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Bangladesh never looked to challenge the experienced bowling attack of Sri Lanka and preferred to play out 50 overs and were restricted to 226-7.Mushfiqur Rahim let Bangladesh with 44 while Mashrafe Mortaza remained unbeaten on 34.Despite the defeat, Bangladesh is expected to advance to the Super Four stage as it defeated United Arab Emirates by 96 runs Tuesday.

Sri Lanka takes on United Arab Emirates in the last group match Thursday and is likely to finish on top of Group A with two victories.Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful’s decision to bowl first after he won the toss backfired as Jayasuriya and Sangakkara put on 116 runs off 89 balls.

Left-arm spinner Abdul Razzak had Jayasuriya clean bowled but not before the left-handed hard-hitter had hit 10 boundaries and three sixes off 47 balls. Captain Mahela Jayawardene struggled for six before he too was bowled by Razzak.

However, Sangakkara hit five boundaries in Dolar Mahmud’s one over before he was caught by Tamim Iqbal off Mahmudullah soon after completing his century in the 28th over.Kapugedera then played a polished innings of 74 off 67 deliveries with five boundaries and two sixes before Bangladesh hit back in the last eight overs and claimed five wickets.

Razzak had the best performance of the Bangladesh bowlers with 3-55 while Mortaza (2-53) and Shahadat Hossain (2-62) both struck late in the innings.

Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat as the Indian batsmen made a mockery of hapless Hong Kong bowling attack to make a mammoth 374 for four, the highest Asia Cup total.In reply, the Hong Kong batsmen crumbled to meagre 118 runs in the 36.5 overs. Piyush Chawla picked four for 23.

Indian openers Virender Sehwag (78) and Gautam Gambhir (51) gave a perfect start to the innings as they feasted on a lacklustre Hong Kong attack. The duo raced to 100 in just 10.5 overs. Rohit Sharma, coming after Sehwag’s dismissal, was the only Indian batsman to fall cheaply when he was run out by Nadeem Ahmmed on 11.

Rohit’s departure brought Raina, whose blitzkrieg 101 off 68 balls is the second fastest hundred by an Indian. The 21-year-old hammered the bowlers all over the ground. Raina’s cracking innings had seven boundaries and five sixes.Skipper Dhoni played a second foil, as he along with Raina piled up 166 for the fourth wicket, which is also an Asia Cup record.

Hong Kong bowlers never offered any resistance sans Najeeb Amar who snapped two wickets for 40 runs in his 10 overs.After their bowlers’ debacle, the Hong Kong batsmen hardly proved to be a match against the experienced India and fell like nine pins.

R.P. Singh sent opener Skhawat Ali back to pavilion in the second over and from then on Hong Kong batsmen wilted under pressure while trying to accelerate.

The batsmen could not put up any partnership. Tabarak Dar and 17-year-old wicketkeeper James Atkinson did attempt to brave the Indian attack but three stumpings by Dhoni off Chawla left Hong Kong little to do.

Australia S.Marsh c Marshall b Roach 29 L.Ronchi c Taylor b Roach 36 S.Watson not out 17 D.Hussey c Perkins b Bravo 0 C.White not out 10 Extras (lb-2, w-2, nb-1) 5 Total (3 wickets; 11 overs) 97 Fall of wickets 1-57 2-72 3-72 Did not bat: R.Ponting, M.Clarke, M.Hussey, B.Lee, M.Johnson, J.Hopes Bowling: J.Taylor 2-0-23-0(1w), S.Benn 2-0-19-0 (1w), F.Edwards 2-0-12-0, K.Roach 3-0-29-2 (1nb), D.Bravo 2-0-12-1. West Indies X.Marshall run out 36 W.Perkins run out 9 D.Ramdin c Johnson b Watson 8 D.Bravo not out 28 A.Fletcher not out 7 Extras (b-6, lb-1, w-7) 14 Total (3 wickets; 9.1 overs) 102 Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-59, 3-64 Did not bat: K.Pollard, D.Sammy, S.Benn, K.Roach, F.Edwards, J.Taylor. Bowling: B.Lee 2-0-26-0 (1w), M.Johnson 2-0-30-0 (4w), S. Watson 2.1-0-17-1, J.Hopes 2-0-14-0, C.White 1-0-8-0 (2w)

Domestic media reported Sreesanth, out of this month’s Asia Cup due to injury, got into an argument at the hotel where he was staying to attend a camp at the national cricket academy.

“We have written to Sreesanth and the hotel management seeking details about what exactly happened,” the board’s chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told Reuters on Wednesday.

The player shifted to another hotel the following day.An executive at the hotel confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday the incident involving Sreesanth took place and that he had lodged a complaint against the player with his supervisor. Sreesanth could not be reached for his comments.

Last month, the board warned Sreesanth to improve his behaviour following an incident where he was slapped by India team mate Harbhajan Singh at the end of a domestic Twenty20 league game.Off-spinner Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the league games and then suspended for five one-dayers.

“Although the Royal Challengers failed to make much headway, the Rajasthan Royals sponsored by my company lifted the trophy,” said Mallya, who had openly expressed his unhappiness with the way the Rahul Dravid-led Royal Challengers performed in the Twenty20 cricket extravaganza.

The flamboyant businessman, who also owns a Formula One team besides an airline, felt the IPL has added a new dimension to cricket.”IPL has defined cricket. IPL was the biggest blockbuster and phenomenal market success for TV,” he said.

Mallya said the tournament would help India build a ‘world class squad’ by throwing up talented youngsters. Mallya also did not see anything wrong in cricketers making some quick money through the slam-bang format.

“When football players could make money why not cricketers?” he asked.Mallya hoped that the England and Wales Cricket Board would also allow its players to participate in the next edition of the event.”They will do so next year,” he said.

West Indies, chasing an improbable 475 to win, were all out for 387 after a brave attempt at victory.Australia scored 216 and 439 for five declared while the Windies made 216 in their first innings.

A world record victory target looked possible when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo resumed the innings at 235 for three but after they hit half centuries, both were removed within three balls of each other in the morning session and the chase folded.

Chanderpaul became the fourth West Indian to pass 8,000 Test runs in the process after Brian Lara (11,953), Sir Vivian Richards (8,540) and Sir Garfield Sobers (8,032).

Australia’s Simon Katich, with a career-best 157 in the second innings, was named man of the match.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk

India battled back with half-centuries from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, but fine bowling from Umar Gul at the death saw Pakistan home.India lost opener Virender Sehwag early and then lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 290 in 48.2 overs.

Sehwag had given India blistering starts in their two previous matches in the tournament, but he was dismissed for just two when a leading edge off the bowling of Sohail Tanvir flew to skipper Shoaib Malik at mid-off.India, however, bravely took up the run chase. Gautam Gambhir smashed 40 off only 33 deliveries, while Rohit Sharma (24), Yusuf Pathan (25) and Suresh Raina (24) failed to convert on good starts.

Yuvraj kept India in contention despite the fall of wickets, powering to a half-century. His 56 came off just 59 deliveries and it helped India consolidate.Yuvraj’s dismissal, however, heralded the end even as Dhoni fought valiantly on.The Indian skipper reached his 50 by lofting Tanvir for a six and driving the bowler for a couple of runs. He was the last man dismissed, for 64, attempting to hit Shahid Afridi over the top.Gul claimed four wickets for 57 from nine overs.

Earlier, Younus, who was run out without facing a ball against Bangladesh and out first ball against India earlier in the series, walked in after another failure from Kamran Akmal threatened to give India the advantage.Akmal, who was at the receiving end of severe criticism from Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf following the 140-run defeat against India in Pakistan’s previous match, laboured to 15 runs before edging Irfan Pathan to Dhoni.

His dismissal left Pakistan in danger of succumbing early, but Younus changed all of that. He began with a boundary off the first ball he faced and quickly eased the pressure by taking the attack to the Indian bowlers.Younus and Butt, who received a reprieve when Sharma split a difficult catch at cover with the opener on 19, quickly upped the scoring rate as they put on 205 runs for the second wicket.Younus, the more attacking of the two, was particularly severe on the spinners.

Piyush Chawla, India’s leading wicket-taker along with Praveen in the series, came in for harsh treatment conceding 85 runs in his 10 overs.Butt’s innings was just as severe. Three sixes and a dozen boundaries studded an innings which he had begun cautiously.Misbah-ul-Haq (33 off 21 deliveries) chipped in with another cameo as Pakistan raced past the 300-run mark.

India had a 140-run victory against Pakistan and a seven-wicket victory against Bangladesh. Pakistan advanced to the final after beating Bangladesh on Sunday by 70 runs.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni did not make any tall claims and said that one-day games can end with unexpected results. Every ODI is different from the previous one.

This is also another one and we would take it just as a new match instead of do-or-die final, he told a press conference. He said he wanted his players to go out and play good cricket. They should just give their hundred percent and the results will be in our favour, he maintained.

Chasing a target of 223, both the openers Gambhir (107) and Virender Sehwag (59) led India to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the third match of the Kitply Cup.Gambhir’s firing knock of 107 came in just 107 in just 101 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and 1 six. Sehwag too rolling his good form scored 59 (7* 4s, 2* 6s) off just 32 balls.

Earlier electing to bat first, Bangladesh only managed to put a total of 222 in 49.5 over with a couple of sound batting display by Raquibul Hassan (89) and skipper Mohammad Ashraful (36). After a miserable start losing two wickets in just 17 runs on the board, it was a Herculean task for Ashraful and Hassan to tick the scoreboard against a discipline bowling performance by India.

Raquibul Hassan was the highlight of Bangladesh innings with his 117-ball innings of 89. He brought up his fifty off 78 balls.As far as India’s bowling is concerned Praveen Kumar started off well conceding only 8 runs in his first seven overs though he only managed to get one wicket. RP Singh and Irfan Pathan obtained 3 and 2 wicket respectively.

With a blazing start India achieved the target in 35.1 over losing only three wickets of Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma (26 off 43 balls) and Yuvraj Singh (26 off 33).Dhoni led Indian team now will meet Pakistan in Saturday final before going to the upcoming Asia Cup scheduled to be staged in Pakistan from June 24.

“We will play our best. We beat them (India) twice before, and we hope to repeat that,” Bangladeshi captain Mohammad Ashraful told reporters Wednesday on the eve of the tri-series match.

Bangladesh lost the series-opening match on Sunday by 70 runs to Pakistan, which slumped to a 140-run defeat to India. The two leading teams after Thursday’s match will play in a final on Saturday.Bangladesh has not given up hope.

Its five-wicket win over India in the group stage of the World Cup virtually ended the 2003 finalists run in the competition. Bangladesh’s only other ODI win against India came in a home series in 2004.India coach Gary Kirsten said there would be no risk of taking Bangladesh lightly.

“We want to continue the winning run. But one-day cricket is like lottery, anyone can win,” Kirsten said. “So, there is no scope to take Bangladesh lightly.”Kirsten said there could be lineup changes from the team which beat Pakistan.

“We have some good young players in the team. We have the luxury of rotating,” Kirsten said.