Bangladesh beat Holland in a rain affected group B match at theMoratuwa De Soysa Stadium in Colombo. In reply to Holland’s 137,Bangladesh were 111 for 5 before rain forced the players off the fieldafter 24.5 overs. When play resumed, Bangladesh were set a revisedtarget of 118 in no more than 39 overs, 11 overs being lost torain. They needed just five balls to complete the win, no furtherwickets being lost. Bangladesh narrowly miss out on qualifying for theSuper League, finshing third in the Group behind India and NewZealand.At the outset there was the very real possibility that Bangladeshcould qualify. They knew what they must do – simply win and win wellin a bid to improve on their run rate. Hopes then rested squarely onthe Indians beating New Zealand in Galle, the second qualifier thenbeing decided on run rate. All then to play for.The game began with a flourish. Roaring in from the Press Box end inbright sunshine, Bangladesh left arm seamer Bikash Ranjan Das met withimmediate success – Postma prodding half forward to the first ball ofthe day, out caught with the faintest of edges to the keeper. Bikashbroke the backbone of Holland’s order. Bakas, Nawaz and Van Ierschotall went cheaply. At 17 for 4, Bangladesh were in total command.The new batsmen, Van Bunge and De Rooy, needed to dig themselves inand consolidate. Some inexperienced cricket ensued by both teams. Assoon as one shot was played over the top, the captain of Bangladeshdecided to spread the field, at one stage employing five fielders onthe boundary, just when the should have been applying thepressure. The batsmen were afforded the freedom to work the ball intothe gaps for one and twos. Instead they chose the more attackingoption, entirely unconvincing in their strokeplay against the legspinners and appearing to play into Bangladesh’s hands.Van Bunge (24)and De Rooy (26) shared in a suicidal fifth wicket standof 47. Hussain eventually removed both, Van Bunge leg before wicket,De Rooy caught in the covers. The final total of 137 in the 47th overowed much to the last wicket partnership of 25 and as many as 42extras. It was an abject display of batting. Bikash Ranjan Dasreturned excellent figures of 4 for 7 in his full quota.The Bangladesh innings got off to a flying start, 14 runs coming in awayward first over by Tewarie. Left hander Haqub proved theirintentions. He dashed to 20 before trying to make room for himself andskying a simple catch to point, the score on 59 for 2, runs beingscored at a healthy five an over on an increasingly unfriendlytrack. Disciplined bowling, particularly from Klaus Kout kept Hollandin the game. Two quick wickets of Sarker and Salim in consecutiveovers, buoyed the fielding side, the Bangladesh middle ordersacrificing their wickets in the search for quick runs. Then the raincame with the score on 111 for 5 in 24.5 overs and with it wentBangladesh’s chances of qualifying for the Super League. Eleven overswere lost according to Duckworth/Lewis and when play resumed,Bangladesh were set a revised total of 118. Four deliveries later thetarget was reached, Bangladesh finshing on 119 for 5.Bangladesh came into this match with a net run rate of 2.44. WithDuckworth/Lewis into effect here, Bangladesh could not improve thatrate. New Zealand were beaten by India in Galle, a 28-run defeat notsignificant enough for Bangladesh to advance. Equal on three pointseach, New Zealand qualify with a superior run rate. The rain Godsreversed the fortunes in the end.Bangladesh, along with Holland, two rapidly developing cricketnations, must now look to making a strong challenge in the Platecompetition. Talking to CricInfo, an upbeat Bangladesh coach Dipu RoyChowdury praised the side’s performance and looked forward to thefuture. “This was a win we very badly needed. We have to mould ourside. We played badly against India in a way that did not describe thetalents we have. Today I can say we do have the talent and I amconfident we can go and win the Plate.”

England warmed up for Saturday’s NatWest Series final against Zimbabwe bynarrowly losing a thrilling contest to the West Indies by just 3 runs – AlecStewart remaining not out on exactly 100.Having restricted the visitors to 195-9 from their 50 overs England wereexpecting to pick up their fourth straight win of the competition.Somerset’s Marcus Trescothick began in the same confident manner which hasaccompanied his entry into the international fold, driving Reon King throughthe covers off the first ball of the innings. A second boundary in the overand another in Mervyn Dillon’s first over (courtesy of a Franklyn Rosemisfield) immediately put the West Indies on the back foot but in the thirdover they came close to dismissing Alec Stewart.A legside ball from King was flicked at by Stewart and wicketkeeper RidleyJacobs, diving to his left, claimed the catch. Umpires Kitchen andLeadbeater conferred and referred the decision to the replay booth to see ifthe ball had carried. A lengthy delay occurred before the verdict was givenin favour of the batsman.Runs flow in the sunshineThe next over, the fourth, was bowled by Dillon to Stewart, and provided thegame’s first maiden but the flow of runs wasn’t interrupted for long asEngland reach 38 without loss by the 8th over. The sun-drenched crowd thenkept themselves amused with the ‘Mexican Wave’ whilst Stewart greeted Rose’sintroduction into the attack with pulls for 2 and 4.Trescothick had been kept fairly quiet for a while and when King gave himroom outside the off stump his frustration brought a rash stroke and hisdownfall – Jacobs taking a routine catch behind the stumps. The left handerhad faced 36 balls for his 23 and hit five fours and he and Stewart had puton 46 for the first wicket.As in the last two matches Andrew Flintoff appeared at no. 3 in the Englandorder. Confidently off the mark first ball, he too perished to theJacobs/King combination after playing a loose slash. The West Indies sensedan opening and this intensified when Graeme Hick was dismissed first ball,with an inside edge onto his off stump. Reon King had taken 3-2 in eightballs and reduced England to 49-3 – Graham Thorpe successfully negotiatedthe hat-trick delivery, pushing it to cover.Accuracy of Rose’s throwStewart’s pre-delivery routine of twirling the bat around now involves atouch of the helmet with his right glove but his batting certainly remainedorthodox as he looked to add to the century he hit at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Once the 15 over fielding restrictions had been lifted Jimmy Adams turned tohis leg spinner Nagamootoo and was rewarded in his first over. Thorpehesitated when turning for a second run and the accuracy of Rose’s throwfrom the deep proved fatal.England’s plight worsened when Hussain only made 5 before edging Nagamootooto Jacobs and the West Indies celebrated when they thought they’d got CraigWhite in a similar fashion but umpire Leadbeater was unmoved.Stewart moved on to his half century, coming off 86 balls, with 7x4s and thetotal passed 100 shortly afterwards, coming in the 30th over.Stewart and White put on 63 for the 6th wicket and it looked to havestabilised the England cause but the introduction of Adams resulted inanother run out and the departure of White for 19. Ricardo Powell’s throwfrom deep backward point found him inches short of his crease. England stillneeded 58 with just 4 wickets left.Run a ball rate requiredAdams switched his bowlers around. With the run rate rising to almost a runa ball England were grateful for Stewart’s ability to rotate the strike andto punish bad balls.33 were needed from 36 balls when Ealham pulled Rose for four and thatlooked to have confirmed England’s victory charge but then the Kentall-rounder seemed to throw his wicket away, hoiking across the line andoffering a simple chance to Chris Gayle.Home hero Paul Franks made his way to the wicket with England needed 26 towin from 31 deliveries and he scored his first run for his country bypushing Nagamootoo to long on. Stewart reached 89 to become the firstbatsman in the tournament to reach 300 runs.An on-driven boundary from the bowling of King took the Surrey player to 98,leaving 12 to win from 3 overs. Stewart’s second successive one-day centuryarrived in the 49th over – from the 146th delivery he’d faced, having hiteleven 4’s. This was his 4th one-day hundred.Nevertheless the West Indies took the match into the final over. Englandneeding 5 to win had Franks on strike, to face the spin of Chris Gayle. Asthe two batsmen tried to scamper a leg bye from the first ball Nagamootooshied at the bowlers end and a direct hit ran out Franks for 4. The plus forEngland was that Stewart had regained the strike but he could only muster aleg bye from the next ball. Darren Gough had 4 balls to score 4 runs but heplayed all around a full toss and was bowled first ball.Alan Mullally’s batting pedigree is well known and Chris Gayle was able tosnare him lbw from the penultimate delivery to leave the West Indies victorsby 3 runs. Alec Stewart remained undefeated on exactly 100. Gayle hadfinished with 2-21 but the pick of the bowlers was King with 3-30.Earlier the West Indies’ innings had closed on 195-9 with Chris Gayle topscoring with 37 – Jimmy Adams made 36. Craig White led the wicket-takerswith 3-35, whilst there were 2 wickets apiece for Darren Gough and MarkEalham.

The North Zone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Paddal Ground in Mandifeaturing Himachal Pradesh and Haryana which proved to be a highscoring affair ended in a draw on the final day on Monday. Haryana whoamassed 457 in their first innings took home five points due to theirfirst innings lead while Himachal Pradesh had to be contented withthree.Himachal Pradesh who were 231 for 4 went on to score 366, giving a 91run lead for the visitors. Resuming from where they left off theprevoius evening Amit Sharma (82) lost his overnight partner ChetanKumar (8) with the score at 253. Then Amit himself fell at 260 givingAmit Mishra his fifth wicket of the innings. Then Sangram Singh (50 notout) in the company of the tail enders helped the total to 366. AmitMishra was the most successful bowler for HP with figures of 6 for138.Haryana in their second innings received just 19 overs and were helpedalong to 62 with openers Ajay Ratra (36) and Ishan Ganda (23)remaining un beaten.

Baroda qualified for the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy after drawing theirfinal West Zone league match against Gujarat at the Sardar Patel (Gujarat)Stadium in Motera on January 1. The five points that accrued from the firstinnings lead took Baroda’s tally to 19, close on the heels of Mumbai (21) andMaharashtra (20).Resuming on the last day at 343/6 in reply to Gujarat’s 298, Baroda lost twomore wickets before skipper Nayan Mongia closed shutters after lunch at 488.Rakesh Patel was the first to depart, falling to his namesake and fellow seamer,L Patel for 27. He was replaced by another Patel, the offspinner Umang, whoadded 66 for the eighth wicket with Mongia. After Mongia was dismissed for 80(132 balls, eight fours), Patel and Zaheer Khan proceeded to put together anenterprising stand of 48 in just over nine overs before the declaration came.Gujarat limped to 114/4 from 54 overs in their second knock. Zaheer Khan trappedboth openers leg before in a six over spell to take his match haul to six andUmang Patel chipped in with the other two scalps. The hosts, having needed anoutright victory from this game to qualify, collected three points from the drawto take fourth spot in the group with 14 points, ahead of Saurashtra whofinished at the bottom with six points.

Jammu and Kashmir played host to Haryana at MulanaAzad Stadium, Jammu, in the North Zone Under-22Tournament. The match meandered to a draw onFriday.On Wednesday J & K won the toss and asked Haryanato bat first. Half centuries from Anuj Sharma (66)and Ashok Kumar (52) helped Haryana to 218 in 90.4overs in their first innings. J & K openingbowlers Sanjay Sharma (5/38) and Abid Salam (3/38)did all the damage. Despite a brilliant century of104 by Vikrant Taggar (4 sixes and 13 fours) J & Kfinished at 202 in 79.3 overs. Deepan Sen had thedream figures of 37-18-53-7. Haryana were 174/7 atthe close of play on the last day. Maninder Bolaand Rajan Gupta made 54 each in the Haryana secondinnings. Again the J & K duo of Abid Salam (4/37)and Sanjay Sharma (3/38) were the pick of thebowlers. Haryana took home five points as J & Khad to be satisfied with three.

The troublesome opening position is once more throwing up a few tantrums onthe eve of the second Test at Harare. Sadagoppan Ramesh’s position has beenupset due to a string of ordinary performances and a back ailment which hascropped up with an uncanny sense of timing. A fit Ramesh would indubitablyhave been India’s best candidate for the job. It is a little surprisingthat an opening stand of 71 in the Indian run chase at Bulawayo does notget sufficient consideration in the argument over Ramesh’s Test place. Thebottomline is the partnership and not the individual scores of the twobatsmen and indeed there have been few numerically superior opening standsby Indian pairs on tour in the last few years.To get to the last century opening stand in an away Test, one has to goback to Hamilton in 1993/94 when Sidhu and Mongia notched up 102. Theeffort by Messrs. Ramesh and Das does not compare unfavourably althoughthey had a fortuitous break when Das was given not out on nought aftergloving a catch down the leg side off Brighton Watambwa. Zimbabwe’s bowlingwas badly defanged but an early wicket would have still caused a flutter inthe Indian camp, given the devils from the past over chasing low fourth inningsscores. In the end, Ramesh’s back problem kept him out of contention,foisting another interim arrangement, something whichthe team seems to delight in. Hemang Badani is the latest appointee and goodluck to him.There is a causal relationship between the success of the opening pair andsuccess of the team; in the last 15 years, India has lost only one Test inwhich there has been a century stand for the first wicket. Opening is aspecialist job, yet the refusal to recognise that reality cannot beencouraging. The stark indifference is best symbolised by the lack ofeffort to groom another candidate who can step into the breach in caseinjury or poor form renders either of the present incumbents a non-starter.It cannot be true that Ramesh and Das are so far ahead of the competition.Akash Chopra, Gagan Khoda, Satyajit Parab and Jai P Yadav all hadsuccessful domestic seasons. Also waiting in the wings is 19-year-oldVinayak Ramesh Mane whose uncanny resemblance to another Mumbaikar whosemiddle name he shares is fast making him the hottest contender for the position.But a third opener was conspicuously absent from the preparatory camp inBangalore before the Zimbabwe tour. The reason trotted out that Ramesh andDas were expected to play both Tests in Zimbabwe was ludicrous to say theleast. The presence of Laxman, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid at Nos. 3-6did not after all prevent the selectors from naming a flotilla of middleorder batsmen amongst the probables.It hardly mattered if the places in the touring party were booked; theopportunity was there to expose a youngster to the methods of the new coachand to just imbibe the whole experience of being in the company of thenational team and it went abegging. Nor was the oversight a one-off. Nothird opener was selected for the gruelling camp in Chennai before theAustralian tour in February either, a fact that chairman of selectorsChandu Borde was actually unaware of. It beggars belief but Borde blithelyproclaimed at an impromptu press conference that the camp had a reserveopener. Of course he was unable to name the gentleman in question.

For some time now, there has been talk of a nexus between theunderworld, the bookies and some cricketers which has been at thecentre of the match fixing scandal. Even the Condon report mentionedit and added that because of this nexus, cricketers were living in anatmosphere of fear and uncertainty and were not easily forthcomingwith information.Now, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the nexus, hasindicated that Dubai and Pakistan based underworld gangs were runningdedicated groups of operators to concentrate on the `lucrativebusiness’ of betting and match-fixing in international cricket. TheCBI began probing the nexus between bookies and the underworld mafiato find out how deep the criminal section has penetrated into thegame.Information about the formation of such groups emerged as part ofvital clues collected by the CBI on the modus operandi of theunderworld with regard to the murky dealings in cricket. The CBI hasbeen working towards exposing the underworld’s involvement in cricketever since it became apparent.CBI sources recently said that the investigation into the matter,which started soon after the submission of its report on betting andmatch-fixing in Indian cricket in November last year, was progressingat a good pace and they had gathered many vital clues about the case.According to indications, the gangs were closer to cricketers,administrators and officials in the Indian sub-continent. The CBI hasalso collected a lot of information about the alleged role of a numberof cricketers, administrators and officials in the murky business.While the agency has so far refused to reveal details as, according tothem, it might hamper investigations, it has confirmed that they haveinformation about their close links with the underworld operators andwould question them at an opportune time.The country’s premier investigating agency is also considering takingactive help from the Delhi Police and the Mumbai Police to get to thebottom of the way the underworld operated. The CBI has alreadycontacted a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates,Dubai and Singapore and sought help in providing inputs about thepossible role of the underworld in tournaments held there.The CBI decided to probe the matter in the wake of reports of risinginterest of the underworld in cricket in India. Even though the nexushad been unearthed during the CBI’s probe into the match-fixingscandal, the dimensions at that time were yet to be fully established.But now the probe into this nexus and its bearing on national securityis being conducted vigorously both within India and abroad.The agency had, in its report on match-fixing released in Novemberlast year, warned that if concrete steps were not taken immediately,the underworld could take overall control of the betting racket.Negligence of the police and other authorities in allowing "wageringto turn into an organised racket, particularly with the involvement ofthe underworld mafia", was cited by the CBI as reason for the growthof the mafia’s dealings within the game.The possible implication of the underworld in betting in Indiancricket is seen in the statements of former Indian captain MdAzharuddin and the Indian team’s former physio Ali Irani who hadindicated the involvement of mafia dons.In the testimonies of Azharuddin and Irani, the names of mafia donsAnees Ibrahim, Abu Salem and Sharad Shetty have found mention. The CBIreport said Azhar during his questioning had stated that “Abu Salemhad rung him up on a couple of occasions to fix matches but he hadrefused.”According to the CBI, the fact that a “few bookies” had links with theunderworld has been fairly established during the initialinvestigation. The CBI now seems to be casting its net far and wide toget to the bottom of the nexus between the underworld, bookies,cricketers and the game’s administrators.It is a disturbing thought that more than a year after the matchfixing scandal broke, and several probes have been conducted, theevidence gathered could well be in the words of Sir Paul Condon, "thetip of the iceberg." Former England captain Ian Botham has alsospoken in much the same terms and has now even expressed the fear thatsomeone within the game could be killed. He is of the view thatplayers caught in the scandal were afraid to blow the whistle on thoseseemingly responsible for offering money to under perform for fear ofviolent reprisals, again something that Condon hinted in his report.Clearly the fight against match fixing is far from over despite allthe efforts put in so far.

Yorkshire’s new bowling sensation Steven Kirby blasted out six Leicestershire batsmen at Headingley as his former county were dismissed for only 174 after the CricInfo Championship leaders had piled up 500 in their first innings.Kirby, who played for Leicestershire Seconds before being released, took seven for 50 on his Yorkshire debut in their last home match after replacing Matthew Hoggard in the middle of the Kent game.He was in the same dynamic mood again as he sent back Leicestershire’s first three batsmen in his opening spell and later returned to wreak more havoc in two further stints.Darren Maddy was the first of Kirby’s victims when he was caught behind, Ben Smith was lbw in his next over and Dan Marsh soon had his middle stump ripped out.Opener Iain Sutcliffe survived Kirby’s initial burst but became his fourth scalp when he returned to have the left-hander caught behind and Jon Dakin and Phil DeFreitas followed in consecutive overs later on.Kirby had still not finished his heroics, however, because he then took a good catch on the third man boundary off Chris Silverwood to send back Aftab Habib who was on his second visit to the crease after earlier retiring hurt when struck painfully on the left thumb.Yorkshire had resumed the second day on 299 for three and their batting was dominated by Darren Lehmann who became the third centurion of the innings, Matthew Wood and Michael Lumb achieving three figures the previous day.It was the first time that three Yorkshire batsmen had hit centuries in the same Championship innings since the match against Gloucestershire at Bristol in 1975 when the batsmen concerned were Michael Lumb’s father, Richard, Geoff Boycott and John Hampshire.Lehmann finally departed for 104 off 133 balls with 13 fours, leaving Championship debutant Richard Dawson to entertain the crowd with some spectacular hitting near the end of the innings when he thrashed DeFreitas for 21 in one over, including two sixes off consecutive balls. Dawson was last out for 37 from 41 deliveries.Leicestershire trail by 326 on the first innings and Yorkshire look in excellent shape to go on to win their fifth match of the season and extend their lead still further at the top of the Division One table.

Somerset Seconds lost their friendly match against M.C.C. Young Cricketers at Clevedon by 135 runs.After losing the whole of Thursday to the rain M.C.C. declared at 435 for 6. When Somerset batted they scored 158 for 5 before declaring at twenty past two. Pete Trego made an unbeaten 67, and Jason Kerr 30.Batting for a second time the M.C.C. raced to 31 for 2 off 3.3 overs before declaring.Needing 308 to win Somerset were bowled out for 173 in 39.2 overs, of which James Knott made 42 and Ian Jones 32. For the Young Cricketers A.A. Duncan took 5 for 36, and N.E.L. Gunter 4 for 48.Somerset Seconds travel to Scarborough on Monday to take on Yorkshire Seconds in the semi-final of the one-day competition.

Sri Lanka won the first game of the Coca-Cola Cup against New Zealand by 16runs, but captain Sanath Jayasuriya admitted afterwards that he was notentirely happy with his team’s performance, warning them that they hadto play better if they are to beat India on Sunday.”It was a good performance and we had to fight hard to win this game in theend, but I personally feel that we did not put enough runs on the board andwas disappointed by the middle-order collapse,” he said”We wanted 240-245, but in the end we were lucky to get 220,” he said.Jayasuriya won the man-of-the-match award for his 80 runs, but it was anunusually cautious innings by the captain. He revealed in his CricInfocolumn today that the captaincy had changed his attitude to batting andtoday he reined himself in.”When we lost a few wickets after a good start I knew that being the seniorpartner I had to stay at the wicket and play a long innings for the team,”he said.He attributed the shaky middle-order performance to some rustiness: “We havenot played for two months and are just getting used to international cricketagain – I hope the batsmen can come back in the next few games and playbetter.”Sri Lanka played an extra seamer in conditions tailor-made for the spinners,but Jayasuriya defended the team’s policy: “We are trying the fast-bowlingall-rounder policy out. Sometimes it may not work out, but we need somebowlers who can bat.”India represents an entirely different challenge on Sunday and Jayasuriyabelieves the team have to raise their game: “We haven’t decided the team yetfor the Indian game, but we know that it is going to be very tough and wehave to play better than this.”Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, didn’t hide his disappointmentafterwards.”We missed an opportunity to win today after a very good effort in thefield,” he said”I was pleased to have restricted them to 220. It was a very good example ofhow you can slow the scoring rate by taking wickets. Considering the healthyposition they got themselves into, I was very happy.”The 25 extras though, in a low-scoring game, proved to be very important.”He was unsure as to why the team had been docked one over because of a slowover rate by match referee Cammie Smith.”That was pretty frustrating,” he admitted. “We pored over the rules andthere are clearly different interpretations of them.”The Black Caps started positively, despite the loss of both openers withinthe first seven balls. Fleming explained why: “We saw their seamers as anopportunity to get a good strike rate. We knew the spinners would be toughlater on and figured that a good start would allow us to sit on thespinners.”Unfortunately we lost one or two wickets too many in those early overs andhad a lot of work to do on playing the spinners.”The Black Caps have had very little match preparation for this tournament,but Fleming refused to make excuses: “Today’s performance is a line in thesand, but it’s not acceptable. We will be back in the nets tomorrow and willbe working hard.”