Johannesburg, September 23
Pakistan defeated West Indies by five wickets in the opening Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy here today. Chasing a paltry 134 for victory, Pakistan romped home in 30.3 overs with five wickets in hand. Umar Akmal was the highest scorer for the Pakistani side, who had a little bit of a scare when they were down five wickets for just 76 runs.

Earlier, Pakistani pace duo of Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul ran havoc, bowling out a depleted West Indies side for a paltry 133 in 33.4 overs.

Electing to bat, a rag-tag West Indies side had a terrible start to their innings, losing both their openers with the scorecard reading 11 after 3.6 overs. The inexperienced West Indies batting line-up never seemed in a position to counter the fiery Pakistan bowling attack as initially youngster Aamer and Indian Cricket League returnee Rana Naved-ul Hasan ran havoc and then Umar Gul joined the party to dismantle the Caribbeans.

Left-arm pacer Aamer struck as early as in the final ball of the opening over, getting Dale Richards (1) caught and bowled off his own bowling and then Naved-ul-Hasan got the better of Andre Fletcher caught by Imran Nazir with West Indies reeling at 11 for two after 3.6 overs.

Travis Dowlin was the next man to depart without opening his account, edging one to Kamral Akmal off the bowling of Aamer. One-down Devon Smith and captain Floyd Reifer did show some resistance, adding 22 runs for the fifth wicket. — PTI 

Scoreboard

West Indies:

Richards c & b Aamer 1 (4)

Fletcher c Nazir b Naved 7 (14)

Smith c U Akmal b Gul 18 (28)

Dowlin c K Akmal b Aamer 0 (2)

Reifer c Misbah b Gul 7 (23)

Bernard b Aamer 6 (14)

Sammy b Ajmal 25 (37)

Walton lbw b Gul 0 (1)

Miller c Malik b Afridi 51 (57)

Best st K Akmal b Ajmal 8 (19)

Tonge not out 4 (9)

Extras (w 5, nb 1) 6

Total (all out; 34.3 overs) 133

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-11, 3-14, 4-36, 5-43, 6-47, 7-47, 8-85, 9-121.

Bowling: Aamer 7-1-24-3, Naved 7-0-26-1, Gul 8-2-28-3, Afridi 8.3-0-39-1, Ajmal 4-0-16-2.

Pakistan:

Nazir b Tonge 5 (6)

K Akmal c Walton b Tonge 5 (12)

Malik c Walton b Tonge 23 (39)

Yousuf c Walton b Tonge 23 (31)

Misbah c Walton b Bernard 6 (22)

U Akmal not out 41 (51)

Afridi not out 17 (25)

Extras (lb 2, w 9, nb 3) 14

Total (5 wickets; 30.3 overs) 134

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-21, 3-54, 4-61, 5-76.

Johannesburg, September 23
India today suffered a huge jolt ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan with star batsman Yuvraj Singh set to return home after an injury in his right hand. The stylish left-hander fractured his finger during a fielding session at the University ground here, causing concern in the Indian camp ahead of their opening game against Pakistan as the southpaw will be out for six weeks.

Yuvraj was enthusiastically taking part in the fielding session at the University Ground here. But in the process, he ended up hurting his right finger so badly that he couldn't participate in the batting and bowling sessions which were conducted later in the day. The left-hander was attended to by physio Nitin Patel before he proceeded for a medical examination which revealed that he had fractured his finger.

India are already an injury-hit side going into the tournament, missing the services of star opener Virender Sehwag, who is nursing a shoulder problem. Sehwag's fellow opener Gautam Gambhir was also nursing a groin strain ahead of the tournament. Gambhir did not play in the team's only practice match against New Zealand. Pacer Zaheer Khan is also missing from action due to an injury. — PTI 

India coach Gary Kirsten was at the centre of everyone's attention. His secret document distributed among Team India cricketers and now in public domain lists the virtues of indulging in sex and going ‘solo’ if no partner was available.

The dressing room talk is now out of the closet and media was keen to hear from the man himself if he sensed passiveness or lack of enough sex opportunity for his boys. Coach predictably tried to stay away from the paparazzi and the frown on his forehead had considerably deepened at the nets. That team's batting lynchpin Yuvraj was another casualty to team's composure didn't help matters.

Media's persistent request to catch up with the coach on the issue was firmly stalled by manager Anurag Thakur. One bright moment of the morning was the eagerness with which Gautam Gambhir padded up for a meaningful session in the nets. The left-hander is racing against time to be fit for the opening game against Pakistan at Centurion on September 26.

The team has no doubt he would be alright which must be a boost to the sagging morale of the side. — PTI

Chandigarh, September 23
Indian girls finally played a great match to outplay Malaysia 90-74 in a play off on the penultimate day of the 23 rd FIBA Asia women championship at Jawarlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday. With this win today, India has retained its position in Level I competition for the next edition of the tournament. Earlier, the team had lost all its Level I matches.

In a do or die situation, hosts made a good beginning and never looked behind. The only time Malaysian girls caught up with the eventual winner was at the end of the second quarter (42-44). But Indian girls looked rejuvenated lot in the next two quarters and never allowed the rivals to take control of the match.

Elated after team’s victory in the match today, coach JP Singh said: “The players had combined well in the match. It paid rich dividend.” Indeed, Harjeet Kaur who had not been consistent in the previous matches, was impressive both in offence and defence. She moved faster on the court and excelled under basket. She also anticipated the ball well to collect most of rebounds.

In a crucial match like today, her support to the team was huge as she netted 31 points, which greatly contributed to the team’s victory. Team skipper Geethu Anna Jose was equally impressive and netted 21 points. India apart, Lebanon was another team that was in celebration mood today. Lebanon in their play off match today defeated Thailand 83-58 to be elevated to Level I in the tournament. “It’s a great day for us. We have made moved up in the tournament,” said team coach Elie Nasr.

India 90 (Harjeet Kaur 31, Geethu Anna Jose 21, Raspreet Sidhu 11) bt Malaysia 74 (Beng fong Goh 16, Yann yann Pee 15, Suik may Kew 14). Thailand 58 (Suksomwong 21, Naruemol Banmoo 13, Juthamas Jantakan 13) lost to Lebanon 83 (Chantelle Anderson 24, Chada Nasr 23, Nisrin Dandan 15) .

London, September 23
Premier League big-guns Liverpool and Arsenal scraped into the League Cup fourth round with hard-fought wins over Leeds and West Bromwich Albion.

Rafa Benitez's Liverpool, seven-time winners of the competition, were fortunate to be level against League One leaders Leeds at Elland Road when David Ngog's strike midway through the second half sealed a 1-0 victory, on Tuesday. Benitez made nine changes to the team that won at West Ham on Saturday, with only Jamie Carragher and Javier Mascherano retaining their places.

Simon Grayson's team thought they had taken the lead when Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio combined to turn in Lubomir Michalik's header, but the effort was ruled out for offside. Leeds wasted several more chances to shock the Reds before French striker Ngog broke the deadlock in the 66th minute.

Arsenal's latest batch of young starlets eventually saw off 10-man West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to a debut goal from teenage striker Sanchez Watt. Arsene Wenger's eleven changes to the side who thrashed Wigan at the weekend included a first Gunners starts for Watt, Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Francis Coquelin and Gilles Sunu.

The tie turned in Arsenal's favour when former Gunners winger Jerome Thomas was sent off for a push on Jack Wilshere just before the break. Albion held out until the 68th minute when Dean Kiely fumbled Carlos Vela's shot and Watt tapped in the rebound.

Mexican forward Vela sealed the victory in the 76th minute. Premier League newboys Burnley suffered a dismal 3-2 defeat at Championship strugglers Barnsley. Stoke staged a sensational fightback to beat Championship side Blackpool 4-3 at the Britannia Stadium. — AFP