Dilshan leads SL charge

Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed his sixth century this year to give Sri Lanka a solid start in the crucial third and final Test against India here on Wednesday.

Dilshan made 109 as Sri Lanka, seeking a win to draw the series 1-1, battled a wicket with turn and bounce to pile up 366-8 by close of the opening day's play at the Brabourne stadium.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews returned unbeaten on a career-best 86 as the tourists grabbed the chance to have first strike for the only time in the series after skipper Kumar Sangakkara called correctly.

India, who won the second Test in Kanpur by an innings and 144 runs after the first match in Ahmedabad ended in a high-scoring draw, will dislodge South Africa as the top-ranked Test side if they win the series 2-0.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picked up four wickets and left-arm slow bowler Pragyan Ojha two as the vintage stadium, hosting a Test after 36 years, laid out a sporting wicket to provide an absorbing day's cricket.

Dilshan, 33, dominated the day with 10 boundaries and two sixes in his 11th career Test century and the second in the series after making 112 at Ahmedabad.

He anchored the innings superbly after a first-wicket stand of 93 in 20 overs with left-handed Tharanga Paranavitana, who made his highest score in the series of 53.

Harbhajan broke through 25 minutes before lunch when he forced Paranavitana to edge a catch to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

India hit back in the afternoon session with three quick wickets as Sri Lanka slumped from the lunch score of 117-1 to 213-4 by tea.

Sangakkara scored 18 when he was caught down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Ojha.

Former skipper Mahela Jayawardene added 59 for the third wicket with Dilshan to lift the tourists to 187-2, when India slammed on the brakes with two wickets in four balls.

Jayawardene (29) hooked Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to fine-leg where Virender Sehwag took a smart catch, before Harbhajan had Thilan Samaraweera caught in the leg-trap for one.

Mathews and Dilshan put Sri Lanka on top again by adding 74 for the fifth wicket when the century-maker fell to a poor decision by umpire Nigel Llong.

The Englishman gave Dilshan caught at short-leg off Harbhajan even as television replays showed the ball go off the batsman's pad to Murali Vijay at forward short-leg.

Prasanna Jayawardene overcame Dilshan's setback by making a fluent 43 with six fours and a six during a sixth-wicket stand of 67 with Mathews.

Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath fell in quick succession, but Muttiah Muralidaran kept Mathews company at close.

Sri Lanka dropped unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis to play a specialist seamer in Kulasekara.

Pakistan's clean sweep

Pakistan overcame a late order flurry from New Zealand to win the second Twenty20 international by seven runs at Dubai Stadium here on Friday, taking the two-match series 2-0.

Teenager Umer Akmal lifted Pakistan to 153-5 before they survived a late charge by Brendon McCullum (47) and Scott Styris (43) to maintain their 100-percent record against New Zealand.

Pakistan, who won the first match by 49 runs here on Thursday, have now won all four Twenty20 matches against the Black Caps.

McCullum and Styris kept New Zealand in the hunt during a 66-run partnership as New Zealand needed 51 off the last five overs and 38 in the last three.

But once big-hitting McCullum holed out to off-spinner Saeed Ajmal in the 19th over, New Zealand's task of making 18 in the last over proved too difficult.

McCullum hit three fours and six off 41 balls.

Paceman Umar Gul dismissed Styris off the last ball to finish with 2-29. Styris's 33-ball knock had two fours and as many sixes.

Styris and McCullum repaired the innings after New Zealand were 66-3 after 11 overs.

BJ Watling (seven), Martin Guptill (17) and Ross Taylor (13) fell in quick succession as Pakistan kept the pressure on from the start.

Pakistan's T20 captain Shahid Afridi said the series win meant a lot after the defeat in the preceding one-day series defeat.

"The Twenty20 victory was the much-needed win for us," said Afridi. "We wanted to bring back smiles on the faces of our fans who were hurt after ODI defeat, so I am very pleased at it."

McCullum, who stood in place of injured Daniel Vettori, said he was satisfied with the performance against the world champions.

"We gave them a run for their money. I knew that even 18 off the last over was possible, but Pakistan is a dangerous side and can do unbelievable things," said McCullum.

Earlier, Pakistan were lifted by Umer Akmal's maiden half-century which kept his team in the hunt for a good total despite paceman Ian Butler's 3-28.

Akmal, whose 49-ball knock included five boundaries and a six, added 45 for the third wicket with Afridi (22) after Pakistan lost the quick wickets of Imran Nazir (19) and Kamran Akmal (26) to Butler.

Butler then dismissed Shoaib Malik (seven) and James Franklin captured Abdul Razzaq (nought) before Umer and Fawad Alam (17 not out) added a quickfire 39 for the fifth wicket.

Nazir and Akmal gave Pakistan a robust start of 40 with Nazir hitting three fours and six, while Kamran hit four boundaries and a six before New Zealand's bowlers slammed on the brakes.

Both teams now head to New Zealand where they play three Tests with the first Test opens in Dunedin from November 25.

Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe

Bangladesh trounced a careless Zimbabwe by four wickets in the third one-day international at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday to wrest a 2-1 advantage in the five-match series.

A blitzkrieg knock from Tamim Iqbal, who smashed ten fours and two sixes in his 72-ball 80, and a well-composed half-century by Mohammad Ashraful, 63 in 91 balls, took the Tigers to 198 for six in 40.4 overs. They were chasing a paltry Zimbabwe total of 196 that was made in 41.1 overs after the hosts had won the toss for the first time in the series.

Indeed it was an easy victory in the end for the home side, who were upset by five wickets in the first match, but that did not happen before a late-innings wobble that delayed the inevitable.

When Tamim and Ashraful and then Ashraful and Rokibul Hasan were building up partnerships, the win appeared closer. But when former captain Ashraful departed at the start of the 33rd over with the victory only 22 runs away, three wickets fell for just 19 runs and it took them another 8.3 overs to score the remaining runs.

But the most interesting part of the third game under lights at Mirpur was the home side's strategy of fielding five spinners at the expense of one pace bowler; a funny decision to many. One may say what's wrong with the plan when they could keep their opponents below the 200-run mark and as it's well established that their southern African opponents are weak against the slow bowlers.

Bangalore v Otago, Group C, Champions League, Bangalore

Kallis powers Bangalore to 188



Bangalore 188/2 (20/20 ov)

Otago 19/2 (3.4/20 ov)

Otago require another 170 runs with 8 wickets and 16.2 overs remaining

Bangladeshi player :Tamim's somersault!

TAMIM IQBALSports Reporter

The season's transfer market for the upcoming Premier Division Cricket League has been stirred up by the high demands of some of the national players. The chief attraction for this year's transfer market was none other than star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who not only signed a record deal with champions Abahani but also paved the way for some of his colleagues to up their price tags.

But it is the dashing opener of the national team Tamim Iqbal who has added new spice to the already heated up market as he has changed his mind suddenly to join the Mohammedan tent from their bitter rivals Abahani which will without a doubt bring the country's two popular clubs on a course of collision. And the reason for this is simple; a better offer from the Motijheel outfit.

Mohammedan may have been a bit late in making their attempt to net the big fish but they have definitely served a huge jolt to their archrivals and made a bold statement that they are all set to put aside their disappointment of the last few seasons.

The move has already caused a sharp reaction in the Abahani tent as they believe that it would totally be unethical for the left-hander to drive back from his commitment.

"It's really shocking. He [Tamim] has verbally confirmed us [Abahani] after we fulfilled his demand, but suddenly he demanded more. What he told us was that he got a better offer and can only continue with Abahani if we fulfil his demand which is unacceptable," fumed Abahani's cricket committee vice-chairman Jalal Yunus.

"There is a question of morality. We think he has set a very bad example for our cricket. Anyway we have already made up for his loss by confirming Imrul Kayes," he added.

Tamim however gave a different explanation regarding the controversy and said that the treatment he got from an Abahani official was unfortunate.

"What is for sure is that I will sign for Mohammedan tomorrow, but I have not changed my mind only because of money," was the confirmation from the left-hander about joining the Motijheel outfit.

"I want to clarify my position regarding the issue. Yes, it's true that verbally I agreed with Abahani. And I was prepared to keep my commitment but during my visit to Malaysia, I got a phone call from a Mohammedan official who offered me one lakh taka more than the amount Abahani had offered.

"What I thought was that there was no point of changing mind for this small sum of money. But they increased the amount and there is a big difference between Tk 15 lakh and 18 lakh. After returning home I contacted an Abahani official and told him politely that I have got a better offer and if you have any scope to increase the amount please do. I can't see what's wrong with that," explained Tamim to this correspondent over phone yesterday.

"We are professional players and there is nothing wrong if someone bargains over his payment. But it was really unfortunate the way one of Abahani's officials reacted in this matter," complained Tamim.

"But I definitely want to play for Abahani in the future because they are my favourite club and I have fond memories of the club when I went there with my uncle [Akram Khan] at my early age," he added.

Sri Lanka v New Zealand 2009 test cricket match 5th day

Sri Lanka 416 (Samaraweera 143, Jayawardene 92, Patel 4-78) and 311 for 5 dec (Sangakkara 109, Jayawardene 96) beat New Zealand 234 (Taylor 81, Herath 3-70, Muralitharan 3-71) and 397 (Vettori 140, Oram 56, Herath 5-139) by 96 runs

Sri Lanka were expected to wrap up victory early on the final day, but had to wait until the 68th over of the day to seal a 2-0 sweep and cement their place at No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings. They had New Zealand six wickets down for 182 at stumps on day four, but were thoroughly frustrated by a century stand between Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram in a cracking morning session. When Tillakaratne Dilshan snapped an excellent 124-run partnership by dismissing Oram two minutes before lunch, it seemed likely that victory was around the corner, but Vettori found an able ally in Iain O'Brien and the pair added 69 in 78 gut-wrenching minutes.

Sri lanka vs New Zealand 2nd test cricket match 3rd day

Test Cricket:

Sri Lanka 416 and 157 for 2 (Sangakkara 64*, Jayawardene 23*) lead New Zealand 234 (Taylor 81, Herath 3-70, Murali 3-71) by 339 runs
Sri Lanka 416 and 157 for 2 (Sangakkara 64*, Jayawardene 23*) lead New Zealand 234 (Taylor 81, Herath

Score Board: *Kumar Sangakkara 64 runes by 90 balls
Mahela Jayawardene 23 runes bt 45 balls
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara hit a second successive half-century as Sri Lanka seized control of the final cricket Test against New Zealand here on Friday.
Sri Lanka, polished by an unbroken 68-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, bolstered their grip on the second Test with a lead of 339 and eight wickets in hand - and two days to go. A torrential downpour at 4.10pm curtailed play on another day of local domination, the tone for which was set in the first session when New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 51 runs to spin.