3 SL greats agree to play

The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s plan to assemble the Asian greats in Dhaka for a charity match to help the Sidr victims gained momentum when at least three former Sri Lankan cricketers confirmed their participation, said an official on Wednesday.
‘Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Romesh Kaluwitharana have confirmed that they will be coming to play in the match,’ said an official, closely working to host the match in January.
The BCB has entrusted event management company Riz Events to hold the match between Asian legends and former Bangladeshi cricketers and the official said they have made significant progress.
Initially, the match was planned to take place on December 28 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, but for obvious reasons it has been shifted to January 11. The new date could also be changed subject to availability of the former greats.
‘Some of the greats we have invited will be in the commentary box during the upcoming Test series between India and Australia and thus it will become very difficult to get them for the match. However, there is a gap from January 6 to 16 in the series, so we hope at least a few people will come,’ said the official asking not to be name.
‘Among the Indians Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Sandeep Patil have been invited, but none have confirmed their participation. Gavaskar has already regretted and the others have promised to inform us of their availability shortly,’ said the official.
‘From Pakistan Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar and Shoaib Mohammad have been invited for the match,’ said the official hoping that they will be able to give details of the match to the media on December 26.
Meanwhile, the ICC has regretted to host any charity match for the Sidr victims with the current international players, but said it would donate $2.5 lakh to the relief fund of chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed.
An ICC official is expected to hand over the money to the Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful in Hamilton on Sunday, when the Tigers will play a charity Twenty20 match against Stephen Fleming-led New Zealand XI.

U-19s clinch series

Shubhashis Roy’s devastating bowling enabled Bangladesh U-19 team to clinch the one-day series 3-1 against the Sri Lanka U-19 side as the hosts beat the visitors by 49 runs in the 4th one-dayer at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium on Monday.
Shubhashis’ five-wicket haul for 24 runs in 10 overs helped bundle Sri Lanka out for 118 in 36.5 overs after the hosts posted a moderate 167 for all in 48 overs. Shubhashis was adjudged man of the match for his bowling heroics.
For Bangladesh, top-order Nasir Hossain top-scored with 46 runs off 69 balls that featured eight fours while middle-order Marshal Ayub remained unbeaten on 42. Nadimuddin contributed 41 off 55 balls with six boundaries.
NM Kavikara took three wickets for 22 runs while Rajapaksha claimed two wickets for 27 runs.
Opener Dilshan Munaweera scored 40 off 29 balls hitting seven boundaries and his partner Dinesh Lokuge added 25.
Nasir Hossain, skipper Sohrawardy Shuvo and pacer Dollar Mahmud took one wicket apiece.
Both sides will face off in the 5th and last one-day match on Wednesday at the same venue.

Sajidul replaces injured Rasel

Uncapped left-arm pacer Sajidul Islam was called up to replace injured pacer Syed Rasel in the Bangladesh squad in New Zealand, the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Monday.
Rasel has been ruled out of the tour games after dislocating his left collar bone while fielding in the warm-up match against Northern Knights, which Bangladesh lost by seven wickets in Hamilton.
‘The decision was unanimous. It did not require a long discussion to name Sajidul as a replacement of Rasel. He is very much similar to Rasel and also has been in a very good form,’ said chief selector Rafiqul Alam.
Sajidul, the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing National Cricket League with 36 wickets in eight matches, will fly to New Zealand on Tuesday. He will be accompanied by selector Naimur Rahman.
Rasel on the other hand will most likely fly to Australia from New Zealand for a surgery, said chief selector Rafqul, though the BCB has yet to confirm the extent of his injury officially.
‘Rasel was examined by an orthopaedic surgeon in Hamilton today (Monday) and the specialist’s report is expected tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. He will undergo further investigation and treatment before a final assessment on his injury condition is made,’ said TigerCricket.com, the official website of the BCB.
Bangladesh will play their second warm-up game of the tour today, this time against the State Northern Knights at Seddon Park in Hamilton. Being handicapped by the injury to Rasel, Bangladesh have been forced to bring changes for the match, the website reported.
Besides Rasel, who is unlikely to return to action soon, batsman Tushar Imran will also sit out the game with a sore left shoulder, though his injury is not that much serious. Tushar, whose left arm is on a sling at the moment, is expected to be fit ahead of the Twenty20 match against New Zealand on December 23.
The Tigers, who will again field 12 players in the warm-up game, might also rest pace spearhead Mashrafee bin Murtaza. It means, Javed Omar, Mehrab Hossain Junior and Shahadat Hossain, who all missed the first warm-up match, will have their chances to play the game.
Bangladesh play the first of three one-dayers against the Kiwis on Dec 26. They will also play two Tests next month.

Bangladesh U/19 won the third match

Another win for Bangladesh under 19..Now they are leading the series 2-1

Scorecard

BD U-19 Vs SL U-19
BD U-19 203/10 Over -49.3; Nadimuddin 66, Nasiruddin 41, Ashraful 26, Marshall 24; Pathirana 4/43

SL U-19 159/10 Over -45.3; Zenith 47, Priris 29, Pathirana 28; Dollar 3/24, Nasiruddin 2/9, Shakib 2/38

Bangladesh Under-19 won by 44 runs (Venue-SCS; Toss-BD U19; MOM-Nasiruddin; Date-15 December 2007)

SL U-19s level series

The visiting Sri Lankan Under-19 team levelled the five-match limited-overs series 1-1 when they defeated their local counterparts at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra on Friday.
Batting first, the visitors were all out for 165 in 48.5 overs with Rubel Hossain and Mahmudual Hasan taking three wickets apiece for the Bangladesh U-19s, who later were dismissed for 151.
Marshal Ayub fought alone with the Lankan bowlers with a brisk 90, but the other batsmen failed to give him adequate support. Sri Lanka’s Fernando and Pathirana each bagged four wickets giving away 20 and 25 runs respectively. The third match of the series will be held today at the same venue.