Ireland win Intercontinental Cup
John Mooney8217;s second five-wicket haul in the match saw Ireland post a comprehensive victory by 122 runs over Afghanistan to win the ICC Intercontinental Cup final on Friday. Defending champions Afghanistan,chasing 347 runs for victory,were 136 for five overnight but were dismissed for 224. Medium pacer Mooney took 5 wickets for 36 in the Afghan second innings,giving him match figures of 10-81. This was Ireland8217;s fourth title in six editions of the Intercontinental Cup.
Bereaved Herath to miss ODI series
Sri Lanka8217;s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has ruled himself out of the five-match One Day International series against Pakistan,scheduled to commence on December 18 at Sharjah. The decision came after the demise of his mother earlier this week. Herath,however,will join the team for the three-Test series,which will take place after the conclusion of the One-dayers. He became the second senior player to opt out of the series due to personal reasons after former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene made himself unavailable for both Twenty20 Internationals and ODI series.
PCB not in a rush to decide Bangladesh situation
PCB8217;s acting Chairman Najam Sethi has made it clear that the PCB would take no unilateral decision about pulling out of the Asia Cup or the ICC World Twenty20 Championship in Bangladesh despite the growing security concerns in that country. 8220;Both the events are multi-nation tournaments and providing security is responsibility of the Asian Cricket Council and International Cricket Council which are the hosts of these events,8221; Sethi said. There are fears that Bangladesh might lose the hosting rights of the two major events because of the growing unrest and security concerns.