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Northamptonshire have appointed former Warwickshire batsman David Smith as their new chief executive

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2011Northamptonshire have appointed former Warwickshire batsman David Smith as their new chief executive. He will take up his role at Wantage Road in the new year having held the same position at Leicestershire.Smith scored 8,743 runs for Warwickshire between 1973 and 1985 and replaces Mark Tagg, who left at the end of October after eight years in the role.”I’m delighted to have been appointed,” said Smith. “The club has made real progress both on and off the field over the past few years. The ground development has improved the facilities on offer to all visitors to the County Ground.”Northamptonshire led Division Two of the County Championship for large parts of last season before missing out on promotion on the final day. They also appeared at T20 finals day in 2009. “This indicates a good quality playing staff,” said Smith. “I am looking forward to working with the coach David Capel and the board of directors to bring future success to the club.”After retiring, Smith spent nine years on the committee at Warwickshire before becoming chief executive at Leicestershire in January 2008. He also has other experience in the UK leisure industry, most notably with Blackpool Winter Gardens.Northamptonshire chairman Martin Lawrence believes Smith is the man to take the club forward. “We are delighted to have David on board,” said Lawrence. “His appointment ensures Northants have a bright future ahead and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome him to the club.”

Saeed Ajmal took 6 for 124 to bowl Worcestershire to their third County Championship victory of the season at Horsham, despite a brilliant 122 by Murray Goodwin for home side Sussex

13-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Saeed Ajmal took 6 for 124 to bowl Worcestershire to their third County Championship victory of the season at Horsham, despite a brilliant 122 by Murray Goodwin for home side Sussex. Offspinner Ajmal and seamer Alan Richardson held their nerve to dismiss Sussex for 302 just inside the final hour.Worcestershire’s 34-run win lifted them out of the Division One relegation zone and up to seventh place, their 21-point win taking them to 102 points – four above Yorkshire with a game still in hand. Sussex remained sixth on 123 points.Ajmal, in his last Championship appearance as Worcestershire’s overseas player this season, shared the second new ball with Richardson, with Sussex at 265 for 6 and looking like emerging as winners themselves following a superb 151-run stand for the fifth wicket between Goodwin and Mike Yardy.But Richardson struck the vital blow with his second delivery with the second new ball, Goodwin finally being beaten by an off-cutter to be lbw after hitting the 66th first-class century of his career.Goodwin had faced 193 balls, hitting 14 fours, and it was his fourth century in 16 first-class innings at Horsham, where he now averages almost 75.Richardson then ended a stubborn eighth-wicket partnership of 27 between Kirk Wernars and Wayne Parnell – in which South African fast bowler Parnell had driven Ajmal straight for six – by having Wernars well held by a diving Ben Scott as he snicked behind for 24.Monty Panesar edged a wild drive at Ajmal to go for 1, leaving Sussex 299 for 9, and the end soon came when Richardson, who finished with figures of 4 for 54, angled one across left-hander James Anyon to have Sussex’s last man caught at first slip by Vikram Solanki.Worcestershire made the better start to the final day, which began with Sussex on 17 for 1 and needing another 320 runs for victory, by taking three wickets inside the first hour. Ed Joyce was caught off bat and pad for 14, off Ajmal, and the spinner also ended a plucky innings of 17 by nightwatchman Will Adkin, who fell lbw missing a sweep at a quicker ball with the total at 52.In between, Richardson was rewarded for a typically wholehearted spell from the Railway End as he swung one away just enough from left-hander Luke Wells to have him superbly caught for 9 by Worcestershire skipper Daryl Mitchell, diving to his right at second slip.Goodwin and Yardy, however, then took Sussex to 125 for 4 at lunch, with Goodwin plundering three fours from one over by Gareth Andrew, who had replaced Richardson in the attack while Ajmal kept wheeling away from the Church End.The pair continued to flourish after the interval, too, with Goodwin going to 50 from 72 balls and Yardy completing his own half-century with a swept four off Ajmal, from 89 balls. Both batsmen had hit six boundaries in their fifties, and runs began to flow as Ajmal was at last rested.At 199, though, Ajmal was recalled and although Yardy almost immediately slog-swept him for his eighth four it proved to be his last shot in anger. On 63, having faced 120 balls, he was undone later in the same over by a ball from Ajmal which bounced and turned to take the inside edge of the bat and loop up to short leg off his pad where Alexei Kervezee leapt to hold a well-judged catch.Ben Brown had only made 10 when he went back to a quicker ball from Ajmal and was lbw, leaving Sussex at 231 for 6 just before the tea interval.

Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, is not concerned that the side is becoming a one-man team

Siddarth Ravindran at the Chinnaswamy Stadium03-Oct-2011How closely are Royal Challengers Bangalore’s fortunes tied to those of Chris Gayle? Since he joined them midway through the IPL and revitalised a moribund campaign, he has made 25 or less in five matches – Royal Challengers have lost all five. His other ten games have been Royal Challengers wins and he has been Man of the Match in seven of them, and a plausible candidate for the award in one other match as well.Aren’t those numbers pointing to a one-man team? Royal Challengers’ captain Daniel Vettori wasn’t too concerned about the side’s reliance on the West Indian after yet another Gayle-inspired demolition job at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “At least not as long as he’s scoring runs,” Vettori said with a chuckle, before striking a more serious note. “We’ve got a batting order that complements Chris and his ability to strike the ball so well. We saw guys come in today, [Tillakaratne] Dilshan took some pressure off Chris, Virat [Kohli] played very well, [Saurabh] Tiwary is starting to come into form, Mayank [Agarwal] came out and played his natural game, he looks like a sensational player.”Despite their captain’s nonchalance, Royal Challengers have reasons to worry. With AB de Villiers injured and out of the tournament, only Kohli remains as a reliable batting performer to support Gayle. Dilshan, bought for $650,000, has a couple of half-centuries though he is yet to put in a match-turning contribution after a dozen outings.Gayle’s extraordinary success has starved Tiwary of time in the middle but in the chances he has had, Tiwary hasn’t been able to replicate the form of IPL 2010, which bumped up his price tag to an astronomical $1.6m. Agarwal, 20, has sparkled briefly on several occasions but a headlining effort has eluded him while Mohammad Kaif hasn’t convinced too many people he can cut it in the Twenty20 format.Chris Gayle starred in another victory for the Royal Challengers•Associated PressThose thoughts won’t be occupying the minds of the Royal Challengers fans who turned up on Monday, expecting more fireworks from Gayle. They were treated to a typical Gayle innings, as Somerset were flattened, in that it was a combination of vigorous hitting and lackadaisical running – his 86 has eight sixes and only two twos.It wasn’t the usual blast-from-the-start Gayle innings though. He began with a carve over cover for four but tempered his approach after a reprieve off his third ball and nearly being run out soon after. By the end of the Powerplay he was on a sedate 15 off 14 balls. “The wicket was a bit damp, the ball was doing a bit, you want to try and get set on this sort of wicket,” he said after the match. Unusual words from Gayle, especially in a Twenty20 match.Regular programming swiftly returned though as Gayle unleashed a barrage of sixes, most of them in arc from the sightscreen to long-on, propelling the Royal Challengers to the first 200-plus total of the tournament. Somerset’s armada of left-arm spinners were clueless against the onslaught, with 19-year-old George Dockrell pummelled for three sixes in an over.Somerset’s captain Alfonso Thomas said they were thrown off by Gayle’s watchfulness at the start. “Usually in the first six overs he goes all guns blazing but he kept himself back, which was not part of our our game-plan,” Thomas said after the match. “We thought he will come hard at us in the first six overs and that one of our seamers will knock him over before our spinners could come in. When he starts going, he will make sure that he is hitting all over. Well done, that’s what he is paid to do.”The latest Gayle tour de force has lifted Royal Challengers’ net run-rate so much that a win over South Australia on Wednesday is likely to be enough to take them to the semi-finals. Vettori said in preparation there would be an optional training session on Tuesday. “Some guys will train, some guys will have a pool session,” he began to explain, only to be interjected by Gayle, who said “and some guys will sleep”. If Gayle is caught napping against the Redbacks, the Royal Challengers need their other batsmen to take up the slack.

Andrew Hall’s four wickets were in vain as Northamptonshire slumped to a 12-run defeat to Yorkshire

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2011
ScorecardCaptain Andrew Hall’s four wickets were in vain as Northamptonshire slumped to a 12-run defeat to Yorkshire in the Friends Lifet20 at Wantage Road.Yorkshire collapsed from 87 for one to 144 all out from their 20 overs withHall taking four for 23 and Joe Sayers top-scoring for the visitors by smashing44 off 34 balls.But an awful start to the Steelbacks’ reply ensured they fell short of theirtarget despite Alex Wakely’s 38 off 33 deliveries, and they remain rock bottomof the North Group.Northamptonshire won the toss but chose to make Yorkshire bat first and LukeEvans took the wicket of their captain Andrew Gale (7) when he was chipped toLee Daggett at mid-on.Adam Lyth blasted 30 off 18 balls before he clubbed Hall to James Middlebrookat mid-off in the 11th over to break a second-wicket stand of 71 with Sayers.Sayers departed in the next over when he edged Daggett to the Steelbacks’wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien.Jonathan Bairstow (5) then had his off and middle stumps taken out by Hallbefore Joe Root (8) launched Johan Botha to Wakely at long on.England paceman Ajmal Shahzad hammered 12 off five balls before missing hisattempted drive off Middlebrook and his middle stump was sent tumbling.Hall then took two wickets in consecutive balls in the 17th over as GaryBallance (10) sliced him to O’Brien before he trapped Richard Pyrah lbw.Adil Rashid walked on five when he nudged Daggett to O’Brien before RyanSidebottom (5) was run out by Wakely at long off with the final delivery.Chasing 145, the Steelbacks lost Bilal Shafayat for a duck in the second overwhen he was pinned lbw by Shahzad as it took them nine balls to get off themark.O’Brien made just a single before throwing his wicket away by smashingSidebottom straight to Rafiq at mid-off.Rob White crawled to 12 off 19 balls before being caught leg before by Pyrah toleave the hosts struggling on 27 for three, but Wakely hung around before holingout by launching Pyrah to Ballance at mid-off.Botha was then run out for 11 when Sidebottom touched Rob Newton’s straightdrive on to the stumps before the same man trapped Newton lbw for 37 two ballslater.Hall (10) was bowled by Shahzad in the penultimate over, and Middlebrook andJack Brooks – despite scoring nine each – could not recover the situation.

The Ashes series finished more than four months ago, but for Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott it looked like only yesterday as the pair resumed their remarkable run-scoring combination

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan28-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook and Jonathan Trott produced another huge stand to put England in control•Getty ImagesThe Ashes series finished more than four months ago, but for Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott it looked like only yesterday as the pair resumed their remarkable run-scoring combination with a century each in an unbroken stand of 240 in Cardiff. Cook reached his 17th Test hundred to continue his prolific form from Australia and Trott brought up number six to cement his mighty average as England moved to 287 for 2.Play was delayed until 2pm on a damp, chilly day and the atmosphere couldn’t have been more removed from the cauldrons of the Gabba and MCG, yet it made no difference to the hunger of either batsman. Cook’s hundred came from 224 balls when he collected his eighth boundary with a rasping cut off Suranga Lakmal and it was his fifth in ten innings since the 110 against Pakistan, at The Oval, when many were calling for his head. Trott’s followed not long after, from 196 deliveries, with a flowing cover drive in the first over of the second new ball, and the pair’s alliance became England’s best for any wicket against Sri Lanka.There is more rain forecast for the final two days, but England have the platform from which to put Sri Lanka under pressure although they will be down to a three-man bowling attack after James Anderson was diagnosed with a side strain. Despite the news that he won’t bowl again in this Test, and is a serious doubt for Lord’s, Anderson resumed as nightwatchman. However, he didn’t last long before jabbing Ajantha Mendis to slip with England having not added to their overnight total. Yet it didn’t harm England’s prospects as, unless a nightwatchman can score quickly, his presence tends to hold up the game and that wasn’t what this match needed after so many delays.Instead, it allowed the two major batting stars of the Ashes to join forces again. It was a slow start as they got used to facing Mendis and refused to chase the succession of wide deliveries from the seamers, but steadily the runs began to flow. The first boundary of the day came with a Trott square drive in the 12th over of the session and it was actually the removal of Mendis from the attack that helped England increase the rate.Smart stats

The undefeated 240-run stand between Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott is the highest for England against Sri Lanka, going past the previous of 202 by Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher at Edgbaston almost nine years ago.

It’s also the fourth-highest third-wicket partnership for England in the last 20 years.

In 16 partnerships, Cook and Trott have put together 1161 runs at an average of 82.92, with four century stands.

The stand also continues outstanding sequences for both Cook and Trott. Cook has already scored 17 hundreds in only 66 Tests, and has been involved in 13 of the last 20 partnerships of 150 or above for England.

In 19 matches, Trott averages 66.34 and has scored six hundreds. In his last 12 Tests he averages 95.30, with five hundreds.

Rangana Herath struggled to settle into a consistent line as he offered Cook an opportunity to put away an early cut then Trott drove him through the covers. At the other end Thisara Perera was dispatched for consecutive boundaries by Cook although the first of those flew between second slip and gully off the edge.Cook went to his fifty and Trott then began to catch him up with some trademark leg-side shots off the seamers who fell into the same trap as the Australians by bowling too straight. In the last over before tea the pair brought up their fourth hundred partnership in Tests and the one significant alarm in the entire stand came when Trott could have been run out by a direct hit from mid-on on 59, but Perera’s throw missed despite having three stumps to aim at.It was a rare opportunity for Sri Lanka and their attack was toothless on a slow pitch. Lakmal was wholehearted and Mendis economical, but from early on in the Cook-Trott stand there was the sense that Tillakaratne Dilshan wanted to protect what he had with 400 on the board rather than try and bowl England out. There was a period of an hour-and-a-half when they didn’t hit a boundary, but with sweepers in place ones and twos were on offer to keep the scoreboard ticking.As the final session progressed the scoring rate increased and either side of the two batsmen reaching hundreds runs came at more than five-an-over. The taking of the new ball helped England as the extra pace off the bat negated a slower outfield – Mendis conceded his first boundaries of the day when Trott twice put him through the covers – and Dilshan had to have a few more men in attacking positions. One thing the new ball didn’t do, though, was provide Sri Lanka a breakthrough and they face plenty more leather chasing in this innings.

NSWE can save Aston Villa millions by finally unleashing 18-year-old Louie Barry next season as Steven Gerrard is a big fan of the teenage striker.

With the manager looking to stamp his authority on the squad during his first summer transfer window at the club, bringing through youth talents such as Barry would be a welcome move as well as adding in his own signings.

The youngster has had quite the footballing journey so far, starting off at West Bromich Albion before joining the famed La Masia academy at Barcelona, becoming the first Englishman to do so.

After a few months he joined Villa, with academy manager lavishing praise upon the highly regarded striker, dubbing him “outstanding” and he went and scored the winner for Aston Villa U23s in a match against Cardiff.

His development has continued this season with a disastrous loan spell at Ipswich – in which he struggled for much game time in League One – followed by a drop-down to League Two Swindon Town.

His performances for Swindon have been excellent, with an average SofaScore rating of 7.03 and a total of six goals scored in 14 matches, he has adapted to the fourth tier with ease.

Barry’s potential is huge and scoring goals is one way he’ll continue to take acclaim. One such plaudit came from Lee Hendrie who speaking to Football FanCast said he was like a “young Michael Owen.”

The stats above will no doubt please Gerrard, who made the choice to send the striker down to Swindon for him to get more game time.

There looks like a pathway for youngsters at villa Park, especially if they are talented enough. Just look at the likes of Jacob Ramsey, who only two years older than Barry, has made 31 appearances for the side this season in the Premier League.

With Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings being the only centre forwards in Gerrard’s squad, if Barry has a solid pre-season, then there may well be a fantastic opportunity ahead for the youngster.

AND in other news, Source: AVFC’s “difficult” dud could now leave Villa Park, it’s great news for Gerrard…

Andrew Strauss has said he knew Michael Yardy was struggling with depression before Yardy took the decision to withdraw from the World Cup and fly home

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2011Andrew Strauss has said he knew Michael Yardy was struggling with depression before Yardy took the decision to withdraw from the World Cup and fly home.Yardy became the fifth member of England’s original squad to head home early and his departure inevitably drew comparison to Strauss’s old opening partner Marcus Trescothick, who retired from international cricket five years ago after suffering stress-related illnesses. Since then England have had structures put in place to help players but they couldn’t prevent Yardy from needing to leave the tournament early.”It’s a horrible thing for him to have to go through,” Strauss said. “It’s something he has been managing for a while and there have been systems in place to help him manage it but over the last week or so, it’s got too much for him and he has had to go home.”Geoff Boycott sparked controversy shortly after the news of Yardy’s departure surfaced when he suggested the depression had come from disappointing results on the field. “He must have been reading my comments about his bowling – it must have upset him,” Boycott told BBC Radio Five Live. “Obviously it was too much for him at this level. If any blame is attached it’s partly to the selectors because I’m sorry, he’s not good enough at this level.”Strauss waved aside Boycott’s remarks and said the squad were ‘disappointed’ when they heard them. “I think they showed a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. I don’t think your cricketing ability or what you have achieved has anything to do with it whatsoever.”There are significant pressures, and as you get older a lot of us have kids and what not, which makes touring harder. It’s important to draw attention to the fact that it’s different having a hard time being away from home and actually suffering from depression. They are two very different things.”The schedule confronting England players has been a major talking point of their erratic campaign. Following their shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh in the group stages many suggested the team looked fatigued. Strauss, however, emphasised throughout that tiredness could not be blamed and said Yardy’s condition was separate from the general demands of touring.”Obviously if you are in a hotel room for five or six months one end, you’re going to have days when you feel down,” Strauss said. “I think that’s very different from suffering from depression. International cricket is challenging in terms of how you are temperamentally equipped with spending long periods away from home. That’s something we all go through. Depression is something completely different.”Despite the setback Strauss was confident Yardy’s departure wouldn’t distract the side ahead of their knockout match against Sri Lanka. “It’s not difficult to focus our minds on this game of cricket. It’s a must-win game of cricket. If we lose we are on the plane home. If we win we are in the World Cup semi-final. I think as players you get quite used to switching on and off when the situation demands it.”

Former England striker Alan Shearer took to social media to laud Everton full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko for his ‘stunning’ strike against Leicester City this afternoon. 

The lowdown: Dream start for Everton

The Toffees made the perfect start to their crucial match at the King Power Stadium  as Frank Lampard’s side look to get themselves out of the Premier League relegation zone.

With just six minutes on the clock, following some last-ditch defending from Yerry Mina, Alex Iwobi picked out Mykolenko on the edge of the penalty area before the Ukrainian full-back crashed a powerful volley beyond the reach of Kasper Schmeichel.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/everton-news-5/” title=”Everton news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The visitors  couldn’t hold onto their goal advantage for long as Patson Daka levelled the score soon after before Mason Holgate restored the lead…

The latest: Shearer impressed by Mykolenko goal

Taking to Twitter in the immediate aftermath of Mykoelnko’s early goal, the all-time Premier League top scorer Shearer hailed the 22-year-old’s effort.

The Newcastle legend gushed: “Wow. What a stunning a strike from #Mykolenko for his first @premierleague goal #LEIEVE”

In fact, this was the 21-cap defender’s first direct goal involvement for Lampard’s team, having signed from Dynamo Kyiv in January.

The verdict: Mykolenko has done well

Even though Daka quickly cancelled out that early goal, the joy on Mykolenko’s face and indeed the pandemonium in the away end at the King Power was a pleasure to behold for Evertonians.

Since coming to Goodison Park for a reported £17m (BBC), the young full-back has endured the hardship of witnessing his homeland facing an invasion from Russia.

All credit should go to Mykolenko for being able to focus on the Everton cause, posting some decent performances so far and carving out a regular spot in Lampard’s first XI, and indeed coming up with such a special moment in a match of this magnitude.

In other news, find out what ‘serious upgrade’ Everton are now eyeing

Iqbal Abdulla, the Mumbai left-arm spinner, has signed a two-year deal with Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the fourth season of the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Jan-2011Iqbal Abdulla, the Mumbai left-arm spinner, has signed a two-year deal with Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the fourth season of the IPL. Abdulla, who is also a useful lower-order batsman, was at Kolkata for the first three seasons, having been picked as their Under-19 draft in the first season, and now returns as an uncapped signing. “We needed a specialist Indian spinner to accompany Shakib [al Hasan] and Yusuf Pathan and we are happy to get Iqbal,” a Kolkata spokesperson said.Kolkata are talking to at least 10 or 12 uncapped players, some of whom played for the team in the first three editions of the IPL. Bengal allrounder Laxmi Shukla, Haryana wicketkeeper-batsman Manvinder Bisla and Delhi middle-order veteran Rajat Bhatia are some of the other names the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise is in talks with it.Though Mumbai, the defending champions, were knocked out by Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals this year, Abdulla had a good season, ending as their top wicket-taker with 27 victims at an average of 22.11 in addition to notching up his maiden Ranji century, an unbeaten 150 against Saurashtra in their opening match. Abdulla averaged 47.75 with the bat in eight matches in the Ranji season. When Mumbai defended their crown in the 2009-10 season, Abdulla had a tally of 32 wickets.Even though teams have until March 8 to sign uncapped players for the IPL, which starts on April 8, franchise owners and officials have shown desperation in the last few days to latch on to quality youngsters as soon as possible.Kings XI Punjab have been lucky to get back three players who were part of their squad in the previous seasons: Punjab allrounder Love Ablish, Himachal Pradesh fast bowler Vikramjeet Malik and Uttar Pradesh left-arm quick Shalabh Srivastava have decided to stay with Punjab for the next two years. The franchise has also signed Sunny Singh and Nitin Saini, centurions for Haryana in the Ranji quarterfinals this year against Tamil Nadu, along with 23-year-old batsman Siddharth Chitnis, who made his first-class debut for Mumbai this year.The BCCI has also made it clear that it is the players that have the final say on which team they wish to join. “Franchises have full rights to scout for players in their catchment area, but uncapped players have the right to negotiate,” Niranjan Shah, BCCI vice-president, told . “We are also keeping a close watch on any underhand dealings between the players and the franchises. All agreement will be tripartite, involving the board, the player and the franchise.”

Alan Butcher, the Zimbabwe coach, has said Abdur Razzak, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, has been the difference between the two sides during their ODI series in Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2010Alan Butcher, the Zimbabwe coach, has said Bangladesh left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has been the difference between the two sides during the ongoing one-day series. Razzak took 4 for 14 in the third ODI in Mirpur on Monday, helping Bangladesh to a win and a 2-1 lead in the series. He now has 13 wickets in the series and many of them have come in a clutch, early in his spells.”Razzak is winning matches for them as a bowler,” Butcher said. “Our bowlers, though effective, haven’t given a match-winning performance, so I think that’s the difference.”It’s disappointing that we keep giving him three wickets in two overs. It is as much a technical problem as anything else. Whether it is psychological or that we are not picking him, we have to work on it in the next couple of days.”Razzak, who has taken 53 wickets against Zimbabwe at an average of 15.30, said the conditions were helping him. “I am confident and there’s help from the wicket,” he said. “These two things are combining and working in my favour.”Bangladesh bowled Zimbabwe out for 181 on Monday and Razzak was supported by the seamers, with Shafiul Islam taking 4 for 43 and Mashrafe Mortaza, who missed the series against New Zealand in October with an ankle injury, taking his first international wicket since July. “The performance of the fast bowlers was the most pleasing part of the match,” Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, said. “Mashrafe-‘s bowling was a big positive. I said before that it would take him a few matches to get back to his old self, so that’s what happened today.”Shakib set up the win with his 73 that took Bangladesh to a total of 246, but was out in the batting Powerplay for the second time in the series. “It seems my responsibility is till the Powerplay,” he said. “The moment it starts, I’m gone. We should work at it but I don’t know what’s going on.”In the first match, which Zimbabwe won by nine runs, the batting Powerplay worked against Bangladesh as they lost three wickets for 25. On Monday, they fared much better and scored 46 runs during the restrictions, which were in force for the last five overs. “We didn’t take the Powerplay earlier because we don’t do well in it,” Shakib said. “If we took it earlier, the innings would’ve been over earlier. I don’t think we did too badly [today]; we scored over 40 and anything over 50 is good. We played 10 dot balls in this Powerplay, so if a boundary came off one of those balls, it would have been better.”Shakib said he was happy with the assistance his bowlers got in Mirpur, the venue of the first three games. “Whenever we have bowled in this series, we have got help from the wicket,” he said. “We bowled first twice, and today the wicket hardly changed throughout the day. It worked as an advantage for us.”The last two matches of the series will be played in Chittangong, which, along with Mirpur, will host Bangladesh’s league games in the 2011 World Cup. If Bangladesh make it past the first round – and their backers think they have a fair chance given their mastery of home conditions – their quarterfinal fixture could also be a home game.