Chennai, May 27
Chris Gayle has been the difference between Royal Challengers Bangalore and all their opponents this IPL. In the Qualifier 2, it was almost the same story as RCB beat Mumbai Indians by 43 runs, to set up a final clash tomorrow with Chennai, at the MA Chidambram Stadium here tonight

The Mumbai chase started on a not-so-healthy note as they lost Aiden Blizzard early. Tendulkar tried his best to hang in and keep the scoreboard moving, but Harbhajan Singh too didn’t stay on too long. Sachin was then joined by Rohit Sharma and the two were looking like putting up a fight before Tendulkar was outfoxed by a Syed Mohammed delivery that turned just enough to beat Sachin, who had walked down the track trying to work it towards the on side.

Mumbai never really recovered from that and as wickets kept tumbling they kept slipping out of the game. And when Abhimnyu Mithun took a brilliantly judged catch to get rid of Kieron Pollard, the final nail had been put in.

Earlier, Chris Gayle bludgeoned the Mumbai Indians’ bowlers all over the ground to help his side post 185 for 4.

After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians’ skipper Sachin Tendulkar elected to bowl first. Abu Nechim started the first over and after starting off with a wide, he bowled two deliveries that Chris Gayle had absolutely no clue about.

From there on Chris Gayle took charge, and two massive sixes meant that Nechim, giving away 27 runs, ended up bowling the most expensive opening over in the history of the IPL.

After another frustrating over from Harbhajan that saw the ball flying to the boundary from some thick edges, Tendulkar brought on his most successful bowler Lasith Malinga. But although the runs were stopping the rub-of-green was still going very much with the Royal Challengers. Gayle again picked up two boundaries after playing in the air towards covers, and then flicked one off his pads.

A mighty hit from Mayank Aggarwal off Harbhajan meant that the fifty was up in only 20 balls, and all the signs were looking like giant warning hoardings for the Mumbai Indians.

Malinga then came in with the best of his slower deliveries as he and Munaf bowled a couple of overs to bring the run-rate under 13. But it was wickets that Mumbai needed, and it was exactly what they couldn’t get. Even as Gayle was thundering his way through, Mayank Aggarwal, was playing the perfect counter-foil. He went after scoring a fine 41.

Gayle was joined by the in-form Virat Kohli, and the two continued from there on. While Kohli tried playing himself in, Gayle continued the carnage and hit sixes at regular intervals. The Mumbai fielding was also not exactly helping their cause as Malinga and Rohit Sharma dropped catches.

By the time Munaf finally got Gayle, he had scored a 47-ball 89, with nine fours and five sixes and it looked like the damage had been already done. In the very next over, Abu Nechim’s day finally took a pleasant turn as his slower ball was dragged onto the stumps by Virat Kohli.

New Delhi, May 27
The fallout of Gautam Gambhir’s injury, added with the absence of Yuvraj Singh for the entire West Indies series, has given a new look to the ODI and T20 teams for the tour, while Sachin Tendulkar has excused himself from the Test series, making way for Tamil Nadu’s Abhinav Mukund.

While this is good news for Mukund, Shikhar Dhawan and Manoj Tiwary - the last two will be replacing Gambhir and Yuvraj - it does bring out the effects of unending cricket, a topic discussed threadbare frequently, but without much action from the BCCI’s end, unless the player himself pulls out or there is unnecessary tension surrounding players’ fitness.

Tendulkar has asked for time off to spend with his family. A good reason, but once more, can be attributed to the time he couldn’t spare over the past couple of months, thanks to the IPL.

So now we have a situation where many top players - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Gambhir - out of action for a while. Some of them have decided to take time off; some have been forced to do so.

Gambhir falls prey to his shoulder injury, while Yuvraj is suffering from, according to a BCCI release, “an upper respiratory infection, with a small patch of pneumonitis in the left lung”. Sehwag’s shoulder gave up midway through the IPL while Dhoni, Tendulkar and Zaheer opted out of the ODI series, with Tendulkar now adding the Tests to the list. In sum total, this sends a lesser team out to the Caribbean.

Pretty much a sign of things to come. Playing cricket in the West Indies is an avoidable exercise; playing IPL is an unavoidable venture and playing for India is well, optional. May sound a little naïve, but that is how it stands. Given that everyone is available for the England series to follow, it is clear that the West Indies is no longer the place to be.

The Test team also sees S. Sreesanth. One wonders exactly what recent performance promises that he will deliver. At the same time Parthiv Patel stays on, though he won’t get a match so long as Dhoni stays fit. So much for testing younger players. Suresh Raina now leads the ODI side, with Harbhajan Singh as his deputy. Unless the off-spinner has expressed reservations about leading the side, it should have been the other way around.

Also, being affiliated to particular State and IPL sides seems to be the visa to selection, and this bias is the worst kept secret of Indian cricket. Doesn’t speak much for the rest of the National selectors, who go over to sign the dotted line, sign the TA-DA receipts and be sent on their way. Also, one is left wondering if Rohit Sharma isn’t good enough to play Test cricket. Mukund must be really good.

ODI and T20 squad: Suresh Raina (capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan.

Test squad:

M.S. Dhoni (capt), V.V.S. Laxman (vice-capt), Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel.

Chennai, May 27
With a captain who has redefined leadership with his calm and calculated approach, Chennai Super Kings are living up to their team name with an undefeated home run in Indian Premier League and it would take quite an effort to breach their fortress in the grand finale tomorrow.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, considered the man with the midas touch, has led the defending champions to the finals with the same flair with which he marshals the Indian team. Their rivals are not yet decided as they await the winners of tonight's play-off between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.

Dhoni had pinned faith on his players despite losses in away games and it paid off in the seven home matches that Chennai won at the Chepauk. It is to be seen whether Dhoni comes up with any surprises in the playing XI tomorrow. Besides their record in the previous editions, Chennai are also playing at home in the summit clash and the capacity crowd that will throng the M A Chidambaram stadium tomorrow would be the team's 12th man.

The team management is also said to have forethought. — PTI

Paris, May 27
Roger Federer again showed he cannot be discounted for this year's French Open title with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 hammering of 29th seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in the third round on Friday.

Much of the focus on the Paris clay has been on stuttering champion Rafael Nadal and red-hot second seed Novak Djokovic but Federer is lurking in the Roland Garros shadows ready to pounce.

Cardiff, May 27
Prasanna Jayawardene's stylish, unbeaten fifty helped take Sri Lanka to 316 for six against England at tea on the second day of the first Test at Sophia Gardens here today.

The wicket-keeper was 69 not out at the interval, having hit eight fours in nearly three hours at the crease. Together with Thisara Perera (19 not out), he'd so far added 38 in a brisk 46 balls for the seventh wicket.

Earlier, England endured a frustrating time at the hands of the controversial umpire decision review system. They twice thought they had Farveez Maharoof, called up to an injury-hit squad from county side Lancashire, lbw.

When Maharoof was on two, Stuart Broad challenged a not out verdict from Pakistan's Aleem Dar, with replays suggesting the ball was missing the stumps. Maharoof had moved on to six when James Anderson had a much closer appeal turned down. — AFP

London, May 27
Barcelona will seek to seal their status as the finest team of their generation here tomorrow when they face Manchester United at Wembley in the most eagerly-anticipated Champions League final in years.

A second triumph in three years — and their third since 2006 — will provide irrefutable proof that Pep Guardiola's team deserve to be bracketed alongside legendary teams like Real Madrid's 1950s vintage, Johan Cruyff's Ajax or the Dutch-influenced AC Milan of the 1990s. Blocking the route to immortality, however, are United, the newly crowned English champions who are desperate to avenge their bitterly disappointing defeat to the Spanish giants in the Rome final two years ago. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has never spoken in detail about what he believes went wrong in 2009, when his team were taken for a dizzying ride on Barcelona's famous midfield "carousel" in a 2-0 defeat. The obvious temptation for Ferguson as United attempt to avoid a repeat of that chastening experience, is to bolster his midfield with an extra man. Yet to do so would mean having to sacrifice the burgeoning partnership between Wayne Rooney, back to something close to his best, and Javier Hernandez, the young Mexican striker who has been the find of United's season. The bolder option would be to keep faith with the midfield formation which served United so well en route to the final: a central pairing of Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick flanked by Antonio Valencia and Park Ji-Sung, with Rooney dropping deep when Barcelona are in possession.

Ferguson has hinted that he is leaning towards a tactical approach that is more in keeping with United's attacking traditions. "We have players who can cause any team a lot of bother and hopefully those attacking players will give Barcelona the problems that everyone thinks they are going to give us," Ferguson said. — AFP

New Delhi, May 27
Chinese domination in badminton is slowly ending, declared Indian ace Saina Nehwal after stunning world number three Wang Xin in the Sudirman Cup, insisting that the competition has opened up with Asian and European players rising to the challenge.

Saina shocked Xin in her own den during the Sudirman Cup and it was only second defeat for China in the event. — PTI

Guwahati, May 27
West Bengal edged past Railways by a solitary goal in the second semifinal to set up a clash with Manipur in the final of the Santosh Trophy 2010-11.

After a mixed performance in the quarterfinal, the record champions, Bengal came all guns blazing and took the control of the match right from the outset.

Tudu and Cardozo combined well upfront with former netting the winner for the Shabbir Ali-coached side.