Chennai, February 16
India wrapped up their warm-up games in style as they won the second match against New Zealand by 117 runs. New Zealand made a sound start to their innings while chasing a mammoth 360, but then wickets kept falling at regular intervals as India ran home easy winners.

Brendon McCullum scored 58 runs for the Kiwis, while Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla, all picked up two wickets each for India.

Earlier, an explosive unbeaten knock of 108 by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a classy 89 by Gautam Gambhir powered India to an imposing 360 for five. After sharing 68 runs in 9.3 overs for the fourth wicket with Gambhir, Dhoni set the nearly-packed Chepauk stadium on fire as he tore into the Kiwi bowling in the company of Suresh Raina, who made his exit just 12 balls before the hosts ended their innings.

Raina made a quick fire 50 off just 26 balls with three huge sixes and four boundaries and added 124 runs in 9.2 overs along with Dhoni. For the hapless New Zealand, Jacob Oram and Tim Southee were the most successful bowlers sharing two wickets each, while Kyle Mills accounted for one wicket.

Earlier, Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar started cautiously after Dhoni won the toss for the second time and elected to bat. The Kiwi pacers extracted bounce and also kept up a steady line in length to stifle the Indian openers.

Tendulkar (17) was the first to go with the scoreboard reading 35 and soon Sehwag (23) followed suit as India were reduced to 42 for two.

However, Gambhir hit form at the right time and resurrected the Indian batting along with Virat Kohli (59), adding 106 crucial runs for the third wicket to save India from the embarrassment of another batting collapse like in Bangalore against Australia. After Kohli's departure, Gambhir involved in a 68-run stand for the fourth wicket with Dhoni.

The hosts made good use of the opportunities and also showed better on field intensity as both Gambhir and Dhoni rotated their strike and looked for big runs. During their stay, the pair scored at 7.15 runs an over together for 9.3 overs at the pitch.

Dhoni, who took the role of aggressor after Gambhir's exit, was in his elements as he stepped on the gas and went on a run hunt, hitting the bowlers, particularly Jacob Oram, all around the park. After completing his half century in just 40 balls, Dhoni raced to 61 with five successive boundaries, including a four at the square leg region and one over the bowler Oram, who was taken off from duty at end of 43rd over. — PTI 

Scoreboard

India

Sehwag b Oram 23

Tendulkar b Southee 17

Gambhir c How b Southee 89

Kohli c B McCullum b Oram 59

Dhoni not out 108

Raina c Taylor b Mills 50

Yusuf not out 3

Extras (lb 4, w 7) 11

Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 360

Bowling: Mills 10-1-81-1, Southee 10-1-67-2, Oram 9-1-70-2, Franklin 2-0-17-0, N McCullum 10-0-61-0, Woodcock 5-0-31-0, Styris 4-0-29-0.

New Zealand

Guptill c Dhoni b Ashwin 38

B McCullum run out 58

Ryder c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 32

Taylor c Kohli b Harbhajan 5

Franklin lbw b Chawla 0

Styris b Chawla 20

How c Munaf b Yuvraj 15

Oram st Dhoni b Yuvraj 12

N McCullum not out 29

Woodcock b Nehra 9

Mills b Nehra 2

Extras (b 4, lb 8, w 11) 23

Total (all out; 43.1 overs) 243

Bowling: Nehra 7.1-0-55-2, Sreesanth 5-0-38-0, Munaf 3-0-19-0, Ashwin 7-0-30-1, Yuvraj 9-0-33-2, Harbhajan 4-0-17-2, Chawla 8-0-39-2.

Chandigarh, February 16
There is a lot that you can tell just by looking at his eyes, as he watches kids train, take catches and practice cover drives. For Dronacharya Award winner Desh Prem Azad, life has never moved away from the field, and in all probability, it never will.

With the World Cup fever gripping the nation all over again, the famous coach of India’s only ODI World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, Azad is a man on a nostalgia trip.

“I still remember that time. It was sensational. Nobody could believe it, but yet, we all knew it had happened, and it changed the game forever,” says Azad. His famous and favourite pupil, Kapil has also credited Azad with the famous catch of Viv Richards in the final. In his autobiography, Straight from the Heart, Kapil writes, “Can I define the historic catch? No, I can’t. But it brings to my mind the emphasis my coach Azad laid on the techniques of fielding - running backwards, sideways, forward, left and right, to get the catch. Perhaps this is what he meant when he kept harping on playing by the manual.”

The coach though, stays humble and credits Kapil for remembering him over the years.

Talking about the coming World Cup, and India’s chances, Azad says, “We have a very well balanced side. They have so much potential and with home support, it should be a great outing. They have been doing well recently and I see no reason why they should not be among the favourites to win.”

But he also throws in a word of caution, “But the home crowd does add to the pressure. Then there are teams like Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa, who can all go the distance.

“Apart from these, over such a long tournament, the team will have to be very careful with the fitness of all the players. You just have to remember that one injury can change the course of the tournament.” The man makes sense today, as he did in ’83. Kapil had said in his pre-match talk before the final, “My coach Azad always said, ‘It is easy to be wise after the event’.” Hope Team India are listening!

Milan, February 16
Tottenham's dream European adventure continued at the San Siro on Tuesday night as Peter Crouch grabbed the only goal in a 1-0 victory over AC Milan. Despite playing without the injured Gareth Bale, the hat-trick hero when Spurs last played in this stadium in a 4-3 defeat to Inter Milan, Spurs put in a controlled and professional performance that belied their relative inexperience on this stage.

Crouch struck 10 minutes from time on a lightning counter attack in a half otherwise dominated by the hosts. It puts the English side in a strong position ahead of the second leg at what will surely be a white hot White Hart Lane in three weeks time.

"What a performance from us. We stood tall to a man, Sandro, Steven Pienaar, Michael Dawson, Heurelho Gomes... I could go on," said Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.

"I said to the lads, too, at half time to get it to Aaron Lennon whenever we could because he tore the left-back apart all night - and his role in the goal was fantastic. It's a great night for the fans and a great night for Tottenham." Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said his side hadn't got going early enough.

"In the first half we were too afraid to go forward, it was difficult to play in suich tight spaces and we made many mistakes," he said. "That allowed Tottenham to win the ball and counter. In the second half we changed but our efforts weren't enough." Given that Tottenham are playing in their first season in the Champions League under its current format and Milan are seven-time kings of Europe, it was surprisingly the visitors who settled quickest.

They opened up their hosts after just five minutes with a fine move as a long cross from Vedran Corluka found Crouch, who controlled the ball on his chest but then slipped at the crucial moment and was crowded by Gennaro Gattuso before firing off a rushed shot.

On 11 minutes another great move from Spurs saw Corluka put Aaron Lennon in behind Luca Antonini but Christian Abbiati dived out to punch his cross off Crouch's head. More good work from Spurs ended with Rafael van der Vaart scuffing a shot from 20 yards. — AFP 

Madrid, February 16
Barcelona revive their entertaining rivalry with Arsenal on Wednesday in the first leg their Champions League last 16 tie that will showcase two of the most technically gifted and attractive sides in world soccer.

Barca, the 2009 winners, thumped Arsenal 6-3 in last year's quarter-finals, drawing 2-2 in London before Lionel Messi scored all four goals in a 4-1 comeback win at the Nou Camp. The teams also met in the 2006 final, when 10-man Arsenal took a first-half lead at the Stade de France in Paris before Barca fought back to win 2-1.

The Catalan club's vice president Javier Faus told Reuters the presence of seven Spanish World Cup winners and World Player of the Year Messi in the Barca squad was grounds for optimism. "Having said that, Arsenal are an extremely strong team and in my opinion the one that plays the best football in the English league," Faus said in an interview.

"They are well placed in the Premier League and it's going to be a very tough tie."

Wednesday's other last-16, first leg pits Serie A side AS Roma against Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, who are appearing in the last 16 for the first time after failing in five previous qualifying attempts. Roma have not won in three domestic league games and fans protested at training after Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by Napoli which left last season's runners-up in eighth.

There have also been off-field distractions. An American consortium was given a 30-day exclusive negotiation period on Tuesday to discuss a purchase of the cash-strapped club and media reports have said coach Claudio Ranieri's job could be under threat. — Reuters