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How they were out

	Chris Martin ran through Bangladesh and finished with 5 for 65 © Getty Images

New Zealand’s dominance on the first day at the Basin Reserve bore strong similarities to the opening day of the first Test in Dunedin. On that occasion, Bangladesh were bowled out for 137 and New Zealand finished the day on 156 for 4. Today Bangladesh collapsed for 143 and the home side were poised to take the lead, ending on 134 for 3. Chris Martin had taken 4 for 64 at the University Oval to lay the platform for a resounding nine-wicket win and, in Wellington, he took 5 for 65 to give New Zealand a firm grip of the second Test.The first-innings collapse was a severe blow to Bangladesh’s attempts to salvage something from a winless tour and it was triggered by poor shot selection against aggressive seam bowling. The Bangladesh batsmen had shown a lack of durability in Dunedin, lasting only 46.1 overs, and they repeated their failing with the last wicket falling in the 46th over. The New Zealand pace attack played their part; Chris Martin and Kyle Mills seamed the ball appreciably in windy conditions and Iain O’Brien, the first-change bowler, kept the pressure on. Martin, though, was the best of the three. He troubled the batsmen incessantly with pace, bounce and movement in both directions and picked up his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.There was assistance for the fast bowlers throughout the day and New Zealand were given an early boost when Daniel Vettori won his ninth consecutive toss and put Bangladesh in. Before the start, Ashraful said he did not want to bat either, but found himself at the crease in the ninth over after Bangladesh lost early wickets.The Bangladesh openers needed to play with caution while the new ball was seaming and only needed to recall their century partnership in the second innings in Dunedin for inspiration. Instead Tamim Iqbal tried to unfurl shots even though he was constantly troubled by the away seam movement, especially when the length was short. His penchant for driving through the off side led to his dismissal, when he chased and edged a wide delivery from Mills to Mathew Sinclair at point.At 17 for 1, Bangladesh needed Habibul Bashar to negotiate the testing conditions but he too played an indiscreet drive away from his body and edged Martin to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum. The captain didn’t apply himself either. Ashraful tried to hit Bangladesh out of trouble and a couple of edges off Iain O’Brien flew between gully and the heavily populated slip and cordon while Matthew Bell grassed a sharp chance at short cover.Martin and O’Brien were relentless with the line on and just outside off stump and the batsmen weren’t disciplined enough to resist. Bangladesh slipped further courtesy two edges; Junaid Siddique to a ball that was too close to leave and Shahriar Nafees to one that wasn’t. The biggest blow came before lunch when Ashraful, on 35, was adjudged to have nicked a ball which brushed the pad on its way through to McCullum. Bangladesh went into the break on 86 for 5.There was no respite for Bangladesh after lunch either as Martin struck in his first over with a ball that nipped back into Mushfiqur Rahim and rapped him on the pads. Refreshed and buoyed by the immediate success, he increased his pace and intensity and Aftab Ahmed wore one short ball on the midriff and two more on his helmet.Aftab began uncharacteristically slowly, scoring 2 off his first 38 balls but started throwing his bat around, when he began to run out of partners. Mashrafe Mortaza, coming in at No. 11, swung at everything as 21 quick runs were added for the last wicket. New Zealand’s fast bowlers were so effective that Vettori bowled only 2.3 overs and picked up the final wicket – Mortaza holing out to long-on – of a purposeless Bangladesh innings.To regain lost ground, Bangladesh had to produce a spectacular bowling performance. They began encouragingly, taking two wickets for 35 runs before Craig Cumming and Stephen Fleming consolidated with a 83-run stand for the third wicket. The lack of a genuinely fast bowler who could hit the deck hard and exploit the bounce on this surface hampered Bangladesh and the New Zealand batsmen were not severely troubled after Mortaza’s opening spell.

Kieron Pollard’s inclusion in the West Indies World Cup squad was a surprise as he is yet to play a Test or ODI © Trinidad & Tobago Express

While players like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn McGrath and Sanath Jayasuriya prepare for their last World Cup, Kieron Pollard, the 19-year old West Indian allrounder and Tamin Iqbal, the 17-year old Bangladesh batsman will look to carve out similar careers. The two are the youngest players in their respective sides.Pollard’s call-up to the West Indies 15-man World Cup squad was a surprise as he is yet to play a Test or a one-day international and has only six first class matches under his belt.But his lack of experience hasn’t dampened his ambition and he has his sights set on starting the World Cup opener against Pakistan at Sabina Park on March 13. “My first goal at the tournament is to make the final eleven, and if I achieve that in the first game, I want to perform at my best, in whatever situation I go into,” Pollard told AFP. “I make goals in the short term and when I achieve them I make another one.”Pollard made 14 in the West Indies’ warm-up win over Kenya on March 5 and is keen to get among the runs. “A couple of 50s or even a hundred according to the situation,” he said. In the seven one-day games he played for Trinidad and Tobago this season, Pollard scored 261 runs at 43.50. At a Twenty/20 match in 2006 in Antigua, he hit 83 off 38 balls before making a century against Barbados in the West Indies domestic championship.Iqbal, who won’t be 18 until March 20, already has four ODIs under his belt but is feeling his way gently with a modest 57 runs in his four innings. He announced himself at the end of 2005 when he hit 112 from just 71 balls to help Bangladesh to victory in an Under-19 international against England.In Bangladesh’s warm-up match against New Zealand Iqbal smashed a 48-ball 46 facing up to New Zealand fast bowlers Shane Bond and James Franklin. “I was not facing the name. I was facing the ball,” said Iqbal. “I came to the World Cup with my mind made up. I told myself I have to be strong and brave. I just have to play my natural game and do what I know I can do.”Bangladesh also won their second warm-up game against Scotland and Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, said that players like Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza, the right-arm fast-medium bowler, will be the key to Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign.”Before we came here for the World Cup nobody gave us a chance,” said Bashar. “That’s fine for people to say, but we are looking at getting to the second round. With Tamin and Mortaza playing so well, this is a great boost for the World Cup. Their contributions were brilliant.”West Indies play India in their last warm-up match today at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica and play their first match of the World Cup on March 13 at Sabina Park. Bangladesh will play their first match against India on March 17 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trindidad.

Rory Kleinveldt tore through the Warriors’ line up with a career-best 8 for 47 as the Cape Cobras put their six-wicket defeat against the Dolphins in the last round behind them. The match was moved from Boland Park to Stellenbosch after problems with the original pitch and the Cobras enjoyed the new location. Kleinveldt’s figures were the best since the franchise system was introduced and he took the first six wickets to fall, before Charl Willoughby chipped in with two of his own. The clatter of wickets continued when the Cobras began batting, with Derrin Bassage falling lbw first ball. However, sanity was restored by a unbroken stand of 75 between Andrew Puttick and JP Duminy, which left the Cobras insight of a healthy first innings lead.The Lions made the most of Potchefstroom’s batsmen-friendly surface on the opening day against the Titans. Neil McKenzie led the way in a powerful batting display with 109, his second hundred of the season, while three other players passed fifty. Justin Ontong fired a boundary-filled 77 off 90 balls, adding 134 with Stephen Cook, whose 60 was from a more measured 154 deliveries, then McKenzie and Vaughn van Jaarsveld then added 109 for the fourth wicket. Although Paul Harris nipped out a couple before the close, including Werner Coetsee caught at slip off the last ball of the day, the honours were certainly with the Lions.Nicky Boje continued to press his claims for an international recall by taking 3 for 49 as the Eagles enjoyed the better of a shortened first day against the Dolphins at Durban. The Dolphins were handily placed on 106 for 1, with Hasim Amla showing some of the form that brought him his unbeaten 153 against the Cobras last week, when he was caught behind off Ryan McLaren for 30. Boje then snared his three scalps, including Ravish Gobind and Jon Kent in two balls. Dale Benkenstein will carry the hopes of the Dolphins on the second day after finishing unbeaten on 23.

Ashwell Prince: plenty to gain from Zimbabwe series © Getty Images

The executive board of the International Cricket Council is preparing to meet in Delhi in the next few days, and one of the key items on their agenda will be the Test status of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, two Test nations whose performances continue to lag far behind the pack.If there was any doubt about how critical the question has become, then the shenanigans of the past week will have served to sharpen everyone’s focus. South Africa wrapped up their two-match series against Zimbabwe in less time than most teams take for one Test, and the most damning indictment of their opposition is that they barely broke sweat for full sessions at a time.Happily, today was not one of those days for coasting. After a limp first-day performance that was, frankly, insulting to the game, South Africa’s intensity was back for the final phase of this game. They batted with purpose, declared with intent, and bowled with menace, and though the cynic would suggest that their primary motivation was the chance for a lie-in tomorrow and an afternoon of golf, there were at least a handful of South Africans who were treating the match as more than just a glorified net session.Shortly after the close of play, South Africa unveiled both its list of contracted players for the 2005-06 season, from which Monde Zondeki had been removed, and their squad for the tour of the West Indies, to which he had been added, quite possibly at the last minute. You can’t read much into an alphabetical list in which Zondeki naturally appears at the bottom, but given that he had just produced a matchwinning spell of 6 for 39, the juxtaposition seems significant.Zondeki’s performance gave renewed significance to this fixture, and was the most refreshing sight of the series. He bowled like a man with a point to prove – with pace, accuracy and penetration – and in doing so, he also conferred some hard-earned dignity on Hamilton Masakadza, whose skillful 47 can only have enhanced his confidence for future engagements. Masakadza now knows he’s been in a Test match, and that is more than can be said for several of the participants.Development is the only use for such one-sided matches as these, for Zondeki and Masakadza were not the only players to make strides. Ashwell Prince, for example, came into this match as the only top-seven South African without a Test century, which was a stigma in its own right. But, he also had the grim memory of his embarrassments against Bangladesh in 2002-03, when his contribution to a pair of innings victories had been scores of 0 and 2. With that sort of mental baggage, try telling him that yesterday’s innings was not significant.On the other hand, it is impossible to see what on earth Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis gained from this series. For such proven performers, it was a damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t scenario. Smith and Gibbs went to one extreme – throwing their wickets away with grotesque shots that reeked of disinterest – while Kallis went to the other, jeopardising his hip injury to snaffle six cheap wickets for 53 runs. It’s hard to say which was the more cynical attitude. As Charles Colvile commented during Sky Sports’ coverage: "Kallis is an occasional bowler. By that, I mean he occasionally wants to bowl …”Who knows what Dale Steyn would have made of Kallis’s candy-swiping. Steyn is precisely the type of eager young thruster who could make a contest out of these games. He endured a torrid baptism against England this season, but was in full cry for the Titans in their last round of SuperSport matches and like Zondeki, he would have relished the opportunity to impress the selectors and gatecrash the Caribbean party.These are thoughts that the ICC might like to consider when they meet in Delhi. Test cricket is 99% a mental challenge, but that challenge is cheapened if the players involved give anything less than 100% commitment to their cause. Zimbabwe learned more from the challenge posed by Prince and Zondeki than from the posing provided by South Africa’s hotshots. Everyone’s a winner if the incentives are in place.

Barbados 422 for 7 dec and 8 for 0 beat Guyana 108 and 321 by 10 wickets
ScorecardBarbados started their defence of the title in style – and in some controversy – by routing Guyana by 10 wickets at Bridgetown. They needed just eight runs for victory, after dismissing Guyana for 321, and Kurt Wilkinson wrapped it up in the first over, by lofting Esuan Crandon over extra cover for four. Barbados’ win was clouded by their five-run penalty for ball-tampering, though. On the third afternoon, the umpires reportedly decreed that the ball had changed appearance, and immediately changed it. The board are deciding whether to take any further action on the matter.Trinidad & Tobago 335 and 255 drew with Leeward Islands 324 and 58 for 3
ScorecardThe rains returned to curtail Leeward Island’s run-chase against Trinidad & Tobago, with 25 overs of the day remaining. The highlight had earlier been Ricardo Powell’s hard-hitting 77 to set up the declaration. The Leewards never threatened to pursue 266 in 47 overs, once Alex Adams had fallen to the first ball of the innings.Jamaica 266 and 296 for 8 dec drew with Windward Islands 273 and 233 for 5 (Smith 118*)
ScorecardDevon Smith hit a sparkling century, but Windward Islands were forced to settle for first-innings points against Jamaica at Beausejour. Set 290 for victory, Windwards finished on 223 for 5 with three of the final 15 overs remaining leaving Smith undefeated on 118. Jamaica, who trailed by seven runs on first innings, earlier declared on 296 for 8.West Indies B 97 and 149 beat Kenya 149 and 85 by 12 runs
ScorecardJason Bennett grabbed a hat-trick and Dwight Washington picked up three wickets of his own, as West Indies B pulled off a dramatic 12-run victory over Kenya from an apparently hopeless situation. Set 98 to win, the Kenyans crumbled to 85 all out midway the final session at Edgar Gilbert Park. Bennett removed Collins Obuya (1), Martin Suji (0) and Peter Ongondo (0) with consecutive deliveries to finish with figures of 3 for 23 off 12 overs, and a match haul of 8 for 68.

Hussain- reflective in defeat Photo Photosport

England’s fielding, and their batting in the last 15 overs, are areas of their one-day game that captain Nasser Hussain would like to see improved.He was commenting at the end of his side’s five-game National Bank Series with New Zealand which ended in New Zealand winning the series 3-2 last night.Hussain said that right throughout the winter tours, England had not been batting well in the last 15 overs.”Even today we didn’t hit enough boundaries, even when we kept wickets in hand, we’ve not hit enough boundaries, there is a point in the innings where we have to take on these short boundaries.”You saw Nathan Astle today, there was a lot of sixes hit and you watch a series from Australia, people like Brett Lee, various people, hitting sixes and it’s an area we haven’t quite mastered yet. It’s a technical thing, it’s a confidence thing.”There’s a lot of areas we have improved on. That’s another area we’ve just gone and identified. I don’t mean slogging the ball for six when you’ve got to take the risk and every time this winter when we’ve just tried to progress and take the risk, we’ve found ourselves losing wickets and that’s something we’re going to have to look at,” he said.England’s fielding did not really improve during the series. They dropped catches regularly and again tonight put down century-maker Astle twice, once when he was on 15 (Nick Knight at short cover) and on 108 (Ashley Giles, a caught and bowled chance).Knight had an horrendous series, especially given the reputation he had as a catcher before the tour.”We are still a little bit sloppy in the field, we have good days and bad days, we take good catches and we drop some catches.”So that’s an area we’ve got to improve on if we’re going to compete against South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, very good fielding sides, and the last 15 overs is an area we have to work on,” he said.Hussain still felt that the failure to capitalise on the situation created in the opening game in Christchurch had an effect on the final outcome of the series.England were 150/2 and dismissed for 196.”That doesn’t take anything away from New Zealand. They got the wickets, they bowled us out but if we look that’s where we lost the series 150/2 and if we’d got 250-260, we’d have won that game,” Hussain said.

The Interim Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka will have to wait to bring in Barry Richards as batting coach.The board’s initial plan was to bring Richards in ahead of the three match Test series against Indian and then to follow it up with two other stints ahead of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.With the busy domestic cricket schedule many of the leading players are taking part in the Mercantile Cricket Tournament and, with the imminent Pakistan A tour, the plan will not be realized before the Indian trip.A member of the Interim Committee, Sidath Wettimuny, confirmed that the South African great will only be coming in October or November. CricInfo also learns that the board has not yet signed the contract with Richards.

During his post-match press conference following the victory over Burnley, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was full of praise for midfield general Ilkay Gundogan. 

The lowdown: A Pep favourite

Signed for £21million from Borussia Dortmund (Sky Sports), Gundogan was the Spanish manager’s first signing when taking over at the Etihad.

Since then the experienced German has made an astonishing 244 appearances for the Citizens, scoring 43 times and providing 33 assists in that time.

Therefore, it’s perhaps of little surprise that Guardiola would hold the midfielder in such high esteem after he became the highest-scoring German in Premier League history on Saturday.

The latest: record-breaking exploits

Gundogan volleyed home City’s second goal on the afternoon, overtaking Mesut Ozil’s previously tally of 33 English top-flight strikes.

Speaking after the comfortable 2-0 success at Turf Moor, Guardiola sang the praises of the 31-year-old’s display.

As quoted by City Xtra on Twitter, the Spanish boss stated: “Wow! He’s an exceptional human being first. So intelligent, you can talk with him about everything, and it’s nice to have players like him. I’m so glad, happy he could make this record.”

The verdict: High praise indeed

Receiving such high praise from any manager, let alone Guardiola must be music to the ears of any player.

In truth, goal aside this was another performance right out of the top drawer from the £31.5million valued Gundogan (Transfermarkt), who completed 5/5 long balls, 50/55 passes and made one successful tackle in an all-important victory for the Sky Blues (Sofascore).

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This latest strike took the German to eight goals for the season, combined with another six assists from 34 appearances across all competitions, as the once defensive midfielder continues to defy conventional wisdom with his goalscoring prowess in recent seasons.

In other news: Man City linked with move for La Liga star. Find out more here.

	Matthew Hayden scored 124 and 47 on what Ricky Ponting rated the hardest pitch to bat on of any of his Tests in Australia © Getty Images

Australia are determined to avoid mentioning a record that is taking on the he-who-must-not-be-named characteristic of the villain Lord Voldemort. With the four-day crushing of India, Ricky Ponting’s team is only one win from equalling the world record of 16 consecutive Test victories.Like any potential naming of Voldemort in the books, it seems that anyone in the team who dares raise the milestone is greeted with loud shooshing and terrified looks over shoulders. The players insist the record, which was set by Steve Waugh’s sides between 1999 and 2001, was not talked about during the Sri Lanka series last month and Ponting said it wasn’t discussed in the lead-up to Melbourne and won’t be in Sydney.”We didn’t speak about it all – there was not one mention going into this game – which is the way I prefer it,” he said. “There’s no doubt it is something we could all be really proud of if we achieve it, but there’s a lot of hard work and great play before that.”We played well here and hopefully we can go to Sydney and play even better. If we do that record will be even closer.” Ponting will have to wait a week to see if there are any repercussions for breaking the in-house ban.However, after the 337-run demolition at the MCG, Australia’s prospects of another win in Sydney are strong. Anil Kumble was not sure what went wrong for India, which makes it hard for the team to recover before Wednesday’s second Test.”It hurts, not just as an individual but as a team, that we haven’t put up a good show and I can tell you we will address that and try to put up a better show in Sydney,” he said. “It’s important that as a collective unit we come out there and do the job. Everyone is equally disappointed.”Kumble said the problems were “mainly a mental thing”, but he was also confident a more friendly pitch at the SCG would help his batsmen against the restrictive Australian bowling. Cluttered fields were set to wear down the Indians on an MCG wicket offering slow, low bounce.”You have to give credit to the way they bowled,” Kumble said. “They put pressure on the batting and I’m sure Sydney will be a better wicket in terms of stroke-making. We have stroke-makers and I’m sure the ball will come on to the bat better in Sydney.”Ponting knew how difficult the chase of 499 would be after seeing his batsmen grind in the second innings. When he declared late on day three he had no doubt India would fail to achieve the target, but he was surprised by the ease of the success.”I expected it to be really hard work, we knew it was going to be hot,” he said. “I felt with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have been known to bat for long periods on wickets like that, that it might have been really tough.”He believed the 135-run opening stand on the first day, which was the largest of the match, set up the victory on a pitch he rated the hardest to bat on of any of his Tests in Australia. Matthew Hayden, the Man of the Match, was responsible for carrying the first innings with 124, but he also picked up a back problem.Hayden said it was “nothing a Panadol wouldn’t fix” and was not worried about backing up at the SCG. Australia’s comprehensive performance means only injury will force changes and by sealing the win so quickly they have another day to recover from any niggles. India appeared to need a much longer turnaround to sort out their troubles.

Marlon Samuels has made the World Cup squad despite the recent controversies © AFP

Marlon Samuels has been included in West Indies’ 15-man World Cup squad despite the ICC’s investigations into his links with an alleged bookie. The selectors have also sprung one surprise with Kieron Pollard, the 19-year-old Trinidad allrounder, beating off more experienced names for the final place.Much of the squad had been set in stone, but Pollard has kept out the likes of Darren Sammy and Runako Morton, while Rayad Emrit who played in the recent series against India didn’t even make the reserve list.Lendl Simmons has taken the final batting slot while Ian Bradshaw, Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor are the four pacemen, leaving Fidel Edwards on the sidelines.West Indies open the World Cup against Pakistan, in Jamaica, on March 13.West Indies squad Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin, Devon Smith, Lendl Simmons, Daren Powell, Kieron Pollard