Brilliant Shakib knocks down New Zealand

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shakib Al Hasan’s dismissal of Brendon McCullum turned the game Bangladesh’s way•Associated Press

Bangladesh rode on an outstanding all-round performance from Shakib Al Hasan to beat New Zealand by nine runs in Mirpur, making Daniel Vettori’s pre-match comments about his ability seem almost clairvoyant.Shakib was scintillating with the bat in the latter part of Bangladesh’s innings, unleashing a range of shots in the batting Powerplay to lift Bangladesh to a competitive 229. He then tormented the visitors with the ball, scalping four invaluable wickets including a double-strike in the 15th over to remove the rampant Brendon McCullum and Grant Elliott. He then returned to bowl a brilliant penultimate over in the rain-curtailed run chase, giving away just three runs and claiming the wicket of Nathan McCullum to give his side an unexpected 1-0 lead in the five-match series.Bangladesh’s hopes of defending the smallish total suffered a huge dent when they lost their captain and strike bowler, Mashrafe Mortaza, to a sprained ankle after bowling just one over. The blow left the inexperienced Nazmul Hossain and the hosts’ spinners to step up considerably, and vice-captain Shakib to take over the familiar captain’s role for the rest of the match.Brendon McCullum’s devastating form at the top of the order exacerbated the problem for Bangladesh as he set about blasting the attack to all corners for 61 off 45 deliveries. He plundered boundaries at will, cutting and pulling short balls ferociously as well as slamming the fuller deliveries over cover and down the ground. Jesse Ryder too got in on the action, hitting three boundaries in his innings of 21, before chipping Shakib to short midwicket with the score on 53 in the seventh over.Brendon McCullum used his feet against all the bowlers, with a particularly majestic straight strike off Naeem Islam in the eleventh over standing out. His fancy footwork, however, ultimately led to his undoing when he danced passed a dipping delivery from Shakib. Elliot followed two balls later to leave the visitors wobbling at 84 for 4 before the rain that had threatened through the day became heavy enough for the umpires to call for the covers.When play resumed, New Zealand were left chasing 210 from 37 overs: a target Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori set about hauling in systematically. Vettori was adjudged out after pulling a chest-high full toss straight to deep square leg, though the third umpire ruled it as a no-ball after the batsman asked for a referral. That was the second controversial umpiring incident of the day, following a stumping that should have been given during the Bangladesh innings, when Junaid Siddique survived after being caught out of his crease.Vettori did not last long however, top-edging a sweep to short fine leg for 24. Shanan Stewart and Ross Taylor followed soon after, leaving the visitors in deep waters. Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum kept trying, but were no match for a Shakib special in the penultimate over. Nazmul then successfully defended 17 in the last over to spark off scenes of jubilation in the stands.Earlier, New Zealand’s slow bowlers strangled Bangladesh after a solid start. Vettori was at his miserly best, finishing with 2 for 29 from his ten overs, while Nathan McCullum and Ryder also made inroads into the Bangladesh line-up.Opener Imrul Kayes fell to Kyle Mills after a 34-run stand for the first wicket, but Shahriar Nafees played intelligently for his 35, mixing firm defense with calculated aggression, before Vettori’s introduction made an immediate impact.He removed Nafees with a quick yorker in his second over, as Bangladesh began to feel the pinch. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, with only Shakib managing to come to grips with the slowish surface. He began smartly against the seamers in the middle overs before exploding in the 45th, pulling Tim Southee for consecutive boundaries and then slamming Andy McKay down the ground in the following over to bring up his half-century. An inventive scoop and a crash through the covers off Mills raised hopes of 240, before a slower ball ended his stay. A couple of lusty blows from Mortaza lifted the score to 229, a score which ultimately proved sufficient.

Fixing allegations could taint Sydney win – Ponting

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said the performances of his players in last year’s Sydney Test against Pakistan would be tainted if the allegations of match-fixing surrounding that game turn out to be true. Ponting was reacting to murmurs about the Sydney game following the scandal unfolding at Lord’s where Pakistan’s players were alleged to have indulged in spot-fixing by a sting operation.”The way we won was one of the more satisfying moments that I’ve had on the cricket field,” Ponting told . “And now when some of these things come to light is when you start to slightly doubt some of the things that have happened.”Australia won the Test by 36 runs after conceding a first innings lead of 206. In their second innings, Australia were 49 runs ahead with just two wickets in hand, but managed to extend their advantage to 176 thanks to an obstinate 123-run ninth-wicket partnership between Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle. Pakistan then floundered badly against Nathan Hauritz, whose five-wicket haul ensured the tourists fell agonisingly short in their pursuit.”The thing that I’m most worried about if any of this is proven to be true is some of the individual performances that took place in that game,” Ponting said. “You look at Mike Hussey’s second innings hundred and Peter Siddle’s batting and the way he was with Mike Hussey that day and Nathan Hauritz taking five wickets on the final day to win us the game. All of those individual milestones will be tainted as well.”Ponting said he had no inclination that anything was amiss at the time but the manner of Pakistan’s capitulation raised more than a few eyebrows and the Test was investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, which found no evidence of match-fixing.Meawhile Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland also said he believes the Sydney Test was clean and that Australia won the game on merit. He reacted to the news of the alleged spot-fixing by calling for a thorough investigation into the incident by both the UK police and the ICC.”It is critical for cricket that the public has confidence in the integrity of the outcomes of games,” Sutherland said, “which is why CA and other ICC members have supported the significant world cricket investment in anti-corruption over the last decade or more.”While admitting he was not aware of the details of the sting operation, Sutherland said such incidents are the reason the ICC must remain ever vigilant.”As Lord Paul Condon, the founder of the ICC anti-corruption process has always said, vigilance can never be relaxed.”

Corporate Trophy expanded to 16 teams

The second edition of the BCCI Corporate Trophy will be played across four venues – Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore – from September 1 to 8, the board announced on Monday. The trophy has been named after Raj Singh Dungarpur, the former BCCI president who passed away last year.The tournament has been expanded to 16 teams, four more than last year, and they have been split into four groups. Teams from each group will be based in a particular city before the top four head to Visakhapatnam for the two semi-finals on September 5 and 6. The venue for the final, on September 8, hasn’t been decided. Both the semis, as well as the fixture in Visakhapatnam on September 3 will be day-night games. The board is expected to announce the full schedule in due course.The new teams taking part this season are State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Hyderabad, Chemplast, All India Electricity Board, Income Tax and Vijaya Bank. Those missing from last year are All India Public Sector Sports Promotion Board, Indian Revenue and ITC. Air India played as two separate teams (Red and Blue) last year and the Red team had emerged winners. Group A (based in Visakhapatnam) – Air India, BSNL, Chemplast, State Bank of Mysore
Group B (based in Chennai) – Tata Sports Club, BPCL, Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank
Group C (based in Hyderabad) – India Cements, All India Electricity Board, Indian Oil Corporation, State Bank of Hyderabad
Group D (based in Bangalore) – ONGC, Income Tax, State Bank of Patiala, MRF

Bangladesh seal historic victory

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRubel Hossain’s pace removed the England openers and opened the door for Bangladesh’s victory•Getty Images

Bangladesh produced a performance of immense spirit and character as they secured their first victory over England in any format with a famous five-run win at Bristol. In an extraordinary finale, Ian Bell limped out at No. 11 with a broken foot to accompany Jonathan Trott, but Trott edged a cut off the third ball of the final over bowled by Shafiul Islam after making 94 to send Bangladesh into scenes of wild celebration.Trott had taken 13 off the five balls in the penultimate over from Mashrafe Mortaza, but James Anderson could only pop the final delivery back to the bowler. Bangladesh thought that was the victory and began ripping up the stumps in celebration, but Bell hobbled down the steps with Morgan as his runner and hoped that Trott could get the 10 needed from final over. He managed consecutive twos, but then tried to go through the off side and edged to the wicketkeeper to leave him disconsolate at the crease. He didn’t even remark his guard.What makes Bangladesh’s success even more remarkable is the state in which they entered this game. Two leading players, Raqibul Hasan who top-scored at Trent Bridge and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, had been ruled out of the series and one of their replacements, Mohammad Ashraful only arrived in the country 14 hours before the toss. Add to that Bangladesh’s 24-match losing run and the previous inability of their attack to assert any pressure and this has to go down as one of the more remarkable reversals.After the batsmen had again stuttered the bowlers lifted themselves, led by the efforts of Rubel Hossain and Abdur Razzak who shared four crucial top-order wickets as the hosts’ batting suffered a collective malfunction. Trott kept England in with a chance as he added 43 with Stuart Broad, but when Broad drove to point and Mortaza only conceded three from the 48th over the balance of the game tilted towards Bangladesh.When Imrul Kayes had laboured to a worthy, but uninspired, 76 in Bangladesh’s total of 236 for 7 – during which they scored just 87 in the last 20 overs – it appeared all they had done was keep their head above water and avoid humilation. As Andrew Strauss and Craig Kieswetter added 49 in 7.5 overs it was a question of how many overs England would have to spare at the end.Maybe England were even starting to think that way, having played Bangladesh on eight previous occasions this year and witnessed they inability to maintain pressure. Michael Yardy, Luke Wright and Ajmal Shahzad played horrid shots when they had a chance to prove their bottle for a tense run chase. England have occasionally taken their eye off the ball before in both Tests and ODIs, but have had the experience and class to pull the situation. Not this time, and the problems started when the openers gave their wickets away in quick succession as happened at Trent Bridge.Rubel, whose recall suddenly looked inspired, sparked the team into life with a bustling display. In his first over Strauss tried to guide the ball over the slips and feathered a catch to the stand-in keeper Jahurul Islam, who looked more than competent as Musfiqur’s replacement. Rubel struck again in his next over as Kieswetter played a flat-footed drive to give the keeper his second chance and Bangladesh were unlucky not to make it two wickets in two balls.Collingwood flashed hard at his first delivery and the fielding side were convinced of the edge, so much so that Rubel and Jahurul were well into their celebrations when umpire Richard Illingworth turned them down.Subsequent replays confirmed a healthy edge but to Bangladesh’s credit they continued to maintain their discipline and keep the run-rate down. Collingwood broke the shackles when he pulled Rubel for six before the scales evened themselves as Collingwood was given lbw to Razzak despite a big inside edge onto his pad. Even the batsman had a rueful smile as he made his way off.Morgan, who was England’s saviour when they came close to defeat in Dhaka earlier this year, began with an edge through the vacant slip cordon but collected his first failure of the ODI season when he tried to turn Razzak into the leg side. Still, if England want to become the best one-day team in the world they can’t rely on Morgan’s freakish skills.Trott’s style couldn’t be more mundane in comparison to Morgan, but he now became vital for England’s chase. He kept losing partners as Yardy had a horrid swipe across the line, a shot replicated by Shahzad as the asking rate grew, while Wright’s regression after a promising start against Australia continued when he edged a wild drive to slip where Junaid Siddique held on at the second attempt.At times Trott still seemed in his own little world as he pushed singles with the required rate climbing past seven an over, but in the penultimate over he sparked into life and for a few moments it appeared Bangladesh would bottle their chance again. Shafiul, whose first over had cost 12, held his nerve and England can’t say they didn’t have the result coming after another indifferent display in the field.Shahzad was the pick of the attack removing Tamim Iqbal early and returning to grab Jahurul and top-scorer Kayes as he claimed 3 for 41. However, his fielding was a concern as he missed Kayes at gully and then watched another ball sail over his head at third man after he’d run in too quickly.Anderson’s difficult time with the new ball continued as his first spell of four overs cost 24 and Bangladesh built a strong foundation as Kayes and Jahurul added 83 for the third wicket. England again had to take pace off the ball through Yardy and Collingwood to assert themselves and once Jahurul was caught behind the innings faded like it had at Trent Bridge.The last 20 overs brought just 87 runs but, in what would prove crucial in the final outcome, Mortaza managed to connect with some hefty blows during the batting Powerplay. Still, it looked like a formality for England to take the series but a few hours later it was a chastened home dressing room that had to watch the jubilant Bangladesh players sprint around the outfield in celebration.

Yardy insists England still focussed

Michael Yardy is confident England can regain their focus to take a 4-0 lead over Australia after they were perhaps the only Englishmen celebrating in Manchester on Sunday night. While the rest of the city was commiserating over a rotten line call and an early World Cup exit, Yardy and his colleagues were basking in a series triumph that they hope will become a clean-sweep over the next week.”When you win a series it’s important that you celebrate,” Yardy said at The Oval ahead of Wednesday’s fourth match. “I don’t think it went out of hand. But the main focus is on trying to get 4-0 and move on from there. We’ve got to win this game at The Oval. We’ve had three very good games, and a tight one in the last game.”Yardy believes there are still areas in which England can improve, especially given the nerve-racking finish at Old Trafford, where they collapsed and nearly lost a match they had dominated. The bowlers have done well to maintain the pressure on an experienced Australian batting line-up, and through the middle overs that has largely been down to the spin duo of Yardy and Graeme Swann.Swann won the rewards on Sunday, with four wickets and a Man-of-the-Match award, but the Australians have also struggled to get on top of Yardy’s left-armers. It is an interesting role for Yardy, who barely bowls at first-class level but has sent down more overs than any other England player so far this series.”It is strange but I think it just shows the different forms of the game and how very different they are,” Yardy said. “Graeme Swann has made himself probably the best spinner in the world at the moment. His stats don’t lie. He’s been the leading wicket taker or right up there in every series he’s played of one-day cricket, Twenty20 or Test match cricket.”That’s why he deserves the plaudits, because he’s taking the wickets. It’s great to bowl with him because at the moment he’s an attacking spinner. I always ask him what he thinks of the pitch and the opposition and what to do in certain situations. He’s very helpful with that. He’s got a very positive outlook, which rubs off on everyone, especially me.”England have appeared bright and confident over the past week, and it has shown through in their style of play. The challenge is to maintain that attitude now that the series has been decided, and Yardy said it was too early yet to be talking about a possible whitewash.”It’s important that we keep the momentum going and confidence going in this game and not look too far ahead,” he said. “It’s been a great series win but I don’t think we’re finished.”

Peterson spins Derbyshire into contention

Scorecard
Robin Peterson revived a game that appeared to be drifting towards a draw when he demolished the Sussex batting to put Derbyshire in with a chance of victory at the County Ground.The South African left-arm spinner found turn and bounce to take 4 for 10 in 11 overs as the visitors lost five wickets in 10 overs to collapse to 71 for 7 in their second innings.That put them only 163 ahead going into the final day and Derbyshire, who had trailed by 92 runs after Luke Wright claimed a career-best 5 for 65, will fancy their chances if the rain which is forecast stays away.The prospect of Derbyshire taking control of the match seemed unlikely at the start of the third day when they were still 36 runs short of saving the follow-on, and they had a couple of scares before they reached the 280 target.Tom Poynton was dropped by wicketkeeper Ben Brown off Wright with the score on 258 and Steffan Jones was missed on nought with the home side seven short. Wright bowled Poynton for 14 off his pads but Jones and Peterson had taken Derbyshire to within one run of a third batting point when James Anyon had Peterson caught at second slip for 31.Jones again showed he is a handy batsman and swept Monty Panesar for six before rain held up the game for more than two hours after lunch. When play resumed, Jones and Tom Lungley cut Sussex’s lead to under 100 before Wright had Lungley lbw and Mark Footitt caught behind in the space of four balls, with Derbyshire all out for 337.Footitt had been wayward in the first innings but he bowled a testing opening spell in the absence of Lungley who was off the field with a back problem. Michael Yardy drove and clipped Jones for two fours in the first over but was then lbw to a full-length ball from Footitt and Chris Nash was fortunate when he edged the fast bowler between the wicketkeeper and first slip.Peterson gave a glimpse of the problems that lay ahead for Sussex when one delivery to Ed Joyce took off and the Irishman became his first victim when he top-edged a sweep and was well caught for 20 by substitute Jon Clare running from slip.Murray Goodwin was caught behind for six when Greg Smith found some movement with his medium pace which began a startling decline with Peterson snaring three wickets for one run in 15 balls.It was lift that accounted for both Nash and Wright who edged to slip before a quicker ball pinned Michael Thornely lbw as he played back. Smith switched to off spin from the Pavilion End and struck in the final over of a dramatic last session when Anyon was lbw padding up to leave the match fascinatingly poised.

Modi wants independent panel to hear his case

Lalit Modi, the suspended chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has asked the BCCI president, Shashank Manohar, and secretary N Srinivasan to remove themselves from all proceedings involving the show cause notice issued to him and to instead constitute an independent panel to adjudicate on the issue. This was communicated in an email – a copy of which is with Cricinfo – sent on Tuesday by Modi to the league’s governing council, which also contained a series of allegations over several decisions regarding the IPL.The mail is effectively Modi’s counter to the chargesheet served on him by the BCCI on April 26 – Modi’s official reply, which ran into 160 pages and 15,000 pages of supporting evidence, has not yet been made public.While part of the mail deals with issues mentioned in the chargesheet – including the ownership of the Rajasthan Royals franchise – the bulk of it comprises the alleged involvement of Manohar in the franchise auction process last March and of Srinivasan in the 2010 player auction. It is this involvement, Modi contends, that warranted the absence of both officials from the process that would investigate the charges against him.Manohar, Modi alleges, was responsible for the controversial decision to scrap the initial opening of tenders for the franchises and went out of his way to entertain former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor and accept the Kochi bid much after the lapse of deadline.He denies the allegation that he tried rigging the bids in favour of two business houses for the two new teams added for the fourth edition of the IPL; instead he claims the bids were processed and vetted by the board’s corporate lawyers and counsel Akhila Kaushik, appointed on Manohar’s recommendation.He claims Manohar was party to the decision fixing the net worth of the bidder at $1 billion and that he discussed the issue of deposit also with him at the Governing Council meeting on March 7 and got his approval.He also alleged it was Manohar who pitched in for Tharoor to include the bid of Rendezvous after the deadline had lapsed. “You wanted me to wait till the Kochi bid came from Delhi,” Modi writes, adding that Manohar spoke to Tharoor and his secretary several times after he refused to entertain the minister’s request for extension of deadline.Modi has brought up the issue of the controversial IPL TV contract with Sony and MSM, claiming that Manohar was aware of the termination last year of the contract with Sony and the subsequent litigation and eventual settlement. The litigation process was, he claims, supervised by Akhila Kaushik, “who reports directly to you”.Srinivasan, Modi alleged, had been “instrumental in sponsoring complaints” against him and his participation would be “tantamount to him being a judge in his own cause”. Modi also said he wanted to cross-examine Srinivasan in the inquiry.Among the charges levied, Modi said he had “sufficient cause to apprehend bias” on Srinivasan’s part and that he had “consistently frustrated and exposed his attempts at misusing his position as Honorary Secretary of the Board, so as to confer a wrongful benefit to his team at the cost and expense of other teams and the BCCI.”Modi alleged that Srinivasan had tried to “alter or propose panel of umpires” officiating in the IPL matches and had circulated an email “directing a panel of umpires handpicked by him”. He claimed Srinivasan had attempted to ensure umpires from Chennai or Tamil Nadu stood in his team’s matches.Another charge Modi made against Srinivasan was that he had “consistently pushed tailor-made policies” intended to benefit the Chennai franchise. In support of this charge, Modi cited the proposal of franchises retaining seven players (four Indian, three foreign) for the 2011 season and beyond. Modi’s reply to the show cause says Srinivasan tried to get franchises to agree to the proposal and that the “only reason for doing so was to ensure that Chennai Super King retained its players.”Modi also alleged that Srinivasan had tried to ensure Kieron Pollard, who was bought by Mumbai Indians during a silent tiebreaker in the 2010 auction, could not play “by raising some frivolous issues with the West Indian Cricket Board.” Modi termed Srinivasan’s action a “brazen act of abuse of power”.He claimed Srinivasan had used his power to “alter the auction rules” so that Chennai’s purse would be $2 million as opposed to the $1.85 million that was mentioned prior to the auction. “Despite my opposition he used his clout as secretary to pressure the management to accept back-dated player contracts and cancel the contracts of one of his players so that he could have his full purse and thereby have an advantage in the bidding process vis-a-vis other teams.”Regarding the issue of Srinivasan’s alleged conflict of interest, raised by former BCCI president AC Muttiah, Modi said “false statements have been made in pleadings filed in Court” to protect the position of Srinivasan.”In the proceedings filed by Mr. Muttiah, it has been stated by the Honorary Secretary on oath that the Regulation 6.2.4 was amended after an action taken report was filed by the two-member committee consisting of Mr. Shashank Manohar and Mr. Niranjan Shah recommending amendment,” Modi said. “I state that no such committee was ever appointed, no recommendation was ever made, no special general body meeting approving such report and such amendment ever took place and hence Mr. Shashank Manohar, Mr. Niranjan Shah – the Vice Chairman – IPL and Mr. N Srinavasan have connived and played not only on the members of the Board but also on the Court.”

Taxmen in nationwide IPL sweep

Even as the key figures in the IPL mess continue their battles, federal income-tax and revenue officials have extended their operations into the most coordinated and high-profile exercise of recent times in India. The full might of the government machinery has been deployed from Chandigarh in the north to Chennai in the south, investigating franchises, rights holders and other entities and individuals – including top Bollywood stars – associated with the IPL.The scale of the operation is staggering. The exercise is being coordinated by a director-general of vigilance in Mumbai heading a 24-hour investigating cell; those involved are officials of the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department – coming under the finance ministry – and officials of the Corporate Affairs ministry.The investigations – covering a range of alleged infringements including money laundering, tax evasion, shell companies, black (illegal) money and misusing tax havens – appear to be an implementation of the finance minister’s assurance to Parliament that the allegations would be thoroughly probed.The day began with the taxmen raiding the offices of Multi Screen Media (MSM, formerly Sony Entertainment Television) and World Sports Group (WSG), the two firms that hold the TV broadcast rights to the IPL. The “surveys”, as tax officials call them, were conducted in four different locations, including the home of the WSG’s South Asia president, Venu Nair.In 2008, WSG bagged the TV rights for a ten-year period, with a $918 million bid and a promise to spend $108m on promoting the event. It had simultaneously signed a deal with MSM that Sony would be the official broadcaster. The contract was recast before IPL 2009, with MSM agreeing to pay $1.63 billion for nine years.That contract – and specifically an alleged $80 million facilitation fee – is now believed to be the subject of investigation but WSG has denied allegations of impropriety. “Any allegation that World Sports Group has used any funds received in connection with its sub-licence of these rights for inappropriate or unlawful activities is completely unfounded and without substance,” it said in a statement.The rest of the day followed a familiar pattern. In Chandigarh, home to the Kings XI Punjab, a court summoned Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman, co-owners of the franchise, on July 23 in a case of missing balance sheets and accounts details.In Kolkata, income tax officials visited the offices of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan, located within the headquarters of the Cricket Association of Bengal at Eden Gardens and the offices of Gameplan, a sports management company associated with the franchise.In Secunderabad, an IT team visited the office premises of Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures limited.There was even a check in Chennai, where 40-odd officials turned up at the office of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings. India Cements is run by N Srinivasan, who is also the BCCI secretary.And in Mumbai, IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi was questioned again at the Four Seasons Hotel where he’s staying about a multi-million dollar contract for the broadcasting rights of IPL.In New Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate registered a preliminary case against the IPL and its franchises to probe possible violations of foreign exchange rules and regulations. The case was registered under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act to investigate claims that huge funds have found their way into IPL from international tax havens.

Namibia ease home despite Romaine

ScorecardNamibia comfortably saw off Bermuda in their one-day match, winning by 65 runs at Windhoek although a defiant 100 from 75 balls by Irving Romaine narrowed the margin after the visitors slumped to 86 for 8.Namibia’s 268 for 6 was anchored by Sarel Burger’s 91 and boosted by Gerrie Snyman’s 56. Burger and Raymond van Schoor set the platform with a second-wicket stand of 71 in 14 overs before Burger added a further 93 with Snyman for the fourth wicket. Snyman hit two sixes in his 64-ball innings until he fell to Chris Foggo and Burger missed out on a century when he was bowled by Justin Pitcher.The innings was given late impetus by Nicholas Scholtz who clubbed 41 off 34 balls before rain ended Namibia’s innings nine balls short of the full fifty overs and led to a minor readjustment of Bermuda’s target.The trend for the chase was set with the second ball of the innings as Foggo was caught behind and when David Hemp, Bermuda’s best batsman, also fell to Christoffel Viljoen it was always unlikely they would make an impression.Namibia chipped away with regular wickets and left-arm spinner Louis van der Westhuizen claimed three as Bermuda slumped to 86 for 8. However, while the match was dead and buried, Romaine didn’t go down without a real fight as he swung seven sixes in his barnstorming innings at No.9. He added 82 for the final with Stefan Kelly and put his top-order colleagues to shame.

Five rookies in New Zealand's World Twenty20 pool

New Zealand’s selectors have named five uncapped players in a 30-man probables squad for the upcoming World Twenty20 in the West Indies starting next month.The squad, which will be reduced to 15 players by the end of March, features the Northern Districts pair of Brent Arnel and Bradley Scott, Canterbury’s Rob Nicol and Shanan Stewart, and Central Districts’ Kieran Noema-Barnett after solid performances in the domestic competition this summer.”It’s a big squad and we are covering all our bases,” said New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch in a statement. “Realistically there are 22-23 players there who have a good chance of making the final 15.”New Zealand currently have their share of injury worries for the ongoing ODI series against Australia as well as for the future. Jacob Oram was yesterday diagnosed with a patella tendon tear that could rule him out for up to a month, Jesse Ryder continues to battle a prolonged injury, and the fast bowlers Ian Butler, Kyle Mills and Andy McKay have also picked up niggles. All five have been named among the probables with hopes that they will be fit.”We have some very competitive players to compete at the World Cup. We feel that we have some depth and good skill level available for selection,” said Greatbatch. “It will be nice to get some of our core players back fit. It is an important month for them to get themselves ready and up to speed.”New Zealand will play their first match of the World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka on April 30, with Zimbabwe the other team in their group.New Zealand’s women’s preliminary squad was also named, and it included the full squad who reached last year’s Twenty20 World Cup final in England, where they lost to the hosts. “It’s a strong squad. We have 19 players who have played for New Zealand this last year. It’s well balanced and well rounded with good cover in all areas,” said coach Gary Stead. “We have also ensured that the 24 players who will participate in a north versus south series at Lincoln later this month have all been included in the full squad.”The final selection process will include the remaining matches in the Rose Bowl series [against Australia this weekend], two Twenty20 games and a 50 over game in the North v South series and fitness testing . We will select the team after that.”The final 15-woman squad will have a camp on April 10-11. New Zealand are pooled in Group B with India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Their first match is against India on May 6.Men’s pool: Brent Arnel, Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan, Andy McKay, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ryder, Bradley Scott, Mathew Sinclair, Tim Southee, Shanan Stewart, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel VettoriWomen’s pool: Victoria Lind, Saskia Bullen, Megan Tremaine, Kate Pulford, Nicola Browne, Anna Wilkins, Natalie Dodd, Morna Nielsen, Aimee Watkins, Sara McGlashan, Kate Broadmore, Rachel Priest, Abby Burrows, Rachel Candy, Sophie Devine, Sian Ruck, Lucy Doolan, Liz Perry, Melinda Hodgson, Amy Satterthwaite, Maria Fahey, Erin Bermingham, Amber Boyce, Michelle Mitchell, Frances Mackay, Suzie Bates, Katey Martin, Sarah Tsukigawa, Emma Campbell, Megan Kane

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