It’s the World Champions against the Twenty20 World Champions...

Fresh from the Twenty-20 World Cup triumph, M S Dhoni led Team India will take on world champions Australia in a day-night ODI match here before a sell-out crowd at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

Leading the team for the first time in a seven-match ODI series at home, a confident Dhoni said the team would get additional strength from the big three - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly - besides spinner Harbhajan Singh.

However, after their semifinal loss to India in Twenty20 World Cup, the Aussies are aiming for a victory, banking on their past performance in India and high success rate in the ODIs.

The Australian team has suffered a set back as the visitors are dogged by injuries.

Captian Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Shane Watson are unlikely to play in first of seven-match ODI series due to injuries.

While fast bowler Shaun Tait has been excluded from the squad due to injury, another speedster Nathan Bracken would join the squad later as he is in Australia, celebrating the birth of his first child.

Team India's new ODI captain said ''We will be playing at home after three months and we are confident and excited to face Australia. The return of senior players - Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, will immensely strengthen the team and I can also look forward for their support''.

The Indian captain is also happy with the return of Harbhajan Singh to ODIs and said he would look to his deputy Yuvraj Singh, who is in dazzling form in the Twenty20 world cup, for solid support.

The Aussies who had won the last three World Cups in this format, are confident of putting it across India. Skipper Ponting said the team would 'impose' on the Indians and 'hopefully' win the series.

''The Twenty20 loss is behind us and we are looking for a series win here. India will be under pressure as they are now the World Champions in Twenty20. However, the one-day game is very different vis- a-vis the 'slam bang' T20 and we are confident of a series win,'' he said

Australia's vice captain Adam Gilchrist also tried to shift the pressure on Team India saying the home team is now in a 'new zone' as the number one team in Twenty20 version and pressure would be tremendous playing in front of home crowd.

Whether the Aussies could deploy a psychological warfare against Dhoni is to be seen as the new Indian captain proved to be a cool character and soak up the pressure admirably. During testing times in the Twenty20 finals against Pakistan, the Indian skipper remained calm and egged his team mates to deliver their best.

''Pressure will not affect me wherever I play and I want my team to feel the same. It is a game and we believe in performing to the best of our ability. One should not be too perturbed with a loss or go too high when the team wins,'' Dhoni remarked.

Missing from Australia's Caribbean World Cup-winning squad are batsman Michael Hussey, fast bowler Shaun Tait and all-rounder Shane Watson.

Paceman Nathan Bracken returned home from South Africa on compassionate leave to be with his wife as she prepares to give birth to their first child. He may figure in the series at some stage so a replacement has not been named.

Adam Voges was added to the injury-hit squad as cover for Ponting, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, while Brad Haddin replaced Hussey. All-rounder James Hopes stands in for Watson.

Australia may not be at full strength but have the players to rise to the occasion, a trait which helped them win the World Cup for a record third successive time in the Caribbean earlier this year.

The tourists boast explosive batsmen in Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, who are capable of demoralising the Indian attack with some big hitting. Their fast bowling still looks formidable with the presence of Brett Lee and Michell Johnson.

But they will run into the very strong Indian batting line up now bolstered by the presence of the three 'big guns'. Though batting remained the strength of India, bowlers always have performed admirably.

The return of Zaheer Khan, who did not go to Twenty20 World Cup, and the new found confidence of R P Singh, who excelled with the ball in the Twenty20 world cup and aggressive S Sreesanth can create trouble to the Aussie batsmen. the return of Harbhajan Singh bolsters the spin department.

The Chinnaswamy stadium has been a favourite hunting ground for Indians who have won nine out of 14 matches they have played so far.

Against Australia, they have won one match and losing the other in the two matches they have played so far.

So far India has played 84 one dayers against the Aussies winning 28 of them and losing 51, while five matches have tied.

Torres could be our new Ian Rush, says Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is so impressed by Fernando Torres's performances for Liverpool this season that he has likened the Spanish striker to the club's goalscoring legend Ian Rush.

"He reminds me a bit of Ian Rush," the Liverpool captain said. "Rush was a great striker and I don't want to put much pressure on Fernando as far as goals are concerned but Rushy got a lot of credit for working hard for the team, tracking back and not giving defenders a minute on the ball, and he [Torres] is similar in a lot ways."

The Spanish international has begun the past two Premier League games on the bench but showed how quickly he has adapted to the English game with a hat-trick in Liverpool's 4-2 win at Reading in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night. And Gerrard was particularly impressed by how the Spaniard dealt with the treatment from Reading's centre-backs André Bikey and Michael Duberry.

"Foreign strikers normally get a bit of stick about the fact that when they get kicked they go hiding," he said. "But he got murdered all night by their centre-halves and kept going back and going back, and worked so hard for the team. I thought he was awesome. He thoroughly deserved his goals but the most impressive thing for me was his attitude. He didn't react to what was happening and kept working hard."

Peter Crouch, encouraged by how quickly the summer signings have settled in, believes Liverpool are in a position to challenge for an unprecedented quadruple. "We are going to challenge on all fronts this year. I really believe that," said the England international, who partnered Torres for the first time at Reading.

"Just look at the players; we've won at Reading but there are players who didn't even travel like [Jermaine] Pennant, [Dirk] Kuyt or [Andriy] Voronin, there was [Steven] Gerrard on the bench. The manager has a lot of players at his disposal."

Crouch believes those resources are already bringing reward. "We want to be as consistent as we can," he added. "Chelsea and Manchester United have proved how consistent you have to be to get anywhere near winning the league and we need to turn some of those draws into wins now. Ten unbeaten is a good start for us. It could have been even better but we need to get that winning mentality."

The sizeable investment Benítez made during the close season has undoubtedly helped, Crouch noting that there had been few problems with any of the new recruits acclimatising to English football. "Sometimes it can take a while to bed in but they've come in and are really firing. That's good for the squad and the team.

Is Klinsmann the next man for Chelsea or Spurs!!!

Jurgen Klinsmann has signalled his potential availability to Tottenham or Chelsea by declaring that he is prepared to come back to football management.

After guiding Germany to the semi-finals of the World Cup last year, the charismatic former Spurs forward has become one of the most coveted unemployed coaches and he is now willing to leave his base in California for permanent work.

"I'm eager to get back in," he said. "If the right opportunity comes along, a chance to work together with the right people in the right situation and for the right cause, then I'll be back."

The new Chelsea manager Avram Grant faces an anxious wait to see if the Premier League accepts the coaching qualifications he gained in Israel, while Tottenham's Martin Jol has been under constant pressure since club officials were photographed in the same hotel as Sevilla's coach Juande Ramos.

The Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has had to make repeated statements in support of Jol and yesterday denied that he had agreed a compensation package for the remaining two years of the Dutchman's contract.

Tottenham, who face Middlesbrough tonight in the Carling Cup with Jol weighing up whether to recall Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale after their surprise omissions from the 1-1 draw with Bolton on Sunday, cannot escape the fact that they have badly undermined Jol and an audacious approach to Jose Mourinho last week further highlighted the delicacy of the situation.

Levy's popularity has suffered following the approach for Ramos, but the appointment of Klinsmann would be generally well received."There has been no board meeting, let alone any emergency board meeting, and reports that we have agreed a compensation package with Martin are wholly inaccurate – we have not even discussed the subject and there is no reason to do so," said Levy.

Klinsmann, 43, assumed cult-hero status at White Hart Lane after scoring 30 times in 56 League matches during two spells at the club.

Having also played in Italy, France, Germany and the United States, he is unlikely, however, to be short of offers.As well as Tottenham, Chelsea and David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy, he has been linked with the national teams of the United States, Australia, Mexico and Austria.

"It would depend on the club, the environment and it would have to fit with my family," Klinsmann said. "But there's no reason to exclude coaching a club. Wanting to make every player better as an individual as well as within the team was what was special for me. So it doesn't matter if you're coaching a national team or a club."

Aside from spending more time with his family, Klinsmann has kept busy, chronicling his two years' coaching, learning Spanish and staying in touch with coaches around the world. He has also watched a lot of matches on television."I'm in top shape," he added. "I'm ready for the next challenge."

Would youngsters be favourirtes against the seniors

With the young guns of Mahendra Singh Dhoni succeeding in knocking down Pakistan in emphatic fashion at the Twenty20 final, the onus is now on India’s senior players to ponder over their ODI future.

With the youth brigade displaying splendid fighting spirit, athleticism and an urge for victory, life won’t be easy for senior stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the ODI team.

Though the Big Three are still the favourites with the board, selectors and advertisers, the paying public and cricket fans will scrutinize their future performances vigilantly, especially after the stupendous title triumph in South Africa. Dhoni’s boys have proved that a World Cup victory is possible without superstars. They showed that it is the team that matters eventually, and not necessarily the might of megastars or the laptop inputs of a ‘foreign’ coach.

Though Tendulkar (374 runs from seven matches; average 53.42) was the top scorer for India in the recent NatWest series against England, both Ganguly (249 runs; average 35.57) and Dravid ( 223 runs; average 37.16) had an ordinary tour. Still the trio, who will miss the next World Cup, retained their place in the team for the first three ODIs against Australia (the tour opens in Bangalore on Saturday).

Now India have the options to replace them with some of the Twenty20 stars, and the tour against Australia is an ideal opportunity for the selectors to adopt a rotation policy. It is not a must any more to include the seniors in almost all the ODIs. It is in fact a luxury.

With the seniors set to retire in a couple of years, the team is likely to face the same scenario the Australian board faced when seasoned campaigners like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath made it quits at one stretch.

Though the Aussies had a wide range of pace battery to choose from the likes of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson, India haven’t yet developed a set of players to replace the superstars.

India could afford to go for experimentation in the ODI series against the world champions. The entire nation — which toasts its superb Twenty20 victory now — would be in a forgiving mood, even if the hosts go down against Aussies in the tournament. More so, if the cause was for a worthy experimentation.

India have already selected their team for the first three ODIs against Australia, and neither Rohit Sharma nor Yusuf Pathan feature in that squad.

The 20-year old Rohit Sharma was a revelation in the T20 tournament, as his cool approach at the crease was instrumental in India scoring some useful runs in at least two matches, including the final.

Though the young brother of Irfan Pathan failed to score heavily in his debut match, he impressed with his calm approach on the field.

It is quite strange that India waited to give him a chance till the final as the 24-year old was one of the stars in India’s domestic Twenty20 tournament in the 2006-07 season.

It would be ideal for the board to give opportunity to youngsters and provide ‘rest’ for the ageing stars in the remaining four ODIs.

It is a worthy enough experimentation the board could afford than their disastrous Chappell-line experiments.

Or better still, the seniors could themselves assess the situation, and take a decision about their utility in one-day cricket.

It’s time for them to focus attention on their Test career.

India kiss First Twenty20 World cup..

India have won the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa after a thrilling final in which arch-rivals Pakistan fell five runs short of their victory target of 158 in Johannesburg

They were up against it when Umar Gul (3-28) helped restrict them to 157-5, which Gautam Gambhir's 75 dominated. But RP Singh struck twice early on and Irfan Pathan took 3-16 as a succession of batsmen tossed away their wickets. Misbah-ul-Haq (43) smashed three sixes in a Harbhajan Singh over and one more in the final over off Joginder Sharma but was caught to end an amazing game. It brought a hugely entertaining tournament to a fitting climax and was always likely - after all the teams tied their group game and there was a similar frenzied atmosphere when the latest instalment in their rich rivalry commenced at a packed Wanderers. Gambhir was a figure of calm assurance, however, after debutant Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa perished with mis-timed heaves during a frenetic opening. He placed and timed the ball elegantly, particularly through the covers, as he brought up his fifty in 38 balls.

The left-hander put India on course for a formidable total, but Yuvraj Singh - India's hero against England and Australia - never got going as Gul exerted control with his clever variations in pace and length. Gul took a return catch after Yuvraj top-edged a pull and sent skipper Mahendra Dhoni's leg-stump flying as the scoring slowed dramatically between the 14th and 18th overs. Gambhir quite literally hurt Gul's figures by smashing the ball into the scoreboard over the mid-wicket fence but Gul had the last word by having him snapped up at short fine-leg pouched the ball to become the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 13. Sharma collected successive fours off Yasir Arafat and Mohammad Hafeez helped a swipe off Sohail Tanvir over the wide long-on boundary to take the score past 150. But India still had a lot of work to do to clinch their first major silverware since the 1983 World Cup final and deny their neighbours the chance to emulate their 1992 50-over triumph.

Their prospects looked brighter when Hafeez guided RP Singh's fifth ball to Uthappa to slip and Kamran Akmal lost his off-stump to an inswinger from the left-arm paceman. But as long as Imran Nazir stayed at the crease the run rate was never likely to be an issue. He battered two fours and two sixes off an atrocious first over from the unruly Sree Santh which cost 21 runs. Younus Khan was nowhere near as convincing, although he managed to get bat on ball to collect successive leg-side fours off Santh to take the team past 50 in the sixth over. The innings then capitulated from 52-2 to 77-6 as Dhoni's bowling changes took the pace off the ball. Nazir, who went into the game with a groin problem and was refused a runner, was short of the crease when Uthappa's throw from mid-off hit the stumps. Younus holed out to mid-on, while skipper Shoaib Malik and dangerman Shahid Afrid, who went first ball, tossed their wickets away with ambitious heaves off Irfan Pathan.

The seamer cleaned up Yasir Arafat to end a brief revival but Misbah-ul-Haq swung off-spinner Harbhajan between cow corner and long-on, and Tanvir flicked the returning Santh for two more maximums to provide a massive twist in the tale. Crucially, Santh ended the over by knocking out the tail-ender's off-stump and RP Singh cleaned up Gul with his penultimate delivery. Joginder Sharma was entrusted with the final over and began with a horrible wide and when Misbah battered another six down the ground the game looked up but Misbah's gamble of trying to loft it over the keeper's head backfired horribly.

Its India-Pakistan whats more can we expect !!!

Some exceptional hitting from Yuvraj Singh allowed India to overcome a slow start in the ICC World Twenty20 semi-final against Australia.

Under the Durban floodlights, India were stifled initially, kept to an unthreatening 41-2 after eight overs.

But Yuvraj, the hitter of six sixes in an over against England on Wednesday, pulled his second ball for another maximum en route to 70 from 30 balls.

Robin Uthappa (34) and Mahendra Dhoni (36) also shone in a total of 188-5.

Yuvraj had missed the match against South Africa with a bout of tendinitis of the elbow, but he looked in sensational form as soon as he deposited Stuart Clark into the crowd for the first of five sixes.



The dolly mixture bowling of Andrew Symonds was treated with thorough disdain by Yuvraj, and Uthappa who was accelerating smoothly after an awkward start.

One of Symonds' overs, the 11th, disappeared for 19 - and featured a six from Yuvraj that bounced about the roof of one of the tall stands at Kingsmead Park.

The 14th over, bowled by Mitchell Johnson, cost 21 as the two batsmen began to really embarrass the Aussies.

Reserve wicket-keeper Brad Haddin was forced to play without the gloves as Australia hunted for replacements to cover hamstring injuries to Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson.

And he flapped aimlessly at a chance at deep extra cover that would have ended Yuvraj's innings on 35.

Australia's sixth bowler, Michael Clarke, was the final bowler to suffer at the hands of Yuvraj, but also the one to claim his wicket when a big hit went straight to deep mid-wicket.

The big hits continued though, with the normally reliable Nathan Bracken being hit for sixes by Shoni and Rohit Sharma in the 19th over.

Australia needed nine-and-a-half runs per over to join Pakistan in Monday's final.

Twenty20 gaining more exposure …

THE last thing to be pencilled into the Australia one-day tour of India -- which begins this week -- was the Twenty20 fixture at Mumbai's elegant Brabourne Stadium.

If events of the past few weeks are any guide, there may come a time when one of those boring-as-the-day-is-long 50-over matches is pencilled in at the last minute. Maybe, in a moment of nostalgic hysteria, a Test or two.

When it comes to Twenty20, everybody is going at breakneck speed,The English counties have been playing it for four years.

Australia has had a domestic competition for the past two seasons and Cricket Australia had detected a massive Generation Y spike in attendances at the new form, but on the subcontinent Twenty20 was discouraged.

Historically, India has been a bit of a slow starter when it comes to new forms, but like religious converts, the Indians attach themselves with fanatical zeal once they have made the decision to change.

In 1979, Australia spent three long months on the subcontinent. The team played six Tests but not a single one-day match. This was four years after the first World Cup of cricket and four years before India would hold that cup aloft in 1983.

Since that time, the one-day match has taken such a tight hold on the subcontinent that many believe it has undermined the Indians' ability to play the five-day game.

Sated by the 50-over form, the last incarnation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India treated Twenty20 with disdain.

However, the ascension of new president Sharad Pawar and, more importantly, billionaire businessman and former television executive Lalit Modi, who took up the marketing director position, ushered in a new era.

Modi knew that the cashed up Indian television networks wanted more product and they would take all they were given and still want more. In 1996, while working for the private sector, he had tried to sell the idea of a privatised league but had been chased out of town by the board.

Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland and chairman Creagh O'Connor were the first to knock on the door when the new BCCI board took office. Sutherland was ahead of the game on Twenty20 and sniffed an opportunity some time back.

It was the perfect vehicle to bring crowds back to domestic cricket, but more importantly he saw that it could be tied into an international play-off.

Television and venues would have product that people liked and it could be aired between the end of football and the traditional start of summer. The paper was distributed among the international cricket boards but appeared to be dead batted by the BCCI under the old administration.

Cricket Australia had worked assiduously to court the new Indian board. Last year, the Australians managed the DLF Cup in Malaysia between India, West Indies and Australia. At the time, India needed more international cricket to fulfil a television deal which landed the BCCI $US1billion for five years of one-day internationals.

The subcontinent provided the muscle and attracted the cash and a team from Cricket Australia provided the logistics and management. Everybody walked away considerably richer.

This year, the Australians have been back knocking on the doors in India. O'Connor and Sutherland made a quiet trip to suggest maybe there was something in this Twenty20 notion.

The Twenty20 Champions League was born with England and South Africa invited to compete in the first year with teams from the new Indian Premier League.

This week the BCCI said it was expecting to charge around $70million per new team that enters its Premier League competition, and further funding would come from the sale of ground rights. The sale of television rights is going to bring a massive windfall to all parties.

A week later the new format is gaining more attention than cricket has generated for decades. Already there is talk of including it in the next Asian Games.

Hosts South Africa fail to stay in the race ..

India battled back after a difficult start to post 153-5 and set South Africa a testing target in their key World Twenty20 encounter in Durban.

Both sides needed a win to make the semi-finals and the hosts began better in bowler-friendly conditions.

Shaun Pollock took two wickets as the Indians slumped to 61-4 in 11 overs.

But Rohit Sharma (50no) and Mahendra Dhoni (45) swung away and profited from some sloppy fielding to share 85 and leave the Proteas with a tricky task.

India were dealt a blow when Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes in an over against England, was ruled out with a forearm injury.

And they were then rocked on a pitch offering inconsistent bounce and movement, reducing the openers to groping outside off-stump early on.

Gautam Gambhir's attempted heave off Pollock ballooned to mid-off, Dinesh Karthik chipped to mid-wicket for a golden duck and it was three wickets in four balls when Virender Sehwag guided Makhaya Ntini behind.

Robin Uthappa carted Johan van der Wath over deep mid-wicket for a big six, but he should have gone in the seamer's next over when a mis-timed pull soared to mid-on where Vernon Philander dropped a sitter.

Sharma thrashed the unlucky van der Wath for successive fours but India were set back again when Uthappa mis-timed another big shot to Graeme Smith at mid-off.

The onus was on Dhoni to provide some fireworks but it was the inexperienced Sharma who swung away to good effect, taking advantage of poor work in the outfield to collect two fours in a row off Ntini.

Dhoni then smacked the ball over an embarrassed Morne Morkel at long-on, while heaves from both batsmen somehow bounced beyond fielders.

India still needed a big finish and they had a big over when the duo hit Morne Morkel for 18, including a massive six over wide long-on from Dhoni as the partnership went past 50.

Sharma smacked Van der Wath in a similar spot for his first maximum before cutting for four more, and when Dhoni smashed Morne Morkel through mid-wicket Smith was becoming agitated.

Dhoni swung another boundary in the final over from Van der Wath before being run out chasing a second but Sharma finished with a big six to reach 50 off the final ball and his team went into the interval much happier than they were an hour before.

Chelsea sack Mourinho after three years in charge …

José Mourinho has parted company with Chelsea FC by mutal consent after more than three years in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The London club confirmed the news in a short statement in the early hours of this morning. It read: "Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today (Thursday) by mutual consent." There is no news yet on who will succeed the 44-year-old with Chelsea next in action on Sunday against Manchester United FC at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese coach took over at Chelsea in June 2004 having enjoyed a glittering period of success at FC Porto, winning the UEFA Champions League that year to add to the UEFA Cup that had been secured in 2003. Mourinho, who also landed two Portuguese Liga titles and a domestic cup with Porto, translated his success to English football, ending Chelsea's 50-year wait for a league title in his first season in charge and repeating the feat in 2005/06. Mourinho also presided over a remarkable run of unbeaten home games at Chelsea, with the 3-2 win against Birmingham City FC on the opening day of the Premier League season last month setting a record in surpassing Liverpool's 63-match streak which was set between 1978 and 1981. ChelseaStamford Bridge.

He was unable to deliver success in the UEFA Champions League, however, as Chelsea lost to Liverpool FC in the semi-finals in both 2005 and 2007, and they also conceded the Premier League title to United in May. Despite glory in the FA Cup, which concluded with a final victory against United, and an English League Cup triumph – the second time Chelsea had won the trophy under Mourinho – rumours of tensions at Stamford Bridge continued to circulate and Chelsea began the new season in slow fashion, losing at Aston Villa FC in their fifth fixture and also dropping points against Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers FC to lie fifth after six games. The new UEFA Champions League season began in similarly underwhelming fashion with a 1-1 home draw against Norwegian champions Rosenborg BK on Tuesday night, a match that proved to be Mourinho's last in charge.

Yuvraj creates history in Twenty20...

Yuvraj Singh became the first player in Twenty20 history to hit six sixes in an over in India's match against England.

The left-hander achieved the feat in the penultimate over and finished with 58 off 16 balls as England - already eliminated - were put to the sword.

Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir shared 136 but India were pegged back for a while as Chris Tremlett took two quick wickets.

However, Yuvraj's onslaught left them on top and England shell-shocked.

The ball disappeared with tremendous velocity over wide long-on, backward square-leg, extra-cover, backward point and mid-wicket while Broad and skipper Paul Collingwood played the role of startled rabbits.

Coming after South Africa's win over New Zealand confirmed England's exit, it was another low point in their recent history of limited-overs struggles.

And yet there was no hint of the carnage to come when the openers cautiously went about garnering 23 in the first four overs.

But they stepped on the gas to dispatch the seamers to all parts, making more than double that in the next 24 balls as Gambhir pulled Andrew Flintoff and Sehwag flogged Dimitri Mascarenhas over extra-cover for sixes.

Tremlett, given his first chance in the tournament, endured a torrid time early on.

Sehwag top-edged his first ball over third man for a maximum, while Gambhir produced crunching drives straight and through the off-side to take India well past 100 in the 12th over.

England should have had their first breakthrough earlier, when Sehwag sliced Collingwood to fine third man on 39, where Mascarenhas over-ran to miss the chance.

The right-hander profited by hammering over backward point for six and thrashing through the covers to reach 50 off 38 balls, while Gambhir got to his fifty off two fewer deliveries by punishing a Tremlett full-toss.

The force was with the openers and Tremlett cut a beleagured figure, but he had two doses of joy when he knocked back Sehwag's leg-stump and cleaned up Robin Uthappa.

In between that, Gambhir guided Darren Maddy straight to Broad at short fine-leg.

However, any suggestions that the innings might fizzle out were truly shattered by Yuvraj, who raced to the fastest half century in international history - off only 12 balls.

He creamed Flintoff over long-off for one more six before being snapped up at long-on but that was a trifling irrelevance compared with the damage done in the previous over.

Bangla pack their bags from the World cup …

Sri Lanka handed out a 64-run drubbing to Bangladesh in their Super Eights match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka were restricted to 147-5 by Bangladesh after Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful won the toss and elected to bowl first. Despite chasing a modest total, the Bangladeshis were bundled out for a mere 83 runs with 4.1 overs remaining.

Bangladesh were out of the ICC World Twenty20 competition after having lost both their Super Eights games, with only one game against Pakistan at hand.

Jolted by Pakistan in their previous encounter, World Cup finalists Sri Lanka were in no mood of a let up as left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas snared Bangladeshi opener Nazimuddin for a golden duck the batsmen only managed 147 runs.

The Bangladesh top order continued to falter as they were reduced to 21-3. And when captain Mohammad Ashraful went back into the dugout, the Bangladeshis were faced with a tall order with the asking rate mounting steadily.

Only four Bangladeshi batsmen managed to reach double figures against a disciplined Sri Lankan bowling attack. The Lankans were evidently above par in the field as their fielders accounted for two run outs from the outfield.

The Bangladeshis continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as they eventually succumbed inside 16 overs, all out for 83 as Sri Lanka gave themselves a chance to make it to the semi-finals.

Chaminda Vaas put in a stellar display of left-arm swing bowling as he captured two wickets, giving away just 14 runs from his four overs, while new ball partner Dilhara Fernando ripped through with a pair as well.

The Bangladeshi slower bowlers didnn't allow the prolific Sri Lankans to gain momentum throughout their innings, as none of their batsmen carried on after getting decent starts.

Desperate to stay afloat in the tournament, Bangladesh hit Sri Lanka hard up front as explosive opener Sanath Jayasuriya was out without making any impact for the second game running, this time gone for a golden duck.

Bangladesh continued to torment the Sri Lankan batsmen as they were unable to score runs freely, and going on to lose two more wickets in Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara went after getting decent starts against their names.

The first 10 overs only accounted for 61 runs for the Sri Lankans.

Bangladesh, however, were to be blamed for several lapses in the field as they missed out on clear wicket-taking opportunities, but made up with a stupendous effort with the ball.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene was the top scorer for the Sri Lankans with 30, and it took a last gasp effort from Tillekeratne Dilshan (21 not out from 16 balls) and Jehan Mubarak (31 not out from 19 balls) to lift them to 147-5 after playing out their 20 overs.

Pakistan end Srilankan winning run ..

Skipper Shoaib Malik helped Pakistan overcome an early wobble to post another intimidating score at Wanderers in the first innings of their World Twenty20 Super Eights match against Sri Lanka Monday.

Malik top-scored with 57 out of a total of 189 for six with support from their most experienced batsman Younis Khan (51) in a stand worth 101 from only 58 balls as both men made hay against Sanath Jayasuriya who conceded 64 off his four overs -- the most expensive figures of the tournament so far.

Pakistan were sent into bat in perfect night-time conditions after Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to field.

His decision seemed to be vindicated during the opening overs from Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando who ensured that Pakistan ended the seventh over on 37 with three wickets down.

Imran Nazir was the first to depart, tamely lobbing a slower ball from the veteran Vaas to Jehan Mubarak, fielding in the covers, for seven at the end of the third over with the score on 22.

Fellow opener Salman Butt followed him back to the changing room only two balls later, clean bowled as he looked to smash Fernando out of the ground for 12.

Fernando then bowled a rare maiden at the Wanderers during the Twenty20 tournament which included the wicket of the dangerous looking Mohammed Hafeez, again bowled with the score on 33.

The extra speed of Lasith Malinga had the effect of accelerating the pace of the Pakistan innings, his first over going for 12.

Jayasuriya suffered similar punishment in his first over, with the Pakistan batsmen appearing to target the 38-year-old spinner as the weak link in the Sri Lankan armoury. His first two overs went for 15.

Worse was to follow in his third. After Younis brought up the century with a boundary off the 77th ball of the innings, Jayasuriya was then launched for another huge six in an over that cost 20.

Malik was having equal fun, taking only 31 balls to reach 57 which included four boundaries and two sixes. He was finally out, caught by Tillekeratane Dilshan off the bowling of Malinga.

A quick-fire 17 off nine balls from master-blaster Shahid Afridi helped take the score close to the 200 mark in what was the 10th time in the tournament that teams had passed the 160 mark, a figure reached only twice elsewhere.

Michael Johnson match winner for City ..

Manchester City maintained their 100 per cent home record under Sven-Goran Eriksson with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Eastlands.

Michael Johnson was the match winner with a well-taken goal in the 48th minute, after Elano had created space in the heart of Villa's defence and threaded a perfectly weighted ball through to the teenager.

In a match high on endeavour put low on clear cut opportunities, Villa struggled to create a genuine threat despite fielding the same team which beat Chelsea, with John Carew overcoming a groin injury to retain his place.

The best the visitors could offer was when Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor both sent headers wide. And when Zat Knight did eventually find a way past Schmeichel, the effort was ruled out for handball.

City moved to within one point of leaders Arsenal as Johnson once again proved that despite Eriksson's £40 million summer spending spree, the Swede's most valuable assets could yet prove to be the youngsters he has inherited from the club's academy system.

On a day when Micha Richards, another academy graduate, and Eriksson were given their awards for player and manager of the month respectively, City's move up to second place continues the former England manager's redemption in his adopted country.

Kanu misses the penalty against the Reds..

Jose Reina's first-half penalty save helped Liverpool secure a goalless draw against Portsmouth.

The Spaniard again showed his prowess in saving penalties by saving Kanu's first-half effort on the half-hour mark.

Portsmouth were awarded the penalty after Alvaro Arbeloa was adjudged to have tugged Kanu's shirt inside the box, but the Nigerian saw his effort superbly saved by Reina.

Chances were few and far between with both defences on top as Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

With only three minutes on the clock, Pompey keeper David James had to be alert to go down and turn away a fierce shot by Yossi Benayoun for a corner.

At the other end, Pompey's giant debutant Papa Bouba Diop was head and shoulders above all challengers to meet Sean Davis's free-kick with his head but could not direct his effort on target.

But it needed another fine save by James to keep out Liverpool seven minutes later when Mohamed Sissoko's pass put in for an angled shot which the keeper stopped with a strong left wrist.

Pompey were relieved when Xabi Alonso's free-kick from 25 yards crashed into their defensive wall after Mali midfielder Sissoko went down too easily from a tangle with Sulley Muntari but Liverpool looked full of scoring options in the first 25 minutes.

Yet it was Pompey who almost broke the deadlock when Benjani's powerful low drive caught a deflection off Arbeloa which took it out for a corner.

And it was Arbeloa who was judged by referee Mike Riley to have tugged Kanu's shirt just inside the area as they jockeyed for possession and the Spaniard was, of course, the most grateful to his compatriot Reina - who saved twice in a crucial shoot-out against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League last season - for a spectacular plunge that kept out Kanu's spot-kick.

Liverpool might have been expected to push on from there and take the game by the scruff of the neck but they failed to make another worthwhile chance before the break and after Crouch brilliantly back-heeled a Steve Finnan pass just over James's bar, they had a couple of major escapes.

First, £7million man John Utaka, with all the goal to aim at after Diop forced the ball through, slashed his effort wide with only Reina to beat in the 52nd minute.

Then the goal was gaping again when the energetic Muntari hooked Kanu's lay-back off target.

In between, Andrei Voronin's half-volley clipped the bar when Pompey were caught napping at the back but even the arrival of Fernando Torres and midweek England hero Steven Gerrard from the bench for the last half-hour failed to do the trick.

That was despite Gerrard robbing a dithering Diop to send the Spaniard sprinting in to shoot high and wide.

The pace was unrelenting and just before the end, Voronin was inches away from converting a Torres cross but defeat for battling Pompey would have been a sad injustice.

Sania all set for Sunfeast Open …

High on confidence after a successful US hard court season, Sania Mirza says she is keen to prove herself in front of home fans in the upcoming Sunfeast Open.

Sania said her improved fitness was a key factor in her recent success and that she was eager to give her best at the $ 170,000 WTA Tour event without any fear of "winning or losing".

"Right now, I am focusing on my fitness and I will be happy if I continue the same level of fitness in the Sunfeast Open. Winning or losing doesn't matter to me," she said.

Sania said her five wins against top-20 players and getting the better of former world number one Martina Hingis were her best moments during the remarkable run in the US.

"One of the most satisfying things has been defeating Hingis. Winning against the top-20 players has been a high point as well," Sania said on her return from the US.

The 20-year-old Indian had a stupendous two-month sojourn, rising to 26th in world rankings as she reached the semifinals in Cincinnati and her maiden final of a $ 600,000 event in Stanford.

"It has been a fabulous hard court tour for me. I am happy with the progress I have made. It feels great to be in the top-30," the Hyderabadi girl said.

Asked what was her next target, Sania said, "I am taking it as it comes." On hiring a full-time coach, Sania said she was gaining a lot from the present arrangement of former men's player Gabriel Urpi advising her during important events while her father Imran Mirza donned the role of the coach

Tigers dumps Windies out of the Cup..

The young Bangladeshi team lead superbly by Mohammad Ashraful sent the West Indies crashing out of the Twenty20 World Cup.

It was the same Windies squad which started the tourney with a big bang against the South Africans! They became the first team to exit the tournament. With this Bangladesh assured their entry into the Super 8 and pulled off an upset similar to the one against India during the ODI World Cup at the Caribbean.

Set 165 runs to win, Bangladesh reached the target losing just four wickets with two overs to spare. They started off pretty slow with just 12 runs in the first 3 overs…but once Aftab Ahmed and skipper Mohammad Ashraful got together, things got explosive!

Ashraful went on to score the fastest half-century in a Twenty20 match which also eventually won him the Man of the Match award.

Well lets hope India registers a win against Scotland and qualifies for the Super 8’s where they can once again lose to the Bangladeshis! Or perhaps take revenge?!

Maddy hoping for his big chance ...

Experienced England batsman Darren Maddy is determined to take the World Twenty20 in South Africa by storm.

Maddy is part of the England set-up for the first time in seven years and he is eager, if given the chance, to prove what he is capable of on the international stage.

The 33-year-old Warwickshire captain has been outstanding in the domestic Twenty20 competition over the past four seasons, helping his former county Leicestershire become champions in 2004 and 2006.

He is hoping his experience of the format can earn him a place in the starting line-up for England's opener against Zimbabwe on Thursday and believes that the other players can benefit from his presence.

"I would like to think experience can count for something," he said.

"Nothing can ever match international experience but a lot of these guys haven't played a lot of Twenty20 cricket and there a few little things that we can help them with and I'm sure they will be able to pass down some experience of how to do it at the highest level.

"A lot of the skills that have been developed in Twenty20 cricket are going into 50-overs cricket and even four-day and Test match cricket now.

"It's not often a domestic player gets to play in front of big crowds and has to perform their skills under pressure and that's what Twenty20 is all about so I suppose in that respect it's very similar to international 50-over cricket."

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World cup starts in South Africa …

South Africa captain Graeme Smith has won the toss and has elected to put the West Indies in to bat.

The wait is over. Strap yourselves in for the next two weeks as the World Twenty20 Championships hit you for six six four six! Twelve nations go head to head through twenty crazy overs over the next fourteen days to decide the inaugural world champions. It will be edge of the seat stuff, no respite for bowlers, no breathing space for the batsmen. The hits come harder and faster than a heavyweight title bout and we'll be here to bring you the very best of the action.

South Africa begin the tournament against the West Indies, many people's outside bet to lift the crown on September 24th. The famous Wanderers ground in Johannesburg is the venue for the historic first fixture in this brand new tournament. South Africa begin the event as second favourites behind the seemingly untouchable Australians. Can the Springboks use home advantage as a weapon on their assault on the Twenty20 crown? Can the West Indies get off to the best possible start and beat their hosts? Can India rally for a tilt at glory after a long campaign in England? Can anyone stop the all conquering Aussies?

Only time will tell, what rests ahead … So enjoy !!!

England gears up for the World Cup …

As the world's biggest hitters warm up for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, one of England's biggest hitters will be back in at home, helping Surrey through the final stages of the English domestic season.

At 37, Alastair 'Ali' Brown knows it is time to let the younger boys go about international one-day and Twenty20 cricket, but it won't stop the man, capped 22 times in limited overs internationals for England, watching the action in the southern hemisphere.

In fact, when Twenty20 cricket first appeared in county cricket it seemed to have been invented for a man who scored 268 for Surrey against Glamorgan in a limited overs match at the Brit Oval in 2002, a total that is still a record at any level of senior one-day cricket.

And so it doesn't come as a surprise that Brown, when not battling for promotion in the Pro40 league with Surrey, will have one eye on South Africa and the first international tournament of the fast and furious version of the game.

"When Twenty20 cricket was first brought to us, I for one looked at it as a format that would suit me. On the times I have played it, I have maybe gone a bit too early, been a bit too aggressive, and that has probably cost me a few low scores.

"But I have been playing domestic cricket for 20 years now and to see grounds full is amazing. You see 30,000 at Lord's for a domestic game and the atmosphere is something else."

Brown thinks that England have every chance of success out in South Africa, provided they bat 'without fear'. And there is one man in the England squad that he would pay to watch in any form of the game.

"I hope we perform well in it and if we go without the fear of failure, I think we will," he says.

"I like watching Kevin Pietersen bat. I think he is a very decent player and shows the sort of aggression that is required, and the confidence as well.

"If you play at that level, you have to have a lot of self-belief, particularly if you get left out after a couple of poor performances.

"Pietersen is certainly a player I admire at that level and someone I would pay to watch."

Mclaren delighted with Owen’s Performance …

England emerged triumphant in their first competitive game at Wembley, winning their first home international in more than a year. And Owen capped it with the goal of the day.

The margin of three goals could easily have been doubled as McClaren's team generated chance after chance with surprising ease. While a more serious examination awaits in Wednesday's game with Russia, this result gave the England manager a little breathing space.

"I'm delighted. I'd have taken 1-0," McClaren said. "The performance was the icing on the cake. The way we went about the game made Israel look ordinary and they had proved a difficult side to beat."

With the 85,372 crowd in full throat, man-of-the-match Shaun Wright-Phillips scored first on 20 minutes with a neat far-post finish from Joe Cole's inswinging cross and Micah Richards claimed his first England goal with a thumped header after 66 minutes. Sandwiched between them was a moment of brilliance from Owen.

Receiving Gareth Barry's clever, disguised pass just outside the box, Owen chipped the ball up for himself, and lashed it into the net in one fluid, swivelling half-volley. It was his 38th goal for his country and he is only 11 short of Bobby Charlton's record. It bore the mark of a confident, world-class finisher.

"I thought we played really well, until we went 3-0 up. If we'd carried on playing like that we'd have beaten them by a bigger score. Everyone knows what I'm about: I've played many games for England and scored many goals. I'll play better and I'll play worse, but I'm now fully fit."

Owen has spent two years in and out of the treatment room and had an operation after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the last World Cup. Goals in consecutive games for Newcastle had hinted at a return to his old sharpness. His team-mates clearly appreciated his return to form. "It was a great strike from Michael," said John Terry, the captain. "You could see how delighted everyone was for him by the way we all sprinted to congratulate him."

India lose the Final decider by 7 wkts..

England clinched the NatWest Series in style at Lord's with an impressive seven-wicket win over India with Collingwood and Pietersen see hosts home at Lord's

Earlier , India stumbled to 187 all out at Lord's on Saturday as England took command of the seventh and final one-day international. Captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to trust his formidable top order on a cool, overcast morning but that decision backfired as England dominated from the first ball.

The hosts were boosted by the return of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who passed a fitness test on his suspect ankle and took three wickets, including Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who both received questionable umpiring decisions.

All the batsmen, apart from Dravid who went for a three-ball duck, got starts before being undone by a mixture of hostile bowling and poor strokes.

Only Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who top-scored with 50, offered significant resistance.

Opener Sourav Ganguly got away with several rash shots and was whacked on the helmet by fired-up paceman James Anderson as India struggled despite no obvious early swing.

Ganguly's luck ran out when he edged Anderson to the safe hands of Flintoff for a scrappy 15.

Flintoff's first over was greeted with two boundaries from Tendulkar as he and Gautam Gambhir took the score past 50 but Gambhir went for 12 in the next over when Luke Wright took a low catch at short mid-wicket off a shortish Anderson delivery.

In the next over Flintoff cut Dravid in half and seemed to brush the inside edge as the ball went through to keeper Matt Prior. Umpire Aleem Dar's decision was greeted with a shake of the head by the batsman.

Boos rang round Lord's in Flintoff's next over when Tendulkar was adjudged caught behind for 30 after wafting his bat at a wide ball.

Tendulkar, possibly playing at Lord's for the last time, looked horrified when Dar sent him to the pavilion.

Toiling on 59 for four, India needed Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa to dig in.

Singh pulled one ball from Stuart Broad for six and Uthappa (22) cut Flintoff for a boundary before he tried to loft medium pacer Dimitri Mascarenhas only to pick out mid-off Anderson.

Mascarenhas struck again when Yuvraj (28) steered a catch to skipper Paul Collingwood at short third man.

Dhoni went on the attack with a six and four boundaries to give the large Indian contingent in the sell-out crowd some cheer. His half century came up in 69 balls.

However, he ran out of partners as Ramesh Powar was run out, Piyush Chawla was stumped by Prior to give Mascarenhas his third wicket and Zaheer Khan was bowled by Monty Panesar.

Dhoni was the last man to fall when he tried to slog a slower delivery from Flintoff and went to an excellent diving catch on the long-off boundary from Anderson.