CRICKET FUNDA

DHAKA: Abdur Razzak grabbed four wickets as Bangladesh thrashed Zimbabwe by 65 runs in the third one-day international on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. The left-arm spinner, who claimed a hat-trick in the previous game on Friday, finished with 4-14 to help the hosts bundle out Zimbabwe for 181 in 48.1 overs at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh had earlier made 246-7 after skipper Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 73 and put on 116 for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim (63) after the hosts were reduced to 71-4. Prosper Utseya, standing in as Zimbabwe captain for the injured Elton Chigumbura, scored a fighting 67 after taking four wickets for 38 runs from 10 overs. The last two matches will by played in Chittagong on Friday and Sunday. Monday's match was originally scheduled to be held under lights, but was changed to a day game because the stadium's new floodlights were not functional. The venue is due to host six World Cup matches in February-March, including two quarter-finals. Zimbabwe suffered early blows in their run chase, losing three top-order batsmen inside the first 10 overs. Shakib introduced spin in the fourth over and the move yielded immediate results as Razzak removed opener Chamu Chibhabha with his fourth delivery. Razzak had Hamilton Masakadza stumped by Rahim, before dismissing the other opener, Brendan Taylor, for 15. Utseya tried to repair the damage with his 101-ball knock but ran out of partners in the end.

LAHORE: Pakistani cricket hero Wasim Akram on Monday urged players, fans and the media to move on from recent high-profile problems and get behind the country to win the 2011 World Cup.

"Let's forget what problems we've been going through recently and with a positive frame of mind support the Pakistan team to win next year's World Cup," Wasim said in a rallying call during a ceremony unveiling the trophy.

Pakistan has been blighted by a spot-fixing crisis, player suspensions and poor governance, with one-day captain Shahid Afridi expressing a lack of confidence in preparations for the mega event.

Three key players -- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer -- were
provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over accusations of spot-fixing during the tour to England in the summer.

The trio appear before a ICC code of conduct tribunal in Doha, Qatar next month and face severe punishment, including lengthy bans.

Key players Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik have also courted suspicion and not been cleared by the under fire Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for recent tours.

Their participation in the February 19-April 2 World Cup looks uncertain.

Wasim, who finished as the best player of the tournament when Pakistan won its only World Cup in Australia 18 years ago, acknowledged the build-up had been far from ideal.

"Problems have certainly hurt the team's preparations, but Pakistan is one team which can beat any team in the world on its day," he said.

"Their resilience is tremendous and they can come out of any worse situation and win a match," said Wasim, who played 104 Tests and 352 one-day matches for cricket-mad Pakistan.

He praised the team for showing "great resilience" by winning two of the five matches against South Africa last month.

"They could do the same in the World Cup provided players, selectors and the PCB rally behind the captain and play for the country.

"For the sake of Pakistan, every player has to back the captain, play as a unit, and not only fans, but the media should also back them to win."

Wasim tipped India as favourites to win the event, to be hosted jointly by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan was also to have been a World Cup host but lost that right over fears about security after an armed ambush last year on the Sri Lankan team.

"I think for the first time Australia will not be the top favourites," said Wasim. "To me, India is the top favourite to win, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan are also among the favourites."

ADELAIDE: Mike Hussey is relishing his chance to help Australia stave off dominant England and bat out to a draw in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide. Australia's in-form batsman was unbeaten on 44 and his team's main hope of salvaging a draw after the shattering loss of vice-captain Michael Clarke for 80 in Monday's last over. Hussey, who scored 195 in last week's Brisbane Test, averages 166 so far in the series after his team place was in jeopardy at one stage, and is suited by the backs-to-the-wall fight Australia face to stop England from going one-up. Australia are still 137 runs adrift of England and have another day to hang on for a draw. "I'd be lying if I said I loved it, but it's certainly rewarding to come in a pressure situation and get your team into a position to win the match or save the match," Hussey said. "It gives you a lot of satisfaction. I wish I could come out like (Don) Bradman and smash them everywhere, but unfortunately the game doesn't work that way." Hussey said his batting partner Clarke was distraught to lose his wicket with four balls left in Monday's final over after looking as if he had done all the hard work to take a prominent role on the last day. "He's pretty distraught at the moment, I don't think he's said a word at the moment. He's very disappointed," Hussey said. "It was a real sombre way for us to finish the day because we fought pretty hard and it would have been nice to go in three-down, and it would have really capped off a great day because he played awesome cricket today. "He played like the Michael Clarke we have loved watching play over the last few years, so it was great for him to play that way, it was just disappointing he couldn't play through to the end of the day." Hussey said Australia faced a tough assignment to deprive England of the win they deserved through their domination over the four days so far. "We've got a lot of hard work to do before we can think about that, but if we can draw the match, England will see it as a loss so that's got to drive us on," he said. "We've certainly been outplayed, no question, but if we can get away with 0-0 it will be a great result for us. "But we've got a bit of hard work to do, maybe a bit of luck and hopefully some weather to help us along the way."

SYDNEY: Chief executive International Cricket Council (ICC) Haroon Lorgat said that the Test championship may be launched in 2013. In an interview given to an Australian radio, Lorgat said that the ICC has a Test ranking system but there is no tournament to decide who are the Test champions. The ICC chief executive said that the World Test Championship may be started in 2013 and four teams would participate in it. He said that initially four teams would be eligible to take part in the championship and these four teams would be decided through Test rankings.

ADELAIDE: Kevin Pietersen relished the big stage of an Ashes Test to bat England into an impregnable position with a imperious double-century at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. The third day belonged solely to the man they call the "walking ego" as he dominated a beleaguered Australian bowling attack to remain unconquered on 213 when rain called a halt to play after tea. Pietersen brought up his 17th Test hundred and his third against Australia in his 14th Ashes Test to bring the home side to its knees in a one-sided Test match. At the close with two days left, England were 551 for four and leading the Australians' modest first innings tally by 306 runs and the promise of yet more runs to come on Monday. He lived up to his billing as one of the most destructive batsmen in world cricket when he plundered 31 fours and a booming six straight over the head of hapless spinner Xavier Doherty. Pietersen broke through for his first Test century in 28 innings since his 102 against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in March last year. At stumps he was just 13 runs off his highest Test score of 226 set against the West Indies in May 2007. Pietersen has learned to curb his natural instincts to go after the bowlers, which has cost him some bigger scores in the past. Such has been the dominance of opener Alastair Cook and number three Jonathan Trott in this series that Pietersen had to wait 11 hours with his pads on to bat in the second innings in Brisbane and in the Adelaide Test.

ADELAIDE: Rain delayed play after tea on the third day in the second Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. England were 551 for four in their first innings with Kevin Pietersen unbeaten on 213 and Ian Bell not out 41 in reply to Australia's 245.

DUBAI: ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said that it would be disappointing if the ICC tribunal acquit the Pakistan players in the case of spot fixing. The players – former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, pace bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer – are facing the investigation over allegations of spot-fixing in the series against England earlier this year. A three-member ICC tribunal will hear their case in Qatar from January 6 to 11. However, it is strange that the ICC chief executive gave the statement before the hearing saying that he was confident of the case against the players. "We need to send out a strong message and that is part of what we want to achieve," Lorgat said. "We've worked hard at collecting all the evidence that we would require to make the charges stand. I am confident that our guys have worked very hard in ensuring they have got a case they can present which should stand the test of scrutiny." The ICC tribunal, led by code of conduct commissioner Michael Beloff, will hear the case in Doha, Qatar from January 6 to 11. The two other members are Sharad Rao and Albie Sachs. The ICC provisionally suspended the three players in September following reports in British tabloid News of the World which claimed Pakistani players, including the suspended trio, took money to carry out orders from a bookmaker at specific stages in the Lord's Test in August.

DHAKA: Abdur Razzak took a hat-trick in his five-wicket haul as Bangladesh posted an easy six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the second one-day international on Friday to level the five-match series 1-1.

The left-arm spinner finished with 5-30 for his third five-wicket haul in one-dayers to help the hosts dismiss Zimbabwe for 191 in 46.2 overs.

Razzak, who took four wickets in the previous match, removed Prosper Utseya with his last delivery of the ninth over before trapping Raymond Price and Christopher Mpofu leg-before with the first two balls of his 10th over.

He became only the second Bangladeshi to bag a hat-trick in one-day internationals after paceman Shahadat Hossain.

Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan also played a big role in restricting the tourists to a modest total, marking his 100th one-day international with 4-39 off nine overs.

Bangladesh, who lost the first match by nine runs, faced no difficulty in achieving a 192-run target, winning with more than 10 overs to spare.

Opener Tamim Iqbal smashed a 48-ball 44 with the help of two sixes and five fours before Junaid Siddique (53) and Raqibul Hasan (65) ensured the victory with a 72-run stand for the third wicket.

Siddique hit one six and four boundaries in an 83-ball knock for his fifth half-century in one-day internationals.

Raqibul reached his eighth half-century in one-dayers in style, hitting off-spinner Utseya over mid-wicket for a six. He hit one six and six fours in his 79-ball knock.

The Bangladeshi spinners earlier never allowed Zimbabwe to build a big partnership with their disciplined bowling after skipper Shakib had won the toss and put the visitors in to bat.

The highest stand of the innings was 57 for the seventh wicket between Craig Ervine (42 not out) and Utseya (32). Ervine smashed four boundaries in his 41-ball knock, while Utseya hit one six and three fours.

ADELAIDE: England backed up a sensational three-wicket start to bowl out Australia for 245 on an extraordinary opening day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. Australia got off to their worst Test start in 60 years at two for three in the opening three overs and then lost their last five wickets for 38 to hand England the inside running on a crucial early victory in the series. It was a horror performance by Australia, coming off the drawn first Gabba Test and needing to finish ahead of holders England to reclaim the Ashes. If not for Mike Hussey it would have been considerably worse for Australia with the senior number five batsman showing plenty of spirit in a fighting 93 before 38,615 spectators, one of the biggest Ashes crowds here in decades. James Anderson was the best of England's bowlers, taking 4-51 off 19 overs. At the close, England's openers had negotiated one over to be one without loss. England had a sensational start when they removed senior opener Simon Katich, skipper Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Michael Clarke in an amazing opening spell. Australia were reeling at 2-3 inside the third over with only Lindsay Hassett's team faring worst at 0-3 in the second innings of the 1950 Brisbane Ashes Test. Katich set off a calamitous day for Australia when he was run out by a direct hit from Jonathan Trott side on at square leg. Shane Watson hared off for a single off an lbw appeal on Anderson's fourth ball of the innings and Katich had the misfortune to be out without facing a ball, a victim of chaotic communication with his opening partner. There was more calamity to come for Australia when Ponting edged Anderson's outswinger to Graeme Swann at second slip for his fifth Test first-ball duck. The hosts plunged into deeper trouble when out-of-form Michael Clarke on two went hard after a moving Anderson delivery and snicked to Swann in the slips for the spinner's second catch. Three Australian wickets had tumbled in 10 balls. Watson was out in the second over after lunch, slicing his drive off Anderson to Kevin Pietersen in the gully for 51 leaving Australia at 96 for four. Marcus North (26) helped put on 60 runs with Hussey for the fifth wicket before he attempted a lazy late cut off Steven Finn and edged to Matt Prior. Offspinner Swann was on a hattrick after getting some turn to have Hussey dismissed seven runs short of his century and next ball had recalled paceman Ryan Harris lbw for a duck. Hussey was on track for his third consecutive Ashes century before he was deceived by a turner from Swann and was snapped up by Paul Collingwood at slip. The veteran left-hander, who scored 121 in the second innings at The Oval last year, hit 195 in the first Gabba Test last week and was looking in good touch to make it three in a row. Harris was struck on the back pad at the crease but called for a review by the third umpire, who confirmed South African umpire Marais Erasmus's decision. Xavier Doherty saw off the hattrick threat, but became the second run out victim of the day in a mix-up with Haddin, who went on to make 56.