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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A five-wicket haul by Abdur Razzak helped Bangladesh gain anunassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series, as they beat Zimbabweby 26 runs in the third match at Bogra. Zimbabwe gave themselves a shot atgaining their maiden victory of the series after a committed display in the field,restricting the opposition to 220. However, the batsmen, barring SeanWilliams, failed to respond to the task as they were bowled out for 194.Razzak, continued his purple patch in this series with superb figures of 5 for 33, his best figures in ODIs.As has been the trend in this series, Bangladesh rode on the performance of their spinners and an impressive opening burst by their fast bowlers, who gave little away.Brendan Taylor was the first to go, beaten for pace by Shahadat Hossain. Stuart Matsikenyeri wasn’t afraid to free his arms, and that approach fetched him a few powerful boundaries through the off side off the seamers. But Zimbabwe’s struggles against spin continued as Razzak – brought in as early as the 10th over -struck with two wickets in his first over. Matsikenyeri failed tocapitalise on his start and was bowled trying to swing across the line, while twoballs later Chamu Chibhabha was sent packing, trapped in front. HamiltonMasakadza went soon after, slashing hard at an outswinger, and at 48 for4, Zimbabwe were in dire trouble.They nearly lost a fifth when Shahriar Nafees dropped a sitter atthird man, giving Williams a reprieve on 2, and his 75-run stand withElton Chigumbura gave Zimbabwe hope. Both though, were forced to graft itout, with spinners operating from both ends. The pair managed just threeboundaries in a space of ten overs as the asking rate mounted. Razzak,Saqibul Hasan and Mohammad Rafique managed to combat the dew and stick toa restrictive line, not allowing any width as the trio conceded just 116runs in 30 overs. Mashrafe Mortaza, brought back for a second spell,rocked Zimbabwe further as Chigumbura gloved one down the leg side for 31,with his side still 98 adrift of the target. Williams and Keith Dabengwadid, however, revive Zimbabwe’s fortunes with a fluent 58-run stand, but it was too little too late. Razzak returned for his second spell and claimed two wickets to seal Zimbabwe’s fate.

It was a pitch which tested the batsmen from both teams – Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled too after getting off to a flier. Put in to bat, Bangladeshlooked set to post a tall score as the openers, Nafees and MehrabHossain, exploited the wayward offerings by the Zimbabwe fast bowlers, who struggled to control the early swing. Nafees’s dismissal, caught brilliantly by GaryBrent at leg gully, brought Aftab Ahmed to the crease and he wasted notime in stating his intent, charging down the pitch against Ed Rainsford,picking up a streaky boundary down to third man, followed by a morecontrolled loft over midwicket. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, it ended upbeing one of his typical cameo knocks, as he top-edged a sweep to shortfine leg for 16, immediately after Prosper Utseya brought himself on.Zimbabwe then clawed back as several batsmen were guilty of hurrying into theirstrokes on a sluggish pitch.Bangladesh were comfortably placed at 100 for 2 at the end of the 20th over, but the next ten yielded only 25, owing to miserly spells by Utseya and Williams, the left-arm spinner. The reintroduction of Christopher Mpofu,the medium pacer who had a nightmare opening spell, yielded immediateresults as he accounted for Hossain and Habibul Bashar in quick succession- both dismissals characterised by the ball stopping on the batsmen.Mpofu later cleaned up the tail to pick up a four-wicket haul.With runs hard to come by, Ashraful finally broke the shackles with acouple of boundaries and showed more urgency with his running. Dabengwa, the third specialist spinner – who was held back by Utseya tillthe 42nd over – struck soon, with three quick wickets, accounting forKhaled Mashud, Rafique and Ashraful. The body language of the Zimbabweansreflected in their sprightly performance in the field, as they pouched some sharpcatches. Mashrafe Mortaza’s late-innings fireworks proved crucial as itlifted Bangladesh to 220, giving their bowlers a competitive total todefend.

Peter Borren, the Netherlands batsman, will replace Jeroen Smits as captain for his side’s Intercontinental Cup match against Scotland beginning on Thursday at Mannofield Park in Aberdeen. Smits, who replaced Luuk van Troost as captain after the 2007 World Cup, is missing the match because of work-related commitments.The Netherlands coach Paul-Jan Bakker, said that they could overcome Smits’ absence and draw confidence from their victory against Canada in June. Borren had scored 105, his maiden first-class hundred, in the second innings of Netherlands’ 45-run win against Canada.”I am sure that the boys will not be affected by this latest setback and will keep the momentum going,” Bakker said. “Peter [Borren] is an excellent batsman and has shown his talent on more than one occasion. But he can’t live on tales and will need to start all over again. While saying this, I am sure he is also looking forward to the new challenge [captaincy] and will try to make the most of it.”Bas Zuiderent and Ryan ten Doeschate both missed the game against Canada and remained unavailable for the match against Scotland. Netherlands were further depleted with medium-pacers Edgar Schiferli and Mark Jonkman and offspinner Adeel Raja pulling out due to injuries.”We can’t have a full-strength team all the time, which means there will always be opportunities for the youngsters,” Bakker said. “Now it is for them to take advantage of this and cement their places.””Scotland are a strong team and we respect them. But I understand that they will also be without some of their key players. I think we both are in a situation where we have to fill gaps and hope that the youngsters will raise their hands, take responsibility and fill those gaps.”Scotland’s Intercontinental Cup opener against United Arab Emirates in Ayr was washed out and the quadrangular series that followed, involving West Indies, Ireland and Netherlands, also affected by bad weather.Scotland captain Ryan Watson acknowledged the importance of the match against Netherlands. “We are keen to do well in this competition so it’s very important, after the UAE match was washed out, that we make the most of our remaining home games and take maximum points.””Obviously, as our preparations are already limited by player availability because of their work commitments, we have been somewhat handicapped of late. But the Dutch also fell foul of the weather [in the quadrangular series] and are in similar circumstances, while they also play a lot on matting.”Scotland recalled fast bowlers Richie Berrington, who has played just one first-class match, and Gordon Drummond, who has appeared in four first-class matches, for the game against Netherlands. Gavin Hamilton, Dewald Nel and Glenn Rogers will return to the squad for the third match against Ireland in Stormont from August 9.Despite their loss to Netherlands, Canada remained on top of the Intercontinental Cup table with 26 points from two games. Netherlands were second with 14 points from one game and, UAE and Scotland have three points from one game each. Bermuda, Ireland, Kenya and Namibia were yet to make an appearance.Netherlands: Peter Borren (capt), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Geert Maarten Mol, Mongesh Panchal, Jelte Schoonheim, Pieter Seelaar, Nick Statham, Eric Szwarzcynski, Somesh Kohli.Scotland: Ryan Watson (capt), Richie Berrington, Fraser Watts, Craig Wright, John Blain, Gordon Drummond, Majid Haq, Omer Hussain, Paul Hoffmann, Ross Lyons, Qasim Sheikh, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have all but won the 2005-06 Pentangular Cup Cricket Championship after gaining a first-innings lead of 178 against Karachi Harbour with two wickets in hand on the second day at the Gaddafi Stadium.After bowling out Karachi for 249 on the opening day, National Bank piled on the agony for their opponents with a splendid reply of 427 for 8 with Naumanullah, the captain, scoring a hundred. NBP resumed at their overnight score of 10 for 1, having lost Salman Butt cheaply again, and had slipped to 67 for 3 before Naumanullah lifted his side out of the doldrums with his ninth first-class hundred. His 134 off 168 balls included 19 fours and five sixes.With Akhtar Sarfraz (21), he took the score from 67 to 123 and then joined hands with Qaiser Abbas for a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket. Qaiser’s 63 came off 34 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes.The sixth-wicket stand between Naumanullah and Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (35) produced 61 runs. But the NBP batting display was not over as Imran Javed was still at the crease with 46. His eighth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Sami was worth 87 as the total went past 400.Sami, who has continued to take wickets and score runs since being dropped by the national selectors, made another useful 43 off 71 balls with six hits to the ropes.With two days still to go, NBP will obviously aim for an outright win and claim the Pentangular Cup in an emphatic manner. Even if they end level on points (27 each) with table leaders Faisalabad, in case they draw here, the trophy will be theirs as they have a better net run-rate and haven’t lost a match.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) conceded a first-innings lead to Sialkot but set for themselves an opportunity to win by the close of the second day at the Multan Cricket Stadium.They surrendered a 69-run lead to Sialkot after getting bowled out for 209. But PIA ripped apart Sialkot’s batting and dismissed them for a pathetic 66 in their second innings. This left them a modest target of 136 and by close of play PIA appeared to be the team more likely to win as they need 119 runs with nine wickets in hand.This is an inconsequential match because neither team is in running for the eventual title. With a win here, PIA would get only six points though that will keep them at third place in the points table with a total of 15. Sialkot have collected six points.The second day belonged to PIA’s Jannisar Khan, who helped lift his team from a poor score of 112 for 6 with a 77-run stand for the seventh wicket with Imran Abbas. Imran’s 67 off 189 balls included seven fours. Jannisar took 122 deliveries to score 55 with six fours.PIA then demolished Sialkot for 66, with Jannisar using his medium-pace to full effect taking 4 for 11 in four overs. Sialkot’s new-ball bowler Asim Butt performed well again with figures of 5 for 65 in 30 overs.He was supported well by Kashif Daud, who captured 3 for 68. Only Inam-ul-Haq (26) reached double figures in Sialkot’s second innings. Najaf Shah picked up nine wickets in the match, following up with 4 for 26 after having taken 5 for 54 in the first innings.The experienced Fazl-e-Akbar, who has emerged as the top wicket-taker this season with 80 wickets in first-class cricket, took 2 for 23 to supplement his first-innings haul of 4 for 66 that also included a hat-trick.

Major-General Sina Ibn Jamali, head of the interim Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), has extended the contracts of the country’s selectors by a month. Though an emergency meeting has been scheduled for August 1, Jamali took the decision to give Faruque Ahmed and Athar Ali Khan until August 31 in order to name Bangladesh’s Twenty20 World Championship and National Academy squads.Jamali, the chief of general staff of the army, was briefed by Mahmudur Rahman, the BCB’s CEO, on the current situation. Among the priorities of the new leadership is appointing a new coach and physiotherapist.”I met the president this morning to inform him about the situation and he asked me to call an emergency board meeting on August 1. There are a number of pressing issues right now and there is a need for a quick decision about the two selectors,” Rahman told . “Our president has agreed to extend the two selectors’ tenure because we have hardly any time to make a new committee ahead of the ICC’s deadline (August 11) for the final squad for the Twenty20 meet. The most important thing is that now the new committee will not get enough time to think about the new selection panel.”Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu, a former Bangladesh captain and one of the members on the ad-hoc committee, added: “I think it’s a good decision and now the new board will get enough time for taking decision about the selection panel”.Rahman said that Jamali expressed interest in the national team and the Twenty20 World Championship. However, he did not have any details on the developments in the search for a new coach. “Everything is not clear to me about the coach selection process,” he said. “We all know there is a shortlist and the board was supposed to invite the coaches for their presentations from the last week of this month but everything has now changed.”As for the standing committees, Rahman said there was no clear guideline in the constitution as to whether they would be abolished once the board was dissolved.

South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje have both made themselves available for selection to play in the Champions Trophy in India in October and November.Gibbs and Boje have avoided touring India since 2000, as they have failed to obtain any assurance from India that they will not be detained by the police with regards to questioning on the match-fixing scandal.Gerald Majola, the board’s chief executive, said: “Herschelle and Nicky have confirmed that they will go to India if selected and that they will co-operate fully with any interviews which the Indian Police may wish to hold with them.”Cricket South Africa will now put forward their names to the selection panel and support them in need, which we hope will assist in the investigation, in order to minimise any disruption to the team’s training and playing programme. Their lawyers will also be available to take appropriate steps to protect all of their rights.”Gibbs had earlier confirmed his desire to travel to India but had inflamed the situation with criticisms of the Indian authorities.In an interview with in South Africa, Gibbs told features editor Mark van Dijk: “Ja, I am going to go. But my lawyer’s coming with me. I’ve put forward a proposal to Cricket South Africa, which was discussed on Thursday. I’ve proposed that my lawyer and I will travel with the team, and once we get to the hotel, they can then do the questioning at the hotel.”I’ve got the 18 questions that they want to ask me. It’s basically exactly the same stuff that I answered at the King Commission. I’ll just be repeating myself.”Gibbs claimed that the delays were all at the Indian end: “They haven’t really played their part,” he shrugged. “You know, we’ve asked them many a time to come question me on neutral territory, and they refuse. So it’s not like I haven’t made the effort. It’s them being hard-arses. That’s it.”However, KK Paul, the Delhi Police commissioner, rebutted the claim. “I haven’t received any such communication,” he told Cricinfo. “If he has to say anything, let him communicate through the board. So far, I haven’t received any such offers from the board or from him.” Gibbs responded later on Thursday in a statement issued via Cricket South Africa in a placatory manner: “I recognise that the police have their processes to follow and I am sorry if it has appeared that I was critical of these. I think whatever I said may have been taken out of context. I’m now really looking forward to representing my country in India at the ICC Champions Trophy.”Tony Irish, the chief executive of the South African Cricketers Association, added: “Over the last five or six years there was uncertainty about a number of things. Legal advice obtained by Herschelle and Nicky has understandably been cautious. I think however, that the players’ great desire to play cricket in India again and to participate in this ICC Champions Trophy has overtaken everything else.”

As well as missing out on the forthcoming one-day international series in India, Darren Lehmann has also been ruled out of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Sydney after diagnostic scans revealed acute inflammation of his left achilles tendon.Dr Martin Sullivan, a leading foot and ankle specialist, and Errol Alcott, Australia’s physiotherapist, have advised him rest until a review in mid-November, a Cricket Australia press release said.Although disappointed at missing the Test, Lehmann said that he was “realistic enough to know that I could suffer further damage if I do play.””My main focus right now is to try and get things right for good,” Lehmann added. “I did a lot of running during our break prior to the Perth Test and according to Dr Sullivan, that’s where I aggravated the Achilles.”Australia have yet to name their line-up for the Sydney Test.

A wet outfield ensured that the one-day international between Sri Lanka and India did not get underway on Wednesday. The outfield at the Premadasa Stadium received a battering after heavy overnight rain, and though the weather cleared in the morning, there were still several wet patches which made the umpires call off play after an inspection at 3pm local time (0930GMT).With a reserve day in place, the match is expected to be replayed tomorrow, weather permitting. The umpires will inspect the ground at 11.30 local time and take a decision.Off the field, the South African will-they-won’t they saga was winding to a conclusion. The independent security assessment was taking place and Cricket South Africa was due to announce a final decision by noon (3:30pm in Sri Lanka). With the heavens in angry mood, and one team just wanting to go home, it hasn’t been the sort of opening that the tournament organisers would have hoped for.

Division One

Points TableJason Gallian was unbeaten on 191 for Nottinghamshire at the close of the first day of their game against Kent at Canterbury. An opening stand of 157 between Gallian and Darren Bicknell set the visitors up for a huge total, but Kent struck back with four quick wickets, including the captain, Stephen Fleming, for just 8. Nottinghamshire ended the day on 397 for 5, with Amjad Khan picking up 2 for 58. Nottinghamshire are top of the table, but Kent Hampshire and Sussex are all title contenders. Notts need to win this match and gain maximum points in order to secure the title.

Division Two

Points TableNorthamptonshire plundered 414 for 7 on the first day against Durham where there were centuries for Usman Afzaal and Riki Wessels. Liam Plunkett picked up 5 for 86 from 24 economical overs. Durham are on the verge of promotion to Division One, but need the secure as many bonus points as possible in this match – their last of the season.

Anrich Nortje was just about finishing his pre-match media press conference ahead of South Africa’s fourth T20I against India in Lucknow when he received word that the city is also his new IPL home.Nortje was picked up by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL mini-auction for his base price of 2 crore (US$220,000 approx) and moves from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he played two games last season. “This is news to me,” Nortje said, on being told he would be seeing a lot more of the Ekana Stadium. “I’ll see you guys soon then. I’m very happy.”The new IPL deal comes on the back of a challenging year for Nortje, who has only played 13 matches in 2025 and had not played international cricket for 17 months before this series. He played no cricket from October 2024 to May 2025 after suffering a back injury and missed both the SA20 and the Champions Trophy. He then appeared in two IPL 2025 matches before another stress reaction ruled out him of action for almost six months with a recurrent stress reaction. It was only last month, when he made his domestic comeback for the Dolphins, that Nortje was able to get consistent game time. He has since earned an international recall albeit without a wicket yet.Nortje’s four overs in the opening match of the T20I series in Cuttack cost 41 runs as he struggled to find rhythm but maintained speeds close to 150kph. He was rested in new Chandigarh and had a much better return of 0 for 14 in three overs in Dharamsala where the only boundary he conceded was an edge off Shubman Gill. Again, Nortje reached top speeds and appeared more comfortable with his disciplines as he found his way back at highest level.Related

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“It’s nice to be back, I really missed it and really enjoying my time here,” Nortje said. “I’m sort of happy with the progress. There’s still a lot of cricket to play. For me, it’s just to try and focus game by game, day by day, and just try and get better every day but I’ve really been enjoying the time back and it’s been great to be with the team.”This is Nortje’s first South Africa assignment under all-format coach Shukri Conrad, who was originally considering Nortje for a Test comeback last summer when Gerald Coetzee was injured against Sri Lanka. Nortje, who is no longer nationally contracted by his own choice, was then also sidelined with a niggle. Now that he has the opportunity to work with Conrad, much like another player who has returned – Quinton de Kock – he finds the environment welcoming and fun with a focus on playing with freedom.”With a new coach and how he’s been going about things, it seems to be going really well,” Nortje said. “I’m happy to be here. The team’s been doing unbelievably well the last year or two. There’s some fresh faces, there’s some old faces and guys have been sort of on the fringes for a while, are getting to play more cricket more consistently. Coming in and seeing how basic they keep things, trying to be as basic as possible, let the moment play out, assess on the park what to do. Guys are jamming really well, getting along very well, and everyone knows their role in the team. And I think that’s very important.”Under Conrad, South Africa have worked on creating depth around the national squad and adopted a horses-for-courses selection approach which has widened the pool of players that appear for the national side. That’s why Nortje came into consideration when express quick Coetzee was injured. It’s also why Nortje won’t play every match in the ongoing series as South Africa look for their best T20I bowling combination.”There’s a lot of competition as well, which creates opportunity and also creates a little bit of pressure for guys in the team, which is good. It’s what you want,” Nortje said. “That’s something that’s built up over the last year or two and it just puts guys under pressure, and a lot of guys have to fight for a spot, which is great. All in all, it’s just a lot of things coming together.”In the current T20 squad, Nortje is one of six seamers alongside Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman, Lutho Sipamla and allrounders Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch. Add the injured Kagiso Rabada, Kwena Maphaka and Nandre Burger into the mix – along with the likes of Coetzee and Lizaad Williams – and South Africa have an impressive pace battery that will leave them spoilt for choice when they select the T20 World Cup squad. Given that Nortje was their standout performer in the last edition of the tournament, in 2024, it would seem likely that, if fit, he’d be a shoe-in but the man himself is not so sure.”We go back into SA20 as well, which is quite a few games back-to-back, so I’m just trying to focus on every game and improve as much as I can, but obviously be realistic as well. So far I’ve been really happy with the progress,” he said. “Hopefully I can be in the squad but if not, for me it’s just to try and focus game by game, day by day, and just try and get better.”Nortje will play for Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) in this year’s SA20, after being part of Pretoria Capitals (PC) for the first three seasons.

Shoaib Malik refuses to underestimate Bangladesh, despite marshalling a152-run thumping win in the opening game of the five-match ODI series againstthe visitors in Lahore. A century from Mohammad Yousuf and 85 from thecaptain himself set Pakistan up before Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum andShahid Afridi wrapped up a comfortable win over a strangely insipidBangladesh.Malik, however, insisted that it was dangerous to draw too manyconclusions from the game. “You can’t judge a team on one match alone.This is cricket where you can’t take any team lightly,” he said. “We setthem a big target and sometimes if you get a good start, you can push thechase close. But our bowlers did really well to take early wickets to putthe pressure on.”Pakistan also plans to give opportunities to players who have impressed inthe domestic ABN AMRO cup, though the first target, Malik insisted, was towrap up the series. “This is not a time-pass series for us. We are takingit seriously and we want to improve our fielding and fitness during it.”Our first priority is to win the series. After that we will look at someof the guys who have done well in the domestic tournaments and give them achance.”As has been the recent trend, Pakistan used a combination of Malik andAfridi for the fifth bowler duties and though both have done well againstadmittedly limited opposition, the ploy will need reworking in tougherenvironments.”We should have a sixth bowling option,” Malik admitted. “We tried thissame line-up in Jaipur against India last year, except we had Fawad Alamin place of Afridi. But we need options for example if one of the bowlersbecomes unfit during a match. This is still an experimental combinationthat we are playing.”The series moves on to Faisalabad for the second game, on April 11.