Tamim signs up for Wellington

Tamim Iqbal will play for Wellington Firebirds in this season's HRV Cup. Tamim will join the New Zealand domestic side after Bangladesh's series against West Indies, and is expected to play seven games in the Twenty20 competition.

Jamie Siddons, the Wellington coach who was in charge of the Bangladesh team between 2007 and 2011, was the key element in the deal as he broached the idea to Tamim a few months ago.

"We are excited to have signed Tamim to play in our T20 competition," Siddons told ESPNcricinfo. "He will be a great addition for the Firebirds. I chose him over the many other overseas candidates because I think he possesses the explosiveness that we need at the top of our batting order. Tamim is yet to take off as a T20 player but I have seen him enough to know that it is going to be very good when he gets it all together in this format. I want my team to benefit from this in our competition this year."

Siddons, however, would have liked to keep the batsman a little while longer, but the start of the Bangladesh Premier League would shorten Tamim's stay by a few matches. "He will only be available for a possible seven games and the final but the BPL will possibly reduce that to six and no final as the dates suggest he would have to leave early which is disappointing."

Siddons said he would have liked if Shakib Al Hasan also joined Tamim at the Wellington side. "We were interested in Shakib but he declined due to injury at the time," Siddons said.

Tamim said that the BCB has given him the No Objection Certificate, though he is likely to miss some form of domestic cricket in Bangladesh after the West Indies series. He could play first-class cricket in New Zealand though Wellington will be playing only two Plunket Shield matches.

"Jamie asked me a few months ago whether I would like to join them," Tamim said. "At the time I was playing the Sri Lanka Premier League and the World Twenty20 was coming up so I didn't proceed with the formalities. The board too has given me the NOC so I will be joining Wellington after the West Indies series."

Tamim's average in Twenty20s is 24.76 and he has played in domestic competitions in Sri Lanka (for Wayamba) and England (Nottinghamshire) with mixed results. Among the other Bangladesh players who have played in domestic first-class tournaments abroad are Shakib (for Worcestershire) and Enamul Haque jnr for Maharashtra.

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Tuskers, Mountaineers score comfortable wins

Craig Ervine and Glen Querl played leading roles with bat and ball in Tuskers 132-run bonus-point win over table-toppers Rhinos in Bulawayo. Ervine scored an unbeaten 106 to power Tuskers to 294 before Querl picked up his first List A five-for which was instrumental in wrapping the Rhinos' innings in 38 overs.

Tuskers, after being put into bat, started slowly with 34 runs coming off the first 11 overs, but set up a good platform after a solid 71-run opening stand between Terry Duffin (26) and Brian Chari (64) in 16 overs. Ervine joined Chari after Cremer struck to remove Duffin and shared a 63-run partnership in 12 overs. Although Tuskers only lost two more wickets by the 40th over, Rhinos had their run rate well under five. Tuskers went past 200 in the 44th over, after which Ervine and captain Keegan Meth (58 off 37 balls) launched an unprecedented attack in the last six overs to score 89 runs.

The late assault numbed the Rhinos, who lost early wicket in their chase. Querl struck in his second over to remove Brendan Taylor, and then picked up two more wickets in his fourth off successive balls. He returned later to mop up the tail and finish with figures of 8-2-26-5.

Tino Mawoyo steered the chase with an unbeaten century that helped Mountaineers beat Rocks by seven wickets at Mutare sports club. Chasing 267, Mountaineers' openers - Mawoyo and Kevin Kasuza (85 off 102 balls) - racked up a 182-run opening partnership in 31.4 overs and Mawoyo stayed till the end to see his team through. His 120 came off 128 balls and included 18 boundaries and a six and was his first List A century.

Rocks, in search for their first win, chose to bat first and were boosted by an 82-run second-wicket stand between Alester Maregwede, who scored 62, and Ben Slater, who scored 32. But regular wickets thereafter meant that they were not able to accelerate and were at 170 for 5 with 10 overs to go. The tempo was changed by Prince Masvaure's cameo, an unbeaten 56 off 39 balls, that saw the Rocks score 96 runs off the last ten helping Rhinos to their highest total in this year's tournament, which wasn't enough this time.

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Chennai take last-ball win in dead rubber

Chennai Super Kings 173 for 8 (du Plessis 52, Malinga 5-32) beat Mumbai Indians 167 for 7 (Karthik 74, Hilfenhaus 2-14) by six runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Around 5pm on an overcast evening, an enthusiastic crowd at the Wanderers were faced with the prospect of a washout. This, after what was supposed to be the marquee Saturday night match involving teams featuring some of the world's biggest Twenty20 stars turned into a dead rubber as Lions qualified for the semi-finals earlier in the day, knocking out both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. They were glad they stayed behind, though, as the widely predicted thunderstorm stayed away paving the way for a last-ball finish in one of the highest scoring matches of the tournament with Super Kings walking away victors.

It was hard to believe that the match was so closely contested given the stark difference in the starts the two teams had to their innings: Super Kings motored to 86 for 0 in eight overs, while Mumbai had stumbled to 38 for 2 after eight.

The contrast was mainly due to the different stages in which the teams used their best fast bowlers. Lasith Malinga took two key wickets in the 11th over - of the fluent Faf du Plessis and the dangerous Suresh Raina - and two more crucial ones in the 17th - of MS Dhoni, who was showing glimpses of the big-hitting that first made him a star, and of the renowned finisher Albie Morkel. After being caned for 16 in his first over, Malinga took 5 for 16 in his remaining three to rob the second half of Mumbai's innings of momentum.

Super Kings, instead, gave their most potent quicks the new ball. Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger justified the strategy of using two of their overseas slots on specialist fast bowlers, as the pair smothered the Mumbai openers. Despite Dinesh Karthik slog-sweeping Ravindra Jadeja for 19 in the 11th over, the Super Kings' bowlers seemed to have done enough early on to secure a comfortable victory.

It certainly seemed that way when Ambati Rayudu swiped a long hop from du Plessis straight to deep square leg in the 14th, but the contest was back on after Karthik and Kieron Pollard lashed 24 in the 18th over, leaving 27 to get in the final two overs. Dhoni stuck to the policy of giving the side's best bowler the 19th over, and Hilfenhaus delivered by removing the rampaging Karthik.

With 19 required for Mumbai in the final over, Super Kings shone again in the one department in which they were clearly ahead of the rest in the IPL - the fielding. While there had been several notable efforts earlier in the innings, the best were saved for the final over. Pollard had pummelled the first ball from Jadeja for six, before he fell to a face-forward diving catch by Raina at long-on. Two balls later, Harbhajan Singh hammered a four through extra cover with as much power as any Pollard shot, before he was dismissed by a well-judged clasp by Wriddhiman Saha, arching his body backwards at deep square leg to hold an overhead chance.

It left Mitchell Johnson needing to hit a six off the final delivery to tie the game, which could only be thumped towards long-on to confirm Super Kings' first victory of the tournament.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 NB/Wides Chennai Super Kings 47 16 7 66/0 42/4 0/6 Mumbai Indians 55 10 12 25/2 67/3 0/3

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Pakistan XI thrash International XI at packed National Stadium

In the end, it didn't matter that this match had no official sanction. Try telling that to the tens of thousands of people who thronged the National Stadium in Karachi. In the end, what counted was that an international XI, no matter how ragtag and rusty it was, had set foot on Pakistan soil, and had safely played a game of cricket. A game, such as this, had not been played for close to four years in a nation where following for that game frequently crosses the line between passionate and fanatical. For the record, Pakistan All Star XI demolished International World XI who were led by the 43-year old Sanath Jayasuriya.

Young batsmen Umar Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan made half-centuries at frenetic pace and were backed by handy contributions from the rest. Pakistan XI were set on their way by the pair of Shahzaib and Imran Nazir, who put on 83 by the time the field restrictions were lifted, at nearly 14 an over. The International XI fielders showed they were short on match practice by dropping numerous catches and fielding poorly on a ground where the ropes had been pulled in. Shahzaib was the first to fall for 54 off just 21 deliveries, which included six fours and four sixes.

Akmal, coming in at No. 5, soon took over and blitzed ten boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 67 off 37 as Pakistan XI zoomed to 222 for 7. Thandi Tshabalala, the South Africa offspinner, picked up 3 for 20 while Shapoor Zadran, the Afghanistan fast bowler, took 2 for 38.

Jayasuriya hit a six and a four in the first over of the chase but fell of its last delivery, caught by his counterpart Shahid Afridi. Facing such a tall target, International XI kept losing wickets regularly, and fast bowler Tabish Khan soon dealt the decisive blows. He bowled Ricardo Powell, Jermaine Lawson and Tshabalala off successive deliveries to take a hat-trick and reduce International XI to 52 for 6 in the seventh over.

Zadran stuck around to make 42 along with Loots Bosman, who batted low at No. 9 due to an injury and remained unbeaten on 27. Pakistan used everyone but wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed as bowlers. Afridi, who had lasted seven balls with the bat to club three boundaries, had Zadran stumped off the final delivery of the match as International XI managed 138 for 8.

The second and final game in the series will be played tomorrow at the same venue.

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Rain continues to follow the IPL sides

Auckland Aces v Delhi Daredevils Match abandoned without a ball bowled
Scorecard

Rain seems to be following the IPL sides wherever they go. A third successive evening game in the Champions League Twenty20 was washed out today, in Durban. While some play had been possible in the previous no-results, even the toss could not take place at Kingsmead as a persistent, but not heavy, drizzle set in. It was Delhi Daredevils' turn to be satisfied with two points, after Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians on the previous two evenings.

While the rain had knocked Knight Riders out, and left Mumbai Indians hoping for a Yorkshire win against Lions, it did not impact Daredevils' chances as much. They were still placed second on the points table, behind Titans, and ahead on net run-rate of Auckland Aces, who also pocketed two points.

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Lions one step away from semi-finals

Match facts

October 20, 2012
Start time 1330 (1130 GMT)

Big Picture

With two wins and a game to play, Lions are just one victory away from joining Sydney Sixers as the other team from Group B in the semi-finals. Lions play the opening game of the Wanderers double-header on Saturday and their match against Yorkshire will be closely followed by Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, who face each other later in the evening. A Lions win will reduce the IPL derby to a dead rubber. It's been that kind of a tournament for the IPL teams, having to rely on other results to progress. If Yorkshire can sneak in a win, though, it opens up the group.

Nothing much has gone right for Yorkshire since qualifying for the main draw. After being demolished by Sixers in the most one-sided game of the tournament, their match against Mumbai Indians was washed out. They managed to get some game time though, conceding 156 in just under 18 overs. They opened their account with two points from the washout, but their anxieties grew when Ryan Sidebottom and Moin Ashraf pulled up with injuries. Though Sidebottom returned to bowl, Ashraf limped off after pulling his hamstring. Their fitness will be a concern ahead of the Lions clash.

Yorkshire will have to get their act together against one of the form teams of the tournament. Having calmly brushed aside the two IPL teams, Lions tripped up against the most dangerous of the lot, Sixers, on Thursday at Newlands. Gulam Bodi continued his good form from the Super Kings game with a half-century, but his colleagues, Neil McKenzie and Quinton de Kock, failed to show up. They will be back in home surroundings at the Wanderers, but both teams will be up against the weather, with rain forecast on match day.

Watch out for...

With six wickets in three games at an economy rate of 4, priceless by Twenty20 standards, Lions' Aaron Phangiso has been the find of the tournament so far. Bowling Sachin Tendulkar was his most cherished scalp, and to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he silenced Sixers through his spell, giving away only 14 and taking out the top three.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale is in need of runs. After his 61 against Sialkot Stallions in the qualifiers, his next three scores have been an underwhelming 13, 2 and 8. He struggled to get bat on ball against Sixers, before losing his leg stump while trying to manufacture a scoop to fine leg. The struggling side needs their captain to lead from the front.

Quotes

"We want to lead. We want teams to take us seriously."
Lions' middle-order batsman Jean Symes on his team's philosophy

"I'll have to speak to Scott McAllister, our physio, but at this stage we're just going to monitor the progress of both of them."
Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire coach, on the two injuries in the team

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Piedt routs Western Province on debut with seven-for

South Western Districts 229 (McLaren 67, Muller 6-55) beat Western Province 141 (Barnes 31, McMillan 3-16) & 34 (Piedt 7-6) by an innings and 54 runs
Scorecard

South Western Districts, who were given provisional affiliate status by CSA in August last year, pulled off a stunning coup when they beat Western Province by an innings and 54 runs inside two days in Oudtshoorn. Debutant fast bowler Marcello Piedt took 7 for 6 as Western Province were bowled out for 34 in their second innings.

Piedt has played under-19 cricket but this was his first foray into first-class cricket and he had a match to remember. Bowling alongside Warriors seamer Gurshwin Rabie, he took two wickets in the first innings while Ross McMillan took three as Western Province were dismissed for 141.

Adrian McLaren, a former franchise player at the Knights, held the SWD innings together. His 67 was the only half-century on the card. Another youngster, 19-year old Travis Muller claimed 6 for 55 but SWD took an 88-run lead into their second innings.

The rest of the match belonged to Piedt. He took two wickets each in his second, fourth and fifth overs to ensure Western Province never had a chance. He only needed to bowl ten overs. Rabie and Douglas Baartman cleaned up the rest and SWD had earned a memorable win. The match was SWD's first of the season, while it was Western Province's third. They still top the table despite the result but have played more matches than any other team.

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USACA suspends executive secretary Williams

The USA Cricket Association has suspended executive secretary Kenwyn Williams and is investigating his role in a protracted and angry exchange with journalists and stakeholders on the official USACA Facebook page, which was taken down shortly before 11 a.m. EST on Friday. USACA president Gladstone Dainty confirmed the suspension to ESPNcricinfo pending a hearing at a board meeting on November 10 in Florida.

"Based on what I've seen, what has been going on has not helped cricket in the United States. I don't think it has helped cricket at all," Dainty said. "That is so mindboggling. I don't think that US and world cricket deserved that, but I'm still waiting for an attempt to justify it."

When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, Williams maintained his stance that he feels he garnered good publicity for cricket in the USA and claimed that his suspension has more to do with "other much larger issues" not related to his comments posted on the USACA Facebook page.

"This has nothing to do with a facebook feed that accidentally went viral which I think personally was good for the USA aspect of the sport," Williams wrote in an email. "The board and I are at an impasse. I have been kept out of the loop for the past 2 months on matters that directly relate to the executive branch of USACA. Meetings were held and plans were drafted without my knowledge. The update on the 100 day plan was not presented to the board for review, input or consent. It was drafted by John [USACA treasurer Thickett] and Michael [USACA vice-president Gale] and the first I heard of it was from a blog."

Dainty said the incident illustrated the need to hire professional staff to manage things rather than relying on volunteers. USACA had announced earlier this month that they planned to hire a chief executive by Friday, but the process is still ongoing although Dainty hoped it will be finished shortly. He also hoped the organization will be able to move on from the past week's events.

"The level of activity required to run a national organization requires a professional staff. It shouldn't be done by volunteers and board members," Dainty said. "I don't know if stress gets to them but I think if it's done by professional staff, we'd certainly be less tardy, more accurate and be able to give out more information and do a whole lot more.

"The board should be there for policy and things like fundraising and developing long-term vision, but the constitution says the CEO should be in charge of day-to-day operations. We need to be worthy of the positions for which we're elected. We shouldn't be trying to go too far."

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BPL yet to pay 54 players

Fifty-four players, including six foreigners, who played the first season of the Bangladesh Premier League are still without full payments from the six franchises, more than seven months after the tournament concluded. Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), the players' representative body in the country, has put together the updated list of unpaid BPL cricketers and this is the first time any such list has been published.

The unpaid foreign players are Kieron Pollard, Azhar Mahmood, Alexei Kervezee and Darren Stevens (Dhaka Gladiators), Niall O'Brien and Herschelle Gibbs (Khulna Royal Bengals) and Muttiah Muralitharan (Chittagong Kings). Gibbs told ESPNcricinfo: "I have not been paid the full amount." But the South Africa batsman didn't disclose what percentage of payment he was still owed by the Khulna franchise. A source close to Muttiah Muralitharan has confirmed that he hasn't received 75% of his full payment, which amounts to $75,000.

On the list there are 48 Bangladesh cricketers who haven't been paid fully, of which five were icon players. Tamim Iqbal, the Chittagong Kings' icon player for the inaugural season, had said earlier this week that he hadn't received any payments.

CWAB general secretary Debabrata Paul said that their updated list was the result of a second survey completed a week ago, and a number of players have been completely remunerated between their first survey (conducted three months after the BPL ended) and the latest one.

"BPL had outlined their players' payment system, which stated that the final payment would be made a maximum of 20 days after the completion of the tournament," Paul said. "But when we conducted our first survey, we asked every local player, except one. We carried out the last survey a week ago and found out that there were players who got paid fully. But still, 48 local players remain unpaid. We have sent letters to the BCB but still this situation persists.

"I would also ask the players to be aware of their rights. If they open up about how much they are owed, it becomes easier for CWAB to fight on their behalf."

Chittagong Kings have the least number of unpaid players (seven); Dhaka Gladiators have the most with eleven. Duronto Rajshahi and Khulna Royal Bengals have ten each on the list, Sylhet Royals and Barisal Burners have eight apiece. The franchises from Sylhet, Rajshahi and Barisal have completed payments to all their foreign players but have been lax with the locals. Most players have said that they have regularly tried to contact team owners regarding the outstanding payments of late, but received vague responses.

Last week BPL chairman Gazi Ashraf Hossain had said that franchises that do not clear all their dues to players by October 20 will be re-auctioned on November 9.

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Bangladesh need to focus on Tests - BCB president

Nazmul Hassan, the new Bangladesh Cricket Board president, has identified improvement in national team's Test performance and spreading the game better in the country as the challenges for Bangladesh cricket. Hassan was appointed as the replacement to AHM Mustafa Kamal who was confirmed the vice president of the ICC, ending his three-year tenure as the BCB president.

"We are weak in the longer version of the game. We are good in the shorter formats," Hassan said. "We have to focus on how we can do better in the longer version. We have to further popularise the game in the country and bring out cricketers from remote areas. This is going to be my biggest challenge."

Hassan, however, said that the onus of the improvement in the performance would lie with the players and the board will do its best to facilitate the change.

"We win some and we lose some but it [Test cricket performance] has nothing to do with the success or shortcomings of the board president," he said.

Hassan was selected according to the existing constitution, which states that the board president will be a government nominee. The board has submitted its amended constitution to the National Sports Council (NSC) for approval and one of the major amendments is that the president will be elected and not picked by the government. NSC, the sports regulatory body is yet to pass the amendment.

Hassan has said he is in favour of allowing the cricketers to become automatic councilors of the cricket board. He also said he prefers an election would be a better way to become the BCB president.

"I am always in favour of elections, it is better than being appointed. The person who is deemed fit by the people should be president.

"Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh will participate in the BCB elections. If you ask me if cricketers should be part of the cricket board, I would say they should have more voting rights."

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