PCL T20 Chittagong 2009 Zia's one-man show

Ziaur Rahman single-handedly took Dhaka Sports Club to the final of the Habib Group PCL Twenty20 tournament with a six-hitting frenzy that took his side to a thrilling three-wicket victory against Abahani at the MA Aziz stadium here yesterday.

But Dhaka Sports fell into early trouble in their chase of 154 runs, losing their top order very early. But Zia blazed sixes and fours in the final half-hour to take his side through to the first-ever final of the PCL against Brothers Union, to be held today from 5:00pm with private television channel ATN Bangla providing live coverage.

Zia, coming into bat at number six and his side in huge trouble, added 21 for the fourth wicket with Anisur Rahman (35) and a further 25 with Rubel Biswas (7). But then the tall right-hander cut loose, smashing 23 runs off Frank Karunaratne's 16th over. The medium-pacer was peppered over the midwicket boundary for a six and three boundaries in the over. After adding a whirlwind 40 off 15 balls with Taposh Ghosh (10), Zia saw his batting partner cleaned up by Maksudul Hasan off the last ball of the 17th over, leaving 36 needed from 18 balls. Zia reached the fastest 50 of the tournament off just 20 balls and made sure the sixes kept coming, smashing Talha Jubair for a maximum over long-on. Next over, Zia struck Rahat over long-off's head but when trying to repeat the feat over long-on, Karunaratne dropped a simple chance. Next ball, Zia smashed it over his head to make sure just three runs are required off the final over.

Paceman Rabiul Islam, who took three early wickets, conceded three singles with Zia taking the winning run.

Expressing his joy after the match, Ziaur said he never thought of the result and he tried to stay in the crease to see the final result.

"At first, I would like to thank Almighty Allah and later my teammates, who helped me to play from one side," Ziaur said.

"I believed that if I can stay on crease despite the disaster, it will bring something," said Ziaur who was surprisingly overlooked for Bangladesh's World Cup Twenty20 squad.

Earlier, Abahani opener and the tournament's most expensive player Tamim Iqbal and Rabiul scored 48 in 7.4 overs. Tamim smashed 54 runs off 46 balls with five boundaries and a six.

Sri Lankan Chamara Silva made sure the total went above the 150-mark with an unbeaten 36 off 31 balls.

BRIEF SCORES
ABAHANI: 153-6 in 20 overs (Tamim 54, Silva 36*, Karunaratne 24, Hannan 14; Rajin 3-19, Hanif 1-21).
DHAKA SPORTS CLUB: 154-7 in 19.3 overs (Ziaur 78*, Anisur 35, Taposh 10; Rabiul 3-16, Maksudul 2-43, Enamul 1-25, Talha 1-27).
Result: Dhaka Sports Club won by three wickets.
Man-of-the-match: Ziaur Rahman.

All-Russian final

World number one Dinara Safina booked a date with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the WTA Rome clay court international final after an epic three-set victory over Venus Williams on Friday.

Safina came back from a set down to beat the five-time Wimbledon champion 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that lasted more than three hours.

Her Russian compatriot Kuznetsova had a far easer semifinal as she stormed past Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4.

It is the second week running the two Russians will play in a final after Kuznetsova beat Safina in the Stuttgart final 6-4, 6-3 last Sunday.

Top seed Safina started slowly against the fourth seed, as she had done all tournament, and for the third straight match she dropped the opening set.

Williams had been the more aggressive and positive in that opener, hitting twice as many winners but also 50 per cent more unforced errors.

But the roles had reversed by the end of the match and Williams was gracious in defeat.

She went up a break in the second set but Safina stormed back to win that 6-3 and set up the decider.

That was a see-saw affair with five breaks of serve and numerous other opportunities.

A backhand crosscourt winner from Safina gave her a third break and a 5-4 advantage, after which she served for the match.

But the last game was the most epic of all as Safina served three double faults, saved four break points and finally clinched victory on her third match point.

It was the first time she had beaten Williams.

It is the second final each here for the two Russians having both finished runner-up once before, Safina in 2006 and Kuznetsova a year later.

But having both reached successive clay court finals it bodes well for Roland Garros, which starts later this month, although Kuznetsova insisted she's not looking that far ahead.

The result never looked in doubt as she dominated her Belorussian opponent from the start, breezing through the first set with three breaks of serve to one.

However, the sixth-seeded teenager broke Kuznetsova in the first game of the second set and looked to make more of a fist of things.

However, the match turned on a controversial point at 2-0 to Azarenka, when on game point Kuznetsova hit a shot that television replays showed had landed just out.

The umpire called it in despite Azarenka's vociferous protests and the 19-year-old let the matter get to her as she lost her way, and five straight games.

She rallied briefly when trailing 5-2 in the second but then a poor service game at 5-4 saw her succumb to the Russian 23-year-old after 1hr 30min on court.

After the match, Azarenka was still frustrated about that point at 2-0.

'Dhoni great motivator'

Star England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has joined the growing list of Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's admirers, saying the wicketkeeper batsman is a very impressive leader both on and off the field.

Flintoff played under Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League before a knee injury forced him out of action.

But the Englishman, the costliest player on the Twenty20 event's roster along with teammate Kevin Pietersen, said he was mighty impressed with what he saw of Dhoni's captaincy during his short stint with Chennai.

UEFA Champions League Fergie predicting a MU-Barca classic

Sir Alex Ferguson is predicting a classic Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona after the two European giants were left standing following a week of semifinal drama.

United's semifinal victory over Arsenal on Tuesday, followed by Barcelona's dramatic injury-time equaliser at Chelsea 24 hours later, has set up a dream final that has been welcomed by neutral supporters throughout the world.

And Ferguson believes that the quality of the two sides means the May 27 final will be the kind of spectacle everyone hopes for.

"I think you have the potential for a great final," he said. "That's what the public were looking at. Both clubs are recognised for playing good football, there's a good history to both clubs and I think it'll be a great final.

"I was looking at it in different ways, on the one hand Chelsea and on the other Barcelona, but we've got them now and that's how we are going to prepare.

"I really enjoyed their performance (in the 6-2 win) against Real Madrid. I thought they were fabulous. That (Andres) Iniesta, I don't think he ever gives the ball away. No, they're a terrific side, a terrific football side."

Ferguson, still pressing to secure the Premiership league title for United, has conceded that he has not yet turned his thoughts to his line-up for their second consecutive Champions League final, although the manager is resigned to being without suspended midfielder Darren Fletcher.

The Scot is already conscious of the numerous difficult decisions he will have to face as he finalises his line-up.

"That's the difficulty at the moment," he said. "Prior to Tuesday night's game I was having regrets about playing Ryan Giggs the whole game, for instance, at Middlesbrough - so I wrestled with that throughout the day. But at the end of the day, I think I got it right."

Another burning issue that is already on the agenda ahead of the final concerns the selection of the referee for the most high-profile game on the club calendar.

Norway's Tom Henning Ovrebo has come in for widespread criticism for his handling of the Chelsea and Barcelona semifinal and even United's semifinal referee, Italian Roberto Rosetti, clearly made an error in dismissing Fletcher and costing him an appearance in Rome.

Diplomatically, Ferguson refused to comment on the choice of official for the final, other than to claim he has confidence in UEFA making the correct appointment.

"You're getting a European final so you expect the referee to be the top and experienced, there's no question about that.

"You can't think it'll be anyone other than the best referee and the one who deserves it most.

"It may be Mr Rosetti because the game is in Italy, for instance. Sometimes it goes that way, in recognition of where the game's actually played. I don't have any worries about that."

Punjab bounce back

Kings XI Punjab bounced back into contention with a nail-biting three-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers in a Indian Premier League thriller here on Saturday.

After restricting the formidable Deccan Chargers to 168 for 5, built around Andrew Symonds' unbeaten 60, the Kings XI Punjab rode on Mahela Jayawardene's quickfire 28-ball 43 and some lusty hitting by the tail-enders to scamper home with just one ball to spare.

Fortune fluctuated from one team to the other till the dying moments before Kings XI, who desperately needed a victory to keep themselves afloat in the tournament, tilted the balance in their favour on a tricky track at the De Beers Diamond Oval.

With nine runs required from the last over, Punjab's Piyush Chawla cracked a boundary off pacer R P Singh's first delivery and then held nerves to rotate strikes with Brett Lee to achieve a competitive target of 169.

Punjab's Sri Lankan import Mahela Jayawardene, with his fighting 48 off 23 balls, laid the foundation of the win which denied the Deccan their second victory on the trot.

Earlier, put into bat first, Symonds cracked an unbeaten 60 off just 36 balls to guide Deccan Chargers to competitive 168 for 5.

SCORES IN BRIEF
DECCAN CHARGERS: 168 for 5 in 20 overs (Gilchrist 20, Suman 27, Symonds 60 not out, Venugopal 32)
KINGS XI PUNJAB: 169 for 7 in 19.5 overs (Sohal 30, Sangakkara 25, Yuvraj 18, Jayawardene 43; Sharma 2-12, Shoaib 2-25)
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by 3 wickets.
Man-of-the-match: Mahela Jayawardene.

Indian Premier League Chennai's fifth in a row

S Badrinath smashed a brilliant unbeaten 59 and shared a crucial 89-run partnership with Matthew Hayden (48) to fashion Chennai Super Kings' impressive seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

Chennai not only recorded their fifth win in a row but also beat the defending champions for the second time in the second edition of the event to remain atop the points table.

Chasing 141 to win, last year's finalists, overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, riding on a disciplined bowling attack, Chennai had restricted Rajasthan to a modest 140 for seven.

The slow nature of the wicket at the De Beers Diamond Oval made the contest between the ball and the bat interesting and set up an exciting finish.

Hayden and Badrinath batted intelligently as stroke-making was quite difficult on the 22-yard-strip here.

Badrinath supported Hayden well after losing two early wickets as the duo knit together 89-runs for the third wicket.

The Tamil Nadu batsman hit Shane Harwood for one six and three fours in the 16th over to took the pressure off Hayden, who batted with determination from the start.

Hayden departed when he danced down to the wicket on one off rival skipper Shane Warne in the 17th over but was foxed by the big turn and stumper Naman Ojha uprooted his stumps.

SCORES IN BRIEF
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: 140 for 7 in 20 overs (Smith 30,Asnodkar 26, Jadeja 27, Warne 21 not out; Muralidaran 2-22, Jakati 2-35)
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: 141 for 3 in 18.2 overs (Hayden 48, Badrinath 59 not out)
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 7 wickets.
Man-of-the-match: S Badrinath.

WC games only at Mirpur, Fatullah

In a major step towards preparing for the 2011 ICC World Cup, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has nominated two venues for holding the matches of the tournament.

After it's board of directors' meeting yesterday at Mirpur, the BCB revealed that Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and Fatullah Cricket Stadium would be the venues for holding matches of the showcase event which will be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"The BCB president [Lt Gen Sina Ibn Jamali] apprised the board that after his meeting with the state minister for youth and sports recently it was decided that the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur and the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Fatullah will be the nominated venues for holding matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011," a BCB statement said.

The opening ceremony of the cricket's biggest extravaganza will be held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium while alternate venues will be developed in Chittagong and Khulna from BCB's own resources.

Bangladesh got a bigger share of matches after Pakistan was stripped of its co-hosts status following security concerns.

Bangladesh will now stage eight matches including two quarterfinals as well as the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011. India will host 29 of the 49 matches across eight venues including the final and a semifinal and Sri Lanka will host 12 matches in three venues.

The BCB's decision at least cleared the air about holding matches at the Bangabandhu National Stadium (BNS), the country's premier venue which is now possessed by Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), as well as BFF's desire to arrange the First Division football league at Fatullah.

"At this moment we have decided about the venues for holding the matches, but if any decision comes from the highest level to hold the matches at the BNS, we will definitely consider it," said BCB's media committee chairman Jalal Yunus.

There has been a lot of talks and demands from different quarters to hold at least two matches in Chittagong but Yunus said that they chose two venues in Dhaka considering many issues.

"What I can say is that Chittagong is not very convenient for staging World Cup matches because of various reasons. We took one venue in Dhaka and another close to Dhaka to organise it smoothly," he explained.

In reply to another question he said that the board unanimously decided to upgrade venues in Chittagong and Khulna at it's own cost.

"We will definitely seek assistance from the government if needed, but at first we want to upgrade the alternative venues at our own cost," he added.

The board also approved the constitution for the Divisional Cricket Association and on the other hand they sanctioned a grant of Tk. 3,00,000 for ailing former national cricket coach Syed Altaf Hossain and Tk 2,00,000 for the family of late Sajjadul Alam Setu, a first class cricketer who died in a tragic road accident in Khulna on March 16, 2007.