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Ireland captain William Porterfield has praised the impact of county cricket on his side ahead of the World T20 qualifiers.

Porterfield brings his side to the tournament as favourites and near-certainties to claim one of six places available at the World T20 in Bangladesh next year, and Porterfield said opportunities in county cricket have been of great benefit to Ireland.

Seven of Ireland's 15-man squad have a county deal, including Porterfield who is contracted to Warwickshire until 2015 and the chance to play regular high-quality cricket, including in the Friends Life t20 against many of the world's best players, has gone a long way to helping Ireland develop into the leading Associate nation.

"You can go through our side now and there is a high percentage that has played in county cricket at a very high level," Porterfield said. "That does help in terms of playing cricket day in day out and being competitive. It helps certainly in performing well as a cricketer."

Much criticism has been levied at England for selecting players who have cut their teeth in international cricket with Ireland but, with an absence of a first-class system in Ireland, the English domestic game has been a leading factor in Ireland's improvement.

And in Tim Murtagh, Ireland have been able to attract an English-born player who has made his name in international cricket. Since making his debut in June 2012, Murtagh has established himself with the new ball for Ireland.

"Tim has come in and played really well," Porterfield said. "He's had a fantastic start to his international career with Ireland, and long may that continue. He's been a seasoned county pro in the UK and churns out wickets and overs year in year out for Middlesex."

Other members of the Ireland squad with county contracts include Gary Wilson, who enjoyed an excellent season at Surrey including his second first-class century, George Dockrell, often playing as Somerset's specialist spinner, Sussex captain Ed Joyce and Leicestershire wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien.

"Gary Wilson has had a great year with Surrey," Porterfield said. "He has broken into the first team and held his position in the side as a batter with Steve Davies retaining the gloves. To play the whole season as a batter is a great effort for him."

Two other players with vast amounts of county experience were described as "big players" by Porterfield in T20 - Middlesex's Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien, who has enjoyed spells at Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset and Surrey.

"In terms of Twenty20, the two big players for us - it has to be Kevin O'Brien and Paul Stirling, they're two lads who can play the ropes at will and can score you hundreds off very little balls in this format so they're going to be two massive players for ourselves."

Porterfield said qualification for the World T20 is "non-negotiable" for Ireland and his players, many of whom can draw on their experiences in the Friends Life t20 in England, should see them safely through to Bangladesh.

After their famous 4-0 win against the same opposition at home in 2010, another clean sweep beckoned for Bangladesh after they wrapped up the second ODI by 40 runs. Bangladesh defended 247 and their decision to bat first was vindicated despite concerns over the spinners' effectiveness with a dew-laden ball.

Bangladesh made the two new balls count. Mashrafe Mortaza, who took three wickets, bowled two good spells to make sure New Zealand's required run-rate never went down. Offspinner Sohag Gazi took the other new ball, and like Mashrafe, tied down the batsmen at first before picking up three wickets. Mominul Haque was Mushfiqur Rahim's golden arm, removing the McCullum brothers.

When they began their chase of 248 run, Hamish Rutherford was the first to go, chopping a Mashrafe delivery onto his stumps for 1, repeating his score from the first match. Anton Devcich and Grant Elliott were removed off successive deliveries a little while later, the former popping a catch back to Gazi and the latter getting stuck on the crease to Abdur Razzak, and falling leg-before.

As the chase began to gather pace, the visitors pinned their hopes on the captain Brendon McCullum to make his first significant score on this tour. It remained that way, as he fell just when his partnership with Ross Taylor was starting to worry Bangladesh.

After the second drinks break, McCullum went back to a Mominul delivery that didn't turn much, missed it and was given out leg-before. In the next over, Tom Latham was run out thanks to Rubel Hossain's throw after Taylor sent him back after completing the first run. James Neesham was caught off a short ball from Gazi, caught by a diving Naeem Islam at square leg.

Gazi picked up the crucial wicket of Taylor just after he had smashed a six at the end of the batting Powerplay. That wicket - the eighth falling with the score on 158 - spelled the end of New Zealand's resistance in this series, as Bangladesh waited for the inevitable. Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum held things up for a while before Nathan McCullum holed out at long-on in the 46th over. The end came when Tim Southee missed Mashrafe's straight ball in the 47th over.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, were off to a better start with the bat, but none of their batsmen pushed on for a big score. The New Zealand bowlers were accurate and controlled their bowling variations. The Bangladesh batsmen had to be patient, but were often frustrated as they could not get on top of the medium-pacers. Brendon McCullum set planned fields, packing the off side and to his credit, he was backed by the bowlers and the fielders.

Corey Anderson and Neesham both took four wickets, after Southee and Kyle Mills restricted the Bangladesh openers with tight spells with the two new balls. Their tidiness in the first 35 overs paid off when Bangladesh lost three quick wickets after the 36th over, at the start of the batting Powerplay, Bangladesh's scourge. It set them back for the last nine overs during which they added only 63 runs and lost four wickets.

Mushfiqur, Naeem and Nasir Hossain fell in the space of eleven balls, which took them from 169 for 3 to 173 for 6. All three dismissals were soft and the shots played, particularly that of Mushfiqur and Naeem, were unnecessary.

The top and middle-order batsmen threw away good starts. The openers, Tamim Iqbal and the debutant Shamsur Rahman began steadily with a stand of 63. Tamim was the enforcer, but the debutant Shamsur was relatively sedate during his 25. Tamim drove stylishly through the covers and his only six, down the ground off Southee in the ninth over, was his best shot.

Mominul struck five boundaries, one of them straight down the ground and another flicked through midwicket. But he fell to a trap, pulling a slower ball from Anderson to Nathan McCullum at deep midwicket.

Soon after, Tamim got stuck in the forties for 18 balls, before reaching his 25th ODI fifty off 75 balls. He was finally dismissed by inside edging Anderson's slower ball onto his stumps, after missing on several wild swishes. As the sun set below Mirpur's horizon, the home crowd looked disappointed that the batsmen failed to capitalise, but the mood changed as the evening wore on.

Batting is an area that still needs improvement, but with an inspired bowling performance such as this, Mushfiqur need not give himself and the rest of the batsmen the hair-dryer. With cricket being one of the unifying factors in the country, celebrations are expected everywhere.

Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their bid for making the playoffs more than alive after their win over Kings XI Punjab took them level with Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are placed fourth on the table thanks to a superior net run rate. With 10 points from 13 matches, Kings XI were all but out of the reckoning.It was a scrappy match full of dropped catches, missed chances and bad shots, played on a patchy pitch. If the bowlers hit the two patches of green on the track, they derived seam movement and variable bounce. The match began with the weaker suits of both sides coming against each other as Adam Gilchrist inserted Sunrisers.

The two youngsters who came into the match, Harmeet Singh and Sandeep Sharma, benefited from a mix of poor strokes and the capricious pitch, to reduce Sunrisers to 52 for 5 in the ninth over.

Parthiv Patel stuck in, though, to score his first IPL half-century in three years. His previous fifty, too, came against Kings XI, but for Chennai Super Kings. The partnership between him and Karan Sharma wasn't the prettiest thing going around, but they added 42 runs, and gave Thisara Perera some sort of platform to launch from. 

Perera and Parthiv, helped by a drop by Gilchrist and some ordinary death bowling, added 56 in the last 5.1 overs to take Sunrisers to what looked like an above-par total. It proved to be one, especially with Dale Steyn going for just two runs in the first over and removing Mandeep Singh for a duck.

Shaun Marsh and Gilchrist kept the chase going with a 44-run second-wicket stand. Darren Sammy, however, came on and ended the chase for all practical purposes with three soft dismissals. Marsh and Gilchrist pulled at balls that were not short enough, and fell to the first two balls Sammy bowled.

In Sammy's next over, David Miller, Kings XI's biggest hope, drove a length ball straight down cover's throat. Game over. R Sathish and Sunrisers' fielders tried their best to keep the chase interesting, but Luke Pomersbach's slow innings of 33 off 40 put paid to that.

The first-ever Twenty20 at the Queens Sports Club ground in Bulawayo was a thriller with the home team squeezing home by six runs. Zimbabwe fought back mightily when it mattered and Bangladesh imploded just when they could smell the win. The visitors collapsed from 120 for 1 in the 15th over to being kept down to 162 for 8. Tinashe Panyangara bowled a terrific final over, giving away just three runs as the Bangladesh lower-order failed to play smartly. 

 

Zimbabwe had earlier made 168 for 5 after deciding to bat first. Hamilton Masakadza struck his seventh fifty while captain Brendan Taylor made a quickfire 40 as they put Zimbabwe on course for a big total. Bangladesh were brought back into the game by their spinners after the Taylor-Masakadza partnership ended, with Shakib Al Hasan getting both wickets and bowling economically in between.

Shakib was doing the job with the bat too, hammering 65 off 40 balls and helping add 118 for the second wicket with Shamsur Rahman. He struck eight disdainful fours and two sixes while Shamsur ended up with his maiden fifty, after a slow start. 

The pair had taken Bangladesh to within 49 of the target with 34 balls to go, but the moment Shakib was dismissed, the Bangladesh batsmen started to make a meal of the chase.

Shamsur fell two balls later and it was down to the Bangladesh captain, Mushfiqur Rahman, to steer the chase. He began badly though, involved in two mix-ups that ended in run-outs of Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah in the 16th over. Nasir was inches short of safety as Tinotenda Mutombodzi broke the stumps. Mahmudullah was far from the crease at the other end after he got mixed calls from Mushfiqur; Mutombodzi swooped on the ball to his left and scored a direct-hit.

Then the pressure got to Ziaur Rahman, the Twenty20 specialist who had a torrid time connecting bat on ball. He frustrated Mushfiqur, with whom he almost had a collision, before falling to Panyangara's clever length in the 18th over. This wicket, and the eight runs from the over, perhaps swayed Taylor into picking Panyangara to bowl the last over. 

Mushfiqur hit two sixes in the melee of wickets, before holing out to deep square-leg off the first ball of the final over when 10 runs were required. Panyangara was more resourceful in his last two overs than his first two, keeping it full to choke the runs. Sohag Gazi has some batting credentials but looked out of his depth towards the end of the chase while Abdur Razzak missed everything even though he was given room to swing. 

Panyangara took three wickets while Prosper Utseya broke the Shakib-Shamsur partnership, taking both wickets. Brian Vitori was also excellent, giving away just 24 from his four overs and picking up the wicket of Tamim Iqbal in the first over. 

This, after the Bangladesh spinners brought them back into the game with some control over the big-hitting in the last seven overs. Taylor and Masakadza put on 74 for the second wicket with the Zimbabwe captain severe on anything pitched on legstump. He made 40 off 25 balls with six fours and a paddle-swept six. He fell in the ninth over, after which Masakadza tried to up the run-rate but wasn't too successful. 

He was dismissed after making 59 off 48 balls with four boundaries and a six. They failed to get the big hits away in the last five overs, with Shakib taking 2 for 20 and one wicket apiece for Gazi, Shafiul Islam and Mahmudullah. 

Bangladesh now have a final shot at redeeming the tour on Sunday. Mushfiqur will be under some pressure as he was in charge after the Shakib-Shamsur partnership broke, but couldn't see the team through.

Russell Domingo has been appointed South Africa's new coach on a two-year deal. Domingo, who is currently assistant coach, will take over from Kirsten in August with his first assignment being the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.

Domingo has been second-in-command since Kirsten was named coach in June 2011 and was put in charge of South Africa's Twenty20 squad last December. Prior to that, he had six seasons at the helm of the Warriors franchise, with whom he won two trophies and nurtured a string of national players including Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Robin Peterson and Ashwell Prince.

Kirsten earmarked Domingo as his successor two years ago and rubber-stamped him upon his resignation yesterday when he said Domingo was ready for "high-level coaching." And it was Kirsten who informed Domingo he may be in line to take over. "Gary called me about 10 days ago and told me he was not going to extend his contract for another two years and that he is confident in my ability to take over," Domingo told ESPNcricinfo.

Domingo had time to mull over whether he would accept the job while CSA's board considered its options. When Kirsten opted not to exercise his renew option on Friday, acting CEO Nassei Appiah told the media CSA would appoint a committee to oversee the "due process," of appointing a new coach. None of that was required.

The board decided on Friday they would offer Domingo the job in the interests of continuity. "They gave me a call around lunch-time and asked me if I wanted the job and I accepted," he said. "I made a few calls to all the players, whether in South Africa, England or India, and let them know the decision and get their thoughts on it. All of them were confident in me, which was great to hear. This is a very big day in my life. It was to be highlight in anybody's coaching career to be given the honour and responsibility of being in charge of your national side."

It's been a whirlwind few days for Domingo, who thought Kirsten would stay on until the 2015 World Cup but now finds himself the man that will take South Africa to that tournament. His yet-to-be signed contract will terminate in August 2015 but none of the specific terms have been discussed.

Domingo expects to meet with CSA's board over the next week to negotiate. Chris Nenzani, the president, said "all options," would be discussed which means Domingo could, like Kirsten, ask for specific periods of leave to be with his family, although that is unlikely.

While Domingo is not expected to emulate Kirsten in that regard, he will employ a similar style of coaching which will focus on transferring responsibility to the players and managing them, rather than instructing them. "I need to try and do a lot of things Gary has done but also to bring my own flavour to it," Domingo said, "I'm still very much in the planning stage as to how I want to take this team forward. I've got a lot of thinking to do over the next few weeks. I need to canvas a lot of opinion and pull out some ideas from various people and add my own ideas to that."

One of the distinct differences between Kirsten and Domingo is that the latter has no playing experience, having discovered at a young age he would not cut it as a first-class cricketer. That has never hampered Domingo before, though, and he does not expect it to become an issue even as he takes on one of the most high-profile jobs in world cricket.

"I've been coaching for 16 years now, since I was 22 years old," Domingo said. "Playing and coaching are two totally different scenarios. I've developed a good rapport with players, and I've gone through all the stages a coach needs to go through - rightfully so because I haven't got the playing credentials."

While Domingo appears ready for the challenge, and has the backing of all the most important people, he will still have Kirsten to call on if needed. "He's a massive guy to replace, but I don't think Gary is entirely lost to South African cricket. I'd be an absolute fool not use Gary in some capacity as much as I possibly can. Gary and I have a really good working relationship," he said. Domingo gave Kirsten his first coaching job when he asked him to consult for the Warriors and the pair have been close ever since.

Domingo will also have free reign to choose other assistants but will likely to keep the same core of support staff. "The guys that are there at the moment have done an outstanding job. We have a good relationship and we work really well together, and I don't see why that should change at all," he said.

That means Allan Donald will probably remain bowling coach but Domingo will probably add an assistant from the domestic set-up. Lions' coach Geoff Toyana and Cobras' coach Paul Adams are two that could come into contention after they both enjoyed successful maiden seasons with their franchises. Paddy Upton, who was elevated to performance manager under Kirsten, may also be retained.

Domingo makes history as the first person of colour to become head coach, 22 years after readmission. Like many before him, he hopes he does not get judged in black and white alone. "I'm hoping the public sees me as a cricket coach, not a cricket coach of colour. I will endeavour to give my best for the country in every aspect," he said.