Chittagong, March 14
Opener Imrul Kayes smashed an unbeaten 73 to help Bangladesh to a six-wicket win over Netherlands on Monday, boosting the co-hosts' chances of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals. Chasing a modest 161-run victory target, Bangladesh lost Tamim Iqbal in the first over but Kayes chalked up his second successive half century to see them home in the Group B match in 41.2 overs.

Abdur Razzak (3-29) and his spin colleagues had earlier laid the foundation for Bangladesh's victory by bowling with tremendous discipline and the Dutch batsmen did not help their cause either with four of them running themselves out. For them, Ryan ten Doeschate waged a grim battle but ran out of partners to remain not out on 53 as his team folded for 160 in 46.2 overs.

Bangladesh's win added another twist to an already wide open Group B. They leapfrogged England into fourth place with six points. If Ireland are beaten by South Africa on Tuesday and England go down to West Indies on Thursday, then Bangladesh will go through to the last eight without needing to win their final match.

"It was anervous game because we had to win to stay in the contest," Shakib said. "We'll be watching that (England v West Indies) match very closely but it's still within our hands and if we do well against South Africa (on Saturday) we'll qualify." Kayes lost his opening partner Tamim before the hosts had even registered a run on the board but the 24-year-old, one of seven left handed players in the Bangladesh line-up, kept his focus to carry his bat through the innings.

After Mudassar Bukhari had bowled Tamim in the fourth ball of the innings, Kayes added 92 runs for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique (35) to record Bangladesh's highest ever World Cup partnership for any wicket. Kayes then added 59 for the third wicket with Shahriar Nafees (37) before Mushfiqur Rahim (11 not out) clobbered a four and a six off successive deliveries to carry Bangladesh over the finishing line.

Earlier, Dutch batsmen struggled to score against Bangladesh's miserly spin attack on the slow track at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Captain Shakib Al Hasan, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Abdur Razzak's left-arm deliveries flummoxed Peter Borren's men, who rarely managed to find the gaps in the field to build up any form of momentum in their innings.

The spinners shared five wickets between them with Razzak proving to be the most destructive. The Dutch also pressed the self-destruct button as Eric Szwarczynski (28), Tom Cooper (29), Borren (3) and last man Adeel Raja (0) ran themselves out chasing tight runs. Borren was livid with his team's performance. "We said we were going to play brave cricket but we played bad cricket.

The wicket was a challenge to bat on but 160 was not enough. We let ourselves down," he said. "Today was an opportunity (to cause an upset)... Every time batters got in we managed to throw it away so yeah, disappointing." The only man to defy Bangladesh was ten Doeschate.

The South-African born batsman, who scored a brilliant century against England in their opening World Cup match, again produced some fluent strokes to delight the smattering of Dutch supporters in the crowd but eventually ran out of partners. — Reuters

Scoreboard
Netherlands
Szwarczynski run out 28
Barresi lbw b Shakib 10
Bukhari c Rahim b Razzak 6
Cooper run out 29
ten Doeschate not out 53
Kervezee st Rahim b Shuvo 18
de Grooth lbw b Razzak 4
Buurman c Kayes b Razzak 0
Borren run out 3
Seelaar lbw b Hossain 0
Raja run out 0
Extras: (lb 9) 9
Total: 160 (46.2 ovrs)
Bowling: Shafiul 9.2-3-15-0, Razzak 10-2-29-3, Shakib 8-0-38-1, Hossain 9-0-36-1, Shuvo 10-1-33-1.

Bangladesh
Iqbal b Bukhari 0
Kayes not out 73
Siddique c Seelaar b Borren 35
Nafees b Cooper 37
Shakib c ten Doeschate b Cooper 1
Rahim not out 11
Extras: (b 2, lb 3, w 3, nb 1) 9
Total: 166/4(41.2 ovrs)
Bowling: Bukhari 6-2-14-1, Raja 7-0-31-0, ten Doeschate 6-1-30-0, Seelaar 10-1-25-0, Borren 5-0-28-1, Cooper 7.2-2-33-2

Pallekele, March 14
Young Asad Shafiq registered his highest individual ODI score to help Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-marred Group A match and qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup here today.

Playing his first match in the tournament, Shafiq scored an unbeaten 78 and together with Mohammad Hafeez (49) added 82 runs for the second wicket to see Pakistan chase down the 162-run revised target of Zimabwe in 34.1 overs. Zimbabwe, earlier, rode on a half century from Craig Ervine (52) to post 151 for seven in 39.4 overs.

But Pakistan were set 162 for a win in 38 overs with the target being revised under the Duckworth-Lewis method after Zimbabwe innings was interrupted twice by rain at the Pallekele international Stadium. With eight points from four wins out of five matches, Pakistan are through to the next round, and will face world champions Australia in their last group match in Colombo on Saturday.

The defeat Zimbabwe, however, drew curtains to Zimbabwe's quarter-finals hopes as they have garnered just two points from their five matches. They will next face Kenya in an inconsequential group match on Sunday. Chasing the revised target, Pakistan lost Ahmed Shehzad in the fourth over, stumped by Tatenda Taibu off the bowling of Raymond Price (2/21) with the scoreboard reading 17.

But the wicket failed to deter Mohammad Hafeez who hit Shingirai Masakadza for three boundaries in the next over to anchor the Pakistani run chase in the initial stages.

After the early wicket, Hafeez joined hands with Shafiq to set the platform for the chase with an 82-run second wicket stand. But just when it seemed, Pakistan would comfortably march towards the victory off-spinner Prosper Utseya broke the partnership between Hafeez and Shafiq. Utseya dismissed Hafeez just one run short of his eight international half century, caught by Price at slip with Pakistan still needing 64 runs to win off 94 balls. — PTI

Scoreboard
Zimbabwe
Taylor c Kamran b Razzaq 4
Chakabva lbw b Gul 0
Taibu c Afridi b Riaz 19
Sibanda c Misbah b Gul 5
Ervine b Hafeez 52
Lamb c & b Afridi 16
Chigumbura not out 32
Utseya c Kamran b Gul 18
Extras: (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5
Total: 151/7 (39.4 ovrs)
Bowling: Razzaq 7-1-24-1, Gul 7.4-1-36-3, Riaz 6-0-21-1, Afridi 8-0-33-1, Rehman 8-1-24-0, Hafeez 3-0-11-1.

Pakistan
Hafeez c Price b Utseya 49
Shehzad st Taibu b Price 8 Shafiq not out 78
Afridi b Price 3
Younis not out 13
Extras: (w 13) 13
Total: 164/3 (34.1 ovrs)
Bowling: Masakadza 6-1-44-0, Price 8-1-21-2, Utseya 7-1-24-1, Lamb 7-0-44-0, Cremer 6.1-0-31-0.

Kolkata, March 14
On a high after snatching a moral-boosting three-wicket victory over India, South Africa will now look to seal their quarter-final berth when they take on a wobbly Ireland in their penultimate group B World Cup clash at the renovated Eden Gardens here tomorrow.

The South Africans have some injury concerns ahead of the game with A B de Villiers down with a thigh strain and it remains to be seen whether the in-form batsman takes the field.

Chasing 297, South Africa top and middle-order fumbled but Faf du Plessis and Robin Peterson down the order showed nerves of steel to shed their chokers tag for a thrilling three-wicket win in their previous match against India.

After racing to 267 for one in the 40th over, India lost nine wickets for just 29 runs in an embarrassing way with pacer Dale Steyn returning with a five-wicket burst to skittle out the hosts inside 49 overs. The victory also gains significance because it brought their campaign back on track after their dramatic six-wicket loss to England in Chennai.

It was more special for the Proteas who had to make it possible despite losing out on their most successful bowler Imran Tahir.

The leg-spinner having sustained a fractured thumb is ruled out for 10 days and is certain to miss the match against Ireland but that should not pose a big problem for South Africa with their attack boasting of Steyn, Morne Morkel while Johan Botha will lead the spin attack. Smith, who had scored an unbeaten 134 to a 10-wicket win over India in their last ODI at Eden Gardens, would look to continue his fine form on the strip that promises to be batsmen-friendly.

There is a hint of grass on the Eden 22-yard but curator Probir Mukherjee promised it would assist the batsmen even as he pointed out that there has not been much dew here since last few days. — PTI

Kolkata: Leading South African scorer A B de Villiers is a doubtful starter for tomorrow's group B World Cup fixture against Ireland due to a thigh muscle strain. He has been diagnosed with a grade one muscle pull and it seems that the team think-tank may not risk fielding the in-form batsman against minnows at Eden Gardens tomorrow.

London, March 14
Manchester City set up a titanic FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United with a battling 1-0 win over Championship side Reading at Eastlands on Sunday.

City reached the last four for the first time in 30 years after scoring the only goal of a dour match when England defender Micah Richards powerfully headed home a corner after 74 minutes.

Stoke City ended an even longer wait to make the semis for the first time since 1972 when they beat West Ham United 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

They will face Bolton Wanderers, who beat Birmingham City 3-2 on Saturday when United made sure of their place with a 2-0 win over Arsenal.

City were made to battle all the way by second division Reading who beat Premier League West Bromwich Albion and Everton on the way to the last eight.

They defended superbly against Roberto Mancini's expensively assembled team who were largely unimpressive apart from the hard-working David Silva. Mancini, under pressure to end City's 35-year wait for a trophy, said his team looked sluggish after travelling to Ukraine for a Europa League game on Thursday which they lost 2-0 to Dynamo Kiev.

"It is impossible to be fresh at this moment, we played in Kiev three days ago and got back in the night," he said. "It is impossible to be at 100 per cent.

"But today at least we had 17 attempts on goal against two or three for them, but it was difficult because Reading are a good team and played well."

The rivalry between United and City has intensified since Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi took control at Eastlands and began pouring hundreds of millions into the club.

Despite their neighbours' cash-fuelled arrival among England's elite, United are still the dominant force, beating City in an epic League Cup semi-final last season and losing only one of their last eight matches against them over the last three seasons.

Asked about facing United, Mancini replied: "It should be a fantastic game and we are very happy to be at Wembley, but it is only the semi-final. We want to go back for the final as well."

Manchester City have not met Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals since 1926 when City won 3-0 before losing 1-0 to Bolton in the final.

Stoke, who have been competing in the FA Cup for 128 years and have never reached the final, went ahead with a trademark goal after 12 minutes when Robert Huth rose above the West Ham defence to powerfully head home a long thrown from Rory Delap.

Frederic Piquionne equalised for the Hammers with a controversial goal as he appeared to control the ball with his arm in the build-up. Former West Ham winger Matthew Etherington had a 47th minute penalty saved after he was adjudged to have been tripped by Scott Parker, before Danny Higginbotham smashed a 63rd free kick through the West Ham wall for what proved to be the winner. — Reuters

New Delhi, March 14
A 20-member Indian women's football team will play in the Olympic qualifier Round One in Bangladesh from March 18 to 22. India are clubbed with hosts Bangladesh and Uzbekistan in Group B. The winners will qualify for the main round of the qualifiers.

Goalkeepers: Sita Sharma and Aditi Chauhan. Defenders: Ansha, K Rebika , Suparva, Rashmita, Alochana and Tuli Goon. Midfielders: Manpreet Kaur, Amoolya Kamal, O Bembem Devi, Pinky Magar, Lochana Munda, N Montesori, Swati Rawat and Gayatri Mallick. Strikers: T Tababi Devi, N Bala Devi, L Naobi and Raju Sugnaya.

Kolkata, March 14
Mohun Bagan's IFA Shield campaign began with a 1-1 draw against Shillong Lajong FC in a group B match at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here today.

Playing without Rakesh Masih and Anwar Ali, who are doing national duties while Subair Muritala Ali, Snehashish Chakraborty, Sagram Mandi and Surkumar Singh are in the injury list, Mohun Bagan were given a fine start when Ashim Biswas gave them the lead in the 32nd minute. — PTI