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Rajshahi, who had already secured the National League one-day title, finished their campaign with a 51-run defeat by Dhaka at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. It was a low-key end to their season and followed on from their collapse against the same opponents the previous day which cost them the first-class crown. The win gave Dhaka second place.Dhaka made a wobbly start before Anwar Hossain and Mahmudullah, who both hit fifties, started a recovery which enabled them to post 254 for 8. Hossain, who went on to win the man-of-the-Match award hit 65 off 91 balls. In reply, Rajshahi limped to 203 in 48.5 overs.Khulna finished on level points with Dhaka thanks to their seven-wicket victory against Barisal at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium but were edged into third on net run-rate. Imrul Kayash made 133 off 151 balls to lead Khulna’s reply to Barisal’s 265 for 6, and they eased past the target with 14 balls to spare. Earlier, Raqibul Hasan scored his maiden one-day hundred, hitting 133 off 131 deliveries.Chittagong still finished bottom despite a consolation seven-wicket win over Sylhet at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. Their victory was based on a 133-run fourth-wicket stand between Faisal Hossain and Dhiman Ghosh as they eased past Sylhet’s 198 with almost 20 overs in hand.

On a rain curtailed second day’s play at the Gujarat State FertilizerCorporation Ground in Baroda, the host team were all out for 467 inthe Ranji Trophy pre-quarter-final match against Bengal on Sunday.Resuming on 273/3, Baroda were soon in trouble losing Jacob Martin(103) without adding a run to his overnight score and TB Arothe (57)who made just two more runs. Baroda were reduced to 279/5 at thatstage.AP Bhoite (54) and M Maveda (62) added 79 runs for the sixth wicket,steadying the Baroda innings. Before being run out, Bhoite struckeight boundaries and a six. The heavy downpour stopped cricket for along while after lunch. The day’s play was extended for an hour tomake up for the lost time.Baroda kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Maveda was trapped infront by Shukla at 415, before being dismissed. Maveda hit nineboundaries. RB Patel (20), VN Buch (17), Irfan Pathan (13 not out) andIrfan Khan Pathan (8) contributed their might to the Baroda cause.Medium pacer Laxmi Ratan Shukla finished with 4/119 and veteran leftarm spinner Utpal Chaterjee (3/88) took the bowling honours. At closeof play Bengal had scored one run without any loss of just two ballsin their first innings, when play was called off due to bad light.

For the first time in this long and dreary summer – only two days from its scheduled end and with each of those days shortening in the flood towards winter – a little weary sunshine shone on Otago’s back.When they left the field at McLean Park tonight, outflanked by lengthening shadows and overlooked a light sky whitening towards evening, their step was a little more jaunty and their chins were held higher, their faces were less downcast.Because today and more obviously than on any of the 37 days of State Championship cricket which has preceded it, Otago had a day in the sun, a day on which their spirit shone – an excuse to smile and be proud.Otago dominated the second day of their Championship match against Central Districts, recovering their first innings which was a little faded by stumps on the first day, then gaining and enlarging a first innings lead which Central reduced partially and without wicketloss before stumps.Resuming at 59/3, Otago were given strength and confidence by Chris Gaffaney and Craig Pryor, then Pryor and Simon Beare, then Beare and Scott Waide and finally by Duncan Drew and Neil Rushton who put on 36 by their 10th wicket.With those various innings and various partnerships, Otago reached 268 in its first innings, replying to Central’s 178, to establish a 90-run first innings lead. By stumps and after nine overs, Central was 27/0 in its second innings and Otago’s lead was still 63, a little eroded but still impressive.Otago sides are well known for their spirit and admired for it. They have a determination belied by natural casualness, a steadiness and a sense of duty to each other and to their province. They demonstrated that today when, with steady application, they took charge of this 10th match of the season and made less likely a 10th consecutive loss.The season has inflicted on Otago nine losses in nine matches and it has been left to them in this last game, against a team placed third on the Championship table, to take all steps necessary to avoid a season without any redeeming feature. They produced the determination today to avoid a full card of losses.Otago progressed in the manner of a relay team of post riders to a first innings lead by the middle of the second session. They developed that lead after tea and had some control over their own fate when they allowed Central to bat again with nine overs remaining in the day.Gaffaney was the first man to take charge, to carry the baton which represented Otago’s hopes. He took his overnight score of 33 on to 66 in a fourth wicket partnership with Pryor which lifted Otago from 51/3 to 126/4, adding 75 runs.Gaffaney, who faced the first ball of the innings on Sunday afternoon, batted 201 minutes and punctuated his innings with six fours.When Gaffaney was finally out, caught by Campbell Furlong at slip from Brent Hefford in the 50th over, Otago were 52 runs from Central’s first innings total.Pryor then took charge and, in taking his score on to 38 in 174 minutes – an effort of remarkable application and much of it as Gaffaney’s lieutenant – lifted Central to 162/5. When he was out in the 65th over, Beare was at the crease well set and ready to lead Otago on to a first innings advantage.Beare dominated a partnership of 44 for the sixth wicket with Nathan Morland which lasted almost 15 overs and during which, around 2pm, first innings points were achieved. Of those 44 runs, Morland made only seven but he, too, gave his team good service.Beare’s was a fine innings – ambitious and decisive, well-paced and full of simple but effective strokeplay. He pushed the scoring on at its most regular tempo of the day: he made 60 in 140 minutes from 114 balls with seven fours. He played with balance and judgement off both feet and took his boundaries with crisp timing and careful placement.Beare was out in the 86th over when Otago was 217 and leading by 39 runs. Waide made 17 and was next out at 232/8 and Kerry Walmsley fell without scoring at the total, leaving Otago 54 ahead with one wicket in hand.But there was still spirit and a sense of clear purpose in the Otago side – a side with considerable batting depth in this match – and Rushton and Drew kept the innings alive for a further 15 overs. Their 36-run stand, epitomising Otago’s determination, left them in greater control of the day and the match.Ruston made 25 from 54 balls while Drew was left 11 not out.It would have been the crowning glory of the day if Otago had been able to claim a Central wicket before the curtain fell but they could not do so. Furlong and Peter Ingram saw Central through the last and important period of the day without loss.Ingram was 10 and Furlong 16 when drinks were taken.The advantage in the game, with Otago, is still a small one with two days remaining but if the visitors can bowl well in the first session tomorrow, expose Central’s middle then lower order, they might yet have the chance to end this summer with a last and pleasing moment in the sun.

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis Thursday said the suicide bomb attack has ruined his team’s excellent performance and halted the progress it was making.”It is a shame what happened Wednesday. I feel sorry for everyone who was affected by the terrible events. But as far as cricket is concerned, our achievement has gone in the background,” the skipper said from Lahore.Pakistan were odds-on favourites to wrap up the second Test well inside five days after they destroyed New Zealand in three days to win the first Test by a record an innings and 324 runs. Pakistan also swept the three-match one-day series. But with the Test series restricted to just one Test, it will not be officially recognized as a series. According to ICC ruling, two or more Tests constitutes a series.That implies that Pakistan was denied an opportunity to narrow the gap with the West Indies in the ICC Test Championship table. Pakistan are lying seventh while the West Indies are sixth.Pakistan also defeated Bangladesh and the West Indies before clinching the Sharjah Cup to maintain an unbeaten run this year.”All our hardwork in the series and preparations for the second Test went out of the window. It has also abruptly halted the improvements we were making as a team. “Naturally the stoppage is temporarily but the momentum is broken. I think we would have been a different team had we played the second Test which I am confident we would have won with ease. “But we all are professionals and will lift ourselves, realize the tasks ahead and get down to business by forgetting whatever happened though it will be difficult,” he said.Waqar admitted this players were still in a state of shock. “I have talked to some boys but they are not talking cricket. The subject remains the bomb blast. “I am also affected but you see life has to move on. The sooner we get out of this hang-over, the better for us. The boys need to get mentally fit as soon as possible because in cricket you need to be focused and tension-free to perform and excel,” he said.The fast bowler said had he been in New Zealand’s place, he would have followed the advice and instructions of his board. “The boys have complete faith in the PCB. If we had been told to carry on, we would have without slightest of resistance of objection.” Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar also left for England on Wednesday.REUTERS ADDS: The PCB sought the support of the ICC and its member countries on Thursday to ensure that Pakistan is not isolated as an international venue.”I have spoken to the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed and our viewpoint was that the (ICC) member boards should hold on before giving any policy statements to allow the situation to settle down,” PCB director Brig Munawar Rana said.”We ourselves are upset by this incident,” said Rana. “We can now only regroup and hope for the best. But we need the support of the ICC and member nations in this regard.” “… we realise the incident has put Pakistan cricket back and could have negative effects in the future, and this is why we want the ICC and member nations to hold on and wait for things to settle down and allow us to regroup.”

Michael Vaughan has become the latest England injury doubt for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.Although the 27-year-old Yorkshire batsman is expected to play in the final Test against India, he has an injury to his right knee which he feels may require surgery.Vaughan told the Daily Express: “It’s just wear and tear – it might need a clean-out. I will be speaking to the England management to see what the right course of action is.”If surgery is required, it would jeopardise Vaughan’s place in the one-day squad, and add another injury problem following the withdrawal of Andrew Flintoff because of a hernia operation. Craig White, Paul Collingwood and Nick Knight are also on the injured list.

The game of cricket is coming together this weekend to raise money for SportRelief, the new fundraising initiative from Comic Relief and BBC Sport. TheEngland Cricket Team will be joining cricketers across the country from every level of the game by Paying to Play cricket on 15 and 16 June.Over the past few months the nation’s footballers and rugby players have given their full support to Sport Relief by raising money on their respective Pay to Play weekends. This weekend cricket will be holding its own Pay to Play event in aid of Sport Relief.On Saturday 15 June, every member of the England Cricket Team will be paying£100 to play at the 3rd npower Test Match at Old Trafford. Many of the firstclass counties are also joining in with this exciting initiative and will bePaying to Play during their matches this weekend.Sport Relief is a new fundraising campaign that aims to unite the world ofsport to raise money for vulnerable children and young people here at home and across the world by inspiring the whole of the UK to get active during this year’s great summer of sport. The campaign will run up to Saturday 13 July and culminate in a block busting night on BBC One of sport, celebrities, entertainment, and fundraising.England Captain, Nasser Hussain said: “This is a great cause and as Englandcricketers we are delighted to give it our full support. Good luck to allthe cricketers taking part in Pay to Play this weekend.”

Two sensational catches from Australian Daniel Marsh won a nail-biting CricInfo Championship game for Leicestershire at Grace Road.In a thrilling finish which could have gone either way, they beat Lancashire by six runs with a day to spare. The win, their first of the season, earned them 16 points and lifted them off the bottom of the First Division table.In a low-scoring match there was no doubt that Leicestershire’s hero was Marsh, son of the former Australian wicket-keeper Rodney.He followed up his first innings knock of 71 with an unbeaten half-century in the second innings as Leicestershire were dismissed for 169, leaving Lancashire a victory target of 211.Then he claimed two valuable wickets at vital times with his left-arm spin before taking the two stunning catches at the end when the visitors again looked to be edging to victory.First he dived forward to hold a mistimed pull from Mike Smethurst inches above the ground at mid-wicket, and then held on to a breathtaking catch at slip when Glen Chapple edged a swinging delivery from Jon Dakin.It had been a brave effort from Chapple who scored 44 off 85 balls with four boundaries after arriving at the crease with Lancashire at 139 for six.At one stage they seemed to be cruising it. They were 113 for two in the 31st over with John Crawley having hit a half-century during a partnership of 90 with Ryan Driver.Then he edged a ball from Devon Malcolm to wicket-keeper Neil Burns, and in Malcolm’s next over Neil Fairbrother chopped a short-pitched delivery into his stumps.When Marsh had Driver caught off bat and pad in the last over before tea, Lancashire had lost three wickets for eight runs in four overs. Chapple’s knock put them back in the hunt – but Marsh’s catching proved decisive.

Veteran batsman Darren Lehmann expects Ricky Ponting to steer Australian one-day cricket to a higher level after shining in South Africa during his first series as national captain.Ponting will end the series unbeaten if Australia wins the seventh match in Cape Town tomorrow night but his reputation as an aggressive captain has been cemented just three weeks after taking over from benchmark leader Steve Waugh.With Lehmann as a valuable on-field adviser, Ponting and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist have sparked one of Australia’s most impressive series in recent years.”He’s going to be a very good captain for Australia,” Lehmann said.”Who knows where he’ll be in 12 or 18 months? He’s developing into a bloody good captain.”Even from the Test series (last month) to here he has really stepped up his game. Maybe he was that sort of guy who needed those leadership roles.”Selectors harvested Ponting’s leadership skills at the right time because the Tasmanian had become a fixture in Australian Test and one-day teams with little formal responsibility.But he has developed the same ruthless and demanding signs that Waugh showed during his reign, even admitting his bowlers will be “embarrassed” by SouthAfrica’s massive 3-326 during Saturday’s match in Port Elizabeth.It was a straight answer from a captain who enjoys the full support of his players despite replacing one of Australian cricket’s favourite leaders.Ponting heads the Australian run tally with 282 runs from six matches, including 92 from 106 balls in the record-breaking run chase of 7-330 on Saturday.But Lehmann’s reputation has climbed alongside Ponting after he became the middle-order replacement for Waugh.Lehmann made 91 from 94 balls during a 183-run partnership with Ponting, becoming one of the “finds” of the tour despite his years of experience.Aged 32, and with 75 one-day international matches, Lehmann’s worth was well-known across the cricketing world but he has never seemed more important than during this tour, becoming an on-field general behind Ponting and Gilchrist.Ponting has rated Lehmann one of his most valuable players just three months after the left hander was deemed not good enough to play for Australia.”He’s one of the best one-day players in the world – I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Ponting said.”He loves playing cricket and being part of a successful team and it’s good for the young blokes to see that sort of thing, knowing they can come into the team and be themselves.”It’s important to have different characters around the team and he’s obviously a character and he enjoys himself.”He moves around his crease and changes the bowlers’ thinking process and it’s great that we have someone like him and Michael Bevan in our middle order toreally control an innings or a game for us.”The Australians will start short-priced favourites at Newlands without any argument from the South African fans, who are changing their view of the tourists.The home fans were originally depressed at the Proteas’ miserable Test and one-day performances against Australia this summer, but the visitors have earned a reputation as perhaps the best team to visit South Africa in the post-apartheid era.The Australians will fly out of Johannesburg for home on Wednesday having established themselves as the early favourites for the World Cup in Africa nextFebruary.

Graeme Hick hit the 36th one-day century of his career as Worcestershire Royals marched to victory over Somerset Sabres in the first Division of the Norwich Union League at Taunton.The Sabres had set Worcestershire Royals a challenging 270 to win in their 45 overs, but Hick’s unbeaten 141, supported by 58 from Vikram Solanki and 64 not out from Ben Smith saw the Royals cross the line with almost five overs to spare.The victory leaves Royals level on points with Warwickshire Bears at the top of the first division of the Norwich Union League, and Somerset anxiously contemplating a relegation battle in the remainder of the season.The Sabres’ 269-8 from 45 overs was built on a fine all round team performance, with three batsmen hitting brisk half-centuries.Mike Burns, captain once again in place of the injured Jamie Cox and England’s Marcus Trescothick, won the toss and elected to bat. He would have been happy with his side’s start too, with Peter Bowler and young Matt Wood posting 45 for the first wicket before Bowler was lbw half forward to Bichel.Ian Blackwell accelerated for the Sabres, giving an exhibition of the awesome power that will surely take him into the international side sooner rather than later. Seven fours, and a straight six off Gareth Batty threatened to take the game away from the visitors. But the bowler responded by bowling the burly left-hander when he tried to pull a ball too full for the shot and Parsons and Holloway struggled to cope with the experience of Stuart Lampitt as the Royals fought their way back into the game.But Burns continued the momentum with a run-a-ball 50, also striking the off-spin of Batty over long-off for a six.When he was sixth out for 54 with the total at 226 and Dutch followed moments later it looked as though the Sabres innings might fall away. But Malvern-born Robbie Turner, who chose this match as his benefit game, will have done himself no harm when the collecting buckets came round, with a fine and selfless 53 from 45 balls.He had endured a slightly uncomfortable start, but made use of a short boundary towards the end, clipping Kabir Ali through mid-wicket and denting the figures of Aussie Andy Bichel and Anglo-Aussie Matt Mason in the final overs.The Royals reply started poorly too, with Bichel fencing at a short ball to offer a comfortable slip catch and raising home supporter’s hopes.But Hick loves batting at Taunton. It was here, 14 years ago, that he struck 405 not out and the small boundary and true pitches are meat and drink to him.The statistics of his innings tell the story; two sixes and 17 fours in a 114-ball exhibition of murderous stroke-play. All the bowlers suffered, with Steffan Jones conceding 80 from nine overs, including a straight six towards the end that had members of the press box scrambling for cover. Hick’s 100 came up in just 81 balls, and, on a day when England’s batsmen failed to chase a total, it was a timely reminder of his World Cup worth.In truth though, the bowling was pretty disappointing and the fielding little better. A depleted attack had whatever confidence they may have had shaken out of them as Hick allowed no room at all for error. Short balls were pulled with frightening power, and anything over-pitched was driven faultlessly.Vikram Solanki was hardly overshadowed as he moved to a stylish half-century. The Royals batsmen gave the Sabres medium pacers no room for error as they added 127 for the second wicket before Solanki fell to a good diving catch by Burns at mid-on.But any chink of light that Sabres thought they could see was eclipsed by Hick and Ben Smith, who eased to an attractive 64 not out, in an unbroken partnership of 139 runs that saw the Royals home.

Durham narrowly avoided becoming the first county to suffer a points deduction for a slow over rate before their match against Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street was abandoned.Under the new rule counties have to bowl 16 overs an hour and after every game they lose a quarter point for every over they fall short. The rule does not apply if they have fielded for less than four hours in the match, and when rain halted Gloucestershire’s second innings at two for one, the 2.2 overs Durham had bowled had taken them six minutes over the four-hour mark.Their over-rate was minus one, which meant they would have lost a quarter of a point had play not resumed. Consequently they rushed through 2.4 overs when they re-started at 4pm before bad light intervened. The scorers quickly calculated that their over-rate was now spot on 16 an hour.Play began at 12.10 and Durham added 23 runs in five overs before declaring on 255 for seven when Paul Collingwood fell for 68, chopping a ball from Jon Lewis into his stumps. Wicketkeeper Andy Pratt was left on 28 not out for the second time in the match.Needing 300 in 71 overs, Gloucestershire lost Tim Hancock to the eighth ball when he pushed forward and had his off stump removed by Neil Killeen. They were on two for one when rain arrived at 12.50, and moved on to six for one on the brief resumption.