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A double-century from opener Soumya Sarkar, followed by a nine-wicket haul from left-arm seamer Abu Haider, helped Bangladesh Under-19s flatten Qatar Under-19s by 328 runs on day one of the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur.Qatar put Bangladesh in to bat and had early success, dismissing Aslam Hossain for 2. From there on, though, Bangladesh dominated. Sarkar, who is a student at Bangladesh’s renowned sports school, Bangladesh Krira Shiksha Protishthan, and has opened the innings with Tamim Iqbal in the Dhaka Premier League, batted until the 44th over. He scored 209 off 135 balls, with 27 fours and eight sixes, and was supported by captain Asif Ahmed, who made 87.Chasing a mammoth 364, none of the Qatar batsmen made it to double digits. Haider ripped through the line-up, taking just 5.4 overs to pick up nine wickets. He was denied the opportunity to take a tenth, with Omar Ishtiaq absent hurt. Qatar were routed for 35, the innings lasting all of 70 balls. Sarkar and Haider shared the Man of the Match award.Sri Lanka Under-19s put in a less than convincing show, losing six wickets while chasing down 130 to beat Afghanistan Under-19s. None of Afghanistan’s batsmen could make more than Shabir Noori’s 25, after they had chosen to bat. Most of the damage was done by Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers: offspinner Tharindu Kaushal and left-armer Amila Aponso claimed six wickets between them, while conceding just over two runs an over.Sri Lanka’s chase was off to a very slow beginning – Vidura Adikari and Nimantha Fernando made 8 off 27 balls, before Adikari sliced to gully. Afghanistan kept the pressure on the batsmen, keeping the scoring-rate down and striking at regular intervals. Sri Lanka had lost half their side with only 77 on the board, before the pair of Sandun Weerakkody and Lahiru Madushanka knocked 43 off the remaining 53 runs they required to seal the game.A team performance from India Under-19s got them past hosts Malaysia Under-19s rather comfortably, winning by eight wickets with 19 overs to spare. India chose to bowl, and struck at regular intervals, to dismiss Malaysia for 126 in 40 overs. While the bowlers shared the wickets, left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra finished with the best figures: 8.3-4-18-4. India’s top order did not dominate, but then with the target not being an imposing one, cameos were enough to carry them to a win.In a match that followed a similar course, Pakistan Under-19s beat Nepal Under-19s by eight wickets. After choosing to field, Pakistan kept Nepal to 156. Nepal were not helped by the fact that three wickets were lost to run-outs. Pakistan’s openers, Sami Aslam and Babar Azam, all but closed out the game with a stand of 98. Man-of-the-Match Aslam batted through the chase, finishing unbeaten on 82 as Pakistan won in the 38th over.

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has formally launched its academy in Bangalore, the first of a series of centres it plans to set up across the state. Its USP will rest on two principles: avoiding the traditional focus on age-group representation, and decentralising its coaching structure away from Bangalore and to other towns in Karnataka.Javagal Srinath, the former India fast bowler and current KSCA secretary, said around 360 teenage cricketers from around Karnataka had been picked for the first batch of the Royal Challengers KSCA academy, which is sponsored by the UB group, owners of the Bangalore IPL franchise. The academy hub will be at a 33-acre property in Alur, on the outskirts of Bangalore, where the KSCA has developed three grounds.One of the main aims of the academy was to enhance the talent pool available in the state, Srinath said. “We are trying to invest at least three years in each student we pick. What used to happen until now was that those who don’t make it after the age-group selection vanish (they are no longer in the system). The dearth of prominent cricketers from Karnataka in the past 14-16 years, for me, is because of the overemphasis on representation.”A little over a decade ago, the Indian team regularly featured three or four Karnataka players, but since then cricketers from the state, such as Robin Uthappa and fast bowlers Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun, have struggled to become permanent members of the national team.Srinath said the academy, which will function throughout the year, will provide coaching and cricket facilities even to those who don’t make the state teams at the age-group level. “The boy has to be patient – and so must the parents, who are the biggest stakeholders. All they should worry about is whether the players’ skills are being developed.”Convincing students and their parents to stick with the game is one way to increase the available talent; providing top-quality infrastructure to the smaller cities in the state is another. Satellite academies are coming up in six other cities: Mysore, Shimoga, Mangalore, Tumkur, Hubli and Raichur. The Mysore branch will be inaugurated later this week.”I come from Mysore and I always had this grouse that the infrastructure in Mysore is not as good as it is in Bangalore,” Srinath said. “The lack of infrastructure gave me a false belief that my talent was not as good as those that are playing in Bangalore but now nobody in the smaller towns can complain about it.”The move to set up satellite academies is an addition to other attempts to spread the game in the state. The Karnataka Premier League, a Twenty20 league that featured teams from eight different zones in the state, has had two seasons in 2009 and 2010. Last year, a Ranji Trophy match was held in Shimoga for the first time in 32 years.

Worcestershire will decide within the next 48 hours whether they will need to relocate their County Championship match against Surrey.The game, which starts on Wednesday May 9, is currently scheduled to be played at Worcestershire’s New Road home. But with flood water currently covering three pitches on the square and a large portion of the outfield, the club need to make contingency plans.Worcestershire have already arranged to stage Monday’s CB40 game against the Netherlands in Kidderminster and will shortly make a decision over whether the Surrey game also needs to be moved. Surrey have offered to stage the game at the Kia Oval but Worcestershire declined. The club has a deal with Birmingham League club Kidderminster Victoria whereby they can utilise the ground in the case of flooding.”Kidderminster is our second home,” David Leatherdale, Worcestershire’s chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo, “and if we can’t stage the game at New Road, we’ll stage it at Kidderminster.”The game will also be notable for the appearance of Kevin Pietersen, who will be playing for Surrey ahead of the Test series against West Indies. While Pietersen may find the facilities at Kidderminster a little basic, he should be familiar with them. He played a season for Cannock in the Birmingham League and, in 2002, played at the ground with Nottinghamshire when he was dismissed for 13 and 0 by Alamgir Sheriyar. Pietersen should enjoy the flat pitch and quick outfield, though. Kidderminster Victoria’s groundsman, who moved to them from West Bromwich Dartmouth over the winter, was the Birmingham League groundsman of the year in 2011.The good news for Worcestershire is that the flood water does not look nearly as dirty as that which forced them to abandon New Road for much of the 2007 season. On that occasion, the flood water carried with it sewage and slurry from the fields. This flood should prove far easier – and less expensive – to clear. However, while the club report that the flood waters have receded a little over the last 24 hours, more rain is forecast.Worcestershire have also started to explore the market for an overseas player to replace Saeed Ajmal, who has pulled out of his deal to represent them in T20 this season. Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan left-arm seamer and hard-hitting batsman, is one option.”Steve Rhodes has spoken to his agent and there is a chance that he will join us for the final eight matches of the T20 season,” Leatherdale confirmed. “But it is early days.”

ScorecardWest Indies Women secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series against Sri Lanka Women by winning the rain-affected third Twenty20 international in Trinidad.Persistent early morning showers led to a delayed start and the match was reduced to a 16-over contest. West Indies won the toss, bowled under overcast conditions and started strongly, reducing the visitors to 30 for 3 in the seventh over. Deepika Rasangika and Shashikala Siriwardene added 26 runs for the fourth wicket, but once Siriwardene was dismissed with the score on 56, Sri Lanka collapsed and only managed to reach 77 for 8.West Indies started shakily as Sripali Weerakkody ran through the top order, picking up three wickets, as the hosts were reduced to 25 for 5 in the seventh over. However Shemaine Campbelle (27*) held her nerve, putting on 18 runs for the seventh wicket with Anisa Mohammad and an unbeaten 24 runs off just 17 balls for the eighth wicket with Tremayne Smartt (12*), to help West Indies reach a hard-fought win.The fourth T20 will be played in Trinidad on May 7.

Ryan Harris believes he will struggle to force his way into Australia’s side for the first Test against West Indies in Barbados next month. Australia’s Test specialists, including Harris and his fast-bowling colleague Peter Siddle, have flown out to join the rest of the squad in the Caribbean for a three-day tour match ahead of the Test series.The warm-up game will help the selectors decide on their best attack for the Bridgetown Test, and a three-man pace attack of Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson appears likely after their success in the home summer. Harris and Mitchell Starc are the other fast bowlers in the squad, while the spinners Nathan Lyon and Michael Beer will come into contention on the slow Caribbean pitches.Harris played in the last two Tests of Australia’s series against India after Pattinson was sidelined by injury but he was dropped from the ODI side in the tri-series that followed. A year ago, Harris was arguably Australia’s best Test bowler but he believes he will be on the sidelines for the start of the upcoming Test series.”I don’t think I will be starting,” Harris told reporters in Brisbane before departing. “Sidds had an amazing summer and so did Jimmy [Pattinson]. The only reason I got a game was because Jimmy went down. And Hilf has come back to his best. If those three don’t start, I will be in shock. They did such a good job against India this summer for us – they thoroughly deserve their spots over there.”Before he flew out to join the squad, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke mentioned the possibility of playing both Lyon and Beer in a two-man spin attack, which is another option for the selectors. Whatever the case, the Australians will need to work out how best to operate on pitches that will be quite different from those on which they defeated India 4-0 during the summer.”They have looked a bit slow and dead,” Siddle said of the limited-overs pitches in the Caribbean. “It will be interesting to see how the Test pitches come up. You will need patience and consistency. Ryano showed that in Sri Lanka. Reverse swing will come into it as well, and we have to bowl well with the spinner or spinners – Nathan and Beery might bowl together, you never know.”The batting line-up is expected to be more settled, with Ed Cowan and David Warner likely to open and Shane Watson expected to bat at No.3. The three-day tour match against the WICB Board President’s XI starts at Kensington Oval on April 2.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, has identified his side’s inability to finish games as the reason why they struggle to beat the big teams. Bangladesh needed 39 runs off 40 balls, with five wickets in hand, to upset Pakistan in the Asia Cup opener, but lost a flurry of wickets to end 21 runs short. Mushfiqur said he was disappointed that senior players like Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak did not show enough composure at the death, especially when they had a well-set Shakib Al Hasan at the other end.”When we batted, Nasir [Hossain]’s dismissal was the turning point. Shakib and him were well set. We make mistakes in such situations. To beat big teams, you have to focus till the last ball.”Mashrafe and Razzak are the senior-most players in our side, so we expected something from them. Shakib and Nasir had played well but once Nasir was gone, the rest of the batsmen could have taken a bit more responsibility by giving strike to Shakib.”Razzak and Mortaza were both dismissed looking for big shots when the asking-rate was around six an over and Shakib was past a half-century.Before Shakib and Nasir’s partnership, and the collapse that came after it, Tamim Iqbal had scored a half-century, a significant innings considering the controversy that surrounded his last-minute addition to the squad. Mushfiqur said Tamim had showed his ability with the innings.”Tamim proved today he is a high-quality player. Players like Tamim and Shakib, they always prove their quality. The message given to him before this game was that only a cricketer like him can make a comeback in this manner.”Bangladesh had managed to keep Pakistan to 262 after the visitors were 135 for 0 at one stage, and Mushfiqur said his bowlers had done well to fight back. “It seemed like they’d score 280-300 the way they started but our bowlers made a good comeback. We chose to field after winning the toss. The pacers did well early on; their batsmen didn’t get to play too many shots. We wanted one or two early wickets to put them under pressure.”The target could have been even smaller had Umar Gul not lifted Pakistan from 198 for 7 with some late hitting. Mushfiqur said the end overs were always a problem for Bangladesh, and they should have bowled better having caused the collapse in the middle overs. “We always have problems bowling in the Powerplay and slog overs. Today, we did well in the former but we bowled poorly in the last three overs. We should have bowled better after Misbah-ul-Haq got out. I think we conceded 20 extra runs.”Mashrafe bhai bowled well in the first 8-9 overs but gave away some runs towards the end [16 in his 10th]. I think for a man who is returning, it is slightly difficult.”Mushfiqur defended the decision to go with six batsmen and the allrounder Nasir at No. 7, which allows the inclusion of three medium-pacers. “If we had taken an extra batsman or a spinner, the part-timers would have been used and that would have taken the total past the 280-mark. The six batsmen, if they had all batted well, would have been enough for the chase. But me, Tamim and Mahmudullah all got out in a short span. This combination of three seamers is quite good.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

ScorecardWhere there is a Twenty20 tournament to be played, there is Chris Gayle to smash a hundred. He scored his fifth Twenty20 century in the past year to take Barisal Burners to an easy win against Sylhet Royals in the opening game of the Bangladesh Premier League. Sylhet’s total of 165 seemed like a competitive one, but Gayle made a mockery of it, smashing 10 sixes and seven fours in his 101 off 44 balls. Barisal were home in 13.1 overs.Keeping Gayle company was Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad, who scored 56 off 35 balls with nine fours and a six. Sylhet’s Australian import, Brad Hogg, could not keep Gayle quiet, and went for 27 in his three overs. Hogg didn’t have it as bad as two other Sylhet overseas players – Peter Trego and Scott Styris went for 23 and 27 in their only overs.Trego had earlier helped Sylhet recover from a sluggish start to reach a decent total, with his 62. His 105-run partnership with Alok Kapali (56) formed the bulk of Sylhet’s total.

Maharashtra recovered from a shaky start to end the opening day of the their Plate semi-final against Himachal Pradesh in a satisfactory position in Pune. Maharashtra chose to bat and lost their openers early, slipping to 45 for 2. They then had a partnership of 53 between Sangram Atitkar and Nikhil Paradkar before losing the third wicket on 98. Paradkar, however, went on to score 80 before he was run out, adding 130 with Ankit Bawne for the fourth wicket. Bawne ended the day on 56, steering his team to 232 for 4. Himachal Pradesh used eight bowlers, none of whom had much success apart from keeping the run-rate under control.Shalabh Shrivastava stopped a top-order wobble and helped steer Vidarbha to 225 for 5 in their Plate semi-final against Hyderabad in Nagpur. Hyderabad, however, will be pleased with their effort after losing the toss: they struck at regular intervals and limited the scoring. Vidarbha were 26 for 2, having lost Aniruddha Chore and Ravi Jangid in successive overs. Shrivastava, who went on to make 83, added 110 with Shiv Sundar Das, who had held firm at the top for 64. Himachal Pradesh then struck two late blows, reducing Vidarbha from 189 for 3 to 205 for 5 to leave the match evenly balanced.

ScorecardThe 11,337 people who showed up at the ANZ Stadium tonight in western Sydney were treated to the Chris Gayle Show. In a brutal display of power hitting, Gayle clubbed an unbeaten 100 off 54 balls to help Sydney Thunder chase down 156 against Adelaide Strikers. The West Indian smashed three fours and 11 sixes, breaking his own record for the number of sixes hit in an Australian domestic T20 innings.In reality the match was a tough sell. The Strikers travelled without their biggest star Kieron Pollard, out of the tournament with a hamstring injury, while the Thunder’s captain and first match centurion, David Warner, is away on national duty.The Strikers did cause some concerns though. Gayle faced just six deliveries between the 12th and 16th overs. The Strikers removed Ben Dunk for 8 when he holed out needlessly off Johan Botha with 59 needed from 45 balls. Craig Philipson then faced eight deliveries for just two runs, seven of them consecutively. Such was the demand for Gayle, that Philipson was booed by his own crowd when he could not get off the strike.Eventually, Philipson was bowled by Aaron O’Brien, the left-arm orthodox spinner, who took 3 for 26 in an impressive spell. But the 15th over was O’Brien’s last.By the conclusion of the 16th over, Strikers captain Michael Klinger had a problem. Both O’Brien and Kane Richardson were bowled out, whilst Botha and Alfonso Thomas each had only one over left. Klinger’s fifth bowler, Bryce McGain had conceded 21 in two earlier overs with Gayle smashing him into the stands three times.Klinger instead gambled with the very part-time offspin of Cameron Borgas and Gayle made him pay. He smashed three consecutive sixes, one which travelled 105m, to take the required run-rate from nine-an-over down to five, and the victory was a mere formality from there. Klinger looked helpless, probably wishing he could have placed fielders in the stands.All that was left was for Gayle to bring up his first Twenty20 hundred in Australia, and his sixth in the format worldwide.Given Gayle’s performance it was unlikely that any target the Strikers set would have been defendable, however, 155 was never going to be enough.Adelaide slumped to 4 for 52 in the ninth over and never really recovered. A brief salvage effort was mounted by Botha (41) and Borgas (24) so help steer the Strikers to a middling total. But they struggled to conquer a versatile Thunder attack. Teenager Sean Abbott was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 20 while Fidel Edwards generated good pace collecting 2 for 35.In the end though, the night was all about one man.

Twelve wickets fell on the second day at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi, after 17 had fallen on the first. At the end of it, Abbottabad were 166 for 9 in their second innings, leading by 159 against Sialkot. The day began with Sialkot on 77 for 7, fighting for a first-innings lead. They inched past Abbottabad’s total of 97 and were dismissed for 104. Ahmed Jamal and Ikramullah Khan took 5 for 42 and 5 for 35 for Abbottabad. Given that so many wickets had fallen, Abbottabad made a steady start in their second innings, with Mohammad Naeem leading them to 67 for 1. Mohammad Abbas, however, then took 5 for 55 and was supported by Prince Abbas and Mohammad Imran, who took two wickets each. Abbottabad slumped to 120 for 8. The captain Khalid Usman remained unbeaten on 50 off 70 balls to give his team a fighting chance by leading them to 166 for 9.Habib Bank Limited and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) fought for the upper hand at the Gaddafi Stadium but, at the end of the second day, neither team had it. Habib Bank had collapsed from a position of strength on the opening day and they lost their last two wickets for the addition of only four runs this morning to finish on 245 in the first innings. Imran Khan took 5 for 57 and Zulfiqar Babar took 4 for 92. Habib Ban, however, ended the day on level terms by reducing WAPDA to 203 for 6 by stumps. The captain Aamer Sajjad made 58 before he was run out but none of his team-mates converted starts.Faisalabad were batting their first innings at the start of the second day against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground, and they were batting in their second, chasing 255, at the end of it. Resuming on their overnight score of 92 for 8, Faisalabad were dismissed for 106, conceding a first-innings lead of 63. Only three batsman made it into double figures, while Nasrullah Khan took 4 for 41 for Islamabad. After a second-wicket partnership of 67 in their second innings, however, Islamabad also collapsed and were dismissed for 191. Naseer Akram took 4 for 39 for Faisalabad, who then had to make the highest total of the match to win. They ended the day on 32 for 1, needed another 223.Sohail Khan’s 5 for 30 wrecked Rawalpindi for 107 in their first-innings and helped Karachi Blues take a lead of 192 at the National Stadium. Opening batsman Haseeb Asam remained unbeaten on 59, carrying his bat as nine of his ten team-mates were dismissed in single figures. The No. 11 Sadaf Hussain contributed 11. Sohail was supported by Atif Maqbool, who took 3 for 32, and Mohammad Sami, who claimed 2 for 22. Earlier in the day, Karachi Blues had resumed their first innings on 211 for 5. Ahmed Iqbal made 71 as they were dismissed for 299, with Rawalpindi’s Nasir Malik taking 5 for 70.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited ended the second day against National Bank of Pakistan at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground leading by 89 runs in the second innings with nine wickets in hand. They began on 239 for 7 in their first innings but were soon out for 255. NBP’s Wahab Riaz finished with 7 for 74. Wahab then made 36 in the lower order to lift NBP after they had collapsed to 123 for 6. He wasn’t able to take them very far though and NBP were shot out for 201, conceding a lead of 54. ZTBL lost their captain Imran Nazir to finish the day on 35 for 1 in the second innings.Half-centuries from Kashif Siddiq, Adnan Raees and Rameez Aziz helped State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) take a strong lead against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the National Ground. SBP began the day on 77 for 2 and made a strong start. Siddiq made 62, Raees 54 and Aziz 76 to lead SBP to 217 for 3. The rest of the batsmen, however, barely contributed anything and SBP collapsed to 269 all out, with PIA’s Anwar Ali taking 5 for 69. They still managed a 132-run lead, though. Saad Altaf struck twice in PIA’s second innings, reducing them to 30 for 2, before a partnership worth 52 between Sheharyar Ghani Faisal Iqbal steered them further further loss to stumps.