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“.” (Fine leg and long-on are on the boundary, third man is in the circle.) With this imaginary field in place, Irfan Pathan ran in to bowl to Yuvraj Singh in the Indian team’s net session at the Supersport Park in Centurion. With one more day in hand before embarking on their World Twenty20 campaign, the Indians chose this venue – a 45-minute drive from Johannesburg – to have a hit before flying to Durban later in the day. The Indians’ lack of experience (only one international) in this format is a major handicap, but there was every attempt in this short net session to practice specific skills in the limited time available before their first match on Thursday.For the type of field set, Irfan’s delivery wasn’t a bad one – it was full and just outside off – and Yuvraj’s attempt to scoop it over third man failed miserably. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was more successful, though, and there was plenty of applause from his team-mates when he cleverly guided one from Pathan over the slips.After the nets, Pathan spoke of the need to “think on one’s feet” – a term that has been, and will be, used plenty of times throughout the next two weeks. In the ODIs, the Indians have occasionally given the impression of lacking flexibility; the first match against Scotland might give them some room to breathe, but thereafter the tests will get significantly tougher. And to Pathan it didn’t matter that this was supposed to be a fun tournament: “It might be fun for the crowds, but not for us. We have to enjoy the game, but it’s very important that we perform well.”To be fair to the Indians, there was enough purpose in their two-hour session to suggest they were taking the tournament seriously. While most of the players were busy in the three net pitches next to one another, Dinesh Karthik was getting some individual attention from Gregory King, the team’s trainer. He kept lobbing underarm balls, and Karthik played a million one-handed straight-drives, with the right hand gripping the bat and the left hanging loose. After a proper practice session, he returned to a smaller net area to repeat the bottom-hand drill.With Robin Uthappa, King had something else in mind. With the pitches here likely to offer bounce, Uthappa – who is likely to open the batting – had a long session practising the pull as King carefully aimed deliveries around the shoulder and head. (“I don’t want them bouncing over the head”.)With a line-up that includes Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Uthappa, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Karthik, the batting is in reasonably good hands, but the bowling is a greater worry, and the fielding the greatest. In both areas, there wasn’t much to suggest any relief, with Ajit Agarkar continuing to spray it wide of the off stump. RP Singh fired in some good yorkers, but Sreesanth – who had an injury scare earlier in the day when he bruised a finger while fielding – slid it down leg, and then, when he got the direction right, overstepped the popping crease, which was quickly spotted by Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach. The penalty: a free hit off the next ball, which was delivered from about two feet behind the return crease. Pathan stressed on the importance of keeping it simple: “We should try variations only when the batsmen are getting after us,” he said, but in this format of the game he should expect that scenario more often than not.Before the batting and bowling sessions was the cursory fielding and running-between-the-wicket drills, and there was little urgency in either. The team has six new faces, and while most of them are better fielders than the players they have replaced, it is tough to see fielding bail India out when the going gets tough.The Indians have another practice session in hand before their first game against Scotland on Thursday, and while the Scots might test them a bit, the real battle will begin on Friday, when they have the small matter of taking on Pakistan.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to defend Mohammad Yousuf and said that the Indian Cricket Leage (ICL) cannot stop him from playing for his country after the league organisers sent out a legal notice to the batsman.”The ICL has no case against Yousuf and they cannot stop him from playing for Pakistan,” Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, told the . “Yousuf did sign a contract with them but later he changed his mind and cancelled it. As a player he had the right to opt for any offer which he thought was better for him.”Yousuf, who after cancelling his contract with the ICL, signed a national contract as well as signing up to play in the India Premier League (IPL), a recognised league that is run by four different national boards and is approved by the ICC. He was served a legal notice by the ICL after several attempts to contact him failed.”We can confirm that we have indeed sent out a notice to Yousuf,” Ashish Kaul, executive president of the ICL, told Cricinfo last week. “We have been trying to reach out to him and sent out three reminders to discuss some crucial issues after the PCB clarified recently that Yousuf will not play in the ICL and make himself available for Pakistan.”However, Ashraf rejected the impression that the ICL can use any legal ways to stop Yousuf from playing for Pakistan in India next month. “The ICL is claiming that they will not stop any of their recruits from playing for their country then how can they stop Yousuf from representing Pakistan.”The ICL did have a clause in their contract that said that a player cannot give priority to national duty over the ICL but now they say that the clause has been removed and they claim that their players can leave the league to play for their national teams whenever required. I believe in such circumstances they have no justification to stop Yousuf from playing in India.”Ashraf confirmed that if the matter was to go to court, Yousuf will have the full backing of the PCB. “We will fully defend Yousuf, if he is taken to court using all legal means.”Yousuf recently represented Pakistan in the second Test against South Africa and is currently involved in the five-match ODI series against the same opposition, where he scored a match-winning hundred in the second match in Lahore.

Displaying exemplary grit and determination, Hamish Marshall and JamesFranklin rescued the New Zealand Cricket Academy from a tight spot onthe opening day of their three day MRF Buchi Babu all India invitationtournament semifinal against Oil and Natural Gas Commission at the MAChidambaram stadium on Monday.Shortly before lunch, the New Zealand team lost their fifth wicketwith the total on 92. But for the rest of the day, Marshall andFranklin batted in commendable fashion in a rescue act that won theadmiration of the sparse crowd present. Not until shortly before closewas the partnership broken with Marshall being held by wicketkeeperSandeep Dogra off Amit Bhandari. But by that time he had got a welldeserved hundred and the New Zealand Academy were able to end the daywith the cushion of having made 252 for six off 95 overs.And yet if the afternoon and the evening belonged to the New Zealandside and Marshall and Franklin in particular, the morning’s honourswere claimed by ONGC and Bhandari in particular. Winning the toss, theNew Zealand Academy soon ran into trouble. Off the last ball of thefifth over, JAH Marshall was caught at point by Mithun Minhas offBhandari for ten in a total of 16. In the eleventh over – his sixth -Bhandari struck again. The other opening batsman MHW Papps who hadstruggled for 52 minutes and 27 balls to score five was leg before.That made the Kiwi team 20 for two.L Vincent who came next tried to counter attack but at 37, he hitRahul Sanghvi to substitute Amit Sharma at mid on and departed for 11.AJ Redmond and skipper JDP Oram seemed to have steadied the boat a bitby adding 38 runs for the fourth wicket off 11.2 overs. But Oram whohad dominated the partnership was then bowled by Sanghvi for 20.Bhandari then came back and had the obdurate Redmond caught at slip byGagan Khoda for 25, compiled off 92 balls and inclusive of five hitsto the ropes.At 92 for five, the back of the New Zealand team’s innings seemed tobe well and truly broken. But then followed the partnership betweenMarshall and Franklin which came as a blood transfusion for a sidesinking fast. Battling both the accurate bowling and the intense heat,the right handed Marshall and the left handed Franklin batted withassurance. They nursed the innings through the afternoon sessionadding just 64 runs but more important coming through unbroken. In thepost tea session the pair applied the pressure on the now wiltingbowlers.In the first round game against Districts XI, the 21-year-old Marshallfrom Northern Districts had scored an unbeaten 155. He then missed histeam’s quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. Carrying on from where heleft off against the Districts XI, Marshall played a number ofpleasing strokes. His batting was a blend of power, elegance andtiming. He was very much the dominant partner in the partnership butthe role of Franklin was no less important.Taking three boundaries off one over from Sanghvi, Marshall made hisintentions clear. The 20-year-old Franklin from Wellington too pressedon the accelerator and under pressure, the bowling became wayward.Showing no signs of nerves even in the 90s, Marshall raced to his 100shortly before close. He did not add another run though, the new ball,taken after 90 overs, getting rid of him. Marshall batted almost fivehours, faced 195 balls and hit 12 of them to the ropes. The sixthwicket partnership, which added 158 runs off 57.2 overs, has broughtthe New Zealand side right back into the game.Franklin however could not be dislodged and came in unbeaten with 64invaluable runs when stumps were drawn for the day. He has so farplayed 174 balls and has hit eight fours. But the chief honours of theday were still with Marshall. So impressed was manager Richard Hadleeby his performance that he got the entire team out of the dressingroom to enthusiastically cheer Marshall when he got to his hundred.His gesture, besides symbolising teamwork, was also a handsome tributeto a batsman who had done the most to revive the New Zealand side’shopes in the match.It must have been galling for ONGC to come out second best in a daywhich they had dominated for the first half. Bhandari however put in afine performance, borne out by his figures – 15-8-23-4. Unfortunatelynot much can be said in favour of the other bowlers. Both Sanghvi andVirendra Shewag, in particular were expensive and wilted under therelentless pressure put on them by the Franklin-Marshall association.

On the face of it, there is plenty of spice that has been lent to the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy with the presence of a number of India internationals like MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and R Ashwin in the mix. Apart from the format which has been changed from the zonal system to four random groups picked through a draw, giving even the unfancied sides an opportunity to brush shoulders with the best, another talking point has been the use of the Kookaburra Turf ball, which is used in ODIs and T20s, instead of the Kookabura Regulation ball that is generally used in grade cricket.While the regulation ball has a more pronounced seam that can sometimes make even part-time medium pacers look threatening, the flip side has been the fact that the ball gets very soft as the game progresses. In comparison, the turf ball settles down to allow a better balance between bat and ball. Taking the argument a step further, Ashwin, who is leading Tamil Nadu in the domestic 50-over competition where the ball change has been effected for the first time, felt the Kookaburra ensured a level-playing field.”The fact that we are using the Kookaburra Turf ball is welcome because it is a far better option in these conditions than the Kookaburra Regulation ball,” Ashwin explained. “Some kind of balance has been restored, one can say, and for us to play with this ball before we play in Australia means we are using the same ball in a match environment too.”Ball apart, the early-morning starts have given the tournament a predictable feel, with captains having no hesitation in sending the opposition in. While the chasing team has come out trumps most times, Ashwin, who lauded the quality of cricket, said there was a case of either pushing back the start time to take the toss out of the equation or tweak the format slightly to ensure the team batting first was not at a disadvantage even before a ball was bowled.”One of the most standout features of the league phase was the quality of the cricket, which was fairly high. Having said that, because of the 9.00 am starts, there wasn’t too much planning that could go into the matches,” Ashwin explained. “It was a simple strategy of winning the toss and putting the opposition in because it was far easier batting second. Apart from a few games where the teams made big runs, totals were generally in the range of 230-240, which took some of the sheen off the competition.”These are not the kind of totals you get in international cricket. I suppose we have two options in front of us. Either we have a slightly later start, or the teams bat 10 overs each at the start of the day and then the team that batted first plays out its remaining 40 overs. But if this is how it is, then as players we are fine with that too.”Format and tweaks apart, Ashwin also delved into his role as captain and the challenges he faced in order to bring the best out of a young team on an upward curve. “One of the things I felt was required was to have ideas as a bowling unit,” he said. “As captain, I am trying to put systems in place, trying to show the way towards excellence. Along the way, I am ticking a few boxes personally as well.”I am trying to bowl in pressure situations, at the death, or I am batting either when we need to get a move on or when we have lost early wickets and we need to grind our way out of trouble. It might sound clichéd, but we want to play fearless cricket. We want to go out and express ourselves. Most of all, we want to inflict some serious scars on some good teams, and we want to last the distance.”2:13

WATCH – Ashwin’s concerns with the SG ball

Imtiaz Patel, the South African of Indian extraction who has been chosen as the new CEO of the ICC, is the type of man to see things from both sides. He exudes a calmness and a phlegmatic air, but all that disappears when things aren’t done right.Patel is the chief executive of SuperSport International, who own the television rights to practically all South African sport of any consequence, and have stakes in professional franchises in cricket, rugby and football. He joined SuperSport in 1999 having risen steadily through the ranks of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) to become the director of professional cricket. Patel looked a shoo-in to succeed Ali Bacher as the CEO of the cricketing body, but fled the coop when Gerald Majola succeeded Bacher instead.While he always exudes polite charm in public, Patel is known to have a scathing tongue in the privacy of the boardroom and even hardened former cricketers who work as commentators for SuperSport are known to slink into the corners when he lets fly.Patel showed his hard, no-nonsense style last year when he hooked the television rights for South Africa’s Premier Soccer League from under the noses of the state broadcaster, the SABC, which caused much anguish in government. A five-year contract for over £70 million puts the PSL into the top 15 in terms of worldwide broadcast deals.Surprisingly, Patel began his professional career as a teacher, in Soweto, but he was also a more than handy club cricketer for Lenasia. His passion for cricket extends not only to making multimillion dollar deals, but also to the grass roots development of the game.Before his angry departure from the UCBSA, he had worked initially as the development director and had also been on the transformation monitoring committee. “He is steeped in cricket, and he is passionate about the game,” Bacher himself said on Monday. “He has energy and enthusiasm for cricket, and he comes with no cricket baggage. He comes in fresh.”A forthright man, Patel has never been afraid to express his frank viewpoints on where cricket should be heading. Coming from a television background, he has intimate knowledge of how cricket’s paymasters work.And being a South African of Indian heritage means he satisfies both the sub-continental and western camps that currently characterise world cricket. Which is no doubt why the ICC want him.But his capabilities also mean SuperSport are not keen on letting him go.

Group A

A resolute display by the Multan batsmen lifted their team’s score considerably against Karachi Whites at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex. Facing a Whites total of 391, Multan made a strong reply by reaching 274 for the loss of five wickets by the close of play. They are, however, still 117 behind Whites and will have to continue in the same vein if they intend to save the match or at least gain the three first-innings lead points. Debutant Rameez Alam made a valuable 60, off 166 balls in almost four and a quarter hours with the help of four fours. With Ansar Javed (24), he first added 54 for the third wicket and another 81 for the fourth with Naved Yasin, whose 49 came off 92 balls with seven fours. Sohaib Maqsood and wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf later posted 115 for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand. The 20-year-old Sohaib scored his maiden half-century, making 85 off 98 balls in a little over two hours with seven fours and three sixes. Gulraiz, who has recently represented the Pakistan Under-19 team, was unbeaten at 32 at stumps.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) needed another 283 to win against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) with seven wickets in hand at the Sheikhupura Stadium. After WAPDA, third placed in the table behind HBL and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), had acquired a crucial 56 runs first-innings lead, they scored 274 in their second innings getting an overall lead of 330. Habib Bank slid to 48 for 3 in their second innings. Althoug slow left-armer Aslam Qureshi took 5 for 57 yesterday to complete a match haul of 10 for 85, the WAPDA batsmen flourished. There were three individual half-centuries, of which Tariq Aziz’s 68 was the highest. From 48 for 5, Tariq and Sarfraz Ahmed (52) lifted WAPDA with a sixth-wicket stand of 95. Nawaz Sardar (42) and Farooq Iqbal (51) added 75 runs for the eighth.At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad required another 118 to win with all ten second innings wickets in hand, after having bowled Hyderabad out for a poor 160 in their second innings. Seamer Asad Zarar took 10 wickets in the match for Faisalabad, with figures of 5 for 67 and 5 for 47.Spurred by a maiden first-class century by opener Hasnain Abbas (117), Pakistan Customs made 382 for 7 in their second innings, setting Sialkot a target of 303 at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Sialkot were at 19 for 1 at stumps. Hasnain’s first-wicket partnership with offspinner Murtaza Hussain, who came in as the night-watchman, yielded 164 runs. Murtaza scored 56 and later, Rehan Rafiq contributed 55.

Group B

Abbottabad piled on the agony, as they reached a total of 432 for 9 in their first innings against Karachi Blues, here at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Blues had earlier made an impressive 363 in their first innings, to which Abbottabad had replied with 198 for 4 by the close on the second day. Although they made a total in excess of 400, Abbottabad however were actually only 69 ahead of the visitors. Riaz Kail reached his maiden first-class century, his 112 coming off 201 balls with 20 fours. With Mohammad Kashif his fifth-wicket stand was worth 104. Kashif, with 72 off 162 balls with ten fours and later Iftikhar Mahmood, with a splendid 88 not out with ten boundaries, both achieved their highest first-class scores. Iftikhar was involved in several useful partnerships with the tailenders. Blues’ left-arm spinner Azam Hussain sent down as many as 60 overs in the Abbottabad innings and picked up 4 for 128.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jumped up to the first spot again as they defeated then table leaders Islamabad by a whopping innings and 169 runs, inside three days at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground in Islamabad. Facing a PIA first-innings total of 404 for 8 declared, Islamabad crashed to poor scores of 126 and 109 in reply after being forced to follow-on. PIA’s seamer Aizaz Cheema was at his devastating best, taking 7 for 24 in the first and 4 for 48 in the second innings to attain a match haul of 11 wickets for a mere 77 runs. Former Pakistan Under-19 star Anwar Ali, after having made his career-best score of 74 on the second day, helped Aizaz bundle out Islamabad with figures of 5 for 25 runs in just eight overs with his right-arm fast-medium.At the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) also gained the same number of points as PIA and Islamabad – 36 each – as they comfortably defeated Peshawar by ten wickets with a day to spare. Facing a first-innings deficit of 140, Peshawar were bowled out for 154 and that gave SNGPL a target of just 15 to win. Seamer Imran Ali excelled for the winners with 5 for 78.Although they lost eight second innings wickets for 175 runs at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi enhanced their overall lead against Lahore Shalimar to 312 with a full day to go.The Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) openers had a field day against an ineffective Quetta bowling attack, at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium in Rawalpindi, as they compiled 265 runs. Quetta had earlier piled up a massive score of 460 for 9 declared. ZTBL opener Afaq Rahim from Mirpur scored his sixth hundred and his highest, as he made an unbeaten 151 off 288 balls in 353 minutes with 20 fours. Umar Javed, with an unbeaten 101 off 246 balls that included six fours and a six, incidentally scored his maiden century in first-class cricket. ZTBL, however, are still 195 behind Quetta.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has said that it would adopt the same stance as the ICC with regard to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is threatening to sign up some of the top cricketers in the game. The board arrived at this decision at their monthly meeting held at its headquarters in Colombo on Monday.Kangadaran Mathivanan, the board secretary, said the ICC was due to meet in October where a decision is expected. “We will follow the lead given by the ICC,” he said.Mathivanan also stated that no Sri Lankan player had approached the board with regard to joining the ICL, with the exception of former captain Marvan Atapattu who had requested to be released from his contract. The board accepted his request and Atapattu will be released from his contract from October 1.When asked about Atapattu’s future as a Test player, Mathivanan said that it depended on his availability and also whether the national selectors are in favour of him. Atapattu has not been in good terms with the selection committee headed by Ashantha de Mel, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler. Although a part of the World Cup squad, Atapattu was cold shouldered and not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches. He was left out of the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and when the selectors finally picked him for the home series against Bangladesh, he snubbed them by saying he was unavailable due to family commitments. He proceeded to England where he is currently playing for Lashings in the English league. He is one of the Sri Lankan players whose name has been strongly linked with ICL.Mathivanan further stated that all national players, who are currently on a month’s break from cricket after the Bangladesh series, will have to report to Colombo by August 20, with the exception of those playing county cricket. Sri Lanka are due to leave for South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship on September 5.”There is no point getting them down here at this stage because they are already at training and playing matches for the counties,” said Mathivanan. “They can come at a later date.”Mathivanan said that Sri Lanka would announce the final 15-member squad for the championship soon, before the ICC’s deadline of August 15. Sri Lanka’s new coaching staff are due to arrive by mid August and commence training and practice from August 18. Trevor Bayliss has replaced Tom Moody as coach, Paul Farbrace from Trevor Penney as assistant coach and Jade Roberts from CJ Clarke as the team’s trainer.

There has been much talk of the huge wages in the Indian Premier League but Shane Warne will certainly earn his money after being named both captain and coach of the Rajasthan Royals, the Jaipur team. Kepler Wessels, the former South African captain, will coach the Chennai Super Kings.Warne’s franchise is owned by Emerging Media who paid $US67million and their chief executive Fraser Castellino was pleased with snaring him. “We were looking for a legendary cricketer whom all players will look up to,” said Castellino. “Shane’s commitment and astute cricketing brain makes him one of the most respected cricketers in the history of the game.”Warne will be assisted by a strong support staff, which will include former Indian team physiotherapist John Gloster. “Shane Warne’s extraordinary achievements on and off the field, combined with his unique understanding of the game, has made him a living sporting legend,” Gloster said. “It is this leadership and experience that will develop the success and spirit of the Rajasthan Royals. All the players will look up to Shane’s commitment and astute cricketing brain.”The Chennai management were also happy with their choice of Wessels. “We wanted somebody who would keep the focus on cricket, be a good task master, and help us win the tournament,” VB Chandrasekhar, who is part of the management, told Cricinfo.It is understood that L Sivaramakrishnan, the former India player and currently, a commentator, had mooted the idea of roping in Wessels. Sivaramakrishnan and Wessels are part of the commentary team in Bangladesh for the home series against South Africa.Wessels and Warne join a high-profile list of names of IPL coaches, which includes Martin Crowe (Bangalore), John Buchanan (Kolkata) and Tom Moody (Mohali). Robin Singh is the coach of the Hyderabad outfit while Delhi had named Victoria’s Greg Shipperd as their coach. Mumbai is yet to select a coach.Team huntThe Chennai franchise have roped in Aniruddha Srikkanth, R Ashwin and Sudeep Tyagi, the UP fast bowler. Though they have 15 players in the roll and theoretically need just one more but they are looking to sign up six more players as they fear some of the international stars might not be available for the full tournament.The Mohali team has signed up VRV Singh and two under-22 players in Karan Goel and Uday Kaul, which mean they have 13 players and need three more players to complete the squad.Mumbai have picked Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar from Mumbai and Maharashtra’ wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale and Baroda’s glovesman Pinal Shah.Hyderabad have already 16 players on their rolls. VVS Laxman (C), Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, Chaminda Vaas, Chamara Silva, Nuwan Zoysa, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma, N Arjun Yadav, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha, D Kalyankrishna, P Vijay Kumar, Y Venugopala Rao, Haladhar Das (wk). Head coach: Robin Singh. Assistant coach: Kanwaljit Singh. Manager: Vijay Mohan Raj.

New Zealand are determined to make a clean sweep of Bangladesh when the two sides meet for the third and final one-day international at the Queenstown Events Centre. Inclement summer weather disrupted practice on the eve of the game and more is forecast on game day, but the mood remained upbeat in the home camp.The hosts go into the clash having already clinched the series 2-0 courtesy a 102-run D/L method win in Napier but John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, hoped to build on two wins against Bangladesh after disappointing tours to South Africa and Australia.”Rhythm, momentum going into the Test series, the goal is to continue building confidence and lift of our performance from the other two games – setting the bar a little bit higher each time,” he told the . “For us, confidence and self-assessment is extremely important. It’s not necessarily important what the opposition is doing, it’s what we’re doing and I think we can still lift the bar.”After struggling in their last two series, New Zealand’s batsman put up runs – albeit expectedly – against Bangladesh, chasing 202 with six wickets left and posting 335 for 5. The bowlers were unable to dismiss an out-of-form Bangladesh batting line-up in Napier but Bracewell put faith in his opening pair, Kyle Mills and Chris Martin. Mills has seven wickets in two games, including 4 for 40 in Napier and Martin has conceded less than three runs an over despite not having taken a wicket.”I’ve been pleased with the heat with which Chris has bowled. Without Shane Bond, he’s our go-to player, and he’s still learning the skills [of one-day bowling],” said Bracewell. “He’s only played 11 or 12 one-day games [since his debut in 1999] so he’s still making the adjustment from that continual line and length at test-match level.”Mark Gillespie, the right-arm medium-pacer, remains a doubt after aggravating his left shoulder in Napier and will be assessed before the match. Michael Mason could get a game on a track that traditionally favours seam bowling. It is unlikely that offspinner Jeetan Patel will play.A loss to Bangladesh would send New Zealand from third to fourth place on the International Cricket Council’s ODI rankings.Bracewell’s opposite number, Jamie Siddons, said his side had no pretensions about upstaging their opposition. “We don’t pretend that we’re going to compete with New Zealand on a regular basis at this point in time. We are learning, but it’s going to take time. They’re young players, some are only playing their first or second game of their lives at this level.”There’s a learning curve they have to go through and we’re going to suffer some pain. We’re suffering that pain now – there’s no way around it.”Only Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed and Tamim Iqbal have scored fifties in the series and the middle order has generally come a cropper against seam bowling. With two Tests looming, Bangladesh need to pick up their game.Teams (likely)New Zealand: 1 Jamie How, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Mathew Sinclair, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Michael Mason, 11 Chris Martin.Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mehrab Hossain Jnr, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Farhad Reza, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shahadat Hossain.

ScorecardThe Dolphins might have been tempted to call the police while Loots Bosman and Jacques Rudolph went about bludgeoning the Eagles to a 10-wicket win in their Standard Bank Pro 20 match in Durban on Friday.The Dolphins totalled what looked like a reasonable 126 for 7, but the Eagles hardly flicked a tail feather in replying with 128 without loss to win with 6.3 overs to spare.Bosman blasted 58 not out off 38 balls with four fours and five sixes, while Rudolph clipped his unbeaten 57 off 43 deliveries and hit six fours and a six. The Eagles openers batted with criminal intent, and their only real victim on the night was Brian Jerling, the umpire.Jerling was minding his own business at square leg when Rudolph launched a full-blooded pull shot that smacked the umpire on the zipper of his trousers. Every male eye in the stadium watered while Jerling writhed on the ground – a stretcher was even brought onto the ground – but happily he was able to continue with his duties.Pierre de Bruyn and Daryn Smit shared a half-century stand to boost the Nashua Dolphins to their total. De Bruyn scored 44 and Smit made an unbeaten 32 after the Dolphins had dwindled to 53 for 5 in the 11th over. Their six-wicket partnership was worth 73.Roger Telemachus struck twice to help reduce the home side to 37 for four in the eighth over. And when Ryan McLaren removed Martin Bekker for four to claim the fifth wicket, the Dolphins seemed to be sinking. But De Bruyn and Smit raised their team’s hopes with intelligent strokeplay rather than booming hitting. The partnership was ended with the penultimate ball of the innings when Dillon du Preez bowled De Bruyn.The Dolphins might have fancied their chances after that, but Bosman and Rudolph took the game away from them in uncompromising style. Poor discipline in the field and some ordinary bowling also played into the Eagles’ hands.