The New Nation - Internet Edition

South Africa run chase stuns Aussies

BBC Online, Perth

South Africa completed the second-highest successful run chase in Test history as they made 414-4 to beat Australia in the first Test in Perth.

The tourists began the final day on 227-3, with Jacques Kallis (57) and AB de Villiers at the crease. Mitchell Johnson removed Kallis - his 11th wicket of the match - at 303-4. But de Villiers made a sparkling 106 not out, adding 111 for the fifth wicket with debutant JP Duminy (50 not out) as the Proteas cruised home.

The all-time record Test run chase was West Indies' 418-7 against Australia in Antigua in 2003.

Captain Graeme Smith had laid the foundations for South Africa's victory with his 108 on day four, but he and Hashim Amla (53) had both fallen to Johnson to keep the game in the balance.

Kallis and De Villiers extended their partnership to 124 - with Kallis taking the lead role - before Kallis was caught by Mike Hussey at point soon after Australia had taken the second new ball.

At that stage, the tourists still needed another 111 runs to win with six wickets remaining - giving the Aussies renewed hope of victory.

But although left-arm seamer Johnson sent down more than 34 overs for his 3-98, for match figures of 11-159, Ricky Ponting's side were unable to make another breakthrough.

De Villiers took 179 balls to reach his carefully-compiled hundred, while left-hander Duminy put his first-innings failure behind him to provide the perfect supporting role.

"JP and I have played cricket together from a very young age, we understand each other's games and it just paid off today," de Villiers said after picking up the man-of-the-match award.

Duminy, 24, completed a debut to remember by hitting the winning runs - a three through cover - to reach his half century.

By contrast, Australia's bowling attack looked a shadow of its former self - with Johnson having taken 11 of the 14 South African wickets to fall during the game.

An out-of-sorts Brett Lee finished with match figures of 1-132, while rookie off-spinner Jason Krejza has now conceded more than 100 runs in each of the four Test innings in which he has bowled.

It is the first time Australia has lost the first Test of a home series since their defeat by West Indies in Brisbane in November 1988.

The three-match Test series continues with the traditional Boxing Day Test at Melbourne on 26 December.

Barisal face debacle

Sports Reporter

Barisal Division faced debacle as they were bowled out for 125 in the first innings against Dhaka Division on the first day of their last four-dayer match of the Ispahani Mirzapur Tea National Cricket League at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium on Sunday.

In reply, Dhaka Division were at the stumps at 43 for the loss of three wickets.

Arafat Sunny of Dhaka played the key role in wrecking Barisal innings and finished a superb spell as 24-6-50-7.

Elias Sunny of Dhaka chipped in with two wickets giving away 20 runs while Ashraful Haque took one wicket for 30 runs.

Hannan Sarkar and Rony Talukdar added 30 and 24 runs respectively to the Barisal total.

Later, Samsur Rahman of Dhaka scored 22 off 40 balls.

Arafat Salauddin of Barisal grabbed three wickets at the cost of nine runs.

At the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium, Khulna Division declared their first innings making 255 for the loss of nine wickets on the same day.

Rajshahi Division scored seven for the loss of none at the close of the first day's play.

Opener Nazmus Sadat of Khulna Division hit a fine 59 off 85 balls amid eight strokes beyond the ropes.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sagir Hossain made a painstaking 47 off 112 balls. His 164-minute knock studded with four fours.

Skipper Tushar Imran hit a captain's knock of 44 off 73 balls including six fours.

Sohrawardi Shuvo of Rajshahi harpooned six wickets in the space of 71 runs while Saiful Islam bagged a couple of wickets instead of 61 runs.

At the Sylhet Stadium, Chittagong Division posted 218 for the loss of five wickets against Sylhet Division before the bails were drawn for the first day.

Rezaul Karim of Chittagong hit a sparkle 81 playing 116 deliveries. He sent the ball 15 times through the ropes and one time over the fence.

Masumuddawla remained undefeated with 61 off 125 balls. He hit five fours before the two umpires drew the bails for the first day.

Arman Hossain was the other batsman for Chittagong who shone with the willow making 41 off 106 balls amid seven fours.

Golam Mowla of Sylhet grabbed three wickets for 43 runs while Monir Hossain and Sumon Shaha took one wicket apiece.

Pietersen's century spurs England

Reuters, Mohali

England skipper Kevin Pietersen struck a majestic 15th test century of his test career before India fought back to take two late wickets on the third day of the second and final test on Sunday. Pietersen stroked an aggressive 144 and all rounder Andrew Flintoff a patient 62 before both fell in the last two overs of the day to reduce England to 282 for six, replying to India's first innings 453 all out.

Off spinner Harbhajan Singh trapped Pietersen leg before and Flintoff was caught off bat-pad against leg spinner Amit Mishra in what turned out to be the final delivery of the day.

England were 171 runs behind with nightwatchman James Anderson on one.

Pietersen struck 17 fours and a six in his 201-ball effort spanning over five hours, rescuing England from two for one run in the second over of their innings.

He raised 149 runs for the fifth wicket with Flintoff after adding 103 runs for the third wicket with opener Alastair Cook, who made 50.

Pietersen braved a cracked rib to play forceful shots, included a stunning switch-hit six against off spinner Harbhajan over extra cover. It was his third test century against India, his second in his third game as captain.

He also completed 1,000 test runs in 2008 and became the joint third fastest England player to reach the 4,000-run mark.

Indian new ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma struck in their first two overs to dismiss in-form opener Andrew Strauss (0) and the struggling Ian Bell (1) respectively.

Zaheer then removed the well-set Cook and leg spinner Amit Mishra claimed Paul Collingwood (11) to reduce the tourists to 131 for four during the extended afternoon session.

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir top-scored with 179 and Rahul Dravid hit 136, his 26th test hundred, in the Indian innings.

The hosts won the first test by six wickets.

Farashganj SC force Dhaka Abahani to goalless draw

UNB, Dhaka

Farashganj SC forced Dhaka Abahani to a goalless draw in the opening second phase match of the Citycell 2nd B. League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS) here on Sunday.

Despite the draw, holders Dhaka Abahani maintains solo lead in the league table with 23 points, while Farashganj SC improved their position with 13 points, both playing 11 matches.

Earlier, in the first phase, Dhaka Abahani edged past Farashganj SC by a solitary goal.

In the day's match, Farashganj SC got some scoring chances, but failed to convert any of those into goal.

The old Dhaka outfit got the first scoring chance in the very 10th minute of the match. But Farashganj striker Emeka Lucky's goal-bound header was cleared from the goal line by Abahani striker Emeka Christian Ibe.

Dhaka Abahani got their only scoring chance in the 42nd minute, but Emeka Ibe's header from inside the danger zone off Pranotosh left-wing cross sailed over the cross bar.

Today's match: Brothers Union vs Khulna Abahani (BNS, 4:30 pm).

No play on first day at BKSP

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The first day's play of the lone warm-up match between visiting Sri Lanka and the BCB XI has been called off at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan due to damp conditions following fog and inclement weather.

"After removing the pitch cover around noon, it appeared damp and unlikely to dry up today (Sunday). So the day's play has been called off," said match referee A.S.M.Raquibul Hassan.

The second day's play is scheduled to start at 9:30am on Monday.

Sri Lanka will take on hosts Bangladesh in the first of two Tests from Dec 26 at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, with the second in Chittagong on Jan 3-7.

Rates of ticket for first test announced

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the rates of ticket for the first match of the two-match GrameenPhone test series between hosts Bangladesh and touring Sri Lanka beginning Friday (Dec 26) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur.

Tickets for the first Test in Dhaka will go on sale from Tuesday (Dec 23) at all the designated branches of AB Bank Limited in Dhaka.

Tickets will also be available from ticket booths at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on match days. The ticket counters will open for the public at 8 am on match days.

Rates of daily ticket for first test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at SBNS in Dhaka on December 26-31:

VIP Grand Stand - Tk 500, Club House - Tk 150, Special Enclosure - Tk 100 and Gallery - Tk 50 per person.

Rates of tickets for the 2nd match of the two-match Grameenphone test, Tri-Nation Cup and Grameenphone ODI Series will be announced later.

Amol Roy, Ranjan Ram move into men's singles final

UNB, Dhaka

Amol Roy and Ranjan Ram, both from National Tennis Complex (NTC), moved into the men's singles final of the Popular Pharmaceutical Victory Day Tennis tournament winning their respective semifinals at Ramna National Tennis Complex here on Sunday.

In the semis, Amol Roy (NTC) beat Dipu Lal (Nordic Club) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 while Ranjan Ram (NTC) defeated Alamgir Hossain (Nordic Club) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to reach the final.

Two BKSP players Eco and Ayami advanced to the women's singles final beating their opponents from NTC in the event's semis this afternoon.

In the semis, Eco (BKSP) beat Sathi Sarkar (NTC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 while Ayami (BKSP) outplayed Sarda Alam (NTC) 6-0, 6-1 to move into the final.

In the boys' singles for the 16 years group, Arvind Fernando (International Club) advanced to the final eliminating Hanif Munna (NTC) by 6-0, 6-1 in the semis.

In the boys' singles for 14 years age group, Jamil Bhuiyan (NTC) defeated Sanjeev Fernando (International Club) 6-2, 6-4 while Rustom Ali (NTC) beat Ranjit Passi (NTC) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the event's final.

In the men's doubles, Amol Roy and Ranjan Ram pair of NTC advanced to the semifinals beating Tajmul and Bashir Gazi of Manikganj 6-2, 6-2 while Anwar Hossain (British Club) partnering with Mofazzel (NTC) reached the semis outplaying Monir Hossain (Japanese Club) and Zakir (Uttara Club) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The final match of women's singles and boys singles for 14 years age will be held today (Monday) along with men's doubles semifinals at the same venue.

Malik expects tough series against Sri Lanka

AP, Islamabad

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik thinks Sri Lanka will make a tough opponent as replacement for India, which canceled next month's cricket tour in the wake of the militant rampage in Mumbai.

"We all are disappointed that India is not coming to Pakistan, but Sri Lanka is also a good team," Malik told reporters in the southern port city of Karachi on Friday.

Sri Lanka has agreed to replace India and play three test matches, three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game in Pakistan shortly after finishing the series against Bangladesh on Jan. 16.

"There's a huge interest in both countries when India and Pakistan play against each other but that's not the case now and we are gearing for Sri Lanka," Malik said.

New unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis baffled experienced batsmen of both India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup in Pakistan earlier this year as Sri Lanka successfully defended its title.

"We are going to watch closely the videotapes of how Mendis has thus far bowled in international cricket and then they also have experienced Muttiah Muralitharan," Malik said. "It will be a tough series for us because Sri Lanka has been doing well in international cricket, but we have not played any test cricket this year."

Security concerns of foreign teams have badly hampered Pakistan's opportunities to stage cricket matches this year. Australia refused to tour in March, denying Pakistan at least three matches against the world's top-ranked test side.

"After the Sri Lankan tour I do hope that more teams would come to Pakistan," Malik said.

The Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September was canceled after five teams - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and the West Indies - refused to participate due to security reservations.