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Indians or West Indians?
Jayawardene guides Lanka to victory
Kiwis clinch last ball thriller
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Aussies thump India
Fergie hoping for Wigan favour
Mohali, Pinegrove storm into
Semis
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Like the Indians, west Indies are also faced with a must-win situation, as another defeat would virtually put them out of contention for a place in the semifinals. Fortunately for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, the islanders do not have a lethal pace battery like the Australians. Kemar Roach may have troubled Ricky Ponting on bone-hard wicket Down Under, but he is not accurate like Dirk Nannes or Shaun Tait. So the element of pace and bounce will not impact the Indian batsmen who had surrendered meekly to the Aussies’ pace quartet. Bounce there will be in this lively deck, but if the West Indian quicks - Roach and Jerome Taylor - don’t execute their skills, it will not frazzle the Indian top order. India would have certainly learnt a lesson or two from their embarrassing 49-run drubbing on Friday. Dhoni conceded that India had sought to fight fire with fire and had consequently paid for the imprudence.The urge to play the pull shot, without getting inside the line of the ball, must have probably been flushed out of their psyche when they take the field.
This is one aspect that the Indian team management, which is sorely missing Virender Sehwag, would have taken into consideration before penning down the names for the bash against West Indies. Without another opener in the 15-man squad, India would be forced to play Murali Vijay, who has struggled against the rising ball, bowled in the corridor of uncertainty. — PTI
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Jayawardene guides Lanka to victory
Barbados, May 8 Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka rode on Jayawardene’s innings which was laced with nine fours and four sixes and Sangakkara’s 49-ball 68, which included five fours and three sixes, to post an imposing 195 for three yesterday. The visitors then returned with a disciplined bowling performance to restrict West Indies to 138 for eight to complete a clinical win at the Kensington Oval here. Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan ignited some hopes of a successful chase but once they were gone West Indies looked down the barrel, losing half the side for 100 in 15.3 overs. For Sri Lanka, Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga scalped three wickets apiece giving away 24 and 28 runs respectively, while Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Matthews picked up one each to contribute to the win. Chasing 196 to win, West Indies started off well with Shivnarine Chanderpaul picking up six and a four in the second over but Angelo Matthews struck in the last ball to remove the opener, caught by Chamara Kapugedera at short third man. One ball later, skipper Chris Gayle, was also sent packing when his leading edge popped up towards extra cover with Mathews completing an easy catch reducing the Windies to 23 for two in 2.2 overs. Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan then went on damage control mode and engaged in singles and twos and occasional boundaries to forge a 50-ball 53-run third wicket partnership to keep the Windies in the hunt. — PTI
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Kiwis clinch last ball thriller
Bridgetown, May 8 Salman Butt hit boundaries in the second and fourth balls of the 20th over and left Abdur Rehman to score two runs from the final ball after snatching a single from the penultimate ball. Rehman swung at the last delivery only to agonizingly watch Martin Guptil come under the ball at square leg. The Kiwis were all over Butler who helped them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This is for the first time that New Zealand have beaten Pakistan in a T20 international match. Despite being restricted to a below-par 133 for seven, New Zealand fought tooth and nail and kept themselves in contention of qualifying for the semifinals. Like the Kiwis, Pakistan also recovered from a jittery start, they were 58 for five at one stage, to take the match to the wire. But when it mattered most, they floundered. Having suffered their second successive defeat in the Super Eights, Pakistan are almost out of the the tournament and need a miracle of sort to make the last-four stage. They need to beat South Africa with a big margin on Monday and pray that England inflict a big defeat on New Zealand the same day. Man of the match Butler had figures of 4-1-19-3, a performance he will relish for the rest of his life. Even as wickets fell in a heap around him, Salman Butt batted with gumption and poise to remain unconquered with a 54-ball 67. He was involved in 53-run association for the sixth-wicket with Abdul Razzaq who made 29. Earlier, Left arm spinner Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Sami had struck crucial blows to tie down the Kiwis. Invited to bat, the Kiwis found a batting hero in their skipper Daniel Vettori, who made a fighting 34-ball 38. Vettori was associated in a crucial 40-run association with Scott Styris. Mohammad Sami, who replaced Mohammad Asif in the eleven, drew the first blood, removing Jesse Ryder in the fourth over the innings. If runs had been bleeding when the fast bowlers in operation, it dried up when Afridi introduced Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez into the attack. The spin duo barely conceded 30 runs in six overs during the period of Kiwi uncertainty. The spinner had the Kiwis in a bind, even bottling up the adventurous Brendon McCullum, who eventually perished to a slog-sweep off Rehman which was gobbled up by Sami at long leg. —
PTI
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Bridgetown (Barbados), May 8 Put into bat, Australia rode on the blistering 104-run stand provided by openers David Warner (72) and Shane Watson (54) in 10-odd overs to post a commanding 184 for five even though they looked good for the 200-mark. The misery of India's chase could be gauged from the fact that barring Rohit (78 not out), none of India's top eight batsmen could reach double digit score and they eventually collapsed in 17.4 overs for a meagre 135. Rohit waged a grim battle with an unbeaten 45-ball knock, scoring nearly 60 percent of the team's total with the help of four fours and six sixes but his single-handed effort could only delay the inevitable. Harbhajan Singh (13) was the only other Indian batsman to reach double digit. Murali Vijay (2), who has struggled against the short rising ball, meekly chipped Nannes to Cameron White at backward point to begin the exodus and soon Gautam Gambhir (9) top-edged a pull off Nannes to Michael Hussey as India lost both the openers inside three overs. Raina, who had made 101 against South Africa, fell in similar fashion to Tait and when Nannes castled Yuvraj with a yorker, the writing was on the wall for India. — PTI
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Fergie hoping for Wigan favour
London, May 8 “All I know is we are in that situation where we hope, that’s all we can do - hope. We have confidence Wigan will do their best and try,” The Sun quoted Ferguson, as saying. “There’s no question about that. We can do our job and it’s pointless going expecting anything from Chelsea in our favour,” he said. “In a way it helps us because we can express ourselves as we did last week against Sunderland. If it goes to the last game of the season as it’s done five times here - yeah, so what? It’s not a problem for us. You don't mind winning anything with the last kick,” Ferguson added. ‘Title wait like sitting on lottery ticket’
“It’s hard to describe the feeling but I guess it might be a bit like having a winning lottery ticket and waiting for someone to tell you you’ve won to make it real,” he said. Lampard said that everyone must stay focused on the job or risk losing the crown. “This is the league but, in effect, we are playing a cup final.” “We have played 37 games this season and now it all comes down to one match. Everything that has gone before almost counts for nothing. To put in a sloppy performance is unthinkable,” he said. — ANI
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Mohali, Pinegrove storm into
Semis
Chandigarh, May 8 e Pinegrovian eves overwhelmed PPS, Nabha and the Welham Girls got the better of Sri Ram School, Gurgaon whom they trounced 31-21 in an exciting match. In the other matches YPS, Mohali beat The Lawrence School, Sanawar 18-10 while St.Mary's Convent School, Kasauli humbled VDJS, Hisar 33-10. In the boys’ pools too, Pinegrove displayed their strength and easily won their match against St. Mary’s Convent, Kasauli. YPS, Mohali overpowered Rashrtiya Military School, Chail in a fast moving encounter by 31-26. The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and PPS, Nabha locked horns in an interesting battle of strength, stamina and skill which went to the wire and ultimately Sanawar got the better of them 20-17. —
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Handed a sound thrashing by Australia in their opening Super Eight match, India will have to quickly sort out their batting woes as they take on the West Indies in a do-or-die contest in the Twenty20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval here tomorrow.
Like the Indians, west Indies are also faced with a must-win situation, as another defeat would virtually put them out of contention for a place in the semifinals.
Mahela Jayawardene hammered an unbeaten 56-ball 98 and added 166 runs with Kumar Sangakkara to guide Sri Lanka to a comprehensive 57-run win over the West Indies in their Group F Super Eight match in the Twenty20 cricket World Cup here.
Bridgetown, May 8
Bridgetown, May 8 
Also, they would have worked on their bowling inadequacies, which was ruthlessly exposed by Shane Watson and David Warner during their hurricane 106-run partnership. It is a comfort to play an extra batsman as an exigency against a collapse. But then, India can't compromise on their bowling. Part-time spinners or batting all-rounders could win them one game in ten. But it is the regular bowlers who can provide the breaks to gain momentum consistently.
Chelsea’s ace midfielder Frank Lampard has said that waiting to win the Premier League title is like sitting on a winning lottery ticket. Table toppers Chelsea can clinch their third Premier League championship with a win over Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
LAHORE