Dhaka, Aug 9 (UNB) — Most of Bangladesh’s star cricketers are set to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha at their village homes on Monday.

Bangladesh’s next assignment is to play a Test and a tri-nation T20 series against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Before that, the national players are enjoying a rare vacation.

ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is set to celebrate Eid in Dhaka while Test captain Shakib Al Hasan is performing Hajj.

Former captain Mushfiqur Rahim will be at his village in Bogura during the Eid, while his brother-in-law Mahmudullah Riyad is set to celebrate this Eid at his hometown Mymensingh. National team opener Tamim Iqbal will be in Dhaka during the festival.

Young all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who played a pivotal role during Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign, will celebrate Eid in his hometown Khulna while Mustafizur Rahma will spend the occasion at his village home in Satkhira. 

Pacer Rubel Hossain will be in Bagerhat during the Eid while Abu Jayed Rahi will celebrate Eid in Sylhet. 

After the vacation, Bangladesh Cricket Board will announce the squad for the solitary Test against Afghanistan who are scheduled to come to Bangladesh on August 31. After the Test, Zimbabwe will arrive in Dhaka to play a tri-nation T20.

Guyana, Aug 9 (AP/UNB) — The first one-day cricket international between the West Indies and India was washed out by rain Thursday after only 13 overs had been bowled.

The West Indies were 54-1 when the umpires decided the match, which had been shortened to 34 overs per side, could not continue. Evin Lewis was 40 not out and Shai Hope 6 not out.

Opener Chris Gayle, who began his 299th one-day international needing 11 runs to overtake Brian Lara as the West Indies' leading scorer in ODIs, was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav for 4.

Rain plagued the match and 14 overs had already been lost when the toss was made 90 minutes late. India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to field because of the reduced number of overs and a fresh pitch.

Rain returned several times during the day, shortening the match further before it was finally abandoned just after 3 p.m.

"It's probably the worst thing in cricket, the stop-start game," Kohli said. "The more stops you have, the more you have to be careful about injuries on the field."

The second match of the three-match series will be played at Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Monday.

Johannesburg, Aug 8 (AP/UNB) — South Africa batsman Hashim Amla has retired from all international cricket.

Amla called time on a 15-year international career during which he gained a reputation as one of the country's most naturally gifted batsmen.

Amla finished as South Africa's second highest run-scorer in test cricket behind Jacques Kallis and the third highest in one-day internationals behind Kallis and AB de Villiers.

The stylish right-hander averaged more than 45 in both formats and also holds a string of South African batting records. He is the only South African to make 300 in test cricket and has his country's highest test scores against England, India and the West Indies, and the highest against Australia in the post-apartheid era.

Amla said "I learned many lessons during this incredible ride, made many friends and most importantly shared in the love of a brotherhood."

Islamabad, Aug 8 (AP/UNB) — All-rounders Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were omitted from the list of 19 players who were awarded central contracts for the 2019-20 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday.

Malik was in the top category A last season, but has already retired from test cricket and ODIs while Hafeez, who was in category B in the last season, was also left out.

The PCB trimmed the list to 19 from 33 players who were given central contracts last season.

"Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik have not been offered contracts but they will remain available for selection," the PCB said in a statement.

Only captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, batsman Babar Azam and leg-spinner Yasir Shah were retained in category A.

Test opener Azhar Ali and Mohammad Amir, who announced retirement from test cricket last week, were demoted in category B and C respectively.

The PCB said that players' performance and fitness during the last 12 months and "the formats they are likely to represent Pakistan in the upcoming season was taken into consideration" while awarding the contracts.

"The PCB has set high standards and targets in its strategic plan for the upcoming season," PCB managing director Wasim Khan said.

"We want to attach a high value to receiving a central contract. We have complete faith and confidence that these players will set-up and produce on-field performances that will help us collectively achieve our objectives and targets."

Pakistan will play six World Test Championship matches, three ODIs and nine Twenty20s over the next year against Sri Lanka, Australia and Bangladesh.

Dhaka, Aug 8 (UNB) – Bangladesh will play Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier on August 31 in Scotland.

Ireland, who also start their campaign on the same day (August 31) will play Namibia, which finished runners-up in the African region and entered the meet in the last moment as a replacement for Zimbabwe.   

In the qualifying round, Bangladesh, Scotland, PNG and the USA put in Group A while Group B teams consists of Ireland, Thailand, Namibia, and the Netherlands in the qualifying round from August 31 to September 7 in Scotland.

The league-cum-knockout tournament, which decides the two qualifiers for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, will also see Scotland take on the USA and Thailand fight it out with the Netherlands, as all eight teams play on the opening day at the two venues – the Forfarshire Cricket Club in Dundee and the Arbroath Cricket Club.

The Netherlands (Europe), Papua New Guinea (East Asia-Pacific), Thailand (Asia) and the USA (America), Namibia (Africa) made it after winning their respective qualifying events. Scotland qualified as the hosts.

The eight teams are divided into two groups to decide the semifinalists, with the winners of the two semifinals ensuring a place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 to be held in the Australian cities of Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney from 21 February 21 to March 8 next year.

Both semifinals, billed for September 5 and the final scheduled for September 7 will be played at the Forfarshire Cricket Club.

All the eight teams also get opportunity to play a warm-up match each on August 29 ahead of the tournament.

Warm-up Matches:

29 August: Ireland v PNG (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) Bangladesh v Netherlands (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) Scotland v Namibia (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) Thailand v USA (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)

Qualifying round matches:

August 31: Bangladesh v PNG (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) Thailand v Netherlands (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) Scotland v USA (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) Namibia v Ireland (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)

September 1: Thailand v Namibia (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) Scotland v PNG (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) Ireland v Netherlands (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) USA v Bangladesh (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)

September 3: Ireland v Thailand (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) Netherlands v Namibia (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) Scotland v Bangladesh (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) PNG v USA (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)

September 5: A1 v B2 (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) B3 v A4 (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) B1 v A2 (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) A3 v B4 (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)

September 7 : 3rd v 4th Place Play-Off (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 10h00) 7th v 8th Place Play-Off (Arbroath Sports Club, 10h00) Final (Forfarshire Cricket Club, 14h00) 5th v 6th Place Play-Off (Arbroath Sports Club 14h00)