Pakistan to play five ODIs in BD next year

Pakistan will tour Bangladesh to play five one-day internationals in March next year, an official said Wednesday.

Pakistan have not played a bilateral series in Bangladesh since 2002 although they toured the nation to play a tri-series in May this year.

"There is an opinion that Pakistan has been isolated at international level but it's not correct and we have arranged tours for the team,"

Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Salim Altaf told reporters.

"As part of our team playing more cricket we will play five one-day matches in Bangladesh starting the tour on March 3,"

Altaf said.

Pakistan has been deprived of quality cricket on home soil as foreign teams have refused to tour over security fears.

India pulled out of next month's planned visit to Pakistan after New Delhi refused to clear the tour as tension mounted between the two countries in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai last month.

Pakistan have also arranged a stop-gap series of five one-dayers and three Tests with Sri Lanka next month.

Altaf said he hoped Australia, who postponed their tour of Pakistan in March this year over security fears, would play five one-day matches in Pakistan in March-April next year.

"I have talked to Cricket Australia on the five-match series and there is always the option of playing Australia at a neutral venue if they have any reservations on playing in Pakistan,"

said Altaf.

Australia have not toured Pakistan since 1998.

Four-nation Twenty20 tournament confirmed

Organisers have confirmed a four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto involving hosts Canada, Bangladesh, Pakistan and West Indies in August.

"There were some teething problems initially but now everything is going according to plan,"

Noman Nabi, chairman of Sports International Marketing - the company staging the August 14-17 tournament - told the News. Nabi said packed stadiums are expected for the event, with approximately 12,000 spectators expected for each game.

The tournament faced major hiccups last month when the original organisers backed out.

"We only came in the picture last month and signed an MoU with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in mid-June,"

Nabi said. He said they had signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Cricket Board while all terms and conditions have been verbally agreed with the top officials of Cricket Canada.

"They [Cricket Canada] have assured us that they would soon confirm the participation of the West Indies in the tournament,"

he said. Noman said there was a delay in confirming the four-day event as Cricket Canada were a "bit apprehensive" about the venture after the earlier organisers backed out.

"The PCB has been very supportive,"

he said.

"The tournament is aimed at building Pakistan's image in Canada because a successful Twenty20 tournament will help revive cricket in that country.

"Canada has a big Pakistani community and since the event will begin on August 14 we believe it would be a perfect time to celebrate [Pakistan's] Independence Day there."

Pakistan v Bangladesh, Super Four, Asia Cup, Karachi

Pakistan 116 for 0 (Butt 56*, Jamshed 52*) beat

Bangladesh 115 (Rauf 3-24) by ten wickets

A clinical performance from Pakistan had them coast to a ten-wicket win in the inconsequential final Super Four match of the Asia Cup. In a refreshing change at the National Stadium in Karachi, the bowlers dominated the proceedings in the first session but for Bangladesh it was the same old story as their batting collapsed to 115 all out - the lowest total of the tournament.

On a pitch offering sideways movement and extra bounce, Abdur Rauf sliced through the top order with three wickets and Iftikhar Anjum bowled an astonishing six maidens - equalling the record for a Pakistani - to put the hosts on course. Half-centuries from openers Nasir Jamshed and Salman Butt helped complete the formalities with more than 30 overs to spare.

The plethora of big scores which have been easily chased down hasn't dissuaded captains from choosing to bat first, and Bangladesh continued the trend. While Sohail Tanvir extracted significant lateral movement from the pitch initially, it was Rauf who got the early wickets.

On one of the cooler days of the tournament, on a difficult pitch, Bangladesh's batsmen compounded their troubles with some ill-advised shots. Opener Nazimuddin attempted to pull a short delivery in the second over from outside off and only managed to top-edge it to Shoaib Malik at cover.

Mohammad Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal didn't bring out their strokes except when the bowlers erred, but their steady approach lifted Bangladesh to 41 for 2. Ashraful hadn't connected with an attempted hook in the ninth over but got hold of a short one from Rauf in the next to launch it over the midwicket boundary. Rauf's next ball was a fast bowler's classic reply: a snorter aimed at the body which forced Ashraful to give Misbah-ul-Haq a catch at point.

Raqibul Hasan has shown a heartening and - for a Bangladesh batsman - a rare ability to stick it out in the middle but this time he went for an ambitious hook first ball off Tanvir to hole out at short fine leg.

With Bangladesh at a dicey 49 for 3, Rauf came up with the best over of the match. The first ball was a sharp bouncer which Tamim fended to slip, and Alok Kapali barely survived the next five torrid deliveries - a couple of well-directed bouncers, and a mixture of incoming and away-going deliveries.

Iftikhar Anjum followed the Rauf formula of throwing in a surprise bouncer while also testing the batsmen against the deliveries which seamed off a length. Kapali struck three boundaries in Anjum's first over but he was undone by the extra lift in the pitch as well. It was a superb comeback by Anjum, conceding only seven runs in his final seven overs and beating the bat on umpteen occasions. He finished with figures of 10-6-20-2 and was unlucky to not get more wickets.

Saeed Ajmal backed up the good work of the fast bowlers, picking up two late-order wickets off his doosra, which the batsmen struggled to pick as Bangladesh folded in the 39th over.

The flimsy total wasn't going to be much of a challenge for a Pakistan batting line-up that convincingly chased down 309 against India on Wednesday. Jamshed provided the early momentum, repeatedly carting the bowlers in the arc between long-on and midwicket as Pakistan went into the dinner break at 23 for no loss.

Shahadat Hossain extracted the same bounce which aided the Pakistan bowlers, and troubled both openers in the first over after the resumption but there were few alarms after that. Pakistan scored a boundary in virtually every over with a series of off drives off Mashrafe Mortaza and Shahadat.

There was a brief lull after spin was introduced at both ends before Butt carved Abdur Razzak through extra cover in the eighteenth over. That opened the floodgates as Jamshed pummeled Mahmudullah over long-on for six and brought up his fifty with a swept four to midwicket. Butt also completed his fifty with three sweeps to the boundary off Razzak before an authoritative cut put Bangladesh out of their misery.

Bangladesh are still without a win against challenging opposition since last year's World Cup and the poor showing at the Asia Cup isn't the sort of preparation they'd want ahead of a tough tour of Australia.

Canada to host Twenty20 tri-series in August

Canada will host a Twenty20 tri-series featuring Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh from August 13 to 16 and all the matches will be played in Toronto. The tournament, which was organised by the PCB to fill up its calendar after the postponement of their home series against Australia, had initially faced problems with the backing out of the primary sponsors, but the board has managed to bring in a Pakistan-based business house to finance the event.

"The proposed tournament in Canada may have run into major problems after the previous sponsor backed out of their commitment,"

Shafqat Naghmi, the chief operating officer of the PCB, told the News.

"But we've got new sponsors and hopefully the tournament will go ahead according to schedule."

Naghmi said the board had also received a guarantee from the new sponsors for Pakistan's participation for the tournament. This will the first time in close to nine years that Pakistan will be playing in Canada: they had beaten West Indies 3-0 in September, 1999. Prior to that, they had played an annual ODI series against India from 1996 to 1998, winning on two occasions.

Bangladesh v Pakistan, 1st match, Kitply Cup

Pakistan 233 (Butt 70, Yousuf 59, Razzak 3-35, Kapali 3-49) beat

Bangladesh 163 for 8 (Ashraful 56*, Afridi 3-19, Riaz 3-22) by 70 runs

Pakistan opened the Kitply Cup with a comprehensive 70-run victory, their 12th straight win equalling the joint second-longest ODI streak. They had won all five in an ODI series against Bangladesh in Pakistan recently, and home advantage didn't make a difference as hosts Bangladesh once again could not match up against a tougher opponent.

After a series of short, sharp showers curtailed the match to a 40-over affair, half-centuries from Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf took Pakistan to a commanding 233. In reply, Bangladesh were rarely in the hunt - Wahab Riaz and Shahid Afridi took three wickets each as the hosts crawled to 163 for 8 in their allotted overs. Mohammad Ashraful made a fighting, unbeaten 56 but it came at too pedestrian a pace to be a serious threat.

Bangladesh were on the back foot right from the time Pakistan were put in by Ashraful in conditions which were expected to be more conducive to the bowling side. Butt continued his irrepressible form against the hosts, making his fifth consecutive score above fifty, while Yousuf played a classy, composed knock before Pakistan lost their way in the final ten overs.

The visitors got off to a steady start with Butt, who amassed 451 runs in the recent five-match ODI series, scoring the bulk of the runs. After a cagey beginning, he provided the innings impetus. Shahadat Hossain's short deliveries were tackled with a rasping cut and a mistimed pull, and after nearly holing out to cover, Butt confidently reeled off four boundaries in a short span, pushing the run-rate to nearly six.

The other opener Kamran Akmal was subdued until the ninth over, when he shuffled across the stumps and dispatched an off-stump delivery to midwicket for four. An imperious six over long-off followed and with Butt scoring freely at the other end, Pakistan raced to an ominous 69 for no loss after 11 overs.

Debutant Dolar Mahmud provided the first breakthrough as an Akmal flash, devoid of any footwork, took the outside-edge and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, making a comeback, took a sharp diving catch. It became 75 for 2 the next ball, as Younis Khan was run out thanks to an athletic effort from Raqibul Hasan at midwicket.

Butt, who had been rampant against the faster bowlers - racing to 48 off 43 balls - was tied down by Bangladesh's trio of spinners. Kapali, in particular, kept him quiet as his last 22 runs came in singles before hitting one straight to long-on. At the other end, Yousuf made a circumspect start against Razzak before upping his scoring-rate with a bunch of leg-side boundaries. The fours were interspersed with numerous risk-free drives for singles as he smoothly progressed to his 62nd ODI fifty.

Pakistan were poised for a massive total with the score on 178 for 3 after 30 overs. Kapali, however, dismissed both Yousuf and Shahid Afridi in an over as only 13 runs came off four overs. Misbah-ul-Haq's big-hitting fetched him 39 off 22 balls, but after he fell on the first ball of the 38th over, only six runs came off the final three overs as Pakistan collapsed dramatically from 229 for 6 to 233 all out.

The Pakistan new-ball bowlers, getting a hint of movement, consolidated the advantage their batsmen had provided by keeping the scoring-rate down. Just as Bangladesh thought the main threats, Tanvir and Gul, had been seen off, Riaz struck with his second ball - Shahriar Nafees edging a full delivery to the wicketkeeper. Tamim Iqbal was foxed by a loopy delivery from Afridi - who was getting the legbreak to turn appreciably - as he tried to up the tempo.

Afridi has not been in the best of form with the bat but underscored his effectiveness as a bowler with a superb spell, finishing with 3 for 19. When he removed Mushfiqur in the 27th over, Bangladesh's slim hopes evaporated. Ashraful battled but scored at an inexplicably slow pace even as wickets tumbled and the asking-rate climbed alarmingly. With just one other batsman crossing 20, Bangladesh never mounted a serious challenge and dawdled along till the end of their quota of overs.

Given the nature of the tournament, it's very tough for a team to recover from a slip-up, and the huge margin of defeat dents Bangladesh's net run-rate, making their route to the final even more arduous.

Pakistan and Bangladesh meet in Tri-nation opener tomorrow

Triangular cricket series is beginning here tomorrow and the inaugural match will be played between Pakistan and hosts Bangladesh.

Pakistan team is favourite for the opening match but captain Shoaib Malik and coach Geoff Lawson said that Bangladesh team cannot be taken easily and it can make an upset any time.

Shoaib Malik said that the young Pakistani fast bowlers are capable to fill the gap created by Mohammad Asif’s absence.

He said that the team would make its best efforts to continue its winning streak.

Pakistan have previously won 11 One-day Internationals.

India, the third team of the tournament, will play their first match of the event against Pakistan on Tuesday.

Pakistan v Bangladesh, 4th ODI, MULTAN

Pakistan gained 4-0 lead in the series by defeating Bangladesh by seven wickets in the fourth One-day International here on Wednesday.

In reply to Bangladesh’s 210, Pakistan easily achieved the winning target for the loss of only three wickets.

From Pakistan, opener Salman Butt made 74 and Bazid Khan scored 51 while Mohammad Yousuf and Fawad Alam remained not out on 37 and five, respectively.

From Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzaq took one wicket each.

Earlier, Bangladesh were all out for 210 in 49.1 overs, setting Pakistan a winning target of 211 runs.

Left-handed batsman Shakib Al Hasan scored 108 from 120 balls with eight fours. This was the first individual hundred from a Bangladeshi in the current series.

Batting at number five, Shakib added 97 runs for the ninth wicket with Mashrafe Mortaza, who came at number ten to make 38.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh batted first but none of their batsmen could make any significant score except Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza.

From Pakistan, pacers Sohail Khan and Umar Gul captured three wickets each while Mohammad Asif claimed two wickets. Spinners Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik took one wicket each.

Pakistan v Bangladesh, 2nd ODI, Faisalabad

Pakistan 160 for 3 (Butt 76) beat Bangladesh 225 for 8 (Tamim 60, Mahmudullah 58*) by 7 wickets on D/L method

A blazing 76 by Salman Butt led Pakistan to a comprehensive seven-wicket win in a rain-curtailed match at the Iqbal Stadium. Heavy rain at the fag end of Bangladesh's innings kept the players off the field for more than two hours and the target of 226 was reduced to 158 in 25 overs by the D/L method. Pakistan made easy work of the target, despite an asking-rate of more than six an over, and extended their lead to 2-0 in the five-match series.

Despite the heavy defeat, Bangladesh had something to write home about, especially the lower-order revival. Mahmudullah's unbeaten half-century pushed Bangladesh to a respectable score of 225 for 8 after a characteristic top-order wobble. Tamim Iqbal piloted the early charge with an attacking 60 but the excitement was rather shortlived, with half the side back in the pavilion by the 25th over. Mahmudullah then proceeded to add 37 with Farhad Reza, doubled that effort with Dhiman Ghosh, and those stands were significant in ensuring that Bangladesh didn't fold up before the allotted overs.

Tamim set the pace with some gorgeous drives through extra cover and controlled flicks off the pads off the opening bowlers and it was fairly obvious from the start that the margin for error on this surface was minimal. The high elbows were a feature of his technique as punched crisply through the off side and back past the bowler.

Nafees wasn't as technically correct and like a repeat offender, perished in identical fashion to the Lahore game, swatting at a wide delivery away from the body. Aftab Ahmed's dismissal was unfortunate as replays indicated the ball struck him above the knee roll off Gul, who picked up his 50th ODI wicket in the process.

Ashraful walked in and went on the offensive with an exquisite cover drive off Tanvir to go past Habibul Bashar as the highest run-getter in ODIs for Bangladesh, before taking Gul to task with three fours in a single over.

However, Bangladesh lost two quick wickets against the run of play - including Ashraful - and Tamim fell shortly after bringing up his fifty. Shahid Afridi pulled back the initiative and Bangladesh lost their mainstay for 60.

Mahmudullah and Reza got together for damage control after Tamim's wicket, and the pair brought some stability to the innings. With spinners bowling from either end, the pair grafted, staying back, waiting for the turn and pushing the ball into the gaps and fetching the odd boundary. The partnership was worth 37 before Reza lunged forward to Afridi and was trapped lbw just after a drinks break, in the 34th over.

Luckily for Mahmudullah, he found an able partner in Ghosh and the pair strung together the most fruitful stand of the evening. In the five overs after Reza's dismissal, Bangladesh added 34. Pakistan lost the plot, and the introduction of Younis Khan to break the stand only leaked more runs. Mahmudullah never got tied down at any stage, and shortly after the pair brought up their 50 stand, he brought up his own half-century, giving Sohail Tanvir the charge and punching him through extra cover and then glancing one down to fine leg the following ball. Rain intervened with ten balls left, leaving Mahmudullah unbeaten on 58.

The overcast conditions mattered little for Pakistan as the openers blazed away in a stand of 46 in just over seven overs. Butt took to Mortaza early, punching him through extra cover and followed it up with a pull over midwicket in the same over. His innings was a suitably classy affair, full of proper cricket shots, drives, cuts and the odd pull.

The early pounding forced Ashraful to bring his slow bowlers on in the fifth over and the move worked as the left-armers, Abdur Razzak and Shakib plugged the scoring for three consecutive overs. Nasir Jamshed fell after attempting one ugly heave too many, bowled by Shakib.

Younis Khan walked in and carted Mahmudullah for a huge six over midwicket before a swing and a miss off Reza sent him back for 13. Yousuf joined Butt and in his cameo knock of 32, and on 19 became the second Pakistani to cross 9000 ODI runs behind Inzamam-ul-Haq. Butt brought up his fifty in the 18th over, launched Mahmudullah for a six over long-off before he was run-out off a direct hit for 76. His 72-ball knock had all but sealed the victory, with Pakistan needing just seven to win.

Bangladesh aims to improve in Pakistan series

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said Thursday he hoped his team would put up a better show in the second match against Pakistan here following an embarrassing defeat in the series opener.

The tourists were thrashed by 152 runs in the first of five matches in Lahore on Tuesday. The teams next meet Friday.

"It was a bit embarrassing to lose by that margin and we need to lift ourselves, but it is always tough against a team like Pakistan,"

said Siddons, blaming two power failure stoppages for derailing his team's run-chase.

Two power outages, stopping play for 48 minutes in all, saw Bangladesh's target revised from 323 to 282 in 39 overs, which proved beyond their reach after a poor start.

Bangladesh finally folded at 129 in 29.5 overs.

"At the start, we were chasing six plus an over but after lights went off twice we were left chasing nine an over, which proved tough,"

Siddons said.

Bangladesh surprisingly left out their front-line fast bowlers Shahadat Hossain and Syed Rasel -- a move Siddons admitted backfired.

"We were one bowler short and that cost us dearly. The fifth bowler cost us nearly 106 runs in ten overs. But one slip does not make a series,"

said Siddons, who took over as coach last year.

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said Bangladesh was a quality opponent.

"They are a good side and we are not taking them lightly,"

said Malik of the Bangladesh team, who are here as a replacement to Australia, which postponed their Pakistan tour over security fears.

"At least we are playing some cricket, which is better than not having cricket at all. We did some experiments against Zimbabwe, and now we will do more against Bangladesh, and these will help us in the future."

Schedule (Bangladesh in Pakistan 2007/08)

08 Apr 2008	1st ODI		Pakistan v Bangladesh	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	ODI
11 Apr 2008	2nd ODI		Pakistan v Bangladesh	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad	ODI
13 Apr 2008	3rd ODI		Pakistan v Bangladesh	Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore	ODI
16 Apr 2008	4th ODI		Pakistan v Bangladesh	Multan Cricket Stadium	ODI
19 Apr 2008	5th ODI		Pakistan v Bangladesh	National Stadium, Karachi	ODI
20 Apr 2008	Twenty20		Pakistan v Bangladesh	National Stadium, Karachi	T20

Squad for Bangladesh (Bangladesh in Pakistan 2007/08)

Abdur Razzak

Aftab Ahmed

Dhiman Ghosh (wicket-keeper)

Farhad Reza

Junaid Siddique

Mahmudullah

Mashrafe Mortaza (vice-captain)

Mehrab Hossain

Mohammad Ashraful (captain)

Mushfiqur Rahim

Nazimuddin

Nazmul Hossain

Shahadat Hossain

Shahriar Nafees

Shakib Al Hasan

Syed Rasel

Tamim Iqbal

Bangladesh agree to tour Pakistan next month

Minnows Bangladesh said Tuesday they would tour Pakistan next month after world champions Australia postponed a cricket series there over security fears.

Cricket Australia Tuesday told Pakistan authorities that their team's upcoming tour starting late this month was postponed, but not cancelled, though no new date has yet been set.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf told a press conference they had contacted other countries as potential replacements and hoped Bangladesh would come instead, and later Tuesday the PCB got its wish.

"We have accepted Pakistan's proposal to play five one-day matches and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan in April,"

Bangladesh Cricket Board official Gazi Ashaf Hossain Lipu confirmed in Dhaka.

"We will meet soon to fix the dates and venues of the matches."

Pakistan last month also invited India for five one-day matches as an alternative if the Australians refused to tour, but the arch-rivals turned down the invitation citing a busy schedule.

Ashraf said he hoped the Australia tour would be rescheduled once they get security clearance.

"The Australian series is not cancelled, it is postponed for the time-being and we hope that once their security team gives clearance Australia tour us whenever they get a time slot,"

said Ashraf.

The PCB chief denied that Pakistan faced financial losses because of the postponement.

"Since the series will be played we are not going to lose any finances and we are sure that it will be rescheduled,"

said Ashraf.

He said the PCB had insured the Australian series with a British-based company for a sum of seven million dollars -- the reported value of an Australian series in television rights.

Ashraf said he would meet CA chairman Creagh O'Connor in Dubai next week.

"We have conveyed our disappointment over the tour postponement and now I am going to meet the CA chairman in Dubai on March 17 where we will talk about the series and other matters relating to the series."

Pakistan managed to avoid any financial losses when they were forced to play their home series on neutral grounds in 2001 and 2002, also amid security fears.

The West Indies and Australia refused to tour Pakistan because of security fears following the 9/11 attacks on the United States and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan.

This time Pakistan refused to switch the Australian series to neutral venues.

Pak U-19 v Bang U-19, 4th Youth ODI, Karachi

Bangladesh level series despite Asad's century

Bangladesh U-19 233 for 6 (Ayub 88, Hasan 44,Rameez 2-30) beat Pakistan U-19 220 (Asad 106, Mir 64, Shuvo 5-38, Mahmud 4-40) by 13 runs

Suhrawadi Shuvo, the Bangladesh Under-19 captain, triggered a late collapse and claimed five of the last six wickets to fall as his team successfully defended 233 against Pakistan Under-19 to square the five-match ODI series two-all.

After losing their first four wickets with only 49 on the board, Pakistan were within sight of victory at 183 for 4 thanks to a 134-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ali Asad (106) and Umair Mir (64). The collapse - with the home side losing six wickets for 37 runs including the last three for only one run - completed a remarkable comeback by Bangladesh who were precariously placed at 57 for 3 after opting to bat.

Marshall Ayub and Mahmudul Hasan put on 126 for the fifth wicket after Mithun Ali, Bangladesh's opener and wicketkeeper, had scored 33. Ayub hammered 88 runs off 91 balls with five fours and a six while Hasan chipped in with a valuable 44 to enable their team post a respectable total.

In reply, Dolar Mahmud tore through the top order and finished with four wickets for 40 runs before Shuvo, following a resurgent knock by Asad, bowled Bangladesh to victory to level the series 2-2.

The fifth and final match of the series is to be played here at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) Sports Complex Stadium on Friday.

Two unbeaten tons help Pakistan U19s reply strongly

KARACHI: Rony Talukdar’s splendid century seems to have gone to waste, as the Pakistan Under-19s second-wicket pair contributed an unbroken stand of 212 runs, on the second day of the four-day, one-off Youth Test match against Bangladesh Under-19s, here at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

The touring side’s first innings total of 343 runs looked adequate enough, but the Pakistan juniors’ in-form batsmen Ahmed Shahzad and Umar Amin hit unbeaten individual hundreds as they helped their team reach 214 for the loss of only one wicket by the day’s close yesterday.

The visitors started the second day at their overnight 273 for seven, with Talukdar not out at 52. He dominated the Bangladesh later order batting, achieving his first century at the youth cricket level, his eventual 107 runs coming off only 141 deliveries in four minutes short of three hours with the help of 11 fours and two sixes.

Pakistan’s excellent new-ball bowler Mohammad Rameez finished the innings with figures of four wickets for 73 runs. Fast-medium Junaid Nadir and Ahmed Shahzad, with his leg-breaks, picked up two wickets each.

Although he was guilty of having conceded 14 byes in the Bangladesh score, Karachi’s 17-year-old wicket-keeper Mohammad Hasan was otherwise excellent behind the stumps. His three catches were right out of the top drawer.

In five minutes short of five hours, after opener and vice-captain Shan Masood had perished for a duck, Ahmed Shahzad and Umar Amin notched centuries without being separated.

Ahmed’s exact 100 not out has come off 200 balls with eight fours while Umar has hit an unbeaten 108 off 208 deliveries with 12 boundaries. Both scored their respective second Youth Test hundreds, their previous ones being on the England tour earlier this summer. The Bangladesh team, which has arrived in Pakistan after a delay of more than a week, will play a series of five Youth ODIs against the hosts following the ongoing Youth Test match.

Bangladesh postpones U-19 tour of Pakistan

Bangladesh has postponed a junior cricket team's tour of Pakistan, a cricket official said Friday, amid growing political instability in the emergency-ruled country.

The under-19 squad was scheduled to leave for Karachi on Saturday to play five one-dayers and a four-day match.

"The tour has been postponed after we were advised by our deputy high commissioner in Karachi,"

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive officer Mahmudur Rahman said.

"We are discussing with the Pakistan cricket board to reschedule the tour,"

he said, without saying why it had been postponed.

But the private bdnews24 news agency said the tour was temporarily called off because the BCB wanted better security arrangements for its players in Pakistan, which has been under a state of emergency since November 3.

ICC Twenty20 World Cup: Pakistan beat BD by four wickets in T20 Super Eights

CAPE TOWN: Pakistan in their last match in the Super Eights stage of ICC Twenty20 World Cup defeated Bangladesh by four wickets here at Newlands on Thursday.

Pakistan chased the target of 141 set by Bangladesh in nineteen ours with top score of 39 runs of Shahid Afridid and Muhammad Hanid stood second top by scoring 23 runs.

Pakistan has already qualified for the semi-finals in the Twenty20 World Cup tournament. Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss but put Bangladesh into batting.

Man of the Match: Zunaid Siddique (Bangladesh)

Pakistan win depsite Nazimuddin's heroics

A scintillating 81 off 51 deliveries by Nazimuddin briefly threatened an upset but lack of support from other batsmen allowed Pakistan a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the Quadrangular tournament. The early loss of fellow opener Tamim Iqbal did not deter Nazimuddin as he dispatched the much talked-about duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif to all parts of the Nairobi ground.

Iftikhar Anjum replaced Asif as early as the sixth over but 20 came off his first over as Bangladesh went past fifty. The introduction of spin, however, paid dividends for the second time in the match as Shahid Afridi dismissed Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful was run out in the following over. While Nazimuddin kept blazing, Afridi picked up another wicket to dry scoring from one end.

Nazimuddin was finally dismissed by Yasir Arafat after striking eight fours and five sixes taking with him back to the pavilion Bangladesh's hopes of victory. Akhtar returned to pick up another wicket in his final over but the Pakistan bowling attack, for the second match running, failed to dismiss their opposition after their batsmen had piled up a huge total.

Earlier, a 76-run opening partnership between Salman Butt and Imran Nazir and some firm hitting by Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi enabled Pakistan to score 191 against Bangladesh at Nairobi.

Asked to bat first by Mohammad Ashraful, Pakistan openers adopted aggression right from the first ball. The Bangladesh bowlers, especially Mashrafe Mortaza, were bent upon bowling short and were dealt with severely. Pakistan's 50 came up in the fifth over which was blasted for 21 runs by Imran Nazir, including a brace of fours and sixes. Nazir was eventually run out one short of his half-century but Younis Khan, who dealt mainly in sixes, kept the run rate close to nine an over.

The introduction of spin slowed Pakistan's progress a tad and also brought the wicket of Butt who was cleaned up by Ashraful for 33. Shoaib Malik promoted himself up the order but only lasted six deliveries and scored 10. His dismissal, however, brought the crowd-favourite Shahid Afridi to the crease who had yesterday blasted a 50 off 18 deliveries in the previous match.

Content with giving Younis the strike, Afridi broke the shackles after being dropped by Ferhad Reza when on 2. A few sixes after Younis' dismissal (48 off 25 deliveries) gave not only the crowd more to cheer about but also gave Pakistan bowlers yet another solid platform to work with.

Bangladesh and Pakistan warm up in Kenya

Bangladesh and Pakistan will warm up for next month's Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa by participating alongside Kenya and Uganda in a four-nation tournament in Nairobi.

Cricket Kenya have confirmed the itinerary of the tournament which gets underway on September 1. The opening match pits Bangladesh against the hosts, Kenya, while the most-anticipated match involves Bangladesh and Pakistan a day later.

The four-day competition will be completed when Pakistan face Kenya on September 4, after which the teams fly to Johannesburg to participate in the first ever Twenty20 World Championship on September 6.

Schedule
September 1 - Bangladesh v Kenya, Pakistan v Uganda
September 2 - Kenya v Uganda, Bangladesh v Pakistan
September 4 - Bangladesh v Uganda, Pakistan v Kenya

Kenya Steve Tikolo (capt), Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Ouma, David Obuya, Tanmay Mishra, Collins Obuya, Alex Obanda, Jimmy Kamande, Hiren Varaiya, Peter Ongondo, Elijah Otieno, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Rajesh Bhudia, Tony Suji, Lameck Onyango.

Pakistan Shoaib Malik (capt), Muhammad Hafeez, Misbah-ul-Haq, Imran Nazir, Yasir Arafat, Rao Iftikhar, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Muhammad Asif, Salman Butt, Fawad Alam, Younis Khan.

Bangladesh Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Alok Kapali, Syed Rasel, Abdur Razzak, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad Reza, Shakib Al Hasan, Nadif Chowdhury, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Mahmudullah, Mohammed Nazimuddin, Ziaur Rahman.

Uganda To be announced.

Aaqib Javed offered Bangladesh post

Aaqib Javed, former Pakistan fast-bowler and chief coach of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), has been offered the bowling coach's position for the Bangladesh national team. The offer was made during Pakistan Academy's tour of Bangladesh on which, Aaqib served as the coach.

"Bangladesh board officials came up with the offer during an informal chat while we were in Dhaka. But I plainly told them to give me at least a couple of weeks to think about it," Aaqib told the daily Dawn.

"I don't want to make any hasty decision due to my other
commitments."

Aaqib, a vital member of the World Cup winning team in 1992, is also backed by many to land the job of Pakistan's national coach. Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, reportedly backed Aaqib's credentials during an ad hoc committee meeting in Lahore last month.

However, Aaqib, who also coached the Under-19 World Cup-winning teams of 2004 and 2006, is unconcerned with these reports.

"Why should I worry or lose my sleep over it?"

he asked.

"But if the offer comes my way, I'll certainly consider taking up the challenge as a great honour."

Pakistan go into this month's three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi with Talat Ali acting as manager-cum-coach.