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West Indies head coach Stuart Law has said Carlos Brathwaite was left out of the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan to allow him to work on his fitness and bowling. Law also confirmed that the selectors had allowed Brathwaite to play in the IPL, which he personally believed was “a good thing”.”From [those who played] the series against England, Carlos Brathwaite has been left out. I thought the opportunity was there for Carlos to go away and work on a few aspects of his game, namely his fitness and bowling, and getting back to bowling how he wants to bowl. That’s why he’s been left out, and it’s just coincided that the IPL is there and we have no cricket after this IPL series and he hasn’t been part of the last Test series. So the selectors gave him the option of going to the IPL as well, which I think is a good thing. [He’ll] get to talk to guys like [Delhi Daredevils coach] Rahul Dravid, learn how to play spin, get plenty of practice, and work on his fitness and bowling.”Despite Brathwaite’s reputation as a devastating power hitter in T20 cricket, his numbers in ODI cricket have been disappointing throughout his career, both with bat and ball. In 23 ODIs, he has scored 270 runs at an average of 13.50, only once crossing 25 in an innings. In the same period, he has taken 21 wickets, averaging 47.47. In the recently concluded ODI series against England, which the West Indies lost 3-0, Brathwaite scored 12, 23 and 7 while failing to take any wickets, conceding 148 runs in the 24 overs he bowled.Law put down the omission of the other Brathwaite in the West Indies set-up – Kraigg – to a desire to see a more positive approach in the first Powerplay during an ODI. He has been replaced by Chadwick Walton, who scored three hundreds in his last five domestic games before being called up for the four-match T20 series against Pakistan, where he accumulated 80 runs in four innings.”We spoke to Kraigg after the last series and we’ve spoken to him since. We’re just looking for a bit more impetus at the top of the order in the first ten-over Powerplay. We need to make a bit more use of those overs, and Kraigg’s aware of that. It’s not like he’s never going to play for the West Indies in ODI cricket again. He’s got the opportunity to return to first-class cricket and score runs which he has done, and also a good opportunity for him to get in good nick and feel comfortable about his game before the Test series starts.”Chadwick Walton, I saw him for the first time in the flesh in the ODI series, he had an outstanding 50-over [regional] tournament. He also scored a hundred in the warm-up against England in St Kitts. So he comes in with form under his belt so I’m looking forward to seeing what he can offer in the first ten overs.”Law also lamented what he considered a failure on his side’s part to play to their potential in the T20I series, stressing that they had to become more consistent.”We underachieved during the T20 series. The second game was the one that we threw away. We got in the driver’s seat, got the total down to under a run a ball and unfortunately messed that one up. The fightback began in the third game where Evin Lewis basically took the game on single-handedly. In the last one we made poor decisions in the middle order. Players have got to start performing consistently.”The three-match ODI series between West Indies and Pakistan begins on April 7, with all three games to be held in Guyana.

South African players are likely to leave IPL 2017 after May 7 while the England players are scheduled to depart the tournament in two batches – a few after May 1 and the rest after May 14. Making players available and ready for the bilateral series – South Africa’s tour of England begins in mid-May – and the Champions Trophy, which starts from June 1 in England, is the chief reason why both boards want to pull out their players early.ESPNcricinfo understands that the IPL had informed the franchises about this in an email this week along with the final updated player roster for the auction on February 20.The franchises were also told that the BCCI is trying to discuss the issue with the Cricket South Africa to see if the South African players’ stay can be extended. It is not known whether either board will release players in the event their franchise makes it to the final on May 21.AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Faf du Plessis (Rising Pune Supergiants), JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris (Delhi Daredevils), David Miller and Hashim Amla (Kings XI Punjab) have been retained by their respective franchises, along with England’s Jos Buttler (Mumbai Indians) and Sam Billings (Daredevils).A total of 351 players, including 122 capped internationals, will feature in the auction, which will be held in Bangalore on February 20. Although franchise officials had earlier indicated that this season’s auction could be a short event, with teams trying to plug a few gaps, the likely early departure of South Africa and England players could impact the teams’ auction strategies.Of the 13 South African players who have entered the auction, CSA is interested specifically in the release of Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius. Except for Ngidi, who is recovering from a hip injury, the other six players are part of the limited-overs squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand.An official privy to the discussions between the BCCI and CSA said that it was a one-off situation which could not be avoided. South Africa’s tour of England will begin with two practice matches followed by the three-ODI series scheduled between May 24 and 29. The three T20Is and the four Tests will be played after the Champions Trophy. The official said that CSA is keen on getting the best possible preparation for the Champions Trophy, given the team’s record in ICC tournaments, and had thus sought an early release of its main players from the IPL.As for the England players, a few may leave for the two ODIs against Ireland on May 5 and 7. An official with one of the franchises said that prominent players like Buttler and some of the players who have entered the auction, like Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, could leave after May 14 to prepare for the ODIs against South Africa.Morgan, Stokes and fast bowler Chris Woakes are part of the list of marquee players who have listed the maximum base price of INR 2 crore (approx US $298,000) for the auction. The other England players in the auction are wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow (INR 1.5 crore), opening batsmen Alex Hales and Jason Roy (INR 1 crore), and fast bowlers Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills (INR 50 lakh).

South Africa lost a seventh recent Test cap in Dane Vilas to a Kolpak deal on Friday, to further deplete their bench strength, but have been given a reassurance that allrounder Chris Morris is not considering joining the list. Morris played two Tests in early 2016, which would make him eligible for a deal, but as he makes his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for three months he is focused on trying to play international cricket for the foreseeable future.”There’s been a lot of noise about Kolpak from everywhere. There haven’t been any offers or anything for me but there was just a lot of noise around it. I said to Errol Stewart the selector, I have committed myself to Cricket South Africa. I want to play cricket for my country. I am going to give it a full go,” Morris said at a sponsor event in Cape Town on Tuesday, where he was part of a batting master-class that involved hitting targets in order to earn money for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.Morris was the only one of the three internationals – David Miller and Temba Bavuma were also in attendance – who managed to find the 20-run target that required a clean strike straight down the ground and it looked as though his time away had not cost him his eye or his aim. He admitted a round or two of golf helped in that regard. “That was my first question to our physiotherapist – can I play golf? He said, ‘If an 80-year-old can play golf, you can play golf.’ That was my saving grace because it kept my hand-eye co-ordination there.”The injury, which was a tear in the knee tendon that resulted in Morris losing a lot of muscle in the leg took three months to heal. Since then, Morris has only played one match, a first-class fixture for Titans against Lions in Benoni two weeks ago, but it proved a good workout. Morris bowled 39.1 overs and took five wickets in what was “a good test for my fitness level” to prove his readiness for an international comeback.But it’s not in the long-form that Morris returns and it is quite difficult to see how he may find his way back there. His two Tests came at a time when South African cricket was struggling with major injuries to two of their premier pacemen – Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander – and even though Steyn remains sidelined, and Morne Morkel has joined him on the bench, they have unearthed depth that has pushed Morris further down the queue and perhaps into a career as a limited-overs specialist, although he does not want to see it like that just yet.”I will always look to be playing Test cricket. It’s what I want to do and what I want to play because for me, that’s the best form of cricket,” Morris said. “I will always be trying to play Test cricket but if I don’t play again, so be it. I will never stop trying to get there.”Morris applies that approach to everything. After a significant amount of time out of the one-day side, he knows his place there is not guaranteed, although with South Africa in the advanced stages of planning for the Champions Trophy, his presence in the current squad suggests he will be taken to the tournament he made his debut in four years ago.”It will be quite nice to be in that Champions Trophy squad but if not, there are guys that have put their hands up and deserve to be there. If it’s not my time, it’s not my time,” he said. “If I am not selected in the Proteas squad, so be it. I will just play for the Titans and try and fight for my place back.”That’s exactly what Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, Stiaan van Zyl, Hardus Viljoen, Simon Harmer, David Wiese and Vilas decided against doing. Abbott cited limited international opportunities and a constant fear of being dropped as being one of the major reasons for him signing with Hampshire.Like Abbott, Morris is not always an automatic pick for South Africa. Unlike Abbott, Morris has certainty elsewhere because he has been retained by his IPL franchise – following a US$1 million deal in 2016 – which may have something to do with Morris being happy enough with his lot for now.”It’s up to the person. It’s not for me to judge what decision they make in their career. That’s the decision they make and they go with it and stick with it. For me, it’s a personal thing,” he said. “I like to look at what you want to achieve from a career. I’m sure those guys would most probably want to achieve more, but opportunities come and you have to look at your future.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKesrick Williams and Afif Hossain picked up seven wickets between them for only 42 runs•BCB

Debutant offspinner Afif Hossain became the youngest player to pick up a five-wicket haul in T20s as Rajshahi Kings swept past Chittagong Vikings in Mirpur. The six-wicket win helped Rajshahi draw level with Chittagong, Rangpur Riders, and Khulna Titans on the points table. Rajshahi, though, will have to hope for tomorrow’s results to go in their favour if they are to make the last four. Chittagong, on the other hand, are through to the playoffs.Afif did the star turn for Rajshahi, and also became the first Bangladesh to collect a five-wicket haul on T20 debut. He was brought into the attack in the fifth over, and Jahurul Islam welcomed him with back-to-back lofts over mid-off for fours. He then had Jahurul lbw off the next ball; given out by umpire Nadir Shah despite an inside edge onto the back pad. In his next over, Afif accounted for Chris Gayle with a very full delivery. He pressed on to remove Zakir Hasan – caught superbly by Sabbir Rahman running in from long-on – and Saqlain Sajib and Imran Khan to complete his five-wicket haul.Amid the damage, Shoaib Malik fought his way to an unbeaten 67 off 54 balls, including six fours and three sixes. He scored just more than 60% of Chittagong’s 111 for 9. West Indies fast bowler Kesrick Williams pitched in with two wickets, including that of Tamim Iqbal, who was bowled for a first-ball duck.Rajshahi lost Nurul Hasan and Mominul Haque early in the slim chase, but finished it off in 13.5 overs to lift their net-run-rate. New Zealand allrounder James Franklin led the way with the bat, making an unbeaten 63 off 27 balls, including five fours and four sixes.

Australia’s captain Steven Smith has refused to blame an unusual schedule for his side’s poor display in the first Test of the summer, a defeat that made it four in a row and the first opening loss of a home season for 28 years.In order to cater for a second day-night fixture in the summer in Brisbane, the traditional Gabba opening was swapped for a first Test in Perth, where South Africa have never lost a Test match.Additionally, the early November start meant that Australia’s players had only one Sheffield Shield match, with a pink ball, to prepare for the WACA ground. By contrast, South Africa’s squad had two warm-up matches before the first Test and will have another under lights before the third Test is played under flood lights in Adelaide.”Look I can’t comment on scheduling that is put in place pretty early,” Smith said. “So for me it’s about making sure that the guys prepare as well as they can and I think we all had a Shield game, all the batters who played, most of the batters scored runs in that Shield game and had some valuable time in the middle.”We were in a position to be able to drive the game having bowled South Africa out for 240 and then getting to 0 for 150. We had another big collapse of nine for 100, and we weren’t able to capitalise on what the openers did to put us in a great position.”Smith focused on the way Australia’s first innings unravelled virtually from the moment Dale Steyn was injured, meaning the hosts were unable to place any pressure on the South Africa’s bowling attack, led superbly by the man of the match, Kagiso Rabada. Such collapses have become troublingly commonplace for the Australians.”It has happened a little bit of late, which is disappointing and the batters really have to continue to work hard to try and rectify what they are doing out in the middle there,” Smith said. “We have to form some more partnerships and get big first-innings totals. And if I think if we were able to build quite a big lead on that wicket, it would have been a different story.”I guess for us it was just about trying to spend time out in the middle and I guess grind them down. When you have two fast bowlers, I guess the way they used them and the way we thought they’d use them, to use the quicks from one end and some spin at the other end. So, if you keep them out there for long periods of time they can’t continue to do that for a long period of time.”But we weren’t able to capitalise after Dale went down and we let them get back into the game and run away with it. So, credit to the way South Africa played, I think in their second innings the partnership between Duminy and Elgar really took the game away from us and we ween’t able to come back from there.”Looking ahead to Hobart, Smith said the team needed to find a lot of improvement in a short space of time. “When we get out in the middle we have to do things better. We haven’t been able to do that for a while and if we want to stay in this series we have to turn it around quickly in Hobart.””When you are playing international cricket you are always under some sort of pressure, the guys have prepared well, they were excited for this series, we know South Africa are formidable opponents and they outplayed us in this Test match. We are going to have to play a hell of a lot better if we want to compete with them in the next game.”

There is a great anecdote Dion Nash tells. It opens in Ahmedabad – could be any town in India, but the dry state of Gujarat adds to the story. India are about 400 for 2, Daniel Vettori runs in to bowl, and Rahul Dravid pulls out. He had seen a butterfly land in the middle of the pitch. The tired New Zealand fielders wonder what’s happening.Adam Parore has had enough of the Indian batsmen piling on the runs, the Indian spinners taking the wickets, his own team-mates not having any fun. He rushes across and takes a swipe at the butterfly prompting Dravid to say, and Nash mimics the Indian accent, “Oh Parore, he has kicked the butterfly. That’s very bad luck for you guys.”India have been winning home Tests regularly but this kind of helplessness, of being ground down in the heat and the dust, has not been experienced by touring sides for a while.The first two days of the Indore Test were a return to the old norm. A Sunday crowd of more than 22,000 enjoyed the Indian batsmen turn their circumspect efforts on day one into gradual domination.A score of 557 for 5 declared does point to the wearing down of visiting sides theme, but there was no swiping at butterflies. On a slow pitch that didn’t suit them, New Zealand made India work hard for their runs. In response, India showed the patience required to rack them up. Ajinkya Rahane was tested thoroughly by bouncers. They rarely came at him at the pace he expected. Virat Kohli was made to cut out a lot of his flash. Both men’s application, determination and then the strokeplay put together India’s highest fourth-wicket partnership.There is a special joy to a long partnership. To see each other through tough periods, to feed off the other batsman’s fluency when you are struggling, to be there to take the heat off when his concentration breaks, to congratulate each other on the milestones, to gradually increase the pace, to then start thinking of the declaration.The scoreboard after Kohli and Rahane added 365 looks one-sided, but it has been hard-fought Test cricket. There was a bit of mutual admiration from both sides. Rahane said scoring a hundred despite his struggle, especially against the short ball, was what real Test cricket was. New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said India’s response blunted all their plans.”High-quality batting,” Hesson said. “Took a good delivery to create half-chances, went through long periods of play where we reeled out a lot of plans, stuck to our game well but we were worn down. ‘Kohli killed us softly’ is the nicest way of describing it, after scoring about 120 singles.”Kohli took 115 singles and hit only 20 fours in his 211. Yet he managed a strike-rate of 57.65. Rahane was flashier at times, but he was tied down for long periods too. It was tough for New Zealand to bowl in hot and humid conditions; it wasn’t easy to play such a physical game for the batsmen either.1:49

Took very good deliveries to create half chances – Hesson

“Today, it was slightly difficult. [It was] hot and humid out there,” Rahane said. “So we just wanted to have fun between the overs. We didn’t discuss too much about cricket, but yes, yesterday we were talking about how we can approach our innings, and that partnership was really crucial for us. Today, we both decided that after our hundreds, we wanted to dominate the spinners. Because it was really hot and humid, so we wanted their fast bowlers to bowl at us so that we could get more runs.”New Zealand’s quicks were asked to bowl 67 overs between them, plus the 18 from James Neesham. They managed only two wickets, but they never looked like not wanting to be there. Even when Rohit Sharma was batting for the declaration, Trent Boult nearly added to his highlight reel of sensational catches. Matt Henry was wicketless, rarely did he bowl a bad ball.”A tough day but, sounds funny, also a satisfying day in terms of the standards we set,” Hesson said. “Our seam bowlers delivering 30 overs, 135-140 kph at times, in the heat and humidity. At no stage did we roll over and give soft runs. I thought it was a high quality day’s Test cricket. We contributed to that with our bowling. When you go over a 100 overs without a wicket, it can be demoralising. If you’re not strong-willed and keep fighting, it can be tough. But we did that pretty well.”A totally worn-out side that was ready to swipe at butterflies might have bowled poorly and been asked to start its survival quest much earlier than New Zealand did, with nine overs to go on day two. If India had not learnt and implemented their lessons in patience, there might have been another middling total.Instead, the weekend crowd enjoyed the home side piling on the runs, and we still have a potentially memorable Test in store. If India win it, we will see some excellent bowling; if New Zealand save it, there will be some monumental resistance.

ScorecardRichard Levi’s 95 boosted Northants’ second innings•Getty Images

Richard Levi’s 95 helped put Northamptonshire on course for a fourth win of the season as they set Gloucestershire 442 to win at Wantage Road. The hosts were bowled out for 376 in their second-innings before Gloucestershire closed day three at 35 for 2.Gloucestershire were sent in for 16 overs to the close and they lost Gareth Roderick for 19, who edged a good length delivery from Ben Sanderson that just held its line, and Will Tavare, who tried to play a back-foot push and was caught at second slip for a nine-ball duck.Northants’ position was set up by Levi, whose only other innings of note in the County Championship came in the third match of his injury-hit season with a century against Derbyshire. He steered his side into control of the game with a confident 114-ball innings with 15 fours.At 155 for 4 shortly after lunch, Gloucestershire sensed a way back into the game but Levi shared a stand of 71 with Adam Rossington for the fifth wicket and 76 with Steven Crook for the sixth.Rossington missed a sweep at Jack Taylor and was lbw for 34 before Levi, five short of a pleasing century, pushed into the off side and called for a single that Crook disagreed with as Will Tavare dived to his left to make a sharp save. Levi was three-quarters of the way down the wicket and gave up any chance to recover his ground. Tavare had time for a cup of tea before returning a throw to Phil Mustard.Earlier in the day, Northants resumed 44 for 0 and Ben Duckett made his way to 70 in the final innings of a wondrous 2016 season.Having struck five fours to reach 31 not out by the close on day two, he began the third day in typically aggressive touch. An extra-cover drive against Liam Norwell was the stroke of the morning as he passed fifty in 59 balls with eight fours.But when a fifth hundred of the season looked possible, Matt Taylor made a ball jump and take the splice of the bat, providing a catch to George Hankins at point.Duckett walked off to a great ovation having scored 1,338 County Championship runs at 60.81 with four centuries – and two doubles – this season.Rob Newton was also out on the third morning, edging Matt Taylor to slip after an opening stand of 116 with Duckett and in the over before lunch Alex Wakely edged David Payne to second slip to keep Gloucestershire in the game. Levi’s afternoon ensured it was the hosts who took control.

ScorecardTom Fell kept Worcestershire in the game•Getty Images

Tom Fell and Joe Clarke breathed life back into promotion-chasing Worcestershire’s victory hopes with an unbroken third wicket stand of 95 against Glamorgan on day two of the Specsavers County Championship clash at New Road.The pair joined forces at 55 for 2 with the home side still 62 runs in arrears after Glamorgan had extended their first innings from an overnight 118 for 5 to 280 all out. Glamorgan may be left to rue dropping Fell on two – a low chance spilled by keeper Mark Wallace off Graham Wagg.Fell went on to complete his second Championship 50 – from 101 deliveries with nine fours – since returning to the side after being given the all clear in his battle against cancer. By the close the 22-year-old was unbeaten on 65 and Clarke 32 with Worcestershire leading by 33.Glamorgan had resumed on 118 for 5 after 15 wickets had gone down on the opening day and a combination of Will Bragg and the lower order earned them a sizeable first innings advantage.Leach made an early breakthrough when Owen Morgan shouldered arms and had his stumps shattered.Bragg, who resumed on 75, moved to within two runs of his third Championship hundred of the season but then pushed forward to Ed Barnard and was bowled via the inside edge. He struck 16 fours in his 133 ball innings.Glamorgan were then still two runs in arrears but Wallace, who had opened in the previous seven Championship matches, effectively shepherded the last three wickets in adding 119 runs.Skipper Jacques Rudolph’s decision to return to the top of the order led to Wallace moving down to No 9 and he responded by making an unbeaten 67. He struck 10 fours and a six in his 78 ball knock and added 75 for the eighth wicket with Wagg.Leach struck twice in an over to remove Wagg and Michael Hogan before Barnard accounted for Lukas Carey. It completed a fourth five-wicket haul of the season for Leach who returned 5-106 from 22 overs to take his Championship tally to 45 for the campaign.Worcestershire needed a solid start to their reply but Brett D’Oliveira drove loosely at Wagg and was caught behind.Skipper Daryl Mitchell looked in good touch but after making 33 he pulled a short ball from Carey into the hands of Craig Meschede at mid wicket but then came the Fell-Clarke rescue act.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:33

Rajput teaching us to handle pressure – Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad produced his fifth ODI fifty for Afghanistan, a typically belligerent knock, to set up a 78-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method over Scotland at The Grange on Wednesday afternoon. In another stop-start day of cricket, Afghanistan made the most of Shahzad’s excellent foundation and eventually sauntered home despite an audacious early reply from the hosts in pursuit of an adjusted DLS target of 211 in 36 overs.Shahzad reached his half-century off 55 balls and eventually finished with 84 off 91 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, to set up a total of 178 for 6 in 37.2 overs prior to a three-hour, ten-minute rain delay. Shahzad went after all the Scotland bowlers including Safyaan Sharif – who bowled a mostly tidy opening spell of 0 for 24 in eight overs, with two maidens – thrice striking him over midwicket for boundaries. In the 15th over, he launched Ruaidhri Smith’s full length over mid-on for both of his sixes.The opener offered one chance to Con de Lange, whose left-arm spin kept Afghanistan’s lineup harnessed throughout the middle overs after the loss of Noor Ali Zadran and Javed Ahmadi. Shahzad tried to break free of the pressure on 60 and skipped down the pitch to loft de Lange but Brad Wheal spilled a simple chance at long-on, denying de Lange a deserved wicket on a day he finished with 0 for 16 in six. Shahzad fell to Smith in the end, a slower ball fooling the batsman. Shahzad couldn’t keep his hands back long enough on the shot and a toe-edge was snapped up by Cross for the first of Wheal’s two wickets.Shahzad’s dismissal swelled Scotland’s momentum in the field, which had begun to build with the wicket of Monday’s centurion Rahmat Shah for 26, taken at mid-off by Craig Wallace off Sharif one over prior to the fall of Shahzad. Alasdair Evans, who had earlier claimed the wicket of Noor Ali, removed captain Asghar Stanikzai with a bouncer fended awkwardly to Richie Berrington at backward point. Najibullah Zadran then miscued a drive to mid-off for Wheal’s second wicket and Afghanistan had stumbled from 131 for 2 in the 29th over to 171 for 6 in the 37th. The rains came six balls later and the players sat for 190 minutes before play resumed with Scotland pursuing the adjusted target score.The first seven overs of the Scotland chase were a thrill a minute as Craig Wallace, batting for the first time in ODIs in his third match, fearlessly charged the Afghanistan attack. Undeterred by the second-ball dismissal of Kyle Coetzer, caught at slip, Wallace declared his intentions in the first over, going down on one knee to slog-sweep the 140kph pace of Dawlat Zadran over deep square leg for six. In Dawlat’s next over, he missed attempting the same shot and absorbed a nasty blow on the right shoulder but continued his crusade. In the fourth, Wallace hooked Shapoor Zadran for six and drove him to the cover rope to knock him out of the attack.Cross then set about doing the same to Dawlat, cracking him over backward point before a pulled six over midwicket took the score to 46 for 1 in five overs. Mohammad Nabi was brought on in the sixth and should have had Wallace first ball after a charge down the pitch went awry but Shahzad fluffed a simple stumping on 21. The next two balls were struck for four and six by Wallace before Nabi ended the furious stand at 58 runs, getting Cross caught on the midwicket boundary by Najibullah Zadran for 24.Legspinner Rashid Khan was then brought on from the Pavilion End and Wallace’s stay ended for 33 courtesy an athletic return catch to swing momentum Afghanistan’s way. Shapoor eventually returned in the 13th to claim captain Preston Mommsen, who hooked a bouncer straight to Rashid at long leg for 13. Mommsen’s wicket crucially put Afghanistan ahead on D/L calculations for the first time and with rain threatening to come back at any moment, that advantage was further cemented three balls after drinks when Richie Berrington was given leg before to Nabi for 19 after missing a sweep.Michael Leask was stumped for Nabi’s third wicket before Shapoor bowled Sharif with a full delivery to take his second. Ruaidhri Smith drove Dawlat to Rashid in the covers to make it 122 for 8 as the serious challenge Scotland gave Afghanistan through most of the day became obscured by the flurry of wickets. A trio of lbw shouts from Rashid in the 27th over finally bore fruit with Evans trapped on the back leg before de Lange holed out to mid-on off Mirwais Ashraf to end the match, Scotland all out for 132 in 27.1 overs.Afghanistan now head to Belfast to take on Ireland in the first of five ODIs starting July 10. Scotland’s next action comes against UAE in August with a four-day Intercontinental Cup match followed by two ODIs in Aberdeen.

Abahani Limited captain Tamim Iqbal has lauded his team-mates for producing a comeback midway through the Dhaka Premier League’s first phase, which ended up giving them their 18th title. Four hours after they beat Prime Bank Cricket Club by 115 runs in Mirpur on Wednesday, the BCB’s decision to give Abahani and Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club one point each confirmed Abahani’s title. It meant they would get 23 points, two more than Doleshwar.Abahani started their campaign with three wins in their first four games, but then lost three matches in a row against Legends of Rupganj, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Kalabagan Cricket Academy in the space of a week in mid-May.At that stage, Abahani were in genuine danger of missing out on a Super League place but they won their next four games to confirm a place in the last six and launch a title charge in one of the most tightly-contested Dhaka Premier League seasons of the past decade.Tamim said the key to Abahani’s success was the turnaround, as well as Shakib Al Hasan’s arrival after his IPL campaign with Kolkata Knight Riders. Shakib made 210 runs and took 16 wickets in eight matches, including a blazing half-century and a five-for against Mohammedan in Abahani’s record-breaking 260-run win. He also took a four-wicket haul against Prime Bank in the first phase and made fifties against Rupganj and Doleshwar.”It has been a massive turnaround for us,” Tamim said. “We had some wins at the start of the season but as the tournament progressed, continuous defeats put pressure on the team. At one point it was even tough for us to qualify for the Super League. All the players put in a big contribution behind this success, especially Shakib who joined us midway into the tournament. He had a great involvement in the team, especially with the bowling unit. He encouraged our struggling bowlers.”Tamim had special praise for Mosaddek Hossain, the young batsman who bailed out Abahani time and again from tight spots. His six and four off the last two balls won them the game against Doleshwar. Against Rupganj, he struck 73 and took five wickets and in Abahani’s last game against Prime Bank, Mosaddek struck a quickfire 78 in support of Tamim, who scored a century. He ended the tournament with the highest batting average, 77.75, among batsmen with more than 600 runs. He also took 15 wickets, and won three player-of-the-match awards.Tamim said he was disappointed that Mosaddek’s brilliant performance was overshadowed by the talk about alleged favouritism surrounding Abahani.”Mosaddek had an incredible tournament,” Tamim said. “He has very bright future. But the negative discussion about Abahani shadowed Mosaddek’s performance. I think he has a brain of a 45-year old person, and I hope he will meet his ambition of playing in the national team one day.”Mosaddek had to work hard for scoring those runs. Our bowlers had to work hard for picking wickets but people and the media were only talking of the negative things, which disappointed me.”Tamim accepted the Tk 1 lakh ($1,276) fine for his outburst against the umpires in the Super League match against Doleshwar.”I accept the punishment which the board decided for me. As I have said earlier, it was not right for me to react in such a way with the umpires. I will take lesson from this. I have to be a good human first both on and off the field. What I did that day was wrong.”