his boys could hardly impress.

The B. League XI comparatively dominated over the national booters in the first half and took a deserved lead 10 minutes into the second half when Mohammedan's striker Abdul Baten Komol slotted an Abdullah Parvez lob home.

Capitalising on a cross from Johnson, substitute Liton, Brothers Union's medio, sealed the match one minute from time.

Manik played his side with a defensive formation of 5-3-2, but it could hardly put any impact on the match as it seemed the national team was suffering from an additional playmaker in the midfield.

Midfielders Motiur Rahman Munna, Arman Aziz and Pranotosh looked unimpressive to feed the ball to strike duo Jahid Hasan Emily and Mohammad Robin, who had virtually nothing to do.

"It was just a practice match where I wished to test the players' temperament and I had achieved my aim from the match," coach Manik told reporters after the match.

The national football team will leave here for Malaysia early Tuesday and play their first match against Mozambique on Tuesday.

New Pakistan cricket boss unhappy with coach Lawson

Reuters, Karachi

Pakistan's new cricket boss has turned the heat on the team's Australian coach Geoff Lawson, saying he favoured having a home-grown player in charge.

Ejaz Butt, who took over as chief of the Pakistan cricket Board last week, said there were plenty of former Pakistan players capable of coaching the national side.

"I would like to go for someone who has played for Pakistan but we will see what the circumstances are. We have a lot of cricketers we can give opportunity to," Butt told reporters in Lahore on Sunday.

Lawson, a former test bowler, was appointed Pakistan coach last August after the untimely death of Bob Woolmer during the World Cup in Jamaica.

He was given a two-year contract by the board but has since experienced problems with national selectors and officials.

Butt said he was not impressed with the performance of the team over the last year.

"I don't see any improvement. I will definitely be reviewing the performances of the coach, team officials and players," he said.

Lawson told Geo news channel in Toronto, where he is with the Pakistan team for the four-nation Twenty20 tournament, that he had no plans to step aside.

"Why should I quit? I want to complete my contract with the board. I came here to bring about an improvement in the team and I want to continue to do that," Lawson said.

"I am a professional coach and I have nothing to do with the changes in the board. I will brief the chairman on what I have done when the time comes."