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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMishab-ul-Haq led the way for Rangpur with 61 off 39 balls•BCB

Mohammad Amir claimed career-best T20 figures on his BPL debut but he was unable to prevent Rangpur Riders from winning off the last ball, by two wickets, in the tournament opener against Chittagong Vikings. Misbah-ul-Haq’s clever late onslaught coupled with Thisara Perera revived Rangpur after they had looked dead in their chase.With 14 required off the last over, Darren Sammy half-connected with a slower ball from Shafiul Islam for a six over long-off before he was dropped by Asif Ahmed at deep cover. Sammy then scythed the fourth ball for a boundary through point but the fifth ball had him run-out going for a second. With one run needed off the last ball, Saqlain Sajib ran through for the single and threw his bat in delight.Despite the last-over heroics of Sammy, it was Misbah who played the innings that swung the game Rangpur’s way, hammering four big sixes down the ground in his 39-ball 61. He shared an 80-run sixth wicket stand after Rangpur had seemed done for at 87 for 5 in the 13th over, having already added 64 for the fifth wicket with Al-Amin. Misbah remained the strong accumulator and used his experience to release the pressure by hitting late sixes and fours.Comeback kid Amir removed the dangerous Perera and Misbah with consecutive deliveries of the 19th over. Amir had earlier taken the wickets of the openers Lendl Simmons and Soumya Sarkar – who had earlier been dropped by Asif from his first ball – in consecutive deliveries, too, as Rangpur were reduced to 23 for 4 in the fifth over. Soumya’s leg-before decision was iffy, however, as all three stumps were exposed when the ball hit his pad.The thrill of having a tournament start with Shakib Al Hasan bowling the first ball to Tamim Iqbal didn’t disappoint the modest Mirpur crowd but it was Jeevan Mendis who made the difference to give Chittagong their competitive total. He came in to bat in the comfort of 117 for 2 in the 13th over but saw three wickets fall quickly, his team slipping to 134 for 5 in the 16th over. Jeevan made 39 off 18 balls, adding 44 runs for the sixth wicket with Asif. He was at his best in the 18th and 19th overs, hitting Abu Jayed and Arafat Sunny for sixes over square leg, long-on and midwicket.Chittagong must have thought a big total was around the corner after the way Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tamim Iqbal blazed to 50 runs in just four overs. Later Tamim and Anamul Haque added 65 runs for the second wicket, with the Chittagong captain reaching his 50 off 32 balls before getting caught at deep midwicket off Sajib in the 13th over to start the mini-collapse that had them losing 4 for 17 runs in 2.5 overs.Both the collapses in the two innings became inconsequential as Misbah batted like the master of chase that is known for.

You have to envy VVS Laxman. Not for his sinuous wrists, not for his graceful movements, not for his languid batting style but simply for having the pleasure of standing at second slip when India’s pace bowlers are in operation. Standing between Sachin Tendulkar, at first slip, and Sourav Ganguly, at third, he is often the silent participant in some intense discussions, ones where the two on either side chirp away merrily.While they’re batting together, though, there’s no third party. Yet they rarely relent. During their 96-run stand this morning, the early parts of which were spent negotiating the second new ball, mid-pitch conferences raged along. Whether it was advice, tactics, or plans for the evening is anyone’s guess but they often resembled doubles partners on a tennis court. They’ve played together for about ten years, they’ve opened the batting for long in the one-day format, and they’ve played under each other’s captaincy. You’d think they would have exhausted all they had to say; it appears they’ve just got started.India’s biggest challenge today, with the sun out and the pitch playing true, was to negate the effects of the second new ball. Ganguly, usually circumspect in these conditions, flowed; Tendulkar, who you’d expect to be more solid, dug a small hole for himself. Almost every time Ryan Sidebottom beat Tendulkar’s bat, or appealed for a leg-before, Ganguly had a word with his partner.At the other end, Ganguly eagerly took on Chris Tremlett and James Anderson, cover-driving as if all was well. Ganguly’s statements about the ball doing “a bit in the morning” and Sidebottom bowling “well to Sachin” must go down as big under-statements. It was doing much more than a bit, and he did much better than well. “To get through the second new ball in the morning was important,” he said. “And we knew if we could get runs on the board, we’d be in a good position to win the match.”Both handled Monty Panesar expertly, using their bats more often than their pads. Tendulkar stepped out on a few occasions, crunching an aggressive cover-drive over the infield, while Ganguly took a few big strides forward and caressed him all along the ground. What was the plan then, did they have any specific targets? “There were no targets,” dead-batted Ganguly. “Just bat. It was just the third morning of a match and there was a lot of time left. We thought we’ll just bat and whatever comes, comes.” More like, just chat.

It’s tough to spot similarities in their batting, or indeed their personalities. One is quiet, the other tends to be brash; one is a great batsman who struggled to lead, the other a great captain who sometimes struggled with the bat. Both had their innings sawed off with dubious umpiring decisions – one stood transfixed before trudging off, the other rushed off spewing venom, flaying his bat angrily. Tendulkar was spotted cooling off with an ice-cream; Ganguly was “alright”. “Some go your way, some go against”, said Ganguly who started the press conference with “I don’t want to speak about the decision” and ended it with “You have to live with it”. Simon Taufel, it seems, can breathe easy.Does he think India can pull off their first Test win at Trent Bridge? “I think 480 is still a big total. We were 280-290 ahead, and the wicket is going to deteriorate. On the third day of a Test anywhere in the world, the wicket is going to be good. It’s the fourth and fifth day it’s going to deteriorate.”But, crucially, what does he have to say about Tendulkar’s knock? “There’s nothing you can talk about Sachin, he produces it every time and hope he keeps doing the same.” If he does, and if Ganguly too keeps joining him, it’s time those stump mikes were shifted to the middle of the pitch.

Dubbing Sourav Ganguly a “baccha” (kid), Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), today said he was committed to helping all players including Ganguly.”He is a . It’s not right to talk about ,” Dalmiya said responding to persistent questions from journalists on whether he would still back Ganguly who had sent an email days before the CAB elections accusing the ruling faction of ‘playing’ with his career.As CAB president, Dalmiya said he was committed to help the players of Bengal. “I’ll definitely help him. [But] why only Sourav? As president and secretary of BCCI I stood by [Virender] Sehwag during the ball tampering controversy. I also supported Sachin [Tendulkar], Harbhajan [Singh] when the going got tough for them. I have always looked after players. It is a religion for me. And, I cannot compromise on this,” he told a media conference in the small hours after defeating Prasun Mukherjee, the Kolkata Police Commissioner .Asked whether he would fight for Ganguly’s return to the Indian team, Dalmiya said “Why not? I’ve always been optimistic about his return. I’ve always said that there is a lot of cricket left in him.”Dalmiya said, however, that if the CAB members wanted, there could be a discussion on Ganguly’s allegation that his [Dalmiya’s] faction had leaked Greg Chappell’s email to the Board last September. Chappell’s email, containing damning observations about Ganguly as a player and captain, had created a huge controversy.

Michael Atherton believes Australia will be accused of double standards if their walking phase continues alongside appealing for doubtful decisions.Atherton, who is commentating on the series, said the move opened the team up for “accusations they have been far from consistent on this tour”. “It is worse to be a selective walker than a non-walker,” Atherton was reported in the Courier-Mail. “After all, selective walking is really just about conning the umpire into believing you are an honest man and so benefiting from such a reputation.”In the second Test Adam Gilchrist, Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie walked for Australia while Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh did the same for India.But Atherton was concerned by the appeal of players in front of the wicket against Virender Sehwag, who was given out lbw despite a clear edge, and questioned why he was not recalled under their fair play agreement. “How far are they prepared to go?” Atherton said. “Or, as Ian Chappell said when I asked him for his reaction, ‘Hypocrisy is alive and well.’ I was a confirmed non-walker and could easily live with the fact that I was asking an umpire to perform a job he is paid to do. I didn’t, and still don’t, regard that as cheating.”Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Allan Border believe the decisions even themselves out over a player’s career. But David Shepherd praised Kasprowicz, encouraged others to follow and denied the honesty-first policy could make a mockery of an umpire’s decision.Shepherd was about to give Kasprowicz not out after he edged a ball on to his pads and was caught by VVS Laxman. His departure left Shepherd stunned. “I saw Michael Kasprowicz straight after stumps and congratulated him on what he did,” Shepherd said. “It’s a tremendous thing when a batsman walks. Any batsman who doesn’t walk, he knows he is doing the wrong thing.”Shepherd said Test cricketers had an obligation to behave themselves because millions of youngsters were copying them.

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Kumar Sangakkara ravaged a largely inexperienced Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI attack to score an unbeaten 163 at Darwin, as the Sri Lankans raced to 304 for 5 in only 72 overs. Opening the batting, Sangakkara made full use of a slow pitch, crashing 18 fours and a six in his 220-ball knock. A 134-run partnership between him and Sanath Jayasuriya set the tone after the Minister’s XI racked up 419 at four an over.But Jayasuriya’s departure for 64 started a mini-collapse, triggered by Anthony Dent, who then caught Mahela Jayawardene (4) off his own bowling. Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan followed shortly after, with only Sangakkara holding firm. At 182 for 4, he found a partner in Russel Arnold, who scored only 29, but more importantly added 99 with Sangakkara. Just as the partnership began to reach threatening proportions, Simon Katich trapped him in front. Romesh Kaluwitharana then played out the rest of the day for an unbeaten 15.Earlier, Darren Treumer scored 65 before his team succumbed to Lasith Malinga, who took two more wickets to finish with 6 for 90 in 25 overs. Malinga was devastating in his first outing in Sri Lankan colours, but had problems with extras, as did Farveez Mahroof and Dilhara Fernando. Between them, 34 extras were conceded. While one strike bowler performed well against a relatively strong batting line-up, a more renowned one had little impact. Glenn McGrath bowled 15 wicketless overs in what was more than just a practice game for him afte some lacklustre performances in Zimbabwe.But McGrath himself was satisfied with his performance: “That second spell today, that’s the best it [my action] has felt since I’ve been back. If I can put a few of those together I’ll be happy with that. That’s all I’m aiming to do at the moment.”

On the eve of the West Indies vs Australia & Sri Lanka series, Canadian Cricket friends and supporters extend best wishes to Gus Logie, the WICB and their efforts to revitalize WICB cricket.Cream will always rise to the top, or as he stated, “You can’t sink a cork, it will always rise to the top.”Regardless of the problems, united you stand, divided you fall.Insularity and self-promotion will always sink the team.The Aussies are an outstanding array of talented players who support each other ALL the time. They draped themselves in the Flag after the World Cup victory. Selfdisciplined, classy and truly proud national ambassadors.No team or unit that is divided is going to beat or even compete with them.Gus Logie is a class act. With support and self discipline, the WICB will do wonderfully well. With any indiscipline and insularity, even Gus will not be enough.In any case, they can’t sink his ship. Best wishes Gus to you and the team.

New Zealand are not likely to be over-worked on their tour of the West Indies in June.A preliminary tour draft only includes three One-Day Internationals, two Tests, and a possible three or four day game as a warm-up match between the ODIs and the Tests.New Zealand Cricket is in negotiation with the West Indies board on the itinerary seeking more matches, especially at least one more ODI and at least two confirmed first-class matches before the Tests.On the draft itinerary, the first two ODIs would be played in Grenada on June 1 and 2, and the third in Trinidad on June 5.The first Test would start in Barbados on June 13 while the second Test would be in Jamaica starting on June 21.NZC administration manager Tim Murdoch told CricInfo that the itinerary was only a draft at the moment.”We haven’t considered it yet, nor have we had time to consider it.”It would appear there is some work to be done on it yet,” he said.India is also touring the West Indies around the same time and has a five Test, seven ODI programme.

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