Bangladesh tasted its long-awaited victory when Enamul Haq struck a second-half goal to inspire the hosts to a lone goal win over Cambodia on the opening day of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers on Sunday.

It was Bangladesh's first triumph in 26 matches. Before this win, the Red and Greens had won 2-1 against the same rivals in the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup in 2006 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

National opener Tamim Iqbal has been surprisingly sold for Tk 7.7 lakh per match in the new Port City League (PCL) auction to Chittagong Abahani Limited on Saturday.

Like the Indian Premier Cricket League (IPL) auction, as many as 48 cricketers were up for auction at the Chittagong Club where eight participating sides took part for their expected players for the PCL, beginning on May 2 at the MA Aziz Stadium.

Bangladesh is ready to host the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers with all preparations already completed, said Bangladesh Football Federation officials on Friday.

"All preparation have been completed to make the tournament a success and the participating teams and tournament officials have started arriving in the city and we are just waiting for the kick off," chairman of the Challenge Cup's local organising committee Anwarul Haq Helal told reporters at a pre-tournament press briefing at BFF House on Friday.

Nokia, the world's leading mobile manufacturer, has earned the right to sponsor the Bangladesh football team as well as be a youth development partner for one year.

Nokia had earlier temporarily sponsored the national football team twice ahead of last year's SAFF Championship and the AFC Cup qualifiers providing Tk 26 lakh.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is finally preparing its very own unified coaching manual in order to develop the country's cricket.

Since Bangladesh gained Test status in 2000, Cricket Australia had voluntarily provided training to Bangladesh local coaches and umpires under a five-year agreement that ended in 2006.

Australia are banking on the return of Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson to provide the spark for a jaded side which takes on Pakistan in the first of five one-day internationals on Wednesday.

The two powerful all-rounders should lift the Australians who are resting captain Ricky Ponting, batsman Mike Hussey and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson for the series against Pakistan which has been moved to the UAE because of security concerns.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rejected an application from the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) seeking approval for their Twenty20 competition.

"The board considered that approval was not appropriate," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgan told reporters on Saturday.

The Sri Lanka U-19 cricket team arrives in Dhaka on Friday on a three-week tour.

The visitors will open their tour on April 19 with the two-day match at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan ground before facing the hosts in the first of two three-day games starting from April 22 at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium.

World champions Australia slipped to third place in the one-day rankings on Wednesday, their lowest since the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced ratings in October 2002.

On Monday Australia collapsed to their seventh defeat in nine matches against top-ranked South Africa this year and now lie third in the rankings behind India.

Director of Kolkata Knight Riders Joy Bhattacharya on Monday ruled any uncertainty over Mashrafee Bin Mortaza's agreement with the club despite signing no deal yet.

Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan's side has bought Bangladesh pace spearhead at $6 lakh from the players' auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which begins on April 18 in South Africa.

Fresh from a rare test series victory in New Zealand, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes India have what it takes to beat the best in the world on their home soil.

India's test series win in New Zealand this week was their first in four decades. It was also their third successive test series victory since beating top-ranked Australia in November.

Inter coach Jose Mourinho said he hoped Adriano found happiness away from Inter Milan even if that meant he had to stop playing.

"Inter have done everything to help Adriano before I arrived and with me, as a coach and human being, so have the president and his team mates," Mourinho told a news conference on Friday.

Bangladesh pace spearhead Mashrafee bin Mortaza made his debut for Kolkata Knight Riders claiming 1-33 in his four-over spell during a warm-up game at Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

Kolkata Knight Riders reached the target with five balls to spare after restricting Free State to 152 as Sourav Ganguly hit a brisk unbeaten 61 and was well-supported by Cheteshwar Pujara, who also remained unbeaten on 66.

Robinho was christened the "magic man" at Manchester City earlier this season following his British record 32.5 million pounds ($48.49 million) arrival from Real Madrid in the final minutes of the August transfer window.

But eight months on, the only magic that the Brazilian forward is seemingly producing for Mark Hughes's team is his increasingly worrying ability to disappear just when his talents are required more than ever.

Two boxing coaches almost got into a scuffle over the training schedule of the camp for the upcoming South Asian Games at BKSP on Tuesday.

It was learned that a BKSP and NSC coach first exchanged heated words defending their respective training schedules. But the argument soon escalated into a physical confrontation before the pair had to be restrained by BKSP staff.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has been drafted in the Bangladesh preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in June after serving a four-month ban for a suspected bowling action.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday named a 30-member preliminary squad with the inclusion of 10 uncapped players as well as old horses like Hannan Sarkar and Tareq Aziz Khan.

Playing soccer in the high altitude of La Paz is "impossible" and Argentina must learn a lesson from their stunning 6-1 defeat to Bolivia there, striker Lionel Messi said.

La Paz, the world's highest venue for international games, lies at 3,600 metres above sea level and Argentina face another World Cup qualifier at altitude in June when they visit Ecuador. That match will be played at 2,800m above sea level in Quito.

Abu Abdullah will not be defending his crown as Bangladesh's fastest man when the UCB 34th National Athletics Championship begins at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Friday.

Both he and runner-up Shamsuddin Ahmed have yet to return from Greece after attending the World Military Sports in March.

Bangladesh vice-captain Mashrafee Bin Mortaza leaves Dhaka for Kolkata on Thursday to join Indian Premier League side the Kolkata Knights Riders.

The second edition of the IPL will get underway from April 18 in South Africa and the Kolkata Knights Riders are expected to leave India on April 4.

The Bangladesh Football Federation earned approximately Tk 20 lakh from ticket sales in the Citycell Super League.

Harun-ur Rashid, chairman of the tournament committee and BFF member, said that we earned Tk 19,38360 though selling tickets in 21 matches including the final.