Karachi, July 6
Ajantha Mendis broke India's back with a mesmerising six-wicket haul as Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup cricket tournament with a facile 100-run victory here tonight.

Chasing 274, India's much-vaunted batting attack was bamboozled by Mendis' bag of tricks and the mystery spinner emerged as the wrecker-in-chief to bundle out India for 173 in just 39.3 overs.

Mendis' bowling figures read an impressive 8-1-13-6 and this was the first six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup history.

India's ploy of having an additional batsman did not pay dividend and only Virender Sehwag (60 off 36) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (49) managed to salvage their reputation. The Indian batsmen thus let down their bowling colleagues, who had earlier done a decent job by bowling out Sri Lanka for 273 in 49.5 overs, a total built around Sanath Jayasuriya's 125-run knock off just 114 balls.

Chaminda Vaas started the rot by removing Gautam Gambhir (6) in the fifth over before Mendis took over.

In his first over, Mendis foxed an onrushing Sehwag with a 'flicker' to get him stumped and two balls later, he flicked another through Yuvraj Singh's gates to castle him for a duck.

In his third over, Mendis disturbed Suresh Raina's (16) timbers before trapping Rohit Sharma (3) plumb in front four runs later. In the 32nd over again, he scalped Irfan Pathan and RP Singh off success deliveries to complete his six-wicket haul.

Earlier, Jayasuriya looked unstoppable in a brilliant 125 runs from 114 balls that included nine fours and five sixes as he put on a face-saving 131 runs stand for the fifth wicket with Tillekaratne Dilshan who made 56.

India started well as Ishant Sharma rocked the top order with three wickets while RP Singh cleaned up the tail with as many as Sri Lanka struggled to make 57 in the last 10 overs.

Jayasuriya's 27th career hundred rescued Sri Lanka from a precarious 66 for four in 12 overs after India, in a brave decision, opted to field first.

RP Singh suffered badly in the 16th over when a blitz from Jayasuriya produced 26 runs from six balls taking him from 61 to 87.

He blasted Singh over the long off area for two sixes and then drove him for two fours over covers with the final ball being dispatched over mid-wicket for another six.

His partnership with Dilshan, who made his fifty from 68 balls, came at a time when the Lankans were rattled by Sharma.

After Kumar Sangakkara was run out for just four in the second over after a tragic mix-up with Jayasuriya, Sharma struck thrice. 

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka

Jayasuriya c I. Sharma b Sehwag 125

Sangakkara run out 4

Jayawardene c Rohit b Ishant 11

Kapugedera c Raina b Ishant 5

C. Silva bIshant 0

Dishan c Dhoni b Pathan 56

Vaas b RP Singh 19

Kulasekera not out 29

Mirando lbw RP Singh 5

Mendis b RP Singh 8

Muralitharan c Dhoni b Pathan 2

Extras: (lb-8, w-1.) 9

Total: (all out in 49.5 overs) 273

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-34, 3-66, 4-66, 5-197, 6-213, 7-236, 8-256, 9-264, 10-273

Bowling: RP 9-1-67-3, Ishant 10-1-52-3, Pathan 9.5-0-67-2, Ojha 10-1-38-0, Sehwag 8-0-30-1, Rohit 3-0-11-0.

India

Gambhir c Dilshan b Vaas 6

Sehwag st Sangakkara b Mendis 60

Raina b Mendis 16

Yuvraj b Mendis 0

Dhoni c Sangakkara b Vaas 49

Rohit lbw b Mendis 3

Uthappa lbw b Muralitharan 20

I. Pathan c Jayawardene b Mendis 2

R.P. b Mendis 0

Ojha not out 6

Ishant b Kulasekera 8

Extras: (b-2, w-1.) 3

Total: (all out, 39.3 overs) 173

Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-76, 3-76, 4-93, 5-97, 6-135, 7-154, 8-154, 9-160, 10-173

Bowling: Vaas 9-0-55-2, Kulasekera 6.3-0-26-1, TT. Mirando 8-0-51-0, Mendis 8-1-13-6, Muralitharan 8-0-26-1.— PTI 

London, July 6
Rafael Nadal ended Roger Federer's five-year reign as king of Wimbledon on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 victory in one of the most dramatic finals seen at the All England Club.

The 22-year-old Nadal survived an incredible Federer fightback to become the first Spaniard to win the grasscourt grand slam since Manuel Santana in 1966. He is also the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

Nadal, beaten by Federer in the last two finals here, took the opening set with a single service break and then stormed back from 1-4 down in the second to snatch a two-set lead and leave the world number one reeling.

An 81-minute rain break seemed to help five-times champion Federer and he returned to snatch the third set on a tiebreak. He then saved two match points before taking another tiebreak to square the match at two sets all.

With light fading fast Nadal broke Federer at 7-7 in the fifth before claiming victory when Federer netted a forehand.

Earlier, Roger Federer staged an incredible fightback to square the final with Rafael Nadal at two sets each.

Federer saved two championship points in a nerve-racking fourth set tiebreak, one with an amazing backhand pass, before taking it 10-8 on his second set point. The Swiss world number one trailed 4-6 4-6 against the Spanish powerhouse but hung on grimly to win a third set tiebreak after an 81-minute rain break.

Federer's hopes of winning a record sixth Wimbledon title were hanging by a thread after an inspired Nadal seized his chances in the opening two sets while the Swiss squandered his.

After a 30-minute rain delay the final began with Nadal dominating the early exchanges with his forehand doing most of the damage. The second seed, bidding to become the first Spaniard to win the title since Manuel Santana in 1966, broke Federer's second service game when the Swiss completely missed a backhand in the difficult, windy conditions.

It was only the third time in the tournament that the 26-year-old had dropped a service game. — Reuters

Eugene, Oregon, July 6
Tyson Gay's hopes of an Olympic sprint double ended in agony on Saturday after the 200 metres world champion crashed out of the U.S. trials when his leg seized up during the quarter-finals. Gay tumbled to the track about 40 metres into the race with what his agent diagnosed as a severe cramp in his left hamstring.

The injury means Gay will now compete in just the 100 metres and 4x100 relay at next month's Beijing Games.

"Before I went out on the track I felt a little tightness in my hamstring so I kind of had a bad feeling," Gay said in a statement.

"I felt it, sort of a pull, about 40 meters," the 25-year-old added.

Heading to his hotel immediately to receive treatment, Gay was lucky enough to suffer no further damage, agent Mark Wetmore said.

The setback is a major blow to U.S. hopes in Beijing and once again brings into question the strict American qualifying procedure.

Only the top three finishers at the trials make the Olympic team regardless of circumstances.

A similar situation deprived the USA of its top 200 metres runners at the 2000 Olympics, when world record holder Michael Johnson and then-100 metres holder Maurice Greene crashed out of the trials final with injuries.

Both missed the Sydney Games in the longer sprint but won gold in their first-choice events.

Gay had hoped to duplicate his 2007 world 100 and 200 metres titles at Beijing.

He showed he was ready to challenge Jamaican world record holder Usain Bolt and his predecessor Asafa Powell in the 100 metres by winning the trials in the fastest time under any conditions, a wind-assisted 9.68 seconds.

Gay is scheduled to meet Jamaican Powell over 100 metres in London on July 25.

In Gay's absence, Rodney Martin, Wallace Spearmon Jr and Walter Dix joined 2004 Olympic gold medallist Shawn Crawford in advancing to Sunday's final.

Martin clocked a wind-assisted 20.04 seconds in one semi-final with Spearmon finishing in 20.05 and Dix running 20.09.

Crawford won the other semi-final in 20.21 seconds.

Unlike Gay, world champion Allyson Felix eased into the final of the women's 200 metres after she recorded a brisk 22.22 seconds to lead all qualifiers from the semi-finals.

However, the 1996 Olympic 110 metres hurdles gold medallist Allen Johnson crashed out of his event with a season-ending tendon injury after clearing four barriers in the opening round.

"Hopefully I'll be back next year," the 37-year-old Johnson said, the four-times world champion adding that these were his final Olympic trials.

Allen has represented the USA at three previous Games. — Reuters

Silverstone, July 6
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton blew away his rivals to win a wet and chaotic British Grand Prix on Sunday and storm back to the top of the Formula One standings. Hamilton, the first British winner at Silverstone since David Coulthard in 2000, was utterly dominant as he lapped all but second-placed Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber and the Honda of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.

The 23-year-old’s third win of the season put him level on 48 points with Ferrari’s Brazilian Felipe Massa, who was 13th and last after spinning five times on the sodden track, and world champion Kimi Raikkonen. To the delight of the home fans, Hamilton took the chequered flag a staggering 68.5 seconds ahead of Heidfeld, an age in Formula One terms.

Adding to the sense of astonishment, the evergreen Barrichello clambered on to the podium for the first time since 2005 to almost double Honda's season points tally. In the most intense title battle in years, BMW Sauber's Polish title contender Robert Kubica failed to finish but was still only two points behind the top trio at the halfway stage of the season.

Hamilton’s seventh win in just 26 starts was the perfect riposte to the critics who had suggested he was feeling the pressure of fame and fortune after two error-laden races in Canada and France. “It s definitely by far the best victory I've ever had, it was one of the toughest races I’ve ever done,” Hamilton said.

“When I was out there I was thinking this would definitely go down as the best race I’ve ever won. I could see the crowd beginning to stand up and I was praying ‘just keep it on the track, just finish’.”

Silverstone, July 6
India's Karun Chandhok has struck a purple patch here with a stunning drive that saw him starting 10th on the grid and finishing third in the GP2 Feature race.

The 24-year-old from Chennai, who is backed by Red Bull, Punj Lloyd, JK Tyre, Amaron, ICSA Logistics and Sidvin, added to his previous podium finish this year (at another classic track in Monaco) with a stunning performance Saturday that included a vast array of passing manoeuvres.

"That has to be my best race ever in GP2," said Karun, the iSport International driver who is already a winner in Formula 1's feeder formula after his victory at Spa-Francorchamps last year.

"My pace was really quick today (Saturday). Considering it's meant to be difficult to overtake around Silverstone, I don't think I did too bad - I passed more cars in one day than I have all season!" Karun gained one position at the start, when Mike Conway made a poor start, forcing him to swerve around the stranded car, and then began to carve his way through the field.

He passed Toyota F1 protégé Kamui Kobayashi at the Abbey chicane, Andy Soucek around the outside of the dauntingly-fast Stowe corner, Luca Filippi at Brooklands, Andi Zuber at Club, GP2 Asia champion Romain Grosjean at Brooklands and team-mate Bruno Senna during the pitstops.

"Apart from Giorgio Pantano, who won the race, we were faster than everyone else," he said. "It was such a shame that I got blocked on new tyres in qualifying, or I wouldn't have been stuck in the traffic in the first place," he added. — IANS

Karachi, July 6
Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was named the best Asian one-day batsman at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) awards ceremony here last night.

Tendulkar, who is recovering from a groin injury, could not make it to the ceremony and India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni collected the award on his behalf.

Three Sri Lankans walked away with top awards with wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara receiving the best Asian Test batsman award while country-mates Muttiah Muralitharan and Farveez Maharoof named the best Asian Test and ODI bowlers respectively.

Former India and Pakistan captains Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan were also honoured with special awards named "legendary cricketers" of both countries.

The ACC also gave away a special award of "best administrator" to Colonel (retd) Nur Khan, former President of the Pakistan Cricket Board, who played a significant role in forming the ACC.

The septuagenarian Nur Khan who took his award from former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga got a standing ovation from the gathering at the ceremony.

Khan, who had also remained President of Pakistan Hockey and Squash Federations, is credited of playing a big role in promoting Pakistan and Indian cricket at the world level and also producing a lineage of great sportsmen.

PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf, who took over as ACC President, said the awards were meant to honour and recognise the outstanding performers of the continent. — PTI

BRIEFLY

England cricketer Kevin Pietersen arrives at the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday. — Reuters

Women’s tour in good health: Navratilova
LONDON: Nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova believes that Venus Williams’s fifth All England Club title proves that the women’s tour is in good health. “Things on the women’s side have been a strange recently because Justine was the favourite in every match she played but suddenly she retired and there was a hole,” Navratilova told the BBC after seeing Venus beat sister Serena 7-5, 6-4 in the final. “But the all-Williams final shows women’s tennis is looking in good shape because we’ve got two superstars back in the fold and they could end up number one by year end. — AFP

Haryana enhances players’ diet money
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Government has enhanced the uniform and diet money for sportspersons. While disclosing this on Sunday, education minister Mange Ram Gupta said the rates of diet money for zonal or district-level tournaments had been revised from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per day and for state-level tournament from Rs 50 to Rs 100 per day. Similarly, rates for national-level tournaments had been increased from Rs 80 to Rs 150 per day, he added. He said that the rates for sports kits, including track suits and playing kits had also been revised from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per player taking part in state level games and from Rs 650 to Rs 1000 per player for national level tournments. — UNI

Jeev climbs to tied 7th in European Open
ASH: A three-under 69 in the penultimate round by ace Indian pro Jeev Milkha Singh staked his claim for a top-five finish in the 4.79 million dollar European Open and was at tied seventh going in to the final round here. Jeev, with a total score of seven-under 209, is now nine strokes adrift of leader Ross Fisher of England, who also had a 69. The Austrian Open winner was off to a great start as he had three consecutive birdies from third to fifth hole. — UNI

Warne to captain Australia in poker world series
MELBOURNE: What cricket could not give Shane Warne, finally poker has. The retired spin legend is realising his long-cherished ambition of captaining an Australian team in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. “Both (cricket and poker) take a lot of patience and it’s all about reading the player,” Warne told the Sun-Herald. “But I’m sure I won't make the final table on my debut,” he added. Warne has even found a poker mentor in Joe Hachem. — PTI

Manjeet wins Monsoon scooter rally
MUMBAI: Manjeet Singh Bassan clinched his fifth Gulf Monsoon Scooter Rally overall title by proving to be a class above the rest of the 32-strong field in the event held around the backwoods of neighbouring Navi Mumbai on Sunday. Riding a LML Vespa vehicle Bassan zipped through the 74 km course with minimum penalty of 31 minutes and 49 seconds, well ahead of second-placed Rustom Patel and Shamim Khan, who finished third in the Sportcraft-organised rally. — PTI