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Hosts Isle of Man registered their second win in as many games, with an authoritative 93-run win against Switzerland in Castletown. Openers Adam McAuley and Carl Wagstaffe were once again the architects for a good score, with a stand of 58 before the former was run out. Midhun Sandhya struck thrice in the middle overs, but had little impact on Ryan Burns who smashed 81 off 68 balls to take his side to 204 in the 40 overs. Captain Daniel Hawke then scuppered Switzerland’s hopes with a stifling spell of 3 for 9 in six overs. Harry Vines struck 41 as the innings meandered to 111 for 9.Italy’s bowlers set up an easy 60-run win against France in Castletown to take their side to the top of their group. Roshendra Abeywickrama kick-started Italy’s innings with 43 off 28 balls, but the rest of his side’s batsmen could not sustain the effort. Thomas Liddiard picked 4 for 46 in seven overs as Italy were bowled out for 155. Harpreet Singh then turned the tables on France with an incisive spell where he picked 4 for 15. France’s final score of 95 was an improvement of sorts, given they were 29 for 6 at one stage.Belgium brushed aside Greece’s challenge in quick time, racing to an eight-wicket win in a game that lasted under 40 overs in Tromode. Naman Parikh scythed through the Greek batting line-up with a six-wicket haul. Fraser McRae helped himself to three wickets as well, as Greece were shot out for 66. Things could have been much worse if not for Ioannis Vasilas and Georgio Kantas who scored 19 apiece. McRae followed it up with an unbeaten 45 as Belgium crossed the line in 16.1 overs.Germany ran Austria close in Crosby before losing by six runs in a tight encounter. Ciju Puthupally scored a patient 63 off 101 balls with only two boundaries as Austria laboured to 157 in their 40 overs. Jaskaran Singh and Tushar Marwaha picked three wickets each. Germany’s chase followed a similar template with opener Jaskaran scoring 55 off 83 balls, but without adequate support. Christoph Moslinger, Puthupally and Sohaib Farooq grabbed two wickets each as Germany lost one wicket too many, the last man departing off the penultimate ball with seven runs still required.

George Dockrell’s meteoric rise has reached a new height as he was offered a two-year contract by Somerset. Dockrell, the Ireland left-arm spinner who turns 18 this week, impressed at the World Twenty20 with flight, control and a nerveless temperament when he took 3 for 16 against West Indies and followed it up with another bright showing against England.His talents were noticed by Somerset, who invited him to train with the team and he is now looking forward to joining the club, though the details of the contract are not yet final.”Everyone has been very friendly and it looks like a great place to play cricket,” Dockrell told the Somerset website. “I’m looking forward to playing my first game for a Somerset XI at Bath tomorrow and hopefully the contract will be sorted out very soon.”He could yet follow in the footsteps of Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan and switch allegiances to England with a view to playing Test cricket but at the moment his sights are firmly set on Somerset.”My ambitions are to keep making progress with Ireland, but also to get into a county first team by developing all aspects of my game. I’ve been aware of Somerset’s interest since I was 15, but this is the first game I have watched at Taunton. I’m really impressed by the support and the players have been great to me.”Having become such a crucial part of Ireland’s team, Dockrell’s availability for Somerset this season is restricted with Ireland playing an Intercontinental Cup fixture and two ODIs against Netherlands in August before facing Canada at the beginning of September. Dockrell, however, is still keen to get a game in for Somerset before the season ends.”There are a lot of Ireland games coming up, but hopefully I will be able to get in at least one second XI match for Somerset before the end of the season.While spinners have a reputation for maturing late as cricketers, Dockrell’s exploits at the World Twenty20 showed how strong his game already is and he feels the tournament gave him plenty of belief.”Taking three wickets against West Indies gave me a huge boost in confidence,” he said. “I was very nervous before that game, but by the time we came to play England I was a lot calmer. I was really happy with how the tournament went for me overall. I was one of the youngest players there, but I tried not to think about that too much.”In the past Dockrell has spoken about his admiration for Australia’s Michael Clarke but a closer comparison is New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who had barely played a first-class game before making his Test debut against England aged 18. Vettori has become one of the most skilful bowlers in the world and Dockrell sees him as the standard to follow.”We played against him in West Indies and he was incredibly skilful with his control of the ball so I look towards him as an example.”

The ICC and PCB have clarified speculation emerging from Tuesday’s Asia Cup opener between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Dambulla about a Pakistan player possibly using a cell phone in the dressing room.Pakistani TV channels picked up on footage from the game which showed Mohammad Aamer sitting in the dressing room balcony with a helmet on, with one hand to his right ear, speaking to someone while waiting to bat. The channels implied that he was talking on a cell phone, an act in contravention of existing ICC anti-corruption rules which don’t allow players to take phones into the dressing room.The PCB emphatically denied this was the case, saying that Aamer was talking generally to the team about the situation of the match. In a statement, the board said that the manager Yawar Saeed “has confirmed to us that the rumors…are totally false and unfounded. Cell phones are not allowed under ICC & PCB rules, and as such are always collected by the security manager from every member of the squad except the manager.”Aamer was next to go in for batting and he was sitting next to team manager along with the other members of the team in the viewing area. They were all talking about the match situation and Aamer had his hand on his helmet which has been interpreted out of context.”The ICC confirmed that the ACSU had investigated the incident and come to a similar conclusion. “The ACSU has thoroughly investigated the alleged breach…including speaking to the relevant people involved, and is satisfied that there is no evidence of Mohammad Aamer making use of a mobile phone while sitting in the dressing room yesterday (June 15) during the match against Sri Lanka at Dambulla,” the ICC said.”Although the very short video clips that are publicly available could mislead viewers into thinking he was holding on to a cell phone and speaking to someone, upon closer scrutiny the fact emerges that Mohammad was actually holding on to the front grill of his helmet, adjusting it, and at the same time making a comment to his team manager, Yawar Saeed, seated to his immediate left.”The ACSU, as a practice, collect the mobile phones of all the players and officials before a game starts. Only the team’s manager is allowed to have a phone inside the area.

Robin Martin-Jenkins, the Sussex allrounder, has announced that he will retire from first-class cricket this summer. The current County Championship match against Worcestershire will be his last four-day match at Hove, his home ground.Robin, 35, is set to embark on a new career as a Geography and RS teacher at Hurstpierpoint College, when the new term begins this September. He won’t be available for selection after July 19, when Sussex and Worcestershire meet at a Pro 40 match at Hove.The son of leading cricket journalist, author, and cricket correspondent Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Robin made his first-class debut in 1995 and has scored 7174 runs and taken 378 wickets. He had a better career as a bowler in limited-overs games, taking 234 wickets and scoring 1996 runs in 228 matches.”I could have carried on, but I didn’t want to get to the stage where I was holding on too long and not performing,” Robin said. “I’m still enjoying it and I’m going out in a period when I’m still playing well, but I’ve been given a fantastic opportunity outside of cricket now and I intend to grab it with both hands. It’s a good time for the club too as there are some excellent young players coming through.”It’s been amazing to play for the club in what has been probably their greatest decade ever, it’s been a great honour. Yes, there were some tough times when I first broke into the team but that made guys like me stronger cricketers, and we reaped the rewards with the countless trophies we went on to win”.Robin was talked of as a potential allrounder for England, but never made the grade. “I have no regrets. I have always given my all throughout my career and I’ve been very proud to play for Sussex,” Robin added.Sussex chairman Jim May said Robin was a fantastic servant to the county over 15 seasons. “He has played a vital role in our sustained success and has certainly been an unsung hero of our three County Championship winning sides,” May said. “Not only is he an excellent allrounder, but he is also one of the genuinely nicest guys in the game. All of us here at Sussex are disappointed that Robin is leaving us whilst he is in the form of his life, but at the same time we are delighted that he has planned the next phase of his career, and we wish him well”.

Ricky Ponting has given Michael Clarke his support after the Twenty20 captain questioned his own form following Australia’s loss to England in the World Twenty20 final in the Caribbean. Clarke’s future as the Twenty20 leader is likely to be decided over the next week as the selectors settle on squads to tour England, and Ponting hasn’t seen anything to suggest Clarke should not stay in charge.”I don’t know what he had to say about himself, but everything I’ve been reading is very positive about him and how he’s led the team,” Ponting told Fox Sports. “I notice the coach [Tim Nielsen] made some positive comments and every time I have seen Michael in a leadership role he has done exceptionally well. So there are some really good signs there for the future of Australian cricket.”However, it is not Clarke’s captaincy that has been a concern over the past couple of weeks – the defeat in the final was his first loss as T20 captain – but his struggles with the bat. Clarke finished the tournament with the fewest runs of any Australian specialist batsman, and his strike-rate of 80 was well below the levels expected in Twenty20.The selectors are expected to meet on the weekend to discuss the squads for the upcoming contests in the UK and Dublin, where Australia have five ODIs against England, one versus Ireland, and two Twenty20s and two Tests against Pakistan. The next World Twenty20 is scheduled for 2012, so the Australians have plenty of time to decide on the team’s leadership.One thing that is certain is that Ponting won’t be making a comeback to the shortest format. His focus is squarely on regaining the Ashes next summer at home and he is already training for the tour of England, but he was keeping an eye on the way his colleagues performed in the West Indies.”I was disappointed for the boys; no doubt they were the best team right through the tournament but they stumbled at the last hurdle,” Ponting said. “They should be proud of the way they conducted themselves. Of course you would like to be there, but I made the decision I made for all the right reasons. I was finding it increasingly difficult to play all three formats of the game the way I wanted to.”

Having narrowly missed out on winning a second world title for Sri Lanka in England last year, Kumar Sangakkara’s team left for the Caribbean with the hope of winning the trophy in the third World Twenty20.”This team has the potential to go all the way in the tournament,” Sangakkara said prior to the team’s departure on Saturday. “Even last year we had a very similar team with a couple of new faces as in this one.”Sri Lanka are in Group B with New Zealand whom Sangakkara described as ‘a very dangerous team as we have experienced in the T20 format before’ and Zimbabwe ‘who have proved giant killers when they beat West Indies in T20s and ODI’. “They are not teams you can take lightly in T20 cricket. We know how dangerous this format of the game is.”Sangakkara said Sri Lanka’s spinners are likely to be one of their strengths. “The last time we went to the West Indies most of the wickets were spin-friendly. In T20 cricket generally the spinners bring a lot to the game. They have become very crucial match winners,” Sangakkara said. “They can be used to take wickets, to control games, change the pace of the game and rush through the overs when the opposition is in trouble. Especially with the quality spinners we have we’ll be able to make an impact.”In their line up Sri Lanka have a coterie of spinners led by the Muttiah Muralitharan supported by Ajantha Mendis, Suraj Randiv, Sanath Jayasuriya and part-timer Tillakaratne Dilshan.The Sri Lankan batting line-up will see Dilshan having a new partner with former captain Mahela Jayawardene joining him to open the innings. With 439 runs (strike rate of 147.31) from 13 matches in the IPL tournament for Kings Punjab XI, Jayawardene once again showed that he can contribute a lot towards the team when he is sent in as an opener.”Mahela has been very good for us in the middle-order but this year in particular and most of the latter part of last year his mental conditioning has been more towards trying to bat out all the way,” Sangakkara said. “We have seen that in the times he’s opened in one-day cricket and provincial tournaments. Sometimes it is one way of getting the best out of him putting him at the top of the order. Right now that seems the most realistic option to have him at the top with Dilshan and for everyone to bat around them.”Explaining the role Jayasuriya, the oldest member of the tournament at 40 will play in the team, Sangakkara said: “I think to play him as an all-rounder depends on the tracks we get. If there is turn and slowness on the tracks he will have a great chance of playing. If we decide to change the opening combination at some point he can get back to his old position. It depends on the wickets, the opposition and finally on performance.”Sri Lanka play a warm-up T20 match against South Africa on April 28 at Barbados before taking on New Zealand in the tournament lung-opener on April 30 at Providence, Guyana.

X-rays have confirmed that Graeme Smith does not need surgery for his fractured finger, and the South Africa captain is confident of recovering in time for the World Twenty20 starting at the end of next month.Smith has had plenty of finger injuries over the past few years, and the latest one has ruled him out of the remainder of the IPL. He broke the middle finger of his right hand while taking a catch in Rajasthan Royals’ match against Delhi Daredevils earlier this week. “Just left the doc, good news don’t need surgery, 4 weeks in a splint,” he said on his Twitter page on Thursday.South Africa’s team manager Mohammed Moosajee confirmed Smith was expected to be back at full fitness in four weeks. “Graeme will have a further X-ray on Tuesday to make sure his recovery is on track,” he said.This is the second finger injury Smith has picked up in little more than a month. He had hurt his little finger on the left hand during the build-up to the Eden Gardens Test in February, which kept him out of the one-dayers against India.

Yuvraj Singh, the Indian batsman, will be off to Australia for treatment on the ligament tear he suffered on his left wrist during the tour of Bangladesh. Yuvraj sustained the injury during the second Test in Mirpur, and was subsequently ruled out of the Test and ODI series against South Africa.”The BCCI has asked Yuvraj to go to Melbourne for consultation. But I don’t know whether he has departed,” Ratnakar Shetty, the Indian board’s chief administrative officer, told . Yuvraj had informed on his Twitter page about the decision, after India’s thrilling one-run win over South Africa in the first ODI in Jaipur. “Great stuff India! Am off to Australia for treatment — bye guys,” he wrote in his Twitter page.

Match facts

Tuesday March 2, 2010
Start time 14.00 (08.00GMT)Tamim Iqbal will need to repeat his feats from the first game but get more support from his team-mates if Bangladesh are to avoid a series defeat•Getty Images

Big Picture

Given their flashes of success against every other Test-playing nation, it’s certain that Bangladesh will eventually beat England. But after eight straight defeats, it’s the most recent, on Sunday that will really grate. Tamim Iqbal’s dazzling hundred was a glimpse of the talent that lies latent in the country, but the soft dismissals and clumsy fielding from his team-mates showed just how far they have to go before they can regularly challenge the best sides.England, for all their improvement in recent times, are not one of the world’s best. Their battery of medium-pace bowlers looked all too inviting at times on the lifeless pitch and, with England returning to Bangladesh in little under a year for the World Cup, it’s an area the management will have to consider.Alastair Cook will be relieved to have secured his first victory as England captain but will be most satisfied with his own performance. His brisk 64 at the top of the order showed that the hard work he has put into his game has started to pay, but he’ll more of the same and it was not enough to earn him a place in the provisional squad for the World Twenty20. Another strong performance will help him retain the authority he exuded in the opening fixture, which will be important as the tour wears on.His opposite number, Shakib Al Hasan, did not quite match him with the bat, getting bogged down too easily, but his inventive captaincy – bringing himself on in the third over – and clever left-arm spin will be crucial for a fielding side that still lacks bite. If he can find support with the ball to choke England’s middle order, Bangladesh may yet spring a surprise.

Form guide (last five completed matches)

Bangladesh LLLLL
England WWLWL

Watch out for…

Tamim Iqbal may have stolen the headlines in the first game, but the pressure will be on Bangladesh’s middle order now after they failed miserably in supporting the opener as he blazed to a century. Shakib Al Hasan is a vital cog in that position, averaging 37.47 with two hundreds since Bangladesh’s successful trip to the West Indies in July last year. He can also score quickly when the mood takes him, as his 85 against India at Mirpur in January showed. The quality of his bowling will also be vital to Bangladesh’s success.It was no surprise in the first game that when England’s pace bowlers came unstuck Graeme Swann stepped up to give his captain control and vital breakthroughs. He was England’s go-to bowler on their recent tour of South Africa and continued his good form with 3 for 32 to undermine Tamim’s innings. On a dry pitch he found potent turn and will be England’s main threat in the second match.

Team news

It was Bangladesh’s batting – Tamim aside – that failed to fire in the first game, and although their bowlers struggled to defend the sub-par total, it is unlikely there will be changes to the line-up. After his lengthy lay off, Mashrafe Mortaza looked woefully short of pace and rhythm on Sunday and Bangladesh will be hoping for a better showing from their strike bowler.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Aftab Ahmed, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzaq, 11 Shafiul IslamDuring Tamim’s assault England’s choice of a four-pronged pace attack came under scrutiny and Ryan Sidebottom may well end up cursing Eoin Morgan’s drop catch if England opt for a second spinner this time. Having ditched Adil Rashid, James Tredwell is the other spin option in the squad and could, after two tours without a match in New Zealand and South Africa, finally make his debut.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Craig Kieswetter, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Luke Wright, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Tim Bresnan, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Tredwell

Pitch and conditions

A slow, low turner would suit Bangladesh’s spin-based attack, and although a different pitch is being used for the second game, conditions will be probably be very similar, with scoring likely to be easier when the ball is hard. While dew was not as much of a factor as initially thought in the first match, it still made life tougher fielding up lights.

Stats and Trivia

• Paul Collingwood took his 100th catch when he held a tumbling chance from Mahmudullah in the first ODI to become the 12th man to take 100 wickets, 100 catches and score 4000 runs in ODI cricket.
• If James Tredwell replaces Ryan Sidebottom then 10 of England’s 11 will have first-class hundreds, Stuart Broad being the one man who doesn’t.
• In the eight one-day internationals he has played this year, Tamim Iqbal has scored 334 runs at 41.75 – including a 42-ball 60 against India and 62 against New Zealand, as well as his hundred in the first match of this series.
• Abdur Razzak has now bowled 44 overs in one-dayers since he last took a wicket.

Quotes

“The crowd always wants us to win, so it’s tough because we always disappoint them. We know that, we know that very well, but we trust in our ability that we will achieve that thing that they want”
“I think Alastair did a great job and he didn’t put me on in the Powerplay, which is a bonus”

Manoj Tiwary, the Delhi Daredevils batsman, has been ruled out of the IPL due to an injured left hand. He suffered the injury during the game against Chennai Super Kings in Durban while trying to stop a shot from Andrew Flintoff off his own bowling.He is expected to undergo surgery in the next few days. “It’s my bad luck. The surgery will be done in Johannesburg and I’ll be out of action for four to six weeks,” he told the Kolkata-based . “I’m bitterly disappointed.”This is not the first time he has missed a chance to be in the limelight. A shoulder injury in 2007 forced him to miss a one-day series in Bangladesh during which he was expected to make his debut.