Chasing 148 to win, the visitors overhauled the modest target with four balls to spare, thanks to sensible batting by Suresh Raina (54 not out) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37). The Chennai team not only sealed a semifinal place for themselves they also broke the heart of Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians team, which is now out of the tournament.

A loss of Chennai today and a Mumbai win tomorrow against Bangalore Royal Challengers would have enabled Mumbai to enter the last-four stage of the tournament. Now Mumbai's last league match has been rendered inconsequential.

Dhoni played some blistering shots in his 25 ball knock which included four fours and one six and shared a crucial 55-run stand with Raina for the third wicket.

The skipper's fall brought Albie Morkel on the crease and he together with Raina saw their team home, though some tight bowling at death made the encounter interesting. Pragyan Ojha had Dhoni caught in deep by Gibbs and that put brakes on run-flow. Chennai required 17 runs off the last two overs. RP Singh bowled the penultimate over, which fetched the visitors 10 runs.

Raina hit Vjaykumar for a six on the second ball of the last over to seal the victory for his team and also brought up his half-century. Chennai were cruising towards the target, but had a brief wobble after Dhoni found Gibbs at long-on. That over, the 16th, went just for three, and when Styris conceded the same in the next, Chennai were left needing 28 off 18.

Another tight over and Deccan could have still been in the hunt, but Raina found the gap at midwicket as Ojha bowled a full toss. He was dropped by RP in the 19th over, and hit the winning six —which brought up his fifty — as Chennai reached their target with four balls to spare. A jubilant Chennai camp celebrated their semi-final entry, while the bottom-placed Deccan, who suffered their seventh straight loss, are left with a lot to plan for the IPL's next season.

Chennai’s opening bowlers were on the mark from the start; Makhaya Ntini bowled with pace and got good bounce and carry, while Manpreet Gony, the team's leading wicket-taker, stuck to an impeccable length on off-stump and bowled through his four overs for 21. And they reaped the rewards soon, as both Herschelle Gibbs and Adam Gilchrist found the fielder at third man - Gibbs with a slash, Gilchrist with a thick outside-edge.

Deccan's early runs came mainly in singles and Scott Styris, who's had a terrible tournament, looked to be getting into rhythm with boundaries in the arc between midwicket and mid-on till he was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan while trying to hit one across. At 57 for 3 after ten overs, Deccan needed a partnership and Venugopal Rao and Ravi Teja came up with a 76-run stand that lent respectability to the eventual total.

New Delhi, May 27
Indian Premier League's Twenty20 format may not attract purists but selectors should consider IPL performance before picking the Indian squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan, according to Virender Sehwag.

The Delhi Daredevils captain said IPL has transcended boundaries to reach people in the furthest corner and so it would be wrong to completely ignore the players' performance in the Twenty20 league.

"IPL performance should matter. Everyone is watching IPL. I'm getting SMS from England, Pakistan, West Indies, all saying we are doing well. I think selectors should take IPL performance into account when they select the Indian squad," Sehwag said today.

According to him, a number of youngsters have made their mark in the IPL and they should, on a rotational basis, be blooded.

"So many youngsters have done well in the tournament. For us, Shikhar Dhawan has done well, so did V Yomahesh and Pradeep Sangwan.

"India play a tri-series in Bangladesh, they play Asia Cup in Pakistan and then there is Champions Trophy. A lot of cricket is to be played this year and I think selectors should, on rotation, give chances to the youngsters to play alongside the seniors," he said.

Sehwag admitted the Daredevils owed it to lady luck as they sneaked their way into the IPL semifinals after Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals pipped Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians in a thriller at Jaipur yesterday.

"Initially, we were unfortunate to lose a few close matches but finally luck seems to have smiled on us and here we are in the semi-finals. I think luck is a crucial factor and we are happy to be lucky," Sehwag said.

Asked which team he would prefer to face in the semi-finals, Sehwag said, "Any team. All four teams would be strong, that's why they made it to the semi-finals. Anyone can beat anyone now. All would depend on who plays better on the given day."

On if his team would like to avoid facing the rampaging Rajasthan Royals in the semis, Sehwag said, "They have done us a favour and we have to play them anyway, in final if not in semi-finals."

Sehwag said the Daredevils' main strength lied in the fact that they were not dependent on any individual to see them through.

"The best part about it is that we don't rely on certain individuals to pull us out. Players like Dinesh Karthik, Ferveez Maharoof, (Glenn) McGrath, myself and Gautam (Gambhir) have won matches for the side. We don't depend on a handful few," he said.

Sehwag also expressed happiness as the off-colour middle order also hit form against the Mumbai Indians in their last league match here. — PTI

Kingston, May 27
Australia recorded their 13th win in the last 14 Tests against the West Indies here as five wickets from Stuart Clark inspired them to a 95-run victory on the fifth and final day of the first match.

Clark captured a Test best five wickets for 32 runs from 20 overs to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, as the West Indies, chasing 287 runs to win, were dismissed for 191 in their second innings about 40 minutes before the scheduled tea break on the fifth and final day of the Test at Sabina Park on Monday.

Leg-spin bowler Stuart MacGill sealed victory, when he had batting bunny Amit Jaggernauth dubiously caught at forward short leg for a duck - a dismissal which TV replays showed that umpire Russell Tiffin's decision was incorrect.

The victory gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series which continues on Friday in Antigua and concludes with the third and final Test in Barbados, starting on June 12.

Denesh Ramdin hit the top score for West Indies in a rearguard effort of 36, Darren Sammy supported him in a 67-run, seventh-wicket stand with 35, opener Devon Smith made 28, and Daren Powell enjoyed himself in a late flourish of 27.

But Clarke made sure the match was over as a genuine contest, when he ripped out Ramnaresh Sarwan and Smith in the first half-hour of the morning to leave the home team 60 for three. — AFP

Australia first innings 431

West Indies first innings 312

Australia second innings 167 all out

West Indies second innings:

D. Smith lbw b Clark 28

Parchment c Haddin b Clark 15

Sarwan c Symonds b Clark 12

Morton lbw b Lee 9

Chanderpaul c & b Lee 11

Bravo c Johnson b Clark 0

Ramdin run out 36

Sammy lbw b Clark 35

Powell c Haddin b MacGill 27

Edwards not out 9

Jaggernauth c Jaques b MacGill 0

Extras: (b-4, lb-2, nb-3) 9

Total: (all out, 67 overs) 191

Fall of wickets: 1-22 2-55 3-60 4-74 5-80 6-82 7-149 8-172 9-191 10-191.

Bowling: Lee 22-6-81-2 (2nb), Clark 20-8-32-5 (1nb), Johnson 11-3-29-0, MacGill 14-2-43-2.

Player of the match: Clark (Australia)

Bangalore, May 27
With their semifinal fate hinging on a match to be played by other teams, Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their final IPL league match tomorrow hoping that Deccan Chargers do them a favour by upsetting Chennai Super Kings tonight.

The Mumbai outfit could have come within touching distance of a semi-final berth had it beaten Rajasthan Royals last night but some atrocious fielding coupled with poor bowling at the death has left the team in a situation that could make tomorrow's match a battle for the wooden spoon.

Mumbai desperately need Chennai to lose to Deccan Chargers, a team already out of contention and yet to win at home, in their final league engagement tonight.

A Chennai win would put Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men in the semifinal at the expense of Mumbai, who are third from the bottom in the points table and trail Chennai by two points.

A loss for Chennai would give Mumbai a shot at the semifinals and make tomorrow's match against Challengers a must-win encounter for them. — PTI

Kolkata, May 27
Nearly one lakh spectators accorded a standing ovation to legendary goalie of Germany and Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn when he was leaving the ground half way of a friendly with Mohun Bagan, leading his side to a 3-0 victory at Salt Lake stadium here tonight.

Bayern surged ahead in the 19th minute when Zen Schlautraff booted home over the head of Bagan keeper Sangram Mukherjee after defender J Anand Vasan failed to clear the ball (1-0).

Just 18 minutes later, Pavallion Ze Roberto buttressed the lead, slotting in from a freekick just outside the box (2-0).

Schlaudraff again consolidated his team's position five minutes after the lemon break (3-0).

The friendly, dubbed as Oliver Kahn's farewell match, had generated tremendous enthusiasm in the city and spectators poured in to the stadium one hour before the match However, the friendly was marred by frayed temper at the fag end and referee Subroto Sarkar showed red carded rival players.

Bagan substitute Branco and Bayern's Breno were redcarded for kicking each other off the ball.

Kahn was FIFA's golden ball winer in 2002 and had already retired from competitive football just aftr winning Bundesliga in Germany recently.

This was his last friendly before he hands out his gloves. Earlier, Bagan made him honorary life member. — UNI

New Delhi, May 27
The Monaco fairytale with a poignant end would surely rankle Force India for some time but team owner Vijay Mallya returns with the twin convictions that he has got a world class driver in Adrian Sutil and that the team is capable of top five finish.

Talking to PTI, Mallya revealed it was not only Sutil who had tears in his eyes after Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen had bumped into the back of his car and wrecked the race of his career with the German running a stunning fourth.

"We all were in tears, it was not him alone," Mallya said.

"We were so proud for coming so near to a fourth place finish and then Kimi rammed into the back of Adrian's car. Everyone had tears in their eyes because everyone is so emotionally attached with the team," he recalled.

"I was shattered. It was the toughest race in difficult conditions but we had prepared well for the rain. Even after our poor qualification, I was still optimistic. We put our rain strategy in place and it worked perfectly before that shocking incident."

Sutil, considered by many as the man of the Monaco race, started on the 18th but cut through the mid-field and survived many an intrigue on the twisty 3.34km track of Circuit de Monaco to rise to fourth place.

With just three laps and seven minutes to go, Raikkonen's Ferrari rammed into Sutil's VJM01, wrecking his race leaving the German inconsolable in the pit.

The team subsequently lodged a complaint with the stewards about Raikkonen's action but the Finn got away without punishment. Raikkonen subsequently tendered an apology to Sutil and the German too decided to forgive the Finn.

Despite missing out on points, Mallya returned convinced about the potential of the car and the drivers, especially Sutil, who earlier seemed to have a cloud of doubt over his Force India seat following his three DNFs in the first four races.

"It was a spectacular race by Adrian. He proved he is a world class driver, capable of matching the best in the business," said Mallya, who, however, had an unflinching faith in the German.

Mallya said Sutil just didn't have his slice of luck, which forced him out of the race on the previous occasions.

"He did not have luck in the races where he could not finish. He's an exceptionally talented driver and I'm very happy for him. He and the entire team have boosted my confidence," he said.

According to him, the team in Monaco gave enough inklings that it was capable of top five finish. — PTI

Jammu, May 27
Manipur opened their campaign with a facile win as they trounced Orissa 7-2 in the National football Championship for the Santosh Trophy here this evening.

Manipur, who had four international names in their squad including skipper Bijon Singh, toyed with their happless opponents.

Despite grabbing the lead in the 38th minute through Bhabani Singh, Orissa failed to continue with the magic as Jyotin Singh of Manipur fired in from close range to level the scores in the 39th minute.

The second half was dominated by the energetic Manipuris who made Orissa dance to their tunes.

Bijon Singh (55th), Y Raju (61st, 82nd), I Khelemba Meitei (67th) K Samson (72nd) and A Naresh (77th) made no mistakes in converting their chances.

Meanwhile M Saddique scored the second goal for Orissa in the 74th minute from the left wing.

Earlier in the morning session, Services defeated Nagaland 8-0 here. In tomorrows matches Chandigarh will meet Tamil Nadu (morning) and Sikkim will clash with Bihar (evening).

However, in the matches played at Srinagar, host Jammu and Kashmir defeated Daman Diu 4-0 and Himachal Pradesh beat Pondicherry 3-2 while the J&K team will play against HP to qualify the round.

The tournament is being organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Football Association under the aegis of All India Football Federation (AIFF). — UNI