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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outDarren Sammy threatened to run through the Bangladesh line-up, but his five wickets weren’t enough•Associated Press

History was calling and Bangladesh showed they were all ears in Grenada. Raqibul Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan shared a thrilling 106-run partnership to charge Bangladesh to their first overseas series win. On an enthralling afternoon’s play, Darren Sammy threatened to do the improbable but Raqibul lifted Bangladesh with a plucky innings before the equally aggressive Shakib joined him to clinch a euphoric win.Set a target of 215, a counterattacking Raqibul, who had walked in at 29 for 2, was joined by Shakib at 67 for 4 and the pair batted bravely to seize back the initiative. Though Sammy took out Raqibul and Mushfiqur Rahim, 14 runs away from the win, Shakib held his nerve to steer the team home. The winning moment came at 5.38 pm and in some style, with Shakib lofting Kemar Roach over long-on.Though Raqibul fell 42 runs short of the target, it was he who had set up the win with an inspired performance. He had never hit a Test fifty before and he had struggled in the first Test due to his penchant of playing away from the body. However, he had held his own in the first innings here and added a dash of bravado today to lift Bangladesh from a hole. It was a gem of a cameo under the circumstances. Every time West Indies picked up a wicket and threatened to charge ahead, Raqibul counterattacked to keep the hosts on their toes. He chose to take the adventurous route and didn’t waste a single run-scoring opportunity; in fact he created a few chances of his own.It was risky at times but someone had to seize the initiative back from West Indies and Raqibul decided to shoulder that burden. Apart from Sammy’s superb spell, Raqibul’s battle against Roach was the highlight of the session. Roach v Raqibul was the turning point in the first innings as Roach successfully probed a weakness in Raqibul against the bouncers before proceeding to scythe through the rest of the line-up. Raqibul was in no mood to buckle down today.He started with a fierce slash over point and remained audacious against anything that was pitched up to him. It was a tantalizing battle as Roach troubled him a bit with short-pitched deliveries and a couple of jaffas that left the bat late but Raqibul released the pressure with a couple of impish square drives. He flicked Sammy and guided him through to third man boundary and thus, preventing West Indies from deploying close-in fielders. And when Ryan Austin, the offspinner, was brought in for the over before tea, Raqibul dispatched him over deep midwicket and in the last session, he unfurled a couple of peachy off drives to further calm the dressing-room nerves.Thankfully, for Bangladesh, Raqibul found a willing partner in his captain Shakib, who too oozed intent through his knock. He started off a touch shakily with a stab past second slip, an airy drive past mid-off, and an edge past gully but soon settled down to blunt the attack. Now and then, he teased the slip cordon with his slashes but just when it appeared he was living on the edge, he would unfurl a meaty off drive, defend solidly or steal a single to frustrate the attack.Shakib took on the dominating role in the final session, spanking boundaries almost at will, including a hat-trick of fours against Roach. The first one, an extra-cover drive that brought up his fifty, was followed by a crunching cut and a feisty pull as Bangladesh galloped towards victory.If the final session was almost serene, the second was a dramatic and event-filled. The day had started with a two-hour rain delay and Bangladesh took just 4.1 overs to wrap up West Indies for 209; it was the first time Bangladesh had bowled out the opposition for less than 250 in both innings.Till Raqibul and Shakib took the bowling on, it was Sammy who stole the show. Every one knows that Sammy is not going to blow the opposition away; his is a gentle art. He builds pressure with a cluster of seaming deliveries in the corridor outside off and gently nudges the batsmen into making a mistake. Bangladesh initially stumbled into making fatal mistakes under the pressure of the chase and perhaps, under the strain of making history.Sammy struck in his very first over, inducing Tamim Iqbal into edging a delivery leaving him before turning his attention to Junaid Siddique. After bowling 14 deliveries – most of them in the off-stump channel – for just one run, he got the next one to curve away from the middle and off line and Siddique tried to flick it rather injudiciously across the line but edged it low to first slip where Floyd Reifer took a sharp catch. Sammy then produced a gem to take out Mohammad Ashraful, who has gifted his wicket previously in the series but was unlucky to get a very good delivery that shaped away from him very late.Sammy was supported well by Roach, who was the chief tormentor of Bangladesh. Roach, who surprisingly didn’t take the new ball, was introduced in the second session and immediately looked menacing with his cocktail of bouncers and full deliveries outside off stump. He followed a lifting delivery with the one angling away to coax Imrul Keyes into edging to slip where Sammy took a brilliant catch, leaping at second slip.For a brief while, when Roach and Sammy operated in tandem, the game appeared to be hanging in balance but Shakib and Raqibul ensured their fans won’t lose too much hair or nails.

New South Wales have named a largely unchanged squad for 2009-10 with the departure of the opener Ed Cowan and the addition of the allrounder Shane Watson the only major alterations. Cowan has moved to Tasmania to increase his opportunities while Watson has relocated from Queensland.The left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his Sheffield Shield debut late last season, has ousted his fellow fast man Scott Coyte from the state squad. The other new faces are the batting allrounder Phillip Wells and the left-arm orthodox spinner Luke Doran, who have both been handed rookie deals.Josh Hazlewood, the promising fast bowler, will be available more often having now finished his schooling and moved to Sydney from the Tamworth region. With ten New South Wales players receiving Cricket Australia contracts for the next year, the Blues were able to name a group with impressive depth as they aim for quick improvement having finished last in the Sheffield Shield last summer.”There is no doubt that this season will again offer enormous opportunity to the younger players,” the Cricket New South Wales chief executive David Gilbert said. “I am sure that they will build on their experience from last season and help us challenge in all three domestic competitions.”New South Wales squad Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger (Cricket Australia contract), Nathan Bracken (CA), Mark Cameron, Beau Casson, Stuart Clark (CA), Michael Clarke (CA), Burt Cockley, Peter Forrest, Brad Haddin (CA), Nathan Hauritz (CA), Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes (CA), Phil Jaques, Simon Katich (CA), Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Brett Lee (CA), Greg Mail, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely, David Warner, Shane Watson (CA).Rookies Daniel Burns, James Crosthwaite, Luke Doran, Scott Henry, Simon Keen, Joshua Lalor, Phillip Wells.

Group B

Phil Hughes cracked his fourth century of the season, 119 from 112 balls, as Middlesex posted a massive 341 for 7 at Lord’s, their highest one-day score of all time. It was not enough for victory, however, as Somerset romped to victory by five wickets in a rain-affected thriller. On another belter of a batting track, Somerset were initially set 333 from 48 overs, and were given a flying start by Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter, who added 78 for the first wicket with Kieswetter the first to go for 40 from 31 balls. Ben Phillips kept up the frantic pace with 24 from 13, but when James Hildreth and Trescothick went in quick succession (the latter for 62 from 54 balls), Somerset were 148 for 4 with their hopes in the balance. At 209 for 4 after 31.4 overs, the rain returned, at which stage Middlesex were three runs ahead on Duckworth-Lewis. But the shower passed, and Somerset knocked off their remaining 81 runs in 9.2 overs, with Justin Langer making 78 not out from 69 balls.

Group D

Northamptonshire managed 18 overs of their match against Essex at Wantage Road before rain forced an abandonment. In that time they reached 124 for 4, with Rob White top-scoring with 51 from 57 balls. Essex need just one point from their final two games to make the last eight.

Graham Napier is still trying to come to terms with what has been a whirlwind year as he has gone from a bit-part county player to an England international with a stop at the IPL on the way.Napier was one of two uncapped players named in England’s ICC World Twenty20 as he gained reward for his memorable displays in last year’s Twenty20 Cup where he hit 152 against Sussex. That innings was enough to earn an IPL deal with Mumbai Indians and on the same day he earned his international call he was also told he would make his first appearance for Mumbai.”I got a phone call from the selectors on Thursday evening to notify me I would be in the squad,” Napier told cricketheroes.co.uk. “Around about the same time I was told there was a possibility that I would play for Mumbai Indians the next day, which made for a very nervous evening. I didn’t sleep well at all that night.””Everything has happened very quickly; the last year has whizzed by in terms of where I’m going with my cricket,” he added. “This selection [for the England Twenty20 squad] has capped off all I’ve been working towards. But the really hard work begins now.”The following day Napier hit 15 and took 1 for 27 as Mumbai beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs, but he said his experience in South Africa would have been invaluable even if he hadn’t managed to play a game before returning to England.”I got to train and play with some of the best cricketers in the world for a month. When you mix with people like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Harbhajan Singh, JP Duminy and Lasith Malinga you can only learn new things and get better.”I was quite nervous, which is not normal for me,” he added about his Mumbai debut. “I felt like a young lad again, playing for Essex in 1997 in a new side at a top level. It did bring back a lot of memories of that time. It wasn’t my most spectacular performance but I feel I made an important contribution and was satisfied with the win.”Twenty20 has rejuvenated Napier’s career at a time when he was threatening to drift out of county cricket, unable to secure a place in either the four-day or one-day team at Chelmsford.”When I first set my heart on playing for England there wasn’t the option of a Twenty20 squad to think about,” he said. “Since that format came around I felt it was a game that suited me and was one where I could do well in.”Napier will join his Essex team-mates Ravi Bopara and James Foster in the England squad and he is looking forward to having a few familiar faces around when he meets up with his international colleagues in June. “I’ve never been part of the England set-up before so it will be good to be able to call upon the experience of two county team-mates who can guide and help me through.”

Graeme Smith must have nightmares about facing Mitchell Johnson after the fast bowler broke both of Smith’s hands in separate incidents over the past three months. Friday’s first ODI in Durban will provide Johnson with another chance to bowl to Smith, who has been passed fit for the five-match series.It will be Smith’s first game since a rising delivery from Johnson struck him on the right hand in the Test at the same venue. Johnson said he was keen to get stuck into the South African captain once more on a bouncy Kingsmead pitch.”I’m look forward to the challenge again,” Johnson told . “It’s always good to get the opportunity to bowl with the new ball against an opening batsman like Smith. He’s such a great player. He’s a strong leader and his team look up to him. They will enjoy having him back in the squad and I’m looking forward to trying to get his wicket.”Smith will take over the reins from Johan Botha, who led South Africa to a 2-0 victory in the Twenty20 internationals. It could be a challenge lifting his side for the final leg of what has essentially been a four-month campaign against Australia but South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur was confident the squad would be able to hit top gear.”We’ve prioritised what we want to get out of the series, and there’s a nice air around the squad,” Arthur said. “The guys are very fresh and looking forward to it. We’re getting a nice balance now. I’m very happy with the mix we have now.”Within our squad, we have two recognised spinners, and we have JP Duminy, who can bowl for us as well, so we’re starting to get quite a nice mix in terms of variation in our attack. And the return of Makhaya [Ntini] and Morne [Morkel] in our attack is really good because they give us variation of a different kind.”The return to the 50-over format, in which South Africa triumphed 4-1 in Australia, will be a change after the Twenty20 games. Arthur said it was pleasing to have had such success in the shortest format but it would be dangerous to assume the momentum would carry through to the ODIs.”It’s always good to be in a dressing room that’s winning – it’s a good place to be – but we’re not looking too much to that,” he said. “Friday is where we want to put our marker in the sand, and that’s why we’ve been building up hard this week. Friday, for us, is huge. We want to go one-nil up, and hopefully take momentum from that. So, yes, nice to win the Pro20s, but it’s a different beast.”

Ricky Ponting has brushed off the idea that Australia could enter the Ashes without a specialist spinner after their spin cycle washed up further damage to their stocks during the tour of South Africa. Australia have now used seven specialist spinners in Tests since the beginning of 2008 and are none the wiser about who should be their frontline option heading to England this year.Nathan Hauritz looms as the most likely candidate after solid if not spectacular performances in the home Test summer. Hauritz was overlooked for the Cape Town Test as the Australians gave the legspinner Bryce McGain an opportunity but it was an inauspicious debut for McGain, whose figures of 0 for 149 from 18 overs left him with an inflated economy-rate of 8.27.Adding to the hurt for McGain was the fact that the part-timer Simon Katich came on late in the South African innings and picked up 2 for 9 from three overs after he had also collected three wickets in Durban. The batsman Marcus North also had success with the ball in South Africa with his offspinners, and Michael Clarke is another handy option but Ponting said he could not envisage relying on a combination of part-timers to fill the spin role in England.”I’m sure that the selectors will be looking at picking a specialist spinner for the Ashes tour,” Ponting said. “I think it would be silly if we didn’t take a specialist spinner.”But the question is who to take. Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg have both retired in the past 14 months and their initial replacement, Beau Casson, played a Test in the West Indies only to be dropped from the Australia and New South Wales sides. Cameron White played in India but it was a confusing selection as he is a batting allrounder whose spin is secondary.Jason Krejza collected 12 wickets on debut in Nagpur only to be pounded out of the attack by the South Africans in Perth, although he is likely to have jumped McGain in the queue for an Ashes ticket after the outcome in South Africa. Ponting said regardless of which spinner was chosen he would be also inclined to hand the ball to Katich more often following his success in South Africa.”It’s always a tough one with him [Katich] because he pulls up quite sore in his lower back from bowling,” Ponting said. “His back seized up on him in the warm-up [on Sunday], so when it’s one of your opening batsman and you’re 400 runs behind going into the second innings you’ve got to be a bit careful how much you use him.”What I do know with him is that when he bowls well he’s actually got some good wicket-taking balls and I think we’ve seen that in the last few games. If his body is holding up all right then I will definitely be inclined to use him in coming matches.”Katich rarely bowls in the nets and he was clearly in discomfort as he batted on the fourth day in Cape Town, where the previous afternoon he had sent down only three overs. Ponting was criticised for not introducing Katich until the 150th over, when the match had all but slipped away, but he said it was important that he gave McGain a decent chance to prove himself at Test level.”It seemed from where I was standing anyway that they might have had a pre-conceived plan or idea to try to get into him or get after him as soon as he came on,” Ponting said of McGain. “I talked to him through his first spell and after his first spell. He didn’t feel like he probably bowled as bad as what his figures indicated there. They played some really good shots off him.”Once he was under pressure after his first spell, I wanted to see how he responded and came back from that. Obviously they had the better of him for the majority of the overs that he bowled. The other thing to not forget is that the wickets [Katich] has got in the last couple of games have been the tail-enders. When Prince and Kallis were going the results might have been different for Simon as well [if he had bowled then].”McGain and Katich will both fly home this week and won’t have any first-class cricket before the Ashes. Hauritz is likely to get some opportunities in the one-day series, which begins in Durban on April 3, in a squad that also features the spinning allrounder White.

Talks between the IPL and Sony, aimed at reaching an out-of-court settlement after the league terminated its contract with Sony last week, have failed. The matter is currently being heard by Bombay High Court but it is likely the BCCI’s Twenty20 league will have a new broadcaster from this season.Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, told Cricinfo the talks failed because Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd (MSM), which holds the IPL contract under the Sony umbrella, wanted a non-terminable contract, which the BCCI/IPL refused to provide. “We had agreed on various commercial terms but if we agree to a non-terminable contract we cannot terminate the arrangement even in case of a serious breach,” Modi said. “No one can accept that.” Rohit Gupta, president of network sales at Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd, refused to comment on the development.Apparently, MSM was prepared to compensate the IPL for further violations of contract, if any, but the league did not agree.Sony had leased the IPL’s subcontinent broadcast rights last year from WSG (India), who had won an original ten-year bid for US $1.02 billion. But the IPL terminated Sony’s contract on Saturday night after claiming the broadcaster had repeatedly violated the integrity of telecast by prematurely cutting to breaks and inserting commercials during a live match, replays and other on-field action. Early on Sunday morning, the league signed a fresh telecast contract with WSG (Mauritius) even as Sony appealed against the termination order to Bombay High Court which issued a freeze on any such arrangement till the dispute was resolved. The court will determine if the IPL’s decision to terminate Sony’s contract is legitimate.However, the BCCI/IPL continues to maintain that the new deal with WSG-Mauritius is still valid as it was signed before they received the freeze order issued by the court.The IPL’s relationship with Sony had turned rocky last month after the IPL lost out on a US $31.16 million deal because of a dispute between Sony and Big TV, a direct-to-home provider. Ties between the two dipped further after the subsequent resignation of Kunal Dasgupta, the then Sony CEO, who was known to be close to Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman.Sony is also understood to have been keen on renegotiating the financial terms of its contract with the IPL and had concerns about the tournament’s revised dates and some of the venues that were being considered.

Guyana‘s poor start to the tournament became even worse, losing by an innings and 59 runs to Barbados at Windward Park. It was Guyana’s fourth straight loss in the tournament, making it their worst-ever start to the domestic first-class campaign.Guyana, who resumed at 166 for 4 in their first innings, were bowled out for 288, and collapsed for 148 in their second after Barbados enforced the follow-on. Allrounder Ryan Hinds, called up to the West Indies squad for the second Test against England, and debutant Nikolai Charles split the wickets, while Veerasammy Permaul was absent hurt. For Guyana, Travis Dowlin added 40 to his overnight 49, while Derwin Christian chipped in with 47.Leon Johnson top scored in the second innings with 65, but only two other batsmen managed to reach double figures. The injured Permaul did not bat again, while Royston Crandon, who made a half-century in the first innings, was forced to retire hurt after he was struck by a ball on the elbow. Pedro Collins took 3 for 29 off eight overs.Windward Islands had a mini-stutter, but they eased to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Leeward Islands in St Lucia. Leewards, who started out trailing by 36 runs with four second-innings wickets left, scored 80 runs. Wicketkeeper Devon Thomas, overnight on 19, made 40. Darren Sammy got rid of tailenders Robbie Joseph and Lionel Baker, who chipped in with 33 and 20. Set 45, Windwards’ openers raced to 40. They were jolted by three quick strikes – two for Joseph and one from Baker – but Johnson Charles, who made 31, took them to victory along with Sammy.Sherwin Ganga made a career-high 90 to help Trinidad & Tobago gain first-innings points against Combined Campuses and Colleges on a rain-hit day in St Augustine. Ganga, younger brother of captain Daren, helped his team reach 362 from 210 for 5, a first-innings lead of 47. Offspinner Ryan Austin struck quickly in the morning, removing Gibran Mohammed on his overnight score of 8. Richard Kelly then made 24 in a 44-run stand with Ganga before he was caught off Austin.Austin struck again to leave T&T at 269 for 8, but a 63-run partnership between Amit Jaggernauth and Ganga ensured their team takes at least four points from the game. Ganga fell ten short of a hundred, and was cheered on his return to the pavilion. Jaggernauth, who finished on 37, added 30 for the final wicket with Atiba Allert (17). Austin finished with 6 for 123 off 50 overs.CCC lost two wickets in their 16 overs till stumps.

Match facts

February 5-9, 2009

The Big Picture

The Duleep Trophy semi-finals ended in comprehensive wins for both finalists, but West Zone have more reasons for concern ahead of the big clash. None of their batsmen managed to score a century against East Zone – despite their prolific run in the Ranji Trophy – and some lacklustre fielding ended up delaying their semi-final victory. Wasim Jaffer, the West captain, admitted his side was poor in the field; he dropped two easy chances at slip himself. Parthiv Patel was the worst offender, putting down three catches behind the wickets and missing an easy stumping.South Zone boast a better team on paper, even in the absence of VVS Laxman, and their top order is in excellent form, with S Badrinath, Rahul Dravid and Robin Uthappa scoring centuries in their team’s demolition of North Zone. Dinesh Karthik was among the runs in the previous game against Central Zone, scoring a hundred in each innings . The pitch at the Chidambaram Stadium is likely to be batsman-friendly as always.

Teams

South are without L Balaji – who has replaced an injured Munaf Patel in Sri Lanka – but will be buoyed by the return of Sreesanth and opener Murali Vijay, who needs a big score to make it to the Indian Test squad for New Zealand. Goa medium-pacer Robin D’Souza takes Balaji’s place but is unlikely to play.South (probable): 1 Abhinav Mukund, 2 Murali Vijay, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 S Badrinath (captain), 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 M Suresh, 9 Shadab Jakati, 10 Sreesanth, 11 R Vinay Kumar.Considering batting is the key, West are likely to revert to the five-bowler strategy, including two spinners this time after playing an extra seamer in the semi-final. Ramesh Powar, who was dropped against East, is likely to replace left-arm fast man Samad Fallah, who was erratic in the previous game.West (probable): 1 Wasim Jaffer (capt), 2 Bhavik Thaker, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Cheteshwar Pujara, 5 Parthiv Patel, 6 Abhishek Nayar, 7 Kedar Jadhav, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Dhawal Kulkarni, 10 Rajesh Pawar, 11 Siddarth Trivedi.

Quotes

“There are a few players – Jaffer, Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni – who want to move to the next level which will only help us to match the opposition.”

“Obviously, we will miss Balaji, but we are planning to go in with five bowlers and if our batting fires, then we would be in a strong position. The pitch looks dry and is likely to take turn as the match progresses.”

In a surprise development, the ECB have called an emergency board meeting to discuss the rift between Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores.Cricinfo understands that the 12-man board met by teleconference on Tuesday night, raising the possibility that Pietersen, who had not been due back from his holiday in Africa until Thursday, will pay the price for his outspoken views on the future direction of the England team.Research conducted by the ECB in the last few days suggests thatPietersen does not have the steadfast support of his team-mates or theback-room staff. The majority of the England support staff are understood to besupportive of Moores while most of the players are underwhelmed byPietersen’s dramatic intervention, as Steve Harmison demonstrated with his ambivalent comments on Tuesday.There is also some sympathy towards Moores who, it is understood, was given the authority to select the England captain when Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan resigned, and there are those within the set-up who feel that Pietersen has betrayed the coach’s trust.Attitudes towards Pietersen also appear to be hardening at board level.While few are completely convinced by Moores, they do not like themanner in which the captain has attempted to dictate events. As oneboard member told Cricinfo: “People who want to keep their jobs don’t issueultimatums. At this stage any outcome is possible.”Whether Moores’ position is salvageable remains highly debatable,however. There has been little evidence of progress under his tenureand his credibility may now be damaged beyond repair. A doubledeparture – Pietersen and Moores – is a growing possibility.Meanwhile, the identity of Moores’ immediate successor as coach has been shrouded in further confusion, after Warwickshire warned they may not necessarily keep Ashley Giles’sjob as the county’s director of cricket open, should he be asked to fulfil a role as”stop-gap” coach in the Caribbean.Though Warwickshire will not stand in Giles’s way if he is offered the job, his involvement in the West Indies would rule him out of any involvement in Warwickshire’s pre-season plans and the club want to minimise disruption in thedressing-room. Furthermore, it is feared that Giles could recruitAllan Donald – currently Warwickshire’s first-team coach – to help himin the Caribbean.