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Match facts

February 28, Mirpur
Start time 1830 (1230 GMT)
Shakib Al Hasan will be key for his team once again•BPL T20

Big Picture

Khulna Royal Bengals had to wait until their final league game to confirm a place in the semifinals and they completed the job in style, beating Sylhet Royals by 69 runs. They go into the final four as the second best team in the competition.Khulna should be confident against Dhaka Gladiators, who have misfired with the bat for most of the tournament. Dhaka have Mohammad Ashraful, Imran Nazir and Azhar Mahmood in the top-order but they haven’t performed to expectation. With the addition of Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, however, Dhaka’s bowling attack is stronger.Khulna will rely on the all-round abilities of Shakib Al Hasan, Dwayne Smith and Andre Russell, while Nasir Hossain will be expected to play a major role with the bat.

In the spotlight

Khulna have relied on their captain Shakib Al Hasan despite the presence of bigger Twenty20 names in their line-up. Shakib will once again have to lead from the front, especially with his batting, since Khulna have been flat at times too.Azhar Mahmood will lead Dhaka’s opening salvo with both bat and ball. He may not be as young as Smith, Russell or Shakib, but he’s still got it with the new ball and against the new ball.

Form Guide (most recent first)

Khulna Royal Bengals WLLWW
Dhaka Gladiators – LWLWL

Head To Head

Khulna beat Dhaka by seven wickets in their previous game, and also won the first game by 19 runs.

Chatter

“If you see their (Gibbs’ and Jayasuriya’s) performances, then I would have to say no. They have a reputation and we have not got the performances we expected from that.”
“Throughout the tournament I think the batting has been a concern. We are struggling with our batting.”
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Graham Ford has been appointed Sri Lanka coach, replacing Geoff Marsh, it was announced today. Ford, the former South Africa coach, will begin his assignment with the triangular ODI series in Australia next month. His appointment is the latest decision by Sri Lanka Cricket to revamp the setup around the national team – the captaincy was changed on Monday and, last week, the selection panel was replaced before its term expired – following a string of disappointing results.A statement by the board thanked Marsh for his services; it also thanked Anura Tennekoon, who has been replaced as team manager by Charuth Senanayaka.Sri Lanka’s performances have come in for much criticism since reaching the World Cup final – they have lost every Test and ODI series they have played since then and a new board that came to power in the elections earlier this month have rung in the changes.Ford last week resigned as head coach of the Dolphins, the Durban-based franchise, saying he wanted to “follow my dreams of involvement at an international level”.He will be the third coach appointed by Sri Lanka since Trevor Bayliss stepped down after leading them to the 2011 World Cup final. Marsh was appointed for two years in September 2011 and was in charge for the tours against Pakistan and South Africa. His appointment appeared to end a period of upheaval following Bayliss’ exit. Stuart Law, who was Bayliss’ assistant, took over for the England tour before quitting to coach Bangladesh. Rumesh Ratnayake then took over for the home series against Australia, before Marsh’s appointment.Ford took over as coach of South Africa from Bob Woolmer in 1999 and held the position till 2001. He moved to Kent as director of cricket in 2004, and in 2006 he returned home to take charge of the Dolphins. In June 2007, he was offered the challenge of coaching India but declined. In 2009, he withdrew his name from the shortlist of candidates for the England coaching job.

Squads

Pakistan Test squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman.
PCB XI: Nasir Jamshed, Afaq Rahim, Harris Sohail, Mohammad Ayub Dogar, Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt and wk), Raza Hassan, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Talha, Ali Imran Pasha, Yasir Shah.

Umar Akmal, the Pakistan batsman, has been recalled to his team’s Test squad for the series against England in the UAE. Left-arm seamers Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan are also back in the squad, and Shoaib Malik and seamer Mohammad Khalil, who toured Bangladesh, have been left out.Malik was dropped after a run of poor performances with the bat in ODIs. He hasn’t played a Test since August last year and has managed just 35 runs in six innings since his return to the national team in September this year. Khalil, a left-arm medium-pace bowler, was part of Pakistan’s touring squad to Bangladesh but didn’t play a game. He had replaced Junaid Khan, who suffered an abdominal muscle strain, for the Bangladesh tour and Junaid’s return to the squad against England meant Khalil lost his spot.Junaid’s inclusion is still subject to him proving his fitness. He is training at the National Cricket Academy and will be playing a match for his regional Under-23 team on December 31.”There are some players who are dropped and some are recalled but nobody is out of the picture and can be selected only if they perform. Malik may be dropped but he isn’t out of the picture,” the PCB’s chief selector Mohammad Ilyas said at a press conference at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.Riaz’s selection ends his unexplained six-month break from cricket – his last Test was against West Indies in May this year. His name came up during the spot-fixing trial of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir in a London court in October, as part of a written statement from Pakistan’s security manager, Major Khwaja Najam Javed, which was read out by the prosecution.In the statement, Najam said he had found Azhar Majeed, the brother and business partner of Mazhar Majeed, in Wahab’s hotel room after midnight, along with Butt and Kamran Akmal during the Oval Test. Businessman and player agent Mazhar Majeed had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments.”It was tough not being the part of the squad for some time. But I had a firm belief that things will be cleared, I don’t want to get into the details,” Riaz told ESPNcricinfo. “What I know is that I am ready for yet another stint. I have kept myself fit and in form while playing domestic cricket so I don’t think I will face any difficulty.” He turned in a strong domestic performance for National Bank of Pakistan in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 30 wickets in six games at 24.86.Umar has achieved a fair amount of success in the limited-overs formats and burst on to the Test scene with a century on debut against New Zealand in Dunedin in 2009. But he hasn’t scored a century in 29 innings since, often getting starts but not pushing on for a big score. He was left out of the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE but has won his place back at Malik’s expense against England.Pakistan have had an impressive 2011, drawing a series in the West Indies, winning against Zimbabwe followed by Sri Lanka in the UAE before sweeping Bangladesh 2-0. They play England in a three-Test series, starting January 17 in Dubai, followed by four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals. England will play two tour games ahead of the Tests, including one against a PCB XI led by Sarfraz Ahmed.

Ajit Agarkar, the Mumbai seamer, has not been named in Mumbai’s squad for the Ranji Trophy Elite group match against Saurashtra that begins in Rajkot from December 6, after he declared himself unavailable for the game. According to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) secretary Nitin Dalal, Agarkar had submitted a letter addressed to him and Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI chief administrative officer and MCA vice-president, stating his unavailability.”He [Agarkar] has given it in writing, making himself unavailable for the Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra,” Dalal told ESPNcricinfo. Agarkar did not provide any specific reasons for his unavailability, but it is understood that he was reluctant to play following his abrupt departure from Cuttack on November 29, after being left out of Mumbai’s playing XI.Agarkar had said earlier that he had left soon after the match began because he was disappointed at not being informed beforehand of his exclusion, and that he did not find any reason to sit sulking in the dressing-room.He found support from his team-mate and India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who said Sulakshan Kulkarni, Mumbai’s coach, and Milind Rege, the chairman of the selection committee, could have handled the situation better and criticised them for “pulling back Mumbai’s cricket”. Rege subsequently questioned Zaheer’s remarks, but there has been no official action against Agarkar or Zaheer for their public outbursts so far.Zaheer, who bowled 22 overs in Cuttack on his return to competitive cricket after an ankle surgery, has been included in the 15-member squad against Saurashtra. Zaheer was provisionally selected for India’s tour of Australia, the condition being he prove his fitness in the Ranji Trophy first. Sushant Marathe, who is yet to play a match this season, has found a berth in the 15-man squad as well.

New South Wales 1 for 3 (Swan 1-2) v
ScorecardLeft-armers Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Starc shared nine wickets between them as New South Wales bowled Queensland out for 282 on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba.The Blues lost the wicket of Nic Maddinson to Chris Swan in the three overs before stumps to be 1 for 3 at the close.Starc took five wickets to Bollinger’s four, but it was the older paceman who took the majority of the top order wickets in a spell that was fiery at times, and included a blow to the helmet of the Bulls’ captain James Hopes.At 6 for 159 the Blues could have expected to wrap up the tail, but Ben Cutting and Chris Hartley combined in a nifty stand of 86 in only 92 balls to give the hosts something to defend.

Middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been out of action for more than six months following a knee injury and subsequent surgery, is set to make a comeback in the Ranji Trophy. Pujara told the he will turn out for Saurashtra in their Ranji encounter against Karnataka starting on November 29, after being declared fit by the physio at the National Cricket Academy.”The NCA physio has given me an all-clear on my fitness and told me that I can play competitive cricket again,” Pujara said. “I’m looking forward to playing the Ranji game against Karnataka to start with.”Pujara, 23, picked up his injury during the IPL in May. He missed out on much of that tournament, and has been out of consideration for international duty since. It was the second time in his short career that he had injured his knee, and underwent surgery after consulting Dr. Andrew Williams in England.Prior to the knee issue, Pujara made an eye-catching start to his Test career, scoring a match-winning 72 against Australia on debut. He played two more Tests during India’s tour of South Africa. His recovery allows him two first-class games to reinforce his credentials ahead of the December 10 selection meeting for the India tour of Australia.”The last time I had the same surgery on my left knee and I made a good comeback. I’m hopeful I can do it again,” Pujara said. “Selection is not in my hands but I will be preparing myself keeping the Australia tour in mind. If I can score big in those two games then I’ll give myself a good chance of a comeback.”Unfortunately this injury happened when India had lined up to play a lot of Tests and it was very disappointing to sit out. I started on my rehab the day after my surgery and I concentrated hard to make a quick return. When you are out of cricket for so long the hunger is even more to do well. Because I have not played cricket for last four months, I am eager to bat for long.”

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has offered his services to the PCB as a part-time bowling coach. Akram said he is ‘ready to work for Pakistan’, but would not be able to do it full-time because of family commitments.”Coaching is a very demanding job,” Akram told reporters at Lahore airport. “It requires a 24/7 [twenty four hours, seven days a week commitment] that I cannot afford while my personal life is a little unsettled. I have two kids to look after. But if they want my services, I am ready to work, but only in my free time.”In the past Akram has turned down the PCB’s offers to coach, citing his responsibilities as a commentator. While he did state that he still doesn’t have much free time, he said that whenever he is in Pakistan, he could juggle his routine to have time to coach fast bowlers.”I have emphasised before that while I am free in Pakistan, give me about 10 to 15 young fast bowlers to coach for a month and I am ready to work. We have outstanding facilities at the National Cricket Academy. Send them to Karachi or I can come to Lahore as well.”When asked about the upcoming series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the UAE, Akram said Sri Lanka are a good side but not good enough to beat Pakistan. He pointed out that the bowling attack has struggled without Muttiah Muralitharan, who was responsible for 40 per cent of the team’s wickets during his career.”Sri Lanka is a good team but without Murali [Muralitharan] and [Lasith] Malinga they can’t bowl out Pakistan twice in Test cricket,” Akram said. “I don’t see Pakistan losing unless they play very bad cricket.”Pakistan has experience as Younis [Khan], Misbah [ul Haq] are there in the line-up and another veteran (Shoaib) Malik is back in the side. So with all this, we can understand that the team isn’t lacking any talent. They just need support and need to play good cricket.”Pakistan will play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 International in the three Emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, as Pakistan are currently unable to host international cricket amid security concerns since the attack on the Sri Lanka team in 2009. Given the situation, Akram said the PCB should create an alternative home country for the team.”The idea is to play as much cricket as they can,” Akram said. “If teams aren’t heading to Pakistan, come up with an alternative hub and a system for Pakistan’s home series and give its team more cricket – that will help them to flourish.”

Scorecard
Rain was the winner as Essex and Derbyshire had to settle for a draw in their County Championship match at Chelmsford.As on the opening day, play was washed out on the final day and in all, a total of 233 overs were lost to the weather. Derbyshire were due to resume their second innings on 187 for 4 and holding a lead of 112. But the weather was to mock the efforts of the groundstaff, with the game called off at 1.50pm.On a couple of occasions, the rain stopped long enough for the covers to be removed, only for it to return as umpires Nigel Cowley and George Sharp were to make an inspection. It all added up to bitter disappointment for both counties, each of whom had gone into the match needing victory to keep alive their slender promotion hopes.But a draw leaves them all but resigned to meeting again in the Second Division next season. In a match in which Essex claimed seven points and Derbyshire six, Wes Durston will look back on it with more satisfaction than anyone else.The 30 year-old Derbyshire batsman followed up his 48 in the first innings with an unbeaten 62 in the second, during which he passed 1,000 Championship runs in a season for the first time in his career.

ScorecardA weakened Somerset side suffered their first Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat of the season as they went down by three wickets to Glamorgan Dragons at the Swalec Stadium.Quick bowler Will Owen recorded figures of 4 for 31 in restricting Somerset, who were without skipper Marcus Trescothick (ankle) and Murali Kartik (back), to 201 for 8 in their 40 overs.And in reply, helped by a career-best 43 from Nick James, and contributions down the order from Michael O’Shea and Chris Cooke, Glamorgan reached their target with nine balls to spare to celebrate their third victory of the campaign.Despite the reversal Somerset still head Group C and remain well-placed to reach the semi-finals. Acting captain Alfonso Thomas won the toss and opted to bat, but his decision was called into question when Owen struck twice.First he removed Craig Kieswetter for a duck with the fourth ball of the match and two overs later he produced a great delivery to bowl Nick Compton, who also failed to score. It left Somerset on 6 for 2.James Hildreth and Peter Trego did their best to repair the damage putting on 60 in 12 overs for the third wicket. But offspinner O’Shea broke the partnership in his opening over to have Hildreth caught by Dean Cosker brilliantly at short midwicket.O’Shea struck again having Jos Buttler caught by Wallace from an attempted slog sweep. O’Shea was struck for a big six off Trego but still recorded decent figures 8-0-32-2.Trego had reached his 50 from 74 balls before he was caught behind to give a third wicket to Owen who claimed a fourth in his next over when he knocked Craig Meschede’s off stump over as Somerset were reduced to 145 for 6 in the 32nd over. But cameos from Arul Suppiah and Thomas, who were both caught in pursuit of late runs, guided Somerset towards a competitive total.Glamorgan brought up their 50 in the seventh over and the openers, Alviro Petersen and Matthew Rees, added 69 in 10.2 overs to give Glamorgan a useful platform. However, both batsmen were out within the space of three overs as the home side found themselves 81 for 2, before that became 99 for 3 when Jim Allenby holed out unnecessarily.Glamorgan reached the halfway point of their chase in the 19th over but kept losing wickets at regular intervals including that of James who was well caught at mid-on by Suppiah off George Dockrell after putting on 58 with Stewart Walters for the fourth wicket.Another great catch at short mid-wicket by Hildreth saw the end of Wallace as Glamorgan slumped to 171 for 7 but O’Shea and Cooke held their nerve to knock off the arrears

Technology is “not the aid it is claimed to be” in reviewing on-field decisions, the former international umpire Daryl Harper has said.Having been at the centre of a decision-making storm that hastened his departure from Test cricket, Harper highlighted the problem of broadcast camera frame-rates as a central issue to the use of technology and the success or failure of the DRS.In the series between West Indies and India, which did not employ the DRS, Harper said television cameras shot at 25 frames per second, while during the World Cup on the subcontinent, they were ratcheted up to 50 frames per second.In each case, Harper believed, there was a high probability that the camera would not capture the ball landing or making contact with bat, pads or gloves, calling into question the veracity of replays and ball-tracking technology.”When a batsman plays a shot well away from his body, and you as an umpire see the ball strike a glove, go through to the keeper, and you hear the sound, you can draw no other conclusion than it has been gloved to the keeper and the batsman is out,” Harper told ESPNcricinfo.”That it can’t be confirmed by a camera at 25 frames per second, that’s technology’s problem. If they were filming at 1800 frames per second, like those super slow-mos, you’d see the glove depressed with the contact from the ball.”Even at the improved rate of frames utilised during the World Cup, Harper argued the evidence could remain sketchy, particularly for ball-tracking. This issue, raised consistently by the Indian board, had seen a revised version of the DRS introduced at the ICC’s annual conference in Hong Kong.The mandatory terms and conditions for the DRS that were approved consisted of infra-red cameras and audio-tracking devices. The ball-tracking technology has been removed from the ICC’s original compulsory list of DRS technologies. This means that countries may still choose to use it, but can also use the system without ball-tracking, as will be the case in the upcoming England v India Test series.”At 50 frames per second there is a very slim chance of the ball ever being captured making contact with the pitch when it actually lands, because there is a minimum of 60cm [of the ball travelling] between frames,” Harper said. “If the cameras cannot capture the ball touching the pitch, I’m not quite sure how they can claim the degree of accuracy they do claim.”So the more advanced technology becomes – unfortunately it is more expensive – the more likely the technology will be of a positive assistance to the game. At the moment it is not the aid that I believe it is claimed to be.”Harper’s scepticism bears resemblance to that of India’s players and board, as best articulated by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary. Before the ICC annual conference decided on a revised version of the DRS that eliminated ball-tracking technology, Srinivasan said the hardware had to be beyond suspicion if it was to be used.”Nothing much has changed since we first opposed it. We welcome technology when it is 100% error-free,” Srinivasan told the in June. “In this case it is not, so we would continue to oppose the implementation of the DRS.”The Hawk-Eye is yet to convince us. This is a technology that deals with the projection, trajectory and angle of the ball. And from where the cameras are placed, it cannot give a foolproof solution. We raised these issues when the company had made a presentation in Chennai and no-one was completely certain about its accuracy.”