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ScorecardAnamul Haque helped Dhaka to a lead of 297 with his knock of 118•BCB

Rajshahi Division need another 246 runs on Day 5, with 10 wickets in hand, to take the National Cricket League title. Set 297 for victory by Dhaka Division, Rajshahi went to stumps 51 for no loss, scoring at a healthy 4.78 in the 10.4 overs they got to bat on the penultimate day in Mirpur.Dhaka’s total was built on solid centuries by Anamul Haque and Mehrab Hossain Jr. Resuming on 97 for 3, just 63 ahead, overnight batsmen Mehrab and Mahmudullah added 28 runs before offspinner Farhad Hossain got Mahmudullah to hole out. At that, Anamul, who had retired hurt on Day 3, returned to the crease and built a patient fifth-wicket stand with Mehrab. When left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib had Anamul stumped for 118, the pair had added 166 runs.Thereafter, a bulk of the scoring was done by Mehrab, while his team lost wickets in quick time at the other end. Mehrab departed for 116 and Dhaka lost their last four wickets for 12 runs. Saqlain, who had picked up two wickets late on Day 3, snagged three more, to finish with 5 for 109 off a marathon 46 overs.With a little over a day’s play left, the target of 297 put the game in the balance. Dhaka will hope for the Day 5 pitch to deteriorate considerably, while Rajshahi will want Junaid Siddique to continue where he left off on Friday – he launched the chase with five boundaries, going to stumps 31 not out off just 35 balls.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsS Aravind took three important wickets•AFP

For the second successive match, Rajasthan Royals played on a true surface that did not suit them, and yet again, they were outclassed by a side that was clearly superior in all departments. Their batsmen, used to modest chases on sluggish tracks, were found wanting against a varied Royal Challengers Bangalore attack led by the impressive S Aravind. Their thin bowling resources proved to be expectedly insufficient against the might of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Virat Kohli. Their fielders dropped whatever chances they had of even hoping to scratch at the surface of a comeback.The nine-wicket thumping widened the gap between Rajasthan and the top four teams, took Bangalore to within a win of making the play-offs, and left the home side needing a miracle.The story of the match was encapsulated in the approach of each side’s openers. Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson motored to 73 in 57 deliveries before falling in the space of three deliveries to Aravind. Dilshan and Gayle flew to 68 off 40 and it took a sharp take on the deep midwicket boundary by Ross Taylor to prolong the game.The assault by Dilshan and Gayle left the Jaipur crowd so stunned that noise was conspicuous by its absence for the remainder of the chase. Even Gayle seemed to be lulled into periods of relative inactivity, before enough deliveries found the middle of his bat in another big innings that took him to within 27 runs of claiming the orange cap from Virender Sehwag.Bangalore had already galloped to 38 when Shane Warne dropped Gayle at mid-off, and that was as close as Rajasthan came to making a breakthrough. The first four overs all yielded 10 runs or more, Dilshan and Gayle taking turns to dismantle an attack that had already been sold short by its misfiring batsmen.Setting a stiff target was Rajasthan’s only hope on a flat pitch with a short boundary, but Aravind continued his impressive performance in this IPL, coming back from an expensive beginning with three crucial wickets that foiled the home side’s plans of a late charge after a solid, if unspectacular, start.Dravid and Watson had put on 73 when Aravind dismissed both in three deliveries in the 10th over. He then came back to remove Johan Botha in the 17th over as Rajasthan lost whatever little steam they had managed to build up.Rajasthan look much better when they are chasing a modest total on a tough pitch than when they are trying to set a big target on a batting surface. The way Dravid and Watson batted showed just why that is true. On a pitch that could not have been more different from the slow tracks that Jaipur has seen, crisp shots mostly found the fielders.Dravid hit six boundaries and Watson muscled a couple of sixes but there was always the feeling that they could have gone harder, considering the powerful batting line-up they were up against. Despite being in control throughout, Dravid played out 13 dot balls; Watson outdid him with 17.Watson tried to target Aravind, a mis-hit just beat deep midwicket but the next ball was smacked over the sightscreen. It was in Aravind’s third over that Bangalore wrested control. Watson went hard at a full delivery but only found AB de Villiers – Arun Karthik had replaced him behind the stumps today – on the wide long-off boundary. Two deliveries later, Dravid fell to another soft dismissal, hitting one straight back to Aravind.Ajinkya Rahane carried on from his half-century in the previous game, but Johan Botha took off after reverse-sweeping to point and Rahane had to sacrifice his wicket with a needless run-out. Botha could not do much to make up for his error as Aravind found the outside edge with one that moved away for Arun Karthik to take the chance.At 124 for 4 with three overs to go, Rajasthan needed some frenetic hitting from Ross Taylor and Ashok Menaria, but they fell in successive overs.Against Gayle and Dilshan, 146 was not only inadequate, it set up what became a no-a contest despite Shane Warne trying his best with dipping legbreaks and flat sliders in his last IPL match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Canterbury opening bowler, Lea Tahuhu, 20, has been named in the 14-member New Zealand women’s squad for the quadrangular series in England in June this year. The competition will be played over one-day and Twenty20 formats, with England, India and Australia making up the other three teams.The squad is without regulars Erin Bermingham, Sophie Devine and Sarah Tsukigawa. While Tsukigawa has announced her retirement, Bermingham is out with a shoulder injury and Devine has committed to hockey in her bid for inclusion in the New Zealand team for the London Olympics.The New Zealand women are also scheduled to play three one-day matches against Australia in Brisbane between June 12 and 16. Originally slated to be played in Christchurch, the venue for these matches was shifted following February’s earthquake.Squad: Aimee Watkins (capt.), Amy Satterthwaite (vice-captain), Kelly Anderson, Suzie Bates, Kate Broadmore, Nicola Browne, Lucy Doolan, Frances Mackay, Sara McGlashan, Katey Martin, Liz Perry, Rachel Priest, Sian Ruck, Lea Tahuhu

When Chris Gayle holed out to Shahid Afridi at mid-off in the third over, it summed up the performance of the senior players in the West Indies squad at this World Cup: listless, disinterested and uninspiring.”Our senior players have not performed and I am not especially happy with them,” West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said at the post-match press conference. “Our main batsmen haven’t performed consistently. We need some senior guys who have the hunger and the desire. We need to look at someone like Sachin Tendulkar who is the senior statesman of the Indian team, and goes out and gets runs almost every time.”It seemed that Gibson’s statements were directed at Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, both of whom have disappointed in the tournament. Gayle missed two matches through injury and scored 170 runs in the five innings he played, with 90 of those runs coming from four knocks. The other 80 runs came in one innings against Netherlands, which is where he looked most like the Gayle of old – the one that can take a bowling attack and make it dance to his tune. Sarwan fared worse, totalling 155 runs in seven innings and not crossing the half-century mark once. He looked uncomfortable at the crease and failed to conjure up the shots he once used to.It’s premature to imagine that these two, and some of the other older players like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, will disappear after this tournament, but Gibson was harsh on them and indicated that there could be an overhaul in the near future. He did not go as far as saying they would be wholesale axing, saying that it is “hard to say whether they [the senior players] had played their last game.”He did indicate that he felt growth was urgent and necessary if West Indies are serious about rebuilding, especially because “West Indies cricket for the last 10 years has been pretty much the same and we’ve had the same players.”With their next assignment, a series against Pakistan at home, only a month away, Gibson said that the analysis and change will have to come quickly. “There is not much time until the Pakistan series and there are serious decisions to be made, decisions about players, in that time.” Gibson seems hopeful that some of the younger members of the squad will be able to make those decisions easier for him by building on the intent they have shown here. “This tournament has seen the emergence of some young players and those are the players that we will build our future on.”Ramnaresh Sarwan had a poor World Cup, making 155 runs at 25.83 with no half-centuries•Associated Press

Darren Bravo, who also only had one innings of note, 73 against South Africa, may fit into that mould, as will allrounder Andre Russell and legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who impressed for Guyana before making his debut at the World Cup. Gisbon hopes that a combination of promising new players will be able to complement the more experienced set. “It’s not going to happen just with youngsters. We have to balance between the young guys being able to rely on the senior guys and the senior guys mentoring the young guys.”The winds of change could find themselves blowing through West Indies but one direction they are unlikely to go in is in the way of the captain. Darren Sammy has had calls for his head since he took over and they intensified at this World Cup, because his inclusion in the starting XI meant no place for Russell. Sammy has been a charismatic leader off the field but a relatively inept one on it.Gibson, nonetheless, gave the captain his backing, especially because of the circumstances under which Sammy took over. He was named captain last October, after Gayle was stripped of the captaincy. “The captain didn’t make runs that he was expected to make but I don’t expect to see a change of leadership at all. The decision [to appoint Sammy as captain] was based on decisions other people made. He [Sammy] didn’t set out to be captain, he has been made captain and he is doing his best to lead the team.”

West Indies’ chances at the World Cup have been dealt a huge blow as their allrounder Dwayne Bravo will miss the rest of their campaign after been ruled out for a minimum of four weeks due to a knee injury he picked up in the match against South Africa on Thursday. The West Indies Cricket Board said an MRI scan on Bravo’s left knee had revealed a sprained ligament and torn knee cartilage, and he would return home for further assessment.The board have not yet named a replacement for Bravo, as they are in the process of applying to the ICC to call someone else in. Bravo would have been certain to miss the entire league phase of the tournament and may not have been fully rehabilitated by the knockout stage either, and West Indies have decided to replace him in their fifteen.Bravo sustained the injury while fielding off his own bowling, during his third over in West Indies’ game against South Africa. Attempting to change direction in his follow through and cut off a drive from Graeme Smith, he swivelled awkwardly and immediately fell to the ground, clutching his knee. He was led off the field, and took no further part in that match.West Indies have now lost three players to injury in a week, with opener Adrian Barath and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh also forced to fly home before they had even played their first match. Bravo, though, will be the one West Indies miss the most, as he is the vice-captain of the side and an important ingredient in both their batting line-up and bowling attack.”This is a blow for us. Dwayne is our vice-captain and one of the key members of our team,” West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said. “He has been showing good form with the bat and batted well against South Africa on Thursday. He is also a livewire in the field and a reliable bowler. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope he gets back on the field soon.” Bravo had added a quick 40 before being run out on Thursday.West Indies play their next match against the Netherlands, on Monday at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

Match Facts

January 23, Centurion
Start time 10.00 (8.00 GMT, 13.30 IST)
Virat Kohli could force his way into the World Cup starting XI with his irrepressible form•AFP

Big Picture

The curious case of Virat Kohli keeps getting interesting. Prior to the series his case was distilled into this emotive question: How can you drop him from the playing eleven when he is in such good form? Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir return to take the top three. Yuvraj Singh is the best part-time spinner and can win a game with the bat, Yusuf Pathan’s explosiveness will be vital lower down, and Suresh Raina can potentially get going right from the start and is more suited to the lower order, in Indian conditions, than Kohli.Or so it seemed before this series. With Yusuf clicking in one game and Yuvraj too hitting a fifty, apart from his bowling, the pressure has escalated on Raina. If there is Yusuf and Yuvraj for power hitting, would it better to blood an in-form Kohli ahead of Raina? That’s the thought Kohli will strive to strengthen in this decider and something that Raina will try to kill.The series itself hangs on a knife’s edge. India had just won three random games against South Africa in South Africa before this series and are on verge of something special. For their part, South Africa have hung on, despite threatening to implode in all the games, and pushed the series to a decider. The weather might play spoil sport, though, with the forecast predicting thunderstorms on the match day.South Africa’s World-Cup puzzles too are falling in place. JP Duminy has shown that he has the temperament to lead the lower order, Faf du Plessis hinted at a solid temperament, and Morne Van Wyk, with an accomplished performance in the Twenty20 game, is putting pressure on Colin Ingram. Smith has had a torrid time in the last two games and though he is an established player, a good show at Centurion won’t hurt him. They have been shy to give Imran Tahir any exposure in this series, probably preferring to keep him hidden till the World Cup.Morne Morkel has been simply outstanding in this series, extracting bounce from sluggish tracks in the last two games and indicating he might be a force to reckon with even on traditional slow-and-low subcontinental tracks. The ball to remove Yusuf Pathan – a full length delivery that seamed away at the last instant – in the fourth ODI also showcased that he is just not a hit-the-deck short of length bowler but someone who thinks a lot about his game and has the full repertoire.Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been in rich form though one still has to wait and watch how he performs in the subcontinental conditions. He does have a good off cutter but can he continue to churn out good performances even in the World Cup?

Form guide

South Africa: WLLWW
India: LWWLW

Players to watch out for…

Graeme Smith: He looked a shadow of the man who scored a confident 77 in the second ODI. And it just can’t be put down to the pressure of a brittle lower order as he has struggled to put bat to ball in the last two games. He has stabbed inside the line, groped outside the line, stumbled forward, and has had a horror time. Will he get back to form with a confident knock in the last game?Suresh Raina: The selection sword dangles over him. The pressure is truly on. He got to a start in the third ODI but threw it away with a wild slog against Morne, just as the game entered the final lap. He combusted cheaply in the last match, rushing out too early to be left stranded. Meanwhile, Kohli has been marching from strength to strength. Until now, Raina had the clear upper hand as he was more suited to the lower order and his case only strengthened when you throw in his off breaks into the equation. But he can’t afford any more slip-ups.

Team news

India (probable): 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla/ Ashish Nehra, 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Zaheer KhanSouth Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Morne Van Wyk/ Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Johan Botha, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Wayne Parnell/Robin Peterson, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Stats and trivia

• du Plessis’ 60 in the third ODI made him the first South African batsman to score a half century on debut against India. The previous best was 43 by Adrian Kuiper in 1991.

Quotes

“We have done well with the ball in this series. We have generally fielded well. The intensity has been good. We are excited to go to Pretoria. The teams have been trading blows for two months now and it has been a competitive series”

Andy Flower believes coaches should have more say on international tour itineraries as England come to the end of their three-month stay in Australia before heading almost straight to the subcontinent for the World Cup.For those players and coaches who have been involved since the beginning of the Ashes tour at the end of October it means they’ll spend just three days in the UK until the conclusion of their World Cup campaign. It is a familiar situation for England who have had this back-to-back scheduling of two major events for the last three Ashes-World Cup cycles.Flower is now having to deal with an increasing injury toll as the exertions of the Australia trip take effect which leaves England struggling to have a full-strength squad for the World Cup and he thinks there should be more consultation about tours. “We have very little say,” he said. “Ideally the coach’s thoughts should be sought but in most instances these fixture lists and itineraries are in place way before any information is sought from the coach.”It would be quite sensible to look at how these tours are set up,” he added. “Especially this close to a World Cup, however those are the schedules we are given and we will deal with it.”The positioning of the Ashes and World Cup together for England will be broken after this year. The next Ashes in Australia being staged in 2013-14 to avoid a clash with the 2014-15 50-over event which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand. However, it means three Ashes series in the space of two years with England hosting series in 2013 and 2015.For now, though, Flower is just concentrating on trying to get his squad ready for this World Cup with England aiming to end a shocking run at the last four tournaments. The drawn out nature of the event, with a large group stage before the knockout matches being, gives England a chance to find their feet but Flower wants intensity from the start. “It’s our job to be at our peak as close to the start of the World Cup as possible so that’s what we’ll be aiming for,” he said.One player who has had a huge demand placed on him is the captain, Andrew Strauss, who has only had a short break for the Twenty20 matches since arriving in Australia. He was rested for the Bangladesh tour last year, which brought a mixed reaction, and it was with this exact scenario in mind to try and prevent burnout.Strauss has managed to maintain his form during the one-dayers, hitting 63 at Sydney, and Flower is a huge admirer of what he has achieved despite the heavy series loss. “He’s a rock solid bloke. You guys will see that, we know it from inside our own team and he has a significant effect on the side.”He’s was a huge part of winning the Ashes, he will be a very important part of our World Cup attempt and as you can see during the one-day series he holds himself very strongly given every responsibility and burden that’s on his shoulders. We are lucky to have a guy like that.”

In the top-of- the-table clash between Habib Bank Limited and Water and Power Development Authority, it was HBL who drew first blood, bowling WAPDA out for 239 after putting them in to bat on the first day at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. HBL fast bowler Sarmad Anwar took 4 for 84, while Shoaib Maqsood was the only batsman to get a half-century for WAPDA, scoring 79. Maqsood had put WAPDA in a solid position of 178 for 4 at one stage, before Sarmad ran through the tail and WAPDA lost their last six wickets for 61 runs.Fourteen wickets fell on the first day day at the Gymkhana Ground in Okara, as bottom-of-the-table Multan squandered their advantage against Sialkot. Multan bowled Sialkot out for 227 after putting them in to bat, thanks to fast bowler Abdur Rauf’s five-wicket haul and left-arm spinners Ahmed Raza’s four scalps. But by stumps, they had collapsed to 34 for 4 in response, conceding two wickets to each of Sialkot’s new-ball duo of Waqas Ahmed and Prince Abbas. Sialkot left-arm spinner Nabeel Malik was the only batsman to reach a half-century on the first day, getting 78 off 86 balls.It was another wicket-fest at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, where Islamabad finished the day at 93 for 3, after bundling out Faisalabad for 181. Islamabad seamer Nasrullah Khan finished with figures of 5 for 50 as only three of Faisalabad’s batsmen reached double figures. Opener Qaiser Iqbal and Hasan Mahmood got half-centuries for the home side, getting them to 122 for 2 at one stage, before the middle and lower-order collapsed.Centuries by Umar Amin and Naumanullah put National Bank of Pakistan on top against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. NBP reached 307 for 5 after being put in to bat. It could have even better for them, as they were 268 for 2 at one stage, but part-time offspiner Inam-ul-Haq dismissed Amin and then ZTBL seamer Mohammad Khalil picked up two late wickets. Khalil finished with figures of 4 for 85 and solidified his position at the top of the season’s wicket-takers chart. Naumanullah is still unbeaten on 100.The game between Pakistan International Airlines and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited ended on par after the first day at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad, with PIA reaching 262 for 6 after being put in to bat. Captain Kamran Sajid anchored PIA’s innings, getting 94 not out, but SNGPL managed to get enough wickets at the other end to keep them in the game. The SNGPL bowlers lacked discipline, however, bowling 25 no-balls in the day, which meant extras, with 47, was PIA’s second-highest scorer.Rawalpindi took the advantage in their game against Karachi Blues at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, reducing them to 231 for 9 on the first day. Rawalpindi seamer Rizwan Akbar struck three early blows to reduce the visitors to 14 for 3. Atif Ali’s 62 helped Karachi make a little bit of a recovery, but left-arm spinner Babar Naeem kept pegging away with the wickets. Rizwan finished with figures of 4 for 65 , while Naeem took 3 for 47.

Scorecard
Pakistan captain Khalid Latif led from the front with a half-century to carry his team to victory•AFP

Pakistan won bronze at the Asian Games by thumping Sri Lanka by six wickets in the third-place play-off in Guangzhou. Pakistan captain, Khalid Latif, who is their only player with international experience, made an unbeaten half-century and combined with 19-year-old Bilawal Bhatti, who hadn’t played any Twenty20s before this tournament, for a quick 56-run stand that completed the victory with two overs to spare.”It was important to stay at the wicket till the end,” Latif said after the win, “something I could not do against Afghanistan, but managed it today against a top side like Sri Lanka. Of course we would have wanted to win the gold medal, but at least we will go home with a bronze.”Sri Lanka’s batting has let them down in their previous two matches, but they began confidently on Friday after choosing to bat, with the experienced pair of Nuwan Zoysa and Jeevantha Kulatunga putting on 52. Zoysa, who played 30 Tests for Sri Lanka as a left-arm seamer, has opened the innings for them in the Asian Games, and made a run-a-ball 24, while Kulatunga raced to 31. However, Sri Lanka frittered away the solid beginning as all their other batsmen, barring Dilshan Munaweera (28), made single-digit scores.Sri Lanka kept their hopes of a medal with some regular breakthroughs. Any worries Pakistan had after they slipped to 85 for 4, though, were eased by Latif, who smashed three sixes in an over off legspinner Malinga Bandara. Bhatti finished off the match in style, with a six off Zoysa, which meant Sri Lanka will return empty-handed.Sri Lankan captain Jehan Mubarak dismissed suggestions that his team, with 11 international players in their ranks, took the tournament lightly. “Not at all, we all wanted to win, but I think we did not adapt to the conditions quickly enough,” he said.

Shahzaib Hasan, the 20-year-old Karachi Dolphins opening batsman, and fast bower Wahab Riaz have been added to Pakistan’s one-day and Twenty20 squads for the series against South Africa which starts October 26. The inclusions come after the pair’s outstanding performance in last week’s domestic Twenty20 competition, and swelled the size of Pakistan’s limited-overs squads to an unusually large 17.There have already been several controversies over the team selection for the South Africa tour. When the squad was initially announced earlier this month, no captain was named, and a day later Misbah-ul-Haq was surprisingly put in charge of the Test side. Then, coach Waqar Younis and limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi complained that the selection panel had not consulted them before picking the side.Chief selector Mohsin Khan said the pair was included on the back of their performances in last week’s Faysal Bank domestic Twenty20 competition. “Both Hasan and Riaz were outstanding in the Twenty20 national event so we recommended their names, which were approved by Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt,” Mohsin said.Riaz, a 25-year-old who plays for Lahore Lions, was already in the Test squad, having impressed during the series against England, with a five-wicket haul on debut at The Oval. He was the best bowler in the domestic T20 event, helping Lahore to the title with his ten wickets at an average of 7.70 and a miserly economy-rate of 4.12. He was in the Twenty20 side against England as well, but hasn’t played ODIs since June 2008.Shahzaib also had a superb Faysal Bank T-20, topping the run charts with 281 in four matches, including a hundred and two half-centuries, at a strike-rate of 169.27 to steer Karachi to the finals. He first came into the spotlight during Pakistan’s successful World Twenty20 campaign in 2009 but has struggled to cement his place.Pakistan are currently having a week-long training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and are scheduled to leave for the UAE on October 24.