Dhaka, Feb 7 (UNB) — Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza on Wednesday said he was looking forward to completing 20 years in competitive cricket. 

The 35-year-old pacer had earlier said he might retire from international cricket after the World Cup 2019. 

“I don’t know whether I will continue to play international cricket after a certain time but I have a dream to complete 20 years in competitive cricket,” Mashrafe said after his team Rangpur Riders were eliminated from BPL, losing to the Dhaka Dynamites.

He said it was not all about international cricket. “I might continue to play domestic competitions like Dhaka League and BPL,” Mashrafe said. 

The right-arm pacer started his career in 2001 with a Test match against Zimbabwe. Since then, he has been an integral part of Bangladesh team in all formats. But he suffered many injuries during his career and underwent surgeries seven times.

Mashrafe has played 202 ODIs, the most by any Bangladeshi cricketer. He has appeared in 36 Tests and 54 T20Is as well.

Melbourne, Feb 7 (AP/UNB) — Cricket Australia says bowling coach David Saker has announced his immediate resignation.

The cricket body confirmed in a statement on Thursday that Saker would leave the post after a home season in which Australia's fast bowlers were criticized for going six test matches without an lbw decision against India and Sri Lanka.

Head coach Justin Langer said he reached a mutual agreement with Saker, a former England bowling coach, that it was time for the pair to part ways.

"David and I have had ongoing discussions over the past nine months about his role with the team, and we agreed it's the right time to head in a different direction in the best interests of the team," Langer said in the statement.

Troy Cooley will serve as acting bowing coach on upcoming limited-overs tours of India and against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Langer is likely to hire a new bowling coach ahead of the team's marathon tour of England, during which Australia will defend both the World Cup and Ashes series.

Melbourne, Feb 7 (AP/UNB) — Fast bowler Mitchell Starc will miss Australia's limited-overs tour of India with a torn left pectoral muscle.

National selector Trevor Hohns said Thursday that Starc, who took 10 wickets in the final test against Sri Lanka earlier this week, tore the muscle on the final day of the match in Canberra.

Hohns said Starc hopes to return for five one-day matches against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in late March.

Australia will play two Twenty20s beginning Feb. 24 and five one-dayers against India, an important buildup to its World Cup title defense in England beginning in June.

Fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood is already out of action with a back injury, sustained during the home test series loss to India.

Former captain Steve Smith and David Warner, suspended over the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa last March, are still unavailable for selection.

D'Arcy Short was recalled to the 16-man squad named Thursday with Shaun Marsh set to miss the first half of the India series. Marsh will remain in Perth for the birth of his second child but is expected to be available for the third of five ODIs.

___

Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, D'Arcy Short.

Dhaka, Feb 6 (UNB) — Dhaka Dynamites blasted through to the final of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Wednesday, defeating defending champions Rangpur Riders in the second Qualifier by five wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

It was a sweet revenge for the Dynamites who had lost in the 2017 BPL final against Riders.

The final of this season is scheduled for February 8.

Dynamites were dominating throughout the match. They first restricted Riders to 142 and then chased down the target in 16.4 overs (147/5). Andre Russell remained unbeaten on 40 off 19 deliveries with five massive sixes.

Earlier, Rubel Hossain, the right-arm national pacer took four wickets for the Dynamites. He was adjudged the man of the match.

While chasing, Dynamites lost the first wicket in the first over while Upul Tharanga skied to the mid-on and Nahidul Islam took the catch. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the Riders captain, helped his team with the first breakthrough.

In the second wicket stand of Sunil Narine and Rony Talukdar, Dynamites added 37 runs. Narine was the second batsman to get dismissed scoring 14 off eight deliveries.

Dynamites lost another three wickets inside 100 runs as Shakib Al Hasan (23), Keiron Pollard (14) and Rony Talukdar (35) failed to finish it up.

Mashrafe scalped two wickets while Nazmul Islam Apu and Benny Howell took one each for the Riders. But their effort went in vain as they lost the match.

Earlier, Riders were all out in 19.4 overs. Ravi Bopara struck 49 off 43 deliveries – the highest individual score for the Riders in the match.

They had a good start with Chris Gayle and Nadif Chowdhury. The latter struck three consecutive sixes off Shuvagata Hom before being dismissed in the last ball of fourth over. Riders were at 42 when they lost Nadif.

They faced a big blow at the start of the fourth over when Rubel scalped Gayle and Rilee Rossouw in two successive deliveries. Gyale poked a ball outside the off stump to the keeper.

The next delivery was a short one. Rilee went to pull it off but failed horribly and skied it. Keiron Pollard took an easy catch and Riders were down to 42/3 from 42/0 in 4.2 overs.

However, in the fourth wicket stand, Mohammad Mithun and Bopara added 64 runs to repair the initial damage. Mithun fell for 38 off 27 deliveries. He was dismissed by Qazi Onik.

After Mithun’s dismissal, Benny Howell fell for three and Riders were in big trouble losing five wickets for 109 inside 15 overs. They scored 33 runs in the last five overs losing the remaining wickets. In the last over, Bopara struck Rubel for two fours and a six before being dismissed.

For the Dynamites, Andre Russell and Onik took two wickets each and Shuvagata Hom and Shakib took one each.

Dynamites will face Comilla Victorians on February 8 at the same venue at 6pm. Both of them will fight for their second title.

Dhaka, Feb 6 (UNB) - Bangladesh national team coach Steve Rhodes on Wednesday said the Bangladesh team are now well-equipped to play away from home.

He was talking to reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at noon before leaving for New Zealand.

Eight players of Bangladesh cricket team -- Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman, Sabbir Rahman, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan -- along with the head coach and team manager Khaled Masud Pilot left Dhaka as the first group of the main team. The remaining players and support staff will depart after the final of the ongoing BPL on February 8. 

“I hope we’ll win some games. It’ll be great for us to win some games there though it’s not easy as was proved last time. But, we’re very happy with the recent performances of the players,” Rhodes said. 

“We’ll be doing our very best in the ODIs. But the things are very difficult in Test cricket. At the same time, we’re a little bit better equipped now to play away from home. Hopefully, we can produce some results in the Test matches as well,” the head of the Tigers further said.

Sabbir, who was added to the team in a questionable way, also talked to the media. He said: “The New Zealand series is like a second chance to me. I’ll try to exploit it properly, I’ll try to make it countable. I played in New Zealand two times. So, I have a decent idea on the weather and wicket of New Zealand. I believe this experience will help me take the advantage.”

Sabbir played five ODIs in New Zealand and scored 155 runs at an average of 38.75 which is better than his career average of 24.51. He had struck an unbeaten 42 in New Zealand which remained as his best ODI knock in the country. 

Mehidy, the right-handed all-rounder who was among the eight Bangladesh players who went to New Zealand today, thinks adapting with the condition will be the first challenge for them. At the same time, he thinks the past experience of playing in New Zealand will help them adapt to the condition faster. 

“We’re going to New Zealand a few more days ago. It’ll help us adapt to the condition which is the first challenge for us,” Mehidy said. “We’ve played in New Zealand before. So, adapting to the condition will be easier this time.”

Bangladesh will lock horns with the hosts in three ODIs and as many as Tests. While the three ODIs will take place on February 13, 16 and 20 respectively, the three-match Test series will be held sequentially on February 28, March 8 and 16.  

The forthcoming series is regarded as the final phase of Bangladesh’s preparations ahead of the World Cup. Bangladesh’s next assignment after the New Zealand tour will be tri-series in Ireland where West Indies will be the third team along with the hosts and the Tigers.