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ScorecardA fighting 121-run stand for the ninth wicket between Ashish Bagai and Khurram Chohan, a probing opening spell from Henry Osinde and a late run-out helped Canada dominate much of the third day in a game in which the advantage has swung from one side to the other. Set a tricky target of 176, Ireland were in control at 117 for 3 but Andre Botha’s dismissal for 61 brought Canada back into the game.The day started with Canada 49 runs ahead and only Osinde to come, and Ireland would have hoped to chase a target below 100. But Bagai and Chohan had other ideas. The duo played patiently during the highest partnership of the match, adding 121 runs in 46.2 overs. Both scored 59 runs today and hit seven fours each.Chohan was given out caught and bowled off Kevin O’Brien after making 59 off 177 deliveries. The innings ended a couple of overs later with Bagai mis-timing a pull off O’Brien to mid-on. He was unlucky to miss out on a hundred, scoring 90 off 157.O’Brien finished with 5 for 39 in 17.5 overs, responding brilliantly after first-innings hero Trent Johnston was unable to take the field, having retired hurt on the second day after being hit by an Osinde bouncer.Osinde troubled Ireland further, getting Rory McCann to edge behind in his first over and luring Paul Stirling into the bouncer trap in his fifth. Osinde’s figures at that moment read 5-2-13-2.Botha counter-attacked, hitting nine fours in his 61 off 84 deliveries. Though Rizwan Cheema trapped O’Brien leg-before, Botha’s presence gave Ireland hope. However, with 59 runs still needed, Botha was run out off Cheema’s bowling. Rain intervened thereafter and no further play was possible. The game is evenly poised with Ireland requiring another 52 runs with six wickets intact.

William Porterfield, Niall O’Brien and Gary Wilson have returned to Ireland’s squad for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe after missing the recent trip to Canada.The 14-man squad will head out to for an Intercontinental Cup tie against a Zimbabwe XI starting September 20, which is followed by three one-day internationals against the full Zimbabwe team.Niall O’Brien returns after surgery on his finger while captain Porterfield and Wilson are both released from county duty to play in the full tour.The trio’s inclusion is particularly important with senior paceman Boyd Rankin out with a recurrence of his foot injury and Alex Cusack also recuperating following surgery on his leg muscles. Both hope to be back by the end of the year for Ireland’s tour to the subcontinent.Ireland are currently languishing in the middle of the Intercontinental Cup table – 25 points adrift of leaders Afghanistan – but Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, thinks his side still has a chance of challenging for the title.”It’s an important trip for a variety of reasons,” he said. “We’re currently ranked 10th in the world above Zimbabwe, and we want to not only keep our position but close in on, and possibly overhaul Bangladesh. We haven’t given up hope of still qualifying for the final of the Intercontinental Cup. A full points win would keep us in with a chance, so we’ll be striving all out to achieve that.”The World Cup is now only five months away, and for the fringe players these fixtures represent a mammoth opportunity to convince me and the selectors that they should be on the plane to Bangladesh and India. I hope that they take their chance and make a name for themselves .I have most of the squad in my mind, but there’s still a few places up for grabs.”There was good news elsewhere for Ireland after Trent Johnston climbed up to 20th place in the ICC’s ODI bowling rankings – the highest of any Associate bowler – while Paul Stirling is in 37th place in the batting after his epic 177 in Ireland’s ODI victory over Canada earlier this month.Ireland squad: William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, George Dockrell, Allan Eastwood (Pembroke), Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien (wkt), Andrew Poynter, Paul Stirling, Albert Van De Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wkt).

Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi opener, is the only new face in a weakened 14-man squad for the three-ODI series against Australia which starts on Sunday. As many as seven first-choice players, including Sachin Tendulkar, have been omitted from the squad; while Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha have been rested, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma have been left out with minor injuries.Dhawan, 24, scored a century in the Challenger Trophy earlier this week and was a regular member of the Mumbai Indians’ march to the IPL final this year. He was also Delhi’s highest scorer in the domestic one-day tournament last season, making 355 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The absence of India’s three established one-day openers – Tendulkar, Gambhir and Sehwag – has provided the opportunity for Dhawan, who is likely to be accompanied by Tamil Nadu’s M Vijay at the top of the order.”It was always at back of my mind that if I keep performing well I will get a chance,” Dhawan told ESPNcricinfo. “The IPL was a great learning experience. It’s like an international tournament, playing with [Tendulkar, with whom he opened the innings for Mumbai Indians] playing such a level gives you lots of confidence. if I get a chance to play for India I’ll be more confident since I’ve played at that kind of level.”Dhawan already has played with many players who are important members of the Indian team. Besides Tendulkar, he was a team-mate of Harbhajan and Zaheer for Mumbai in the IPL, and the national team has plenty of Delhi players – Sehwag, Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Ashish Nehra. “That is going to help a lot since I won’t feel out of the team,” Dhawan said. “Though I am a youngster and just getting in, there is already a comfort level with several of the team-mates.”Another player for whom this will be a big series is Tamil Nadu offspinner R Ashwin, who forms the spin department along with Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin was instrumental in Chennai Super Kings’ title wins in the IPL and the Champions League Twenty20 this year and could get several matches since the spinners ahead of him in the pecking order, Harbhajan and Ojha, are missing.Saurabh Tiwary, the Jharkhand batsman who has been part of the squad for the past two one-day tournaments without getting a match, has been included, as has Karnataka medium-pacer Vinay Kumar, who played one ODI during the Zimbabwe tour earlier this year.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma

Doug Bollinger is never shy of giving out a few words to the batsmen, but he plans to offer Kevin Pietersen the silent treatment when the Ashes gets underway next month. Bollinger is confident that he is on track to recover from his stomach injury in time for the first Test in Brisbane on November 25 after returning early from the tour of India.If Bollinger regains fitness he is likely to slot straight back into the team having taken 49 wickets at 23.79 in 11 Tests, but he has no plans to chirp at Pietersen even though the batsman has been going through an extended form slump and has scored an international hundred since March 2009.”I don’t think I will say much to Kevin Pietersen because I think that’s what he likes,” Bollinger told . “I think I might put him off his game by not saying anything and let his ego get him out.”However, the rest of England’s batting line-up won’t escape some words of advice from Bollinger should he be ready to share the new-ball. “I tend to say a lot of things when I get angry and get a bit upset and a bit hot and flustered, but we’re playing for the Ashes,” he said.”It’s a massive thing. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be part of my whole life and I’m sure it is for everyone else. So if one of the guys gets into a contest I’m going to be right behind them as a team should be.”Bollinger’s participation in the first Test has been put in doubt after he suffered a stomach strain during the first Test against India last month and he is still two weeks away from a return. He will miss the one-day series against Sri Lanka and has just one Sheffield Shield match to prepare himself for Brisbane, but insists he will be ready to regain his place. “I’m 100 percent, I feel really good, I’m getting back into everything, so I’m going to be fine come November 25.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak did well for Bangladesh, but Zimbabwe came up with a better team effort•Associated Press

Zimbabwe overcame a stubborn Shakib Al Hasan to outlast Bangladesh by nine runs in the opening one-dayer in Mirpur. The margin of victory did not do justice to the Zimbabwe spinners’ control for most of the chase, and emphasised Shakib’s excellence in retrieving a cause that had seemed out of bounds at one point. He played the defining innings on a day dominated by the bowlers, but his team-mates succumbed to the pressure in a spate of poor shots and run-outs to end their team’s dream run, and hand Zimbabwe an upset victory.Bangladesh were in the middle of a major top-order collapse when Shakib walked out: in under six overs, they had gone from 76 for 1 to 98 for 5, with Ray Price and Prosper Utseya breathing down their necks. When Suhrawadi Shuvo was cleaned up with the score on 115, Bangladesh were pushed right to the edge of the precipice. Shakib, however, knew that the run-rate was under control, and chose to wait for the weaker bowlers to come on.Displaying the kind of composure that made Michael Bevan famous, he turned things around without ever looking like taking a risk. When Price and Utseya hustled through their overs, he resorted to cautious dabs into the gaps before opening up against Keith Dabengwa who came on as back-up. Shakib used Dabengwa’s angle and spin to find the leg-side boundary with a variety of sweeps, looting 13 runs off the 36th over. That assault reduced the equation to 65 from 14 overs and Zimbabwe began to sweat again.With Mahmudullah holding up the other end, Elton Chigumbura was forced to bring back the lead spinners. Shakib seamlessly shifted back into nurdle-mode, bringing up his 16th half-century in the 41st over, with one of several check-drives to long-off. Zimbabwe eventually broke through in the 43rd, Mahmudullah holing out against Chris Mpofu after adding 54 with Shakib. With the batting Powerplay in place for the last five overs, Mashrafe Mortaza helped Shakib narrow the gap further, biffing a couple of boundaries through the off side. Twenty-three to get off 21 and time for Bangladesh to show they could close things out. Unfortunately for them, there were more twists to follow.A dreadful mix-up left Mortaza stranded mid-pitch, forcing him to sacrifice his wicket for the team’s cause. It did not help; With 15 needed at run-a-ball, Shakib committed his first error of the day, top-edging a scoop into short fine-leg’s lap. It was all over in the 49th over when Shafiul Islam perished to the fourth run-out of the innings, leaving Zimbabwe’s fielders jumping for joy.The sad part for Bangladesh was that their errors in the second half came after a very professional job in the first. Once again, they executed the slow left-arm choke they have become dangerously adept at, overcoming a strong opening and a resilient middle-order recovery to dismiss Zimbabwe for 209. Abdur Razzak played the lead role for the home side, prising out four wickets to go past 150 one-day scalps, while the supporting cast tied up things at the other end.Razzak came on in the 10th over and he promptly made an impact with his variations, after the seamers had wasted the morning’s favourable weather conditions. Chamu Chibhabha perished to an ambitious swipe across the line, before Brendan Taylor’s back foot was coaxed out of the crease with lovely flight and spin. The track suddenly seemed full of demons, with Razzak getting every other delivery to bite and spit across the right-handers. As is often the case in such circumstances, Chigumbura fell to one of the poorer deliveries, chopping a wide ball onto the stumps.After Tatenda Taibu’s dismissal, Zimbabwe quickly reassessed the innings and Craig Ervine combined with Regis Chakabva in a risk-free repair job. With Razzak out of the attack, survival became easier and both batsmen settled in to work the bowling around. Chakabva swept a couple of leg-stump offerings and Ervine guided a full toss through the covers, all for fours, but otherwise their 65-run stand was characterised by deft placement and smart running.Mahmudullah eventually broke through with a flighted offbreak, foxing Chakabva into a return catch for 45. By then, Zimbabwe had survived the toughest phase of the innings without losing much ground. They failed to make the most of the platform, though, losing their way towards the end.Ervine and Utseya departed in the batting Powerplay, exposing the tail to the spinners. The result was that the last five wickets fell for 25, ending the innings in the 49th over. At that stage it looked like a fighting score. A couple of hours later, it seemed to be more than sufficient, but Shakib was not going to go down without a fight. On the day, though, he could not do enough to deliver the knockout punch.

ScorecardUsman Khawaja made an unbeaten 78•Getty Images

Usman Khawaja ensured he will remain at the front of the queue for a Test call-up if Ricky Ponting’s broken finger keeps him out of the Boxing Day Test, after helping to keep New South Wales on top against Queensland. Khawaja made an unbeaten 78 as the Blues set the Bulls an unlikely target of 414 for victory, although by stumps on the third day the visitors had made a solid start to their chase.Queensland reached 0 for 71 at the close, with Ryan Broad on 31 and Wade Townsend on 26, but their task remains an enormous one after three days that have been dominated by New South Wales. The Bulls began the day at 3 for 84 in their first innings and they relied on the debutant Andrew Robinson (77) and the tailender Luke Feldman (43) to guide them to 213.They lost seven wickets in the first session, including three in four balls taken by the left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe, who finished with 3 for 23. The axed Test spinner Nathan Hauritz collected 2 for 68 and Doug Bollinger picked up 3 for 55, having also recently been dumped from the Test squad.New South Wales did not enforce the follow on despite having a 245-run first-innings lead, and they lost early wickets in their second innings to fall to 3 for 36. However, Khawaja steadied the Blues in a strong partnership with Moises Henriques, who ended up on 53 not out when Stuart Clark’s declaration came, leaving Queensland 25 overs to face before stumps.