He will stay on till the end of June, when his contract expires.

His decision to quit comes less than a month after Bangladesh reached the final of the Asia Cup, widely seen as one of their finest achievements.

“It is with great regret and a heavy heart that today I announce my stepping down as the head coach of Bangladesh,” Law said.

He said he will move back to Australia, after two and a half years in subcontinent, which included a coaching stint with Sri Lanka. “It is personal reason as to why I am standing down. Living away from the family and not seeing people growing up, I think we all understand that family comes first,” he said. “Cricket has been a huge part of my life but over the years I have realised that there is nothing more important than the family and if they are not happy then I am not happy and something had to give.”

Law had taken over as national coach last July, and though the initial results were disappointing – including losses to Zimbabwe – the home season ended with Bangladesh upsetting India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, before losing the final in a last-ball finish.

Bangladesh media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said the board understood Law’s decision. “As he (Law) has said the family was his priority and that should be the case for all of us,” Yunus said. “We are sorry to see him go, especially at a time when under his guidance the Bangladesh team is doing really well and showing good consistency.”

After the fall of Shahid Afridi, who sent the run rate up with some quick boundaries, a late burst by Sarfraz Ahmed made the score a fighting one. The Pakistan squad might thank Bangladesh seamer Shahadat Hossain for conceding 19 runs in the last over.

Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak took two wickets each while Mahmudullah and Nazmul Hossain one wicket each. Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was run out.

Tigers registered a great start removing opener Nasir Jamshed and experienced batsman Younis Khan within six overs to jolt the former world champions.

Experienced seamer Mashrafe Mortaza gave Bangladesh a flying start sending back Nasir Jamshed in the fifth over.

Jamshed tried to send a comparatively slower delivery but could not hit the ball the way he expected to and managed to give a catch to Mahmudullah in the cover. Jamshed scored 9 runs off 8 balls.

The second gift for the home side came from Nazmul Hossain, the man who destroyed Sri Lanka batting order with three top wickets in the previous match, in the sixth over.

The second ball of the over, which nipped in after pitching, hit Younis’ pad. And there were loud appeal from the bowler and his compatriots. And up goes the umpire’s finger. Out!

Younis could score just one 1 off 5 balls.

It was none other than the Pakistani skipper who had to follow Younis to the pavilion later. Pushing a delivery off seamer Shahadat Hossain, Misbah started to run and hesitated a bit before running again towards the non-striker’s end. And an excellent fielder, Nasir Hossain, picking up the ball, aimed successfully to dislodge the bails.

A big, confident appeal made the umpire signal for third umpire’s decision. And the digital scoreboard showed ‘OUT’ in red letters. A dejected Pak captain walked back scoring 13 runs off 23 balls.

It was quite long before the much-expected wicket of Mohammad Hafeez fell. Hafeez hit hard a ball off Abdur Razzak but failed to get desired elevation, ending up giving a catch to Nazmul Hossain in the 22nd over.

He scored 40 from 87 balls.

Then came another spinner, Shakib, and removed Hammad Azam in the

34th over. While trying to sweep, he saw to his dismay that the top edge landed on the bowler’s hands. A key man in rebuilding mission, Azam scored 30 off 37 balls.

Off-spinner Mahmudullah stroke in the 35th over to send back the other rebuilder, Umar Akmal, after he had scored 30. Wicketkeeper-skipper Mushfiqur Rahim took the catch.

Shakib hit again in the 42nd over to pick up a key wicket, Shahid Afridi. The pinch-hitter went for smashing the ball but ended up in miscuing it, giving catch to Nasir Hossain. He scored sour boundaries and an over-boundary in his 32-run inning off 22 balls.

Umar Gul, a seamer who has already established himself as a batsman, gave an easy catch to Shakib Al Hasan in the 45th over, bowled by Mashrafe, to return to pavilion scoring 4 runs off 6 balls.

Abdur Razzak clean bowled Saeed Ajmal in the last ball of the 46th over. He scored 4 runs off 7 balls.

The match began at 2:00pm Bangladesh time.

Earlier, winning the toss, Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim invited Pakistan to bat in quite an obvious decision expected from a side that has developed a confidence to chase.

Teams

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain and Nazmul Hossain.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Umar Akmal, Hammad Azam, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Aizaz Cheema.

In beating Sri Lanka by five wickets, the country’s most talked-about group of sportsmen reached the Asia Cup final where they will meet Pakistan tomorrow.

It is the fruition of several years of toil, tremendous hardship in the last decade and exasperation with one-off performances. The packed house at the Tigers’ home of cricket, the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, was the scene of history and at times it seemed every Bangladeshi was at the ground. When Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal walked in to bat, it seemed they did so with every cricketer who ever played for the country; it wasn’t baggage, it was responsibility that they carried with them. The two world-class cricketers delivered at the right time, winning a place in history and putting themselves on a different pedestal.

At 10:56pm, Nasir Hossain hit the winning boundary off the first ball of the 37th over in a stiff chase where they were asked to chase 212 runs in 40 overs following a 105-minute rain break. Sri Lanka were bowled out in 49.5 overs for 232 after a superb bowling performance by Nazmul Hossain and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

The crowd went absolutely nuts as the ball passed mid-on and into the boundary; the players ran in, the music was on full volume. A little while later, the Tigers took a victory lap with three flags surrounding them. It was a scene that will stay on with those lucky enough to witness it.

The unbroken sixth wicket pair of Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad added 77 precious runs after Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, the real architects of this victory, both fell within the 24th over.

Tamim hammered 59 off 56 balls with the help of nine glorious boundaries, but his stay ended through a very good catch at point by Lahiru Thirimanne from off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake in the 20th over with the team on 116 for four. Five of his boundaries were through the leg-side while four came on the off-side. Some of his shots, the chipped drive over the bowler’s head, the straight drive through his partner Shakib’s legs at the other end, the flicks past mid-wicket’s right and left, all oozed class. He reached fifty off 46 balls with a stunning straight-drive. But unfortunately, he couldn’t latch on to the one life he got, a dropped catch by Senanayake.

Shakib too was excellent and once again delivered under duress. He cracked seven boundaries in his 46-ball 56 before becoming Senanayake’s second victim. The all-rounder added 76 with Tamim but played in his unique way, hammering boundaries, top-edging some and even mistiming a lot early in the innings. In the eleventh over, Shakib opened his proper repertoire with a cover drive and a cut but it was the 21st over, bowled by the young offie, that showed what Shakib was really made of. After chipping one softly but safely, between cover and extra-cover he saw one fall short of the bowler after managing only to get a leading-edge on another. He followed it up with a cut boundary, before being beaten but still finished the over by reaching his half-century off 43 balls with a chipped drive over extra-cover’s head.

Senanayake finished as the best bowler on show for the Lankans with 2-38 from eight overs but the pacemen were handled quite well by the Tigers’ batsmen who have showed rare consistency in attitude and performance in this tournament.

Earlier though, it was Nazmul who was the undoubted hero with the ball. Starting off with the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene with a beautiful in-ducker that came in just as much was required to sneak in between the Sri Lanka captain’s bat and pad, the 24-year-old was on fire. Kumar Sangakkara hammered a checked cover-drive into Nazimuddin’s lap to become Nazmul’s second while Dilshan dragged the ball to the stumps to make it 32 for three in the tenth over.

The man from Habiganj may have been the man with the wickets but it was Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who kept things under control throughout his three spells. He ended up with a wicket from his 9.5 overs, the wicket becoming the last ball of the Sri Lanka innings in the 50th over but it was his discipline that paid off. His performance with the ball so far has been a tribute to his rehabilitation efforts over the past eleven months.

Abdur Razzak continued to be steady, giving away only 40-off from ten overs but this time he took two wickets (both however down to luck), while Shakib and Shahadat Hossain were slightly expensive but still had their moments.

After the three quick losses, Chamara Kapugedera and Lahiru Thirimanne staged a fight-back of sorts by adding 88 runs for the fourth wicket. It was broken by the freak stumping of the left-hander Thirimanne by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur, who found out the Gary Player way of luck in sports (the more you practice, the luckier you get); his left pad helping him out with the ricochet that caught the batsman, who made 48 off 73 balls, out of the crease.

Kapugedera had another solid batsman at the other end as Upul Tharanga helped him add 49 runs for the fifth wicket. The right-hander struck his first fifty in almost two years, hammering 62 off 92 balls with the help of four boundaries; Shakib bringing an end to his stay with an excellent low catch at cover. The left-hander at the other end, Tharanga, took the side past the 200-run mark but couldn’t reach another half-century, falling two short. He struck five fours and a six in his 44-ball knock.

Tributes were flowing in even as the Tigers left the stadium after a remarkable effort. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was among the first to congratulate the team, having watched most of the Bangladesh innings at the stadium. According to her press secretary, the Prime Minister personally congratulated each member of the team and reiterated that the country was overjoyed at the victory. She also wished them luck for the final on Thursday.

For the capacity crowd who had packed into the stadium on a Friday, it was a case of double delight as they found them selves witness to the most rarest of milestones and then followed it up with the slightly less rare joy of a Bangladesh victory.

It was unfortunate for Sachin, but there were some whispered mentions that the great man’s surprisingly slow approach stopped the Indians posting a target of more than three hundred on a placid wicket. Tendulkar countered by saying that the wicket was slow and difficult to bat on, but there were no signs of the same as Tamim Iqbal, Jahurul Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan and most spectacularly captain Mushfiqur Rahim batted with aplomb to chase down India’s 289 with four balls to spare.

Vice-captain Mahmudullah Riyad played a beautiful cover drive against pacer Ashoke Dinda to ignite the celebrations in front of a full-house stadium but it was his captain Mushfiqur who led his team from the front during his 25-ball 46 that contained three fours and as many sixes after third umpire Sri Lankan Ruchira Palliyaguruge stunned the capacity crowd by sending Shakib Al Hasan back to the pavilion.

The TV replays were inconclusive and where the benefit of the doubt should have gone to the batsman, Shakib was perhaps unlucky to be given out. Many became nervous expecting another close defeat after losing against Pakistan but Mushfiqur showed real character to ensure the memorable victory.

The second wicket 113-run partnership between Tamim Iqbal (70 off 99 balls) and Jahurul Islam (53 off 68 balls) gave the foundation but the win looked unlikely with the increasing run rate of over eight runs per over. But Shakib again took charge to change the momentum.

The left-hander revived the hope smashing two fours and a six in the 37th over against Dinda and he not only rotated the strike with another hero Nasir Hossain, who continued his impressive run making 54 off 58 balls with five fours, but also punished the ordinary Indian attack.

And then it was the story of Mushfiqur who initiated the final blow smashing two sixes against Irfan Pathan to secure 19 runs in the 47th over leaving to score 16 runs from last two overs.

The little right-hander then punched pacer Praveen Kumar in the penultimate over hitiing one boundary from a no-ball and a six to secure 14 runs that almost completed the great victory.

But the first half of the day belonged deservedly to Tendulkar. It came as a great relief for the little master as the unprecedented landmark was achieved after 33 international innings without a hundred. It was Tendulkar’s first ODI hundred against Bangladesh and 49th ODI century to go with his 51 Test hundreds.

The Indian innings was built on Tendulkar’s hundred and two fifties from Virat Kohli (66) and Suresh Riana (51) but the master blaster took the all attention yesterday.

It was one of his slower hundreds, as he played 138 balls to reach the three digit mark and he looked subdued after achieving the rare feat as the hype began during last year’s World Cup, when two hundreds in the group stages put him on 99 international hundreds.

He however failed to get to three figures on India’s tour of England, the home series against West Indies and the tour of Australia, and has finally achieved the feat in Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi fans were understandably partisan until the legend reached 99. But then they gave a standing ovation to the Little Master to show a great spirit towards the game.

In the end it was a fantastic day for cricket.

ZILLUR, HASINA, KHALEDA CONGRATULATE
President Mohammad Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Begum Khaleda Zia congratulated the Bangladesh national cricket team on their victory over India in the Asia Cup yesterday.

In an instant reaction, Sheikh Hasina said: “It’s a new milestone for Bangladesh cricket as the Tigers defeated the team who are the current world champions.”

Prime minister’s special assistant (media) Mahabubul Hoque Shakil informed that Sheikh Hasina along with her sister Sheikh Rehana watched the match on TV at her Gono Bhaban residence. She later celebrated the victory by distributing sweets among officials and staff of Gono Bhaban.

Khaleda Zia congratulated the team and also thanked the coach and other officials of the team in her message.

Imran Nazir scored highest 75 off 43 for Dhaka.

Earlier Barisal Burners scored 140 runs losing seven wickets after in 20 overs. BJ Hodge scored a brilliant 70 off 51 balls while Ahmed Shehzad scored 28 off 20 balls.

Dhaka won the toss and invited Barisal Burners to bat first.

Dhaka Gladiators have reached into final stunning Khulna Royal Bengals by 9 runs in the second semifinal at Mirpur on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Barisal Burners sealed their position in the final defeating Duronto Rajshahi by eight wickets in the first semifinal on the same day.

Barisal Burners : Ahmed Shehzad, Alauddin Babu, Kabir Ali, Al-Amin Hossain, Farhad Hossain, SM Harwood, BJ Hodge (Captain), Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mithun Ali, Mominul Haque, P Mustard, Nazmul Islam, Rameez Raja (2), Shahriar Nafees, Sohag Gazi, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Yasir Arafat.

Dhaka Gladiators : Aftab Ahmed, Anamul Haque, Awais Zia, Azhar Mahmood, Dhiman Ghosh, Elias Sunny, Imran Nazir, Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Mehrab Hossain jnr, Mohammad Ashraful, Mosharraf Hossain, Naved-ul-Hasan, Nazimuddin, Nazmul Hossain, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, DI Stevens and Tanveer Haider.

Dhaka successfully defended their total of 191-4 as Khulna could reach 183-7 in 20 overs. Khulna though threatened Dhaka for most of the game, courtesy of skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who made his first Twenty20 half-century, an unbeaten 86 off 41 balls, punctuated by four sixes and 9 fours.

But it was too little too late for the Royal Bengals who bowled quite poorly from the onset against a revamped Dhaka side that had Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Awais Zia flown in from Dubai.

After Dhaka lost the big-hitting Zia and Nazimuddin for 22 runs, Imran Nazir smashed 41 off 25 balls with six fours and two sixes before falling in the eighth over to Mohammad Hafeez.

The Dhaka Gladiators’ huge score was based on a 72-run third wicket stand between Mohammad Ashraful and Azhar Mahmood, who made 65 off 39 balls with six fours and three sixes. The former Bangladesh captain struck four boundaries and a six in his 33-ball 47.

Afridi put the icing on the cake with a ballistic 11-ball 27 that had three sixes. He was particularly harsh on Shakib, hammering 19 in the last over of the innings.

Khulna lost their foreign top-order (Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Herschelle Gibbs, Mohammad Hafeez and Dwayne Smith) within 7.3 overs for 55 runs, but Shakib and Nasir Hossain held on for a fine fourth wicket stand of 87 runs.

The No. 1 one-day all-rounder in the world missed two boundaries when his rocket straight-drives hit Nasir and the stumps on two occasions. He reached his half-century off 22 balls before going for the kill with some swings to the leg, though he relied on ticks, sweeps and scoops off Elias Sunny, Saeed Ajmal and Afridi.

With thirty-one required from the final over, Shakib hammered 21 runs off Azhar Mahmood.

Sunny, in fact, shone with the ball with 3-30 and it was credible especially with two top quality spinners alongside him.

SCORES IN BRIEF

DHAKA: 191-4 in 20 overs (Mahmood 65, Ashraful 47 not out, Nazir 41; Azam 1-29, Hafeez 1-31).

KHULNA: 182-7 in 20 overs (Shakib 86, Nasir 35, Chanderpaul 25; Sunny 3-30).

Result: Dhaka won by nine runs.

Man-of-the-match: Azhar Mahmood.

Batting first, Khulna Royal scored only 106 runs in 18.5 overs. NJ O’Brien scored 35 from 39 balls while DR Smith scored 18 from 17 balls.

Mohammad Sami and SM Ervine took three wickets each for Rajshahi.

In response, Rajshahi scored 160 runs to spare 35 balls and eight wickets in hand.

Chasing a target of 106, MN Samuels of Duronto Rajshahi scored 50 off 35 balls while Shahzaib Hasan made 28 runs off 12 and Junaid Siddique remained unbeaten at 29 off 32 balls.

Chasing an easy target of 121, Dhaka Gladiators could only manage to collect a paltry 107 losing nine wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Kings bowlers K Cooper bagged three wickets while Enamul Haque (Jr) and DJ Bravo took two wickets each and Arafat Sunny and Sanjamul Islam one wicket each.

Earlier, Chittagong Kings scored 120 runs after Kings skipper Mahmudullah sent them to bat winning the toss.

DJ Bravo of Kings knocked an unbeaten 48 off 55 while opener Jahurul Islam 40.

Khulna is now standing in second position in the point table with eight points from six matches while Dhaka is struggling with six points from the same number of matches.

Dhaka Gladiators scored 140 losing eight wickets in 20 overs. Skipper Mohammad Ashraful scored height 53 from 42 balls while Azhar Mahmood scored 33 from 24 balls for Dhaka.

Sri Lankan all rounder Senath Jayasuriya took two wickets for Khulna.

In response, Khulna Royal Bengals achieved their target of 141 runs in 16.4 overs keeping seven wickets in hand.

West Indies opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul played an unbeaten 87 from only 49 balls while Shakib Al Hasan scored 39 from 34 balls helping Khulna reach the target easily.

Dhaka opener Imran Nazir was unbeaten on 54 from 45 balls as Nazir almost guided Dhaka to a famous win. Needing 20 runs off the last over bowled by Mohammad Sami, the Gladiators evetually fell short due to an incisive spell of fast bowling by Sami. Sami took the first hat-trick of the inaugural BPL campaign to hand Rajshahi their third win of the competition.

Chittagong Kings are top of the BPL standings with eight points from five games while Dhaka are in second place, with six points from the same number of games. Rajshahi has leapfrogged Barisal to third place, with six points collected from their five games.

Sami finished with figures of 3/23 from his four overs. He was well supported by Monir Hossain, who grabbed two wickets.

Earlier, the Dhaka Gladiators won the toss and decided to field first. Rajshahi posted 144 in their stipulated 20 overs, courtesy of some substantial knocks from Shahzaib Hasan, Zunaed Siddique and Marlon Samuels. Samuels top scored with 36 as the Gladiators picked up wickets at regular intervals.

Elias Sunny put in his best performance so far in the competition, conceding two wickets and giving away only 18 runs from his four overs. Nazmul Hossain also picked up two wickets as the Gladiators put in a disciplined fielding performance.

Marlon Samuels was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his 36 and economical bowling performance.