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Australia 254 for 7 (Ponting 101, Bevan 57) beat Bangladesh 142 (Kapali 49; Harvey 4-16) by 112 runs
Scorecard

Ponting leads from the front with one more ODI century

Australia wrapped up the one-day series against Bangladesh 3-0, as expected, beating them by 112 runs at Darwin’s Marrara Oval. Bangladesh fought lustily to start with, though, reducing Australia to 114 for 4 after they had won the toss and opted to bat, picking up three middle-order wickets for two runs at one stage. Ricky Ponting came to the rescue with his fourth ODI century of the year, and his 127-run stand with Michael Bevan was instrumental in Australia reaching 254 for 7. Bangladesh’s batsmen then duly wilted, though Alok Kapali contributed a doughty 49.Bangladesh made a cautious start but stumbled every time they tried to accelerate the scoring. Both openers, Javed Omar (16) and Hannan Sarkar (1), were done in by lack of footwork, and were out leg-before. Jason Gillespie was magnificently parsimonious early on, giving away just two runs in his first seven overs. Bangladesh were crawling, and something had to give.Both Habibul Bashar (2) and Mohammad Ashraful (4) were out charging the bowlers in an attempt to up the run-rate, then Tushar Imran was run out for 1. A sixth-wicket partnership of 66 between Kapali and Sanwar Hossain (27) took Bangladesh past 100, but both were eventually out to Brad Hogg, deceived by his guile into giving simple return catches. The tailenders attempted valiantly to last the 50 overs, but failed.Earlier, Ponting had dominated the Australian innings, rescuing it from their only slippery moment of the series. Bevan and Ponting added 127 at a rate of over six an over, efficiently wiping out any chance Bangladesh might have had of restricting Australia to a gettable total.Mohammad Rafique, who picked up the wickets of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden for just 31 runs, bowled particularly well, as did Mashrafe Mortaza, who bowled at the business end of the innings to finish with 2 for 41. Bangladesh showed spirit; but in the end, they weren’t anywhere near good enough.

Pritam Gandhe, bowling his off-breaks with vicious effect, picked sixwickets as Uttar Pradesh collapsed in their first innings againstVidarbha on Day One of their Ranji Trophy league match at Kanpur.Aside from Uttar Pradesh skipper Gyanendra Pandey, who made 52, noneof the batsmen could make sizeable scores or put up match-winningpartnerships. Gandhe capitalised on this, returning innings figures of27.1-7-55-6.Replying to their rivals’ score of 210, Vidarbha lost opener VivekNaidu before reaching 14/1 by the close of play.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said the killing of an Italian national in Dhaka on Monday could seal the fate of the Bangladesh-Australia Test series, officially due to begin next week. However, he also said he believed that the security assurance – including a four-layered cover – given to Cricket Australia’s security team by the highest level of the Bangladesh government in their meetings over the past two days should be sufficient for a touring team.Cricket Australia, Hassan said, is likely to inform the BCB of its decision on the tour in the next couple of days.While it is quite rare for a foreign national to be a target of such an attack in Dhaka, the timing of the incident will not help matters related to the tour. The team’s departure was delayed after the Australia government issued a travel alert last Friday.”The situation is now different after the death of the Italian national,” Hassan told reporters at his residence in Dhaka on Tuesday. “The UK and US governments have also given out alerts. This is a very rare incident in Bangladesh but one has to understand the difference between this and a cricket team that is given blanket security.”Hassan said that the specific threat did not relate to the touring team but to an annual event held by Australian expatriates in Dhaka. “Every year on October 2, Australians living here hold a private party in a hotel. They had information related specifically to that programme.”He also spoke on the meetings between the two sides. “In the space of a day and a half we took them to the highest level of our security and intelligence agencies, the home minister, as well as the prime minister’s security advisor,” Hassan said. “Everyone reassured them that there won’t be any trouble. We will give them four-layered security.”

Brazilian outlet UOL have provided a fresh update on Barcelona’s attempts to sign Leeds United star Raphinha this summer.

The Lowdown: Second bid for Raphinha…

Raphinha has been heavily linked with a move to the Nou Camp following his fine campaign in 2021/22, with the 25-year-old the top of the charts at Elland Road for goals, assists and chances created. [BBC]

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According to Spanish outlet Sport, Barcelona are readying a second bid worth an initial €40m (£33.9m) with various add-ons.

The Whites star will be available for just €25m (£20.9m) in the summer should the club suffer relegation, with Barcelona fully aware of that potential release clause.

The Latest: Deco jets out

UOL columnist Bruno Andrade dropped an update on Raphinha on Monday afternoon, revealing that his agent, Deco, flew out to Barcelona over the weekend to progress discussions.

They added that the former Portugal midfielder was expected for talks on Tuesday as they look to thrash out a possible contract with the Catalan giants until June 2027.

The Verdict: Leeds hold the cards…

Leeds aren’t expected to enter talks with Barcelona over a possible deal until the summer due to their Premier League position.

Jesse Marsch’s side have picked up seven crucial points in their last three games, leaving them eight clear of the relegation zone. All their focus will be on guaranteeing a third successive season of Premier League football, which could also give them control over a possible exit for Raphinha.

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They will be able to demand way more than the £20.9m relegation release clause if they stay up, and a possible big-money fee that they may receive could fund plenty of summer arrivals ahead of Marsch’s first season in charge at Elland Road.

In other news: ‘Bad news from Elland Road…’ – Big Leeds injury update emerges on Joe Gelhardt

Bermuda batsman Lionel Cann has been sent home from the tour of Africa and the Middle East after the Bermuda Cricket Board chose to increase his suspension for showing dissent when he was given out lbw against Kenya on Saturday.Cann took his time leaving the crease after being given out for a golden duck then hit a trash can with his bat as he left the field. The ICC has already dealt with the offence – handing him a two-match suspension from one-day-internationals after finding him guilty of showing “serious dissent at an umpire’s decision”. That ruling had meant Cann would have been eligible for the two four-day Intercontinental Cup games against Kenya and the UAE.But the BCB announced that they had upped his suspension. In a short statement the executive voard announced its decision that Cann should play no further part in the tour and revealed it was making arrangements for him to fly home as soon as possible.BCB president, Reginald Pearman said: “I am particularly disappointed with Lionel’s reaction to his being given out as he is an experienced and senior player. Lionel has a vast amount of international experience, including the recent World Cup, and he understands exactly what is expected of a player at this level. This tour has already had some very positive performances from a number of our younger players as we continue our preparation for the World Cup Qualifier in Dubai in 2009. We expect that our senior players will lead by example, particularly in professionalism and behavioral matters.”The board considered reports from ICC relating to the two-match suspension imposed by match referee Mike Procter. It also reviewed reports obtained from tour management during their deliberations.Cann, who had been in good form so far on the tour and had targeted a century in one of the four-day games, said in his Bermuda Sun column this week – before the BCB ban was handed down – “I admit I was wrong, I went up for it, I got banned and now I have to put it behind me. Basically I got a bad decision and I exploded. As I was walking off the field I hit the trash can with my bat. It was just out of frustration. I hit my kit-bag, too, when I got back in the dressing room, but it was the trash can that got me in trouble because everybody could see.”My big fear was that I would be banned for the rest of the tour, but my ban is for ODIs so I am eligible to play in the four-day games. I have to put it behind me and try and do a good job against Kenya this weekend.”Now, it seems, he will not get the opportunity to do that. And with Stephen Outerbridge also winging his way back to England after suffering a knee injury Bermuda are down to the bare bones in the batting department.This article first appeared in the Bermuda Sun

Simon Taufel and Darrell Hair hold a conference about the light in India © Getty Images

Simon Taufel, who is regarded as the world’s best umpire, believes Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove had to “follow the letter of the law” and abandon the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval. Taufel stood in the opening two games of the series and told the the problem was not just “a Darrell Hair issue”.”The umpires made the decision together,” he said in the paper. “The Darrell Hair I know calls the game the way he sees it without fear or favour. He knows the laws better than anyone.”Taufel said if the fielding side refused to go back on to the ground there was not much the umpires could do. “They can inform them that they should go on to the field, then if they still refuse, they can inform them that the match will be awarded to the opposing team,” he said. “Umpires have to follow the laws … as they are written, so it’s hard to fault the umpires in this case. The disappointing thing is that the spirit of cricket has taken a hit over this.”

Ricky Ponting is under pressure but will stay in charge © Getty Images

Mark Taylor has joined a growing number of Australian players to back Ricky Ponting as captain despite the “over-reaction” to the Ashes loss. Taylor, who was in charge when Australia became world champions in 1995, said the defeat “may be the making” of Ponting after Dennis Lillee called for his sacking.”We’ve seen Ricky Ponting and the Australian side winning everything,” Taylor told , “but sometimes you need a loss to sit down and say ‘what can I do, what can we do as a leadership group do to make things better?’ If you can turn it around you can bounce back and become a better leader.”As most of the squad returned to Australia yesterday, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Michael Kasprowicz believed Ponting should continue as leader. A report in said Ponting also had the support of Bob Merriman, the Cricket Australia chairman, and at least five members of the board.The paper said a review of the tour had already begun with Taylor, Allan Border and Daryl Foster, the bowling coach, investigating all aspects of the trip as well as looking into Australian cricket at all levels. Taylor said there was always going to be an over-reaction to the series loss and was not surprised by the mood.However, Taylor said both Ponting and Michael Vaughan did not show enough imagination with their tactical decisions during the series. “To be critical, I thought both captains at times were either full-on or full-off,” Taylor said in . “It was either four slips, two gullies and a bat-pad or no slips, deep point, deep third man, deep backward square, deep fine leg.””One of the things you don’t want to do is panic in a situation like this,” Kasprowicz said in . While the future of Ponting is safe Kasprowicz, who played in two Tests and took four wickets, is waiting for news from Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors.”[Hohns] said straight: `I can’t tell you where things sit. We just don’t know yet’,” Kasprowicz said. Decisions will be made quickly as the Super Series starts in three weeks.

38 overs England 198 for 5 (Collingwood 35*, Jones 25*) v Zimbabwe – Rain ended play at 5pm
Match scheduled to resume tomorrow at 10.15am
Scorecard

Vusi Sibanda celebrates taking the wicket of Vikram Solanki for 62© Getty Images

Vikram Solanki led from the front with a mellifluous 62 as England set about their Champions Trophy campaign against Zimbabwe with some variable batting – that was before the rains came, again. The wet weather had already pushed the start back to 2pm, and then ultimately curtailed proceedings as England stumbled to 198 for 5. The match will resume tomorrow, weather permitting.England were put in to bat by Tatenda Taibu, and started brightly enough – courtesy of seven zooming wides in the opening over from 18-year-old Tinashe Panyangara, who seemed overawed by the prospect of bowling against England. Marcus Trescothick struck two scintillating fours, before his innings ended abruptly on 10 as he edged Douglas Hondo’s loose-but-bouncy delivery to first slip, playing away from his body (21 for 1).Michael Vaughan made an enterprising and entertaining start, including two majestic hooks in consecutive balls from Hondo, which flew for six. The second one brought up England’s 50 in the eighth over. But Vaughan’s disappointing one-day season continued, as Edward Rainsford invited a drive which Vaughan thick-edged to second slip (54 for 2). Rainsford, the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers, deserved his first one-day international wicket, and he later struck again to remove Andrew Strauss.Strauss and Solanki had enjoyed a useful partnership – mustering 60 runs from 62 balls – before Strauss fell for 25, trying to steer a widish delivery to third man (114 for 3). Taibu, ever alert behind the stumps, dived full-stretch to his left and Strauss was gone – and in strode Andrew Flintoff, the man of the moment.

Edward Rainsford celebrates another wicket© Getty Images

Flintoff was fortunate to survive a first-ball lbw shout from Rainsford, but two balls later he clubbed a typical four and the crowd settled back to enjoy the ride. But, unusually for Flintoff in this, his summer of plenty, it was only to be a quick trip out. A touch over-confident, he stepped up to toe-end a full-length drive off Panyangara to deep mid-off, where Hondo was waiting to typify Zimbabwe’s superb fielding. Hondo grabbed the ball – diving – to cut short Flintoff’s journey (123 for 4).Solanki, meanwhile, continued to hold the England innings together, and brought up his fifty in fine style, with a crashing slash through backward point.He played gracefully throughout his innings, comfortably despatching anything pitched up with a series of glorious drives and well-timed shots off his legs, before eventually being trapped lbw by the part-time medium-pace of Sibanda (159 for 5).Geraint Jones then stepped in to mount some sturdy resistance with Paul Collingwood. But then, just as they were hitting their straps – and the boundary boards – the game was washed out for the day.

To the West Indies Cricket Board of Directors and to Gus Logie on his recent confirmation as Head Coach of the WICB for at least the next two years.Gus Logie is one of the most unforgettable people that I have ever met. Soft spoken and calm, he is nevertheless supremely confident, knowledgeable and a people and team person. The team of Logie and Lara and company are going to be tough in the Cricket World Cup 2007 with a large number of young talented Test and One Day International players.Gus and the then WICB President, Revd. Wes Hall and his Executive and senior cricket management assisted Canada when we needed help in the Coaching area. They stayed the course and supported Canada’s World Cup team, when it would have been easy to walk away. A friend in need, is a friend indeed. Despite Gus’s track record of success as both a player and Coach, others worked incessantly to kill the assistance.Of the Associates at the World Cup, Canada was the only country with only one coach.. Other countries had at least one assistant. Unfortunately, none was available for Canada. With limited preparation time and even in extremely trying circumstances, Canada perfomed “surprisingly well.” We could have and should have done better, however.Cream will always rise to the top. It was our honour to have had Gus here in Canada and we are sure that given the right support and player commitment to excellence, with professionalism and self discipline, that the WICB team of talented young players will be ready to perform at the top level in World Cup 2007.Onward and upward, you champions of the Continents.

The Knights squad is full of expectation and ambition as we go about our preparation for the State Max, State Championship and State Shield competitions which will shortly be upon us.At our recent team training camp during the first week of October, the squad took the opportunity to catch up with each other after winters of either cricket in New Zealand, England, tours, or working and training back home.The highlight of catching up with one’s mates was well complemented with some constructive work on fitness testing, video analysis, strategic planning, nets and a State breakfast launch.The fitness testing undertaken by the Knights, under the expert guidance of Jason Wheadon, is the toughest I have been lucky enough to have experience.The results were encouraging in an age where the expectations of cricketer’s fitness levels now mirror that of other major sports. Each squad member did a 3000-metre time trial and then was required to complete 10 sets of 4 x 15 metre shuttles within 200 seconds.New programmes have now been issued by Jason and improvement goals set for the next round of testing in late-October. Rumour has it that our 3000-metre time trial compared favourably to those undertaken by some of the representative rugby teams. (As we achieve our improvement goals perhaps our props may be turning into open side flankers!).Our new coach Bruce Blair had his first opportunity to address the squad and has had a positive impact from the beginning. Initiatives introduced by Bruce such as video analysis, bowling grids and SWOT analysis (the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by the group) will bring a further dimension to our environment as we focus on that something special something that sports teams spend their lives pursuing – the winning edge.The planning and preparation being undertaken, together with the hunger that I have seen in our group certainly places us in a good starting position for the summer which lies ahead.Over the next few weeks the squad will be looking to turn in performances in club and minor association cricket which captures the eyes of the three selectors. With the depth we have and the younger players coming through the ranks the selectors will have much to discuss as they consider options for the State Max tournament and the State Championship which opens with a game against the State Otago Volts in Dunedin on November 26.