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A day after their crucial win over England, the Bangladesh team has already been promised rewards by a private business house: a million taka each to Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam, the ninth-wicket partnership that fashioned the unlikely win, and a lakh each to the rest of the team. There was even a function organised last night, but the BCB had to get the festivities postponed. The World Cup is not yet over, and Bangladesh need to guard against this kind of complacency when they face Netherlands.It is an interesting situation that Bangladesh find themselves in. They are alive in the tournament, yet they also rely a lot on England and Ireland not winning their matches against West Indies and South Africa respectively. While that should leave them really charged up for the game against Netherlands, it is not hard to see why complacency can creep in. Netherlands have never played in Bangladesh before, and they are bound to encounter problems playing the spinners who tied England in knots.”Each time we play a game, we try to win,” Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, said. “So there is no complacency. That game is forgotten now, we move on. Whole new set of players, whole new set of plans, and possibly a whole new team.” The whole new team points to the possible inclusion of another left-arm spinner, Surhawadi Shuvo, because Netherlands have a lot of right-hand batsmen in their line-up.There are other possible distractions too. One of them is Bangladesh’s poor net run-rate, at -1.241. To secure themselves against the eventuality of England’s beating West Indies and Ireland winning their remaining games, Bangladesh either need to win both their remaining games, or win this one by a margin so huge that they rectify their net run-rate a bit. Beating South Africa, which is Bangladesh’s last game, is a huge task, Siddons admitted.Suhrawadi Shuvo could be picked for Monday’s fixture•AFP

“Mathematically if England win their next game, we can’t get in, unless we win against South Africa, which is a very difficult task,” Siddons said, the assumption being that Bangladesh beat Netherlands. “I am not going to guarantee that we will win against South Africa. We need to win the next two games. If England win their game, doesn’t matter what we do in this game if we can’t win the last game. Run-rate is very poor.”The wise thing would be to not go after the net run-rate tomorrow, instead just secure the two points, which going by rankings, they are expected to. Siddons agreed. “We won’t focus on the run-rate,” Siddons said. “We have got to win the match, and then win against South Africa, and we are through. That’s the main focus, make sure we look after the business here. Just execute our plans, no slip-ups tomorrow. And worry about the other results after that. Quarter-finals will be great, but we have got to play good cricket.”Boosting the net run-rate is not an easy task in Bangladesh, unless a team gets dismissed for 58. “The run-rate thing is really difficult here, because our wickets aren’t really 300-run wickets,” Siddons said. “Whereas over there [in India] it seems everybody is making 300 easily. Our pitches and our grounds are very different to those in India and Sri Lanka. Wickets are a lot harder to make big scores on here. You have to be very careful, chasing 300 on our wickets. Very difficult.”The distractions aside, Siddons was a confident man on the eve of the game. The reason is not hard to see. “Everyone’s confidence was a little knocked around [after the 58 all out],” Siddons said. “That [the win against England] gives us confidence again. Our bowlers are definitely doing the job, and our batsmen have stepped up and made enough runs to win the game against a very good team. It gives us a lot of confidence. This team [England] drew with India and beat South Africa, don’t forget that. And we beat them. We are ready to go for the next two games.”More importantly, what pleases Siddons is that Bangladesh have won both the games that went close. “I am really happy with the way we are winning the close games,” he said. “Against New Zealand as well [in the whitewash], we won a couple of really close games. And Zimbabwe. It’s starting to become a feature of our cricket. We don’t give up easily. If we get within striking distance, we come out in front rather than lose those games now, which wasn’t the case in our history.”Bangladesh will hope they can win against Netherlands without actually making it a tight game, but beware a side that has nothing to lose and a party to spoil.

Sachin Tendulkar has played just two ODIs since his 200 against South Africa in February last year•AFP

India’s lower-middle order
Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan are fighting for the No. 6 and 7 spots. All three have been getting games in recent series due to the absence of some of the seniors at the top of the order, but one of them will have to be benched in the World Cup. Current form suggests it will be Raina, since Kohli was India’s most assured batsman in the one-dayers in South Africa, and Yusuf has repeatedly shown what a destructive force he can be lower down the order. Raina, though, is expected to fare better on the flat tracks likely to be served up in the subcontinent. Which of the trio misses out in Dhaka in a week’s time could be decided by the performances in the warm-ups.The return of Punter
Entering his third campaign as captain, Ricky Ponting is yet to lead Australia to a loss in a World Cup match. With the legends of past World Cup triumphs retired, and his own batting rarely hitting the imperious heights of old, this will be his toughest World Cup at the helm. A finger injury has sidelined him since the Boxing Day Test, forcing him to be away from the game for a month, a break which Ponting says has refreshed him. He has played only one ODI since July, has only three centuries in the format in three years, and there have been several calls for him to give up the captaincy. Sunday’s game will be the first chance to remove some of the question marks.Heavyweights at the top
India’s batting order starts with three of the biggest names in the game: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The talent, experience and firepower they provide forms the bedrock of the strongest batting unit in the tournament, but all three are returning from injuries (Sehwag – shoulder, Gambhir – elbow and Tendulkar – hamstring). One other slight concern is the lack of match practice in the format in recent times: the trio has played only seven ODIs between them in the past five months, and hasn’t been in a one-dayer together since December 2009. Match fitness and their slightly changed roles when all three are present will be things to work on at the Chinnaswamy.Australia’s spinners
Few things caused as much mirth for England fans as Australia’s muddle-headed picks in the slow-bowling department over the past few months. With their two preferred options – Nathan Hauritz and Xavier Doherty – out injured, their frontline spinner for the World Cup is Jason Krejza, a man with all the experience of one ODI. His performance on Test debut, in India, two years ago was the definition of a mixed bag; he took 12 wickets while shipping 358 runs. There’s support for him in the form of young legspinner Steven Smith, and a wealth of part-timers – David Hussey, Cameron White and Michael Clarke – but in a tournament where quality spinners are likely to be game-changers, how Krejza adapts to the subcontinent will be pivotal to Australia’s chances.The Indian quicks
Less than a week ago, Sreesanth thought his only contribution to the World Cup campaign would be a song he wrote and dedicated to the Indian team. Praveen Kumar’s slower-than-expected recovery from an elbow injury signalled an ‘I am back’ tweet from Sreesanth, though whether he will make the XI remains uncertain. Over the past year, India have had three quicks who were definite starters when fit – Praveen, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. With Praveen injured, and Nehra’s form taking an alarming dip in the previous two series, Zaheer is the only one absolutely certain of his place. Nehra has a solid record over the past two years, Munaf Patel has shown he can be a steady option when given a one-day chance, and Sreesanth has more pace than anyone else in the squad. Another conundrum which the Indian selectors will solve over the two warm-up matches coming up.

Match Facts

January 16, Melbourne
Start time 14.20 (03.20 GMT)Shane Watson will be crucial to Australia’s one-day side•Getty Images

The Big Picture

This match is being used to mark the 40th anniversary of one-day cricket, which began back on January 5, 1971 when Australia faced England at the MCG after the scheduled Test was abandoned due to rain. How times have changed. Floodlights, coloured clothes (and colour TV), white balls, Powerplays, HawkEye, the switch hit and much more. What hasn’t changed, though, is Australia’s desire to win and they haven’t been doing a lot of it lately.The Twenty20 victory on Friday was a welcome change of fortune and now the one-day series is the last chance to prepare before heading to the World Cup next month. But with the squads having to be named by January 19 in reality there is one game before the players will know their fate. Judging by the Australia selectors there are a few spots still up for grabs so there’s plenty riding on performances at the MCG for the likes of David Hussey, Xavier Doherty and Shaun Tait.England are a pretty settled unit after an upturn in their one-day form over the last 18 months. They will welcome back Andrew Strauss, who wasn’t part of the Twenty20 squad, but he’s the only change. James Anderson isn’t around until the fourth match in Adelaide having popped home for a rest but Chris Woakes has already shown his ticker on his Twenty20 debut.England’s World Cup record since 1992, when they lost in the final against Pakistan, has been dire yet they are more than an outside bet this time. They beat Australia 3-2 during the English summer, which gave them some valuable hints for the Ashes, although they were rattled by the pace of Shaun Tait in the latter part of that contest. They won’t want to concede any ground to Australia.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WLLLW
England WLLWW

Watch out for…

David Hussey has only played 23 ODIs in his career, and he has one more chance now. A decade ago such batsmen were part and parcel of Australia cricket, the lost generation of Stuart Law, Jamie Cox, Martin Love and the like, but given their current problems it’s amazing Hussey hasn’t had more opportunities. With one match remaining before the World Cup, is it do or die, or are the selectors going to take him anyway? Runs on his home ground would certainly help.It’s easy to forget that Kevin Pietersen wasn’t part of England’s last one-day series after being dropped against Pakistan in August. He didn’t take it well, as his Twitter outburst proved, but he’ll come back in wanting to show that he’s a central part of England’s best 50-over side. In his absence, Eoin Morgan has cemented his standing as the matchwinner and both Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell have shown enough form to warrant an extended run, but Pietersen will be vital on the subcontinent.

Team news

Is this a World Cup shoot-out? The selectors want to have a look at a few players before naming their final squad but they won’t learn much from one match. Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle have been rested, while Nathan Hauritz was never set to play this match according to Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors. It might mean that Hauritz, who remains in Sydney for now, has already earned his World Cup place and the selectors want to have another look at Xavier Doherty.Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Michael Clarke, 4 Cameron White, 5 David Hussey, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Steven Smith, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Xavier Doherty, 10 Doug Bollinger, 11 Shaun Tait.England know their best one-day team, but in the absence of James Anderson (rested) and Stuart Broad (injury) there will be a chance for a combination of Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Woakes and Chris Tremlett to enhance their claims. Andrew Strauss will be back to open and lead the side after his Twenty20 break and has been one England’s most consistent one-day batsman recently. The in-form Ian Bell could slot in at No. 3 meaning Kevin Pietersen at four.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Steven Davies (wk), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Michael Yardy, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Chris Woakes, 11 Ajmal Shahzad.

Stats and trivia

• England haven’t lost a one-day series since being beaten 6-1 by Australia after the 2009 Ashes. In that time they’ve beaten South Africa, Bangladesh (twice), Australia and Pakistan.
• The two teams have met 20 times at the MCG with Australia ahead 13-6 with one abandonment, although the most recent fixture was a win for England in 2007 when they took a 1-0 lead in CB Series finals.
• Andrew Strauss scored 806 runs at 57.57 from 14 matches in 2010
• In the last series between the two teams Shaun Tait returned for the last three matches and took eight wickets at 12.37.

Quotes

“I see them as wicket-taking bowlers. It’s not a bad problem to have when you have three strike bowlers in one squad.”
“Momentum heading into the World Cup’s crucial. Both sides will be very up for the series and to be thinking ‘ah well, we won the Ashes’ will take away from our intensity.”

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has refuted claims that Hampshire and Somerset, who have accepted an invitation to take part in the Caribbean T20 tournament in January, could earn as much as $1 million from their participation, and that money has been spent irresponsibly on the competition.”Contrary to public attempts at misinformation the two English teams will not pocket $1million from the Caribbean Twenty20,” the board said in a statement. “WICB will spend less than $300,000 for all airfares and appearance fees for the two English teams to participate in the Caribbean Twenty20. All invited teams will share the same hotels and hotel arrangements as the regional teams.”Their press release came after the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) had made public its concerns over the tournament. “The spend from this year’s event would now be added to the $3 million which the WICB spent on last year’s tournament,” read a statement released by WIPA on Wednesday. “In all, the WICB would have spent over $6 million in the past seven months on the two tournaments and they are yet to find a sponsor for this and other regional and international tournaments despite WIPA’s willingness to assist.”WIPA also questioned WICB claims that the money represents an investment aimed at attracting foreign investors and broadcasters, building a tournament and improving the brand of West Indies Cricket.The Board responded by stating that “as the WICB’s identified marquee tournament, Caribbean T20 (complete with full television coverage done for the benefit of players, fans and West Indies cricket as a brand) requires a larger investment than other regional tournaments,” adding: “An increase from 8 to 10 teams and 16 to 24 matches from the CT20 2010 necessarily increase match operating and logistics costs, accommodation and travel expenses and television production costs.”Caribbean T20 is not yet a profit making venture and is still in the investment phase. WICB has put the necessary plans in place to ensure that the tournament shows a long term return on investment.”

Rajasthan Royals have retained their captain Shane Warne and Australian allrounder Shane Watson ahead of the 2011 season of the IPL, a top franchise official has said. He also said they were in negotiations with a couple of Indian players ahead of the December 8 deadline for teams to nominate players they wish to keep from going into the auction. Each franchise is allowed to retain up to four players, of which no more than three can be Indian.”We are extremely happy to have signed on Shane Warne and Shane Watson,” Raghu Iyer, the Rajasthan spokesman, told ESPNcricinfo. “Both of them have been an important part of the Royals. Watson was the Player of the Tournament in the first season and Warne’s leadership skills are what everybody talks about.”Rajasthan will lose $1.8 million per year from the auction pool for the first player retained and $1.3 million per year for the second player.Warne led Rajasthan to an unlikely title in 2008, the IPL’s first season. He was the league’s second highest wicket-taker, with 19 wickets at an average of 21.26, while Watson scored 472 runs at an average of 47.20 and a strike-rate of 151.76, and also took 17 wickets at an average of 22.52. Both players had expressed their disappointment after Rajasthan were expelled from the IPL on October 10 by the BCCI.The franchise responded to its termination by taking the BCCI to court, and the case went to arbitration. Last week the arbitrator, justice BN Srikrishna, issued a stay on the franchise’s expulsion. He also restored all of Rajasthan’s rights under the franchise agreement, including the right to take part in the player auction. While the board appealed against Srikrishna’s ruling to the Bombay High Court, legal opinion suggested it will be difficult to overturn his order.Tuesday’s development would also appear to underline Srikrishna’s assertion that there was “no merit” in the BCCI’s counsel’s contention that, even if Rajasthan was allowed to participate in the auction, there was no guarantee the players they picked would be willing to enter into contracts with it.The original deadline for player nominations was December 6 but the Bombay High Court ruled that the BCCI should extend it to December 8 after Kings XI Punjab, the other terminated franchise, accused the board of deliberately delaying the arbitration hearings over their expulsion so the original deadline could expire. The retained players must have been part of the franchise’s registered squads for the 2010 season.

The ICC has praised the PCB for the measures the board has implemented to curb corruption in the aftermath of the spot-fixing controversy. In what is the second update on the progress made by the PCB since it was issued an ultimatum by the ICC to take initiatives to sort out the game’s administration in the country, the ICC said it was “impressed” with the developments.The ultimatum – which included a set of recommendations – was issued on October 13 and the PCB was told to clean up its act or face the consequences, possibly in the form of sanctions. Since then, the board, which was given a 30-day period to conduct a thorough and far-reaching review of “player integrity issues”, has revised its code of conduct for players with a special emphasis on anti-corruption, made it mandatory for players to have their agents approved by the PCB, implemented education programmers for cricketers to create awareness about match-fixing and set up an Integrity Committee to look into issues of corruption and doping.The update was provided at a meeting, by teleconference, of the Pakistan task force, a group headed by ECB chairman Giles Clarke that is aiming to bring back international cricket to Pakistan. “PCB has clearly recognized that it is imperative to protect the integrity of cricket and we are indeed impressed by the progress reported,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC CEO and a member of the Pakistan task force, said. “Their willingness to play such an active role on the integrity issue is vital to the future of international cricket. They have shown a clear determination to tackle their challenges.”The ICC Task Team is mindful of those challenges and is committed to supporting the PCB.”Clarke said: “The PCB chairman and his team must be congratulated for the speed with which they have adopted the recommendations of the ICC Board. Everyone is encouraged by the statements and actions of the PCB and we must hope that they continue.”Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman who has faced much criticism for his handling of the administration during his tenure, said his board adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. “The PCB is determined to implement the recommendations provided by the ICC. We at the PCB, like the ICC, are committed to a zero-tolerance approach to any form of corruption.”Most recently, the PCB revoked the central contracts of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – the three players provisionally suspended by the ICC for their alleged involvement in the spot-fixing controversy. And in the ongoing tour of the UAE where Pakistan are taking on South Africa in an ODI series, the PCB fined three players for breaking curfew as per the revised code of conduct.

The IPL governing council has ejected Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the league on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”, while granting a temporary breather to the Kochi franchise to put its house in order.The IPL chose to invoke powers vested with it to terminate a franchise contract with immediate effect at an emergency meeting of the governing council held in Mumbai today. The notices seeking explanation why action shouldn’t be taken again remained unsent to the franchises.The two franchises are now considering their options. A statement from Rajasthan Royals pointed out that it had never received any notice from the BCCI and hinted at legal redress without explicitly mentioning it.The Punjab franchise said its legal team was studying the BCCI’s decision, which it called unfair and not in the IPL’s collaborative spirit, and hoped for negotiations to settle the issue.However, a top BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that IPL 4 was almost certain to feature only eight teams. “These two teams [Rajasthan and Punjab] cannot come back,” he said. “IPL 4 will have only eight teams.” Asked if the BCCI would draft a fresh tender process to replace Rajasthan and Punjab, he said that would happen only the Kochi franchise failed to resolve its internal disputes.The announcement to terminate agreements with the two franchises came after days of hectic speculation and raised further questions about its implications. Though the BCCI president Shashank Manohar said the decision had nothing to do with Lalit Modi both Rajasthan and Punjab have co-owners who are relations of the ousted IPL chairman.After the announcement was made through a media release, Manohar explained the reasons for the decision. “With regards to Rajasthan, the bid was given by a different bidder and the agreement was entered into with a different company,” he said. “The shareholding pattern was different. The shares were transferred into with different people without the permission of the governing council.”When asked about Kochi, Manohar said the franchise hadn’t been scrapped because it hadn’t violated the agreement yet, but was only suffering from internal disputes. He said Kochi had ten days to resolve all problems and form a joint venture company to hold the franchise rights otherwise it also ran the risk of being ejected from the league.Sunday’s meeting was the first for the reconstituted governing council, which had its membership reduced from 14 to eight, and its tenure and powers cut. Chirayu Amin was appointed the chairman of body, replacing ousted chairman Lalit Modi, and the rest of the council comprises five other members – Arun Jaitley, Ranjib Biswal, Anurag Thakur, Ajay Shirke and Rajiv Shukla – and two former cricketers, Ravi Shastri and Mohinder Amarnath, as honorary members.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shakib Al Hasan’s fifth ODI century lifted Bangladesh to 241 in the fourth ODI against New Zealand•Associated Press

A dominant all-round performance from Shakib Al Hasan helped Bangladesh secure a historic series win in Mirpur, their first against a top-flight opposition. Shakib’s fifth ODI century rescued the home team from the depths of 44 for 3 and lifted them to a formidable 241, a target that proved nine runs too many for New Zealand, who now trail 0-3 in the series, with one game to go. Shakib then struck with the ball and, despite a valiant maiden hundred from Kane Williamson who battled through injury during the latter part of his innings, slammed the door on the visitors with three wickets to lead Bangladesh to a famous victory.New Zealand’s top order had not fired as a unit so far in the tour, and their performance in today’s must-win encounter was no different. BJ Watling was trapped in front for 6 by Abdur Razzak and Brendon McCullum soon followed him to the dressing room, despite having looked good for a characteristically frenetic knock with a couple of early boundaries down the ground. Ross Taylor, who had been the pick of New Zealand’s batsmen in the series, then compounded matters for his team by picking out the deep square-leg fielder in a style of dismissal that has become an all too familiar sight for his fans back home.Shakib was quick to have spinners operating at both ends and the ploy paid dividends once more. Aaron Redmond succumbed to a straighter one from Shakib in the 17th over, before Daniel Vettori perished while attempting to increase the run rate, leaving the visitors reeling at 80 for 5.Williamson and Grant Elliott, however, were on hand to provide some much needed stability to the New Zealand run-chase, and accumulated intelligently through the middle period to give the visitors some hope of reaching their target. Williamson was especially impressive in his approach, as he confidently negotiated the spinners who had wreaked so much havoc on his teammates throughout the series, picking up the singles and twos with relative ease and even hoisting Shakib over midwicket for consecutive sixes. Elliott, too, played his part in the recovery, feeding the strike to the well-set youngster at the other end, but fell during the batting Powerplay in the 37th over. Attempting to sweep Shakib, he managed only to top-edge it to Razzak who took an excellent catch, running backwards from square leg.Kyle Mills came and went, trying to hit out, further denting New Zealand’s hopes of a successful chase, and a hamstring injury that crippled Williamson soon after didn’t help matters either. Nathan McCullum arrived at the crease with 70 to get from 10 overs but despite some lusty blows, was not able to get his side close to the asking rate. Williamson reached his hundred in the 48th over, having batted through immense discomfort for a substantial part of his innings, but when Nathan McCullum and Daryl Tuffey fell off successive deliveries chasing an unlikely 20 runs in the last 11 deliveries, New Zealand’s hopes fell squarely on Williamson’s shoulders. Unfortunately for the visitors, the task proved too much for the young man.The challenge was before New Zealand when Shakib’s expertly crafted 106 off 113 deliveries had set up a competitive total for Bangladesh on a slow, turning pitch. He came to the crease with his team struggling, but combined well with Imrul Kayes to take the hosts out of immediate danger. He then posted half-century stands with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah as Bangladesh recovered well. Shakib scored at around a run a ball throughout his innings, piercing the off-side field with surgical precision early on, but relying more on deft dabs and sweeps as the innings wore on in the energy-sapping Mirpur heat. The New Zealand slow bowlers were unable to cause him any trouble.Shakib’s departure with the score on 216 sparked a lower-order collapse, however, as the New Zealand seamers came back in the batting Powerplay to restrict the hosts, who at one stage threatened a total in excess of 260. Hamish Bennett, the debutant fast bowler, was especially impressive in the late overs, varying his pace and length to pick up a couple of wickets to go with his top order scalp and finish with figures of 3 for 44. Bangladesh were all out in the 49th over, but thanks to an excellent captain’s knock they had scored enough to secure a famous win and spark scenes of euphoric celebration from the Mirpur crowd.

ScorecardOwais Shah, in his final game for Middlesex, closed in on a farewell century at Lord’s despite bad weather cutting short the second day of the County Championship Second Division match against Worcestershire. Shah was 70 not out when torrential rain ended play for the day at 4pm, having guided Middlesex to 244 for 5 in reply to Worcestershire’s first innings 313.Earlier, bad light had caused a late start at 10.55am. In between, however, the skies did brighten considerably – despite a forecast of rain at lunchtime – and Shah took the attack to Worcestershire once Scott Newman had been dismissed for an aggressive 78 from 91 balls.Shah has featured in stands of 76 with Newman, 67 with Dan Housego and 46, so far unbroken, with his captain Neil Dexter, who is 26 not out.Nightwatchman Steve Finn, who faced the one over possible before stumps on day one, was run out early on when Newman called him for an unnecessarily sharp single and John Simpson did not last long either, clipping Jack Shantry’s left-arm swing to Moeen Ali in a deep leg gully position.Newman was soon at his most fluent, however, pulling and square cutting Gareth Andrew for successive fours as he reached a 64-ball half-century just before lunch. For 10 overs after the interval, both Newman and Shah were irresistible.Shah on-drove James Cameron’s medium pace with huge authority for four, while Newman straight drove Alan Richardson for four and then, in the same over, punched him effortlessly off the back foot through the covers for another boundary.Inexplicably, though, the left-handed opener – having hit 13 fours – then swung Cameron straight into the hands of Shakib Al Hasan at deep square leg, and Middlesex were 114 for 3. Dawid Malan, needing 10 for his 1,000th first-class runs this season, was out for 9 when he tried to flick Shakib’s left-arm spin to leg and was adjudged caught off his glove as the ball lobbed up to wicketkeeper Ben Cox.Housego, a 21-year-old batsman, played well in Shah’s company for 32 until he went down the pitch to Moeen’s off-breaks and flipped a simple catch to Vikram Solanki at backward short leg when the bowler saw him coming and fired it wide of his pads. Dexter was soon into his stride and had hit five boundaries when the rain came – one of them a fortuitous inside edge past Cox off an unlucky Cameron.Shah, meanwhile, lifted Shakib straight for six and looked in a determined mood as he sought a 50th century for Middlesex in all cricket in what is also his 200th first-class appearance for the club he first represented as a 16-year-old in 1995. So far, he has faced 153 balls, hitting seven fours and a six.

Bangladesh have postponed their Test series against New Zealand scheduled for October, opting instead to play three additional ODIs to concentrate on their preparation for the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent.”It’s a decision of the board and this morning we have conveyed our decision to the New Zealand cricket authorities,” Enayet Hossain Siraj, head of cricket operations at the Bangladesh Cricket Board, told . “We want to focus more on the World Cup and will play as many one-day matches as possible in the next months.”New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, Justin Vaughan, said they were comfortable with the change. “We have tours to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India all in advance of the World Cup so we are really keen to take the most advantage of that to prepare ourselves do really well in the World Cup,” he told . “Playing a full ODI series in Bangladesh works out pretty well.”Bangladesh and New Zealand will play five ODIs, all at Mirpur’s Sher-E-Bangla Stadium, and the two-Test series will be rescheduled for a date after the World Cup.