Colombo, October 5
Chris Gayle smashed a blistering unbeaten 75 as West Indies stormed into their maiden T20 World Cup final with a crushing 74-run victory over a listless Australia at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Friday night.

After West Indies won the toss and opted to bat, Gayle literally butchered the Australian bowlers with a 41-ball 75 as West Indies notched up 205 for four, which incidentally is the highest total of this edition.

Chris Gayle hits a six during the semifinal against Australiaon Friday. —AFP/ Reuters

The Caribbean team then returned to skittle out Australia for a paltry 131 with 3.2 overs to spare to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Australian skipper George Bailey did put up a fight with a 29-ball 63, which was laced with six fours and four sixes but he was let down by the other batsmen, who returned to the pavilion without much to show.

Leg-break bowler Samuel Badree (2/27) removed openers David Warner (1) and Shane Watson (7) in his first three overs, while Marlon Samuels got rid of Mike Hussey (18) as Australia were tottering at 42 for three after the six overs of Powerplay ended. Ravi Rampaul then removed Cameron White (5) and David Hussey (0) within a space of three deliveries to make it 42 for five. On a strip where Gayle and Co made batting look easy, the Australians were all at sea. Both Watson and Warner tried to play shots which can't be played when the ball keeps low while Mike Hussey was consumed by the slowness of the track.

David Hussey was rusty and others simply didn't have it in them to put up a fight.

Earlier, Gayle hit five fours and half a dozen of towering sixes as West Indies made a mockery of Aussie attack.

Marlon Samuels with 26, Dwayne Bravo with a 31-ball-37 and last but not the least Kieron Pollard (38, 15 balls, 3x4, 3x6) also matched Gayle stroke for stroke to help West Indies cross the 200-mark. Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty was hammered for 48 runs in his three overs including 25 from the final one which had four sixes. Half of the 14 sixes in West Indies innings were hit off Doherty's bowling.

Teams have often complained about the Premadasa track but Gayle made it look easy. — PTI

GAYLE IMPACT
RUNS 75
BALLS 41
SIXES 6
FOURS 5

Scoreboard

West Indies

Charles c Wade b Starc 10

Gayle not out 75

Samuels b Cummins 26

Bravo c Bailey b Cummins 37

Pollard c Warner b Doherty 38

Extras: (b 6, lb 5, w 8) 19

Total (4 wkts; 20 overs) 205

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-57, 3-140, 4-205

Bowling: Starc 4-0-32-1, Watson 4-0-35-0, Cummins 4-0-36-2, Doherty 3-0-48-1, Hogg 3-0-21-0, D Hussey 2-0-22-0

Australia

Warner b Badree 1

Watson b Badree 7

M Hussey c & b Samuels 18

White c Ramdin b Rampaul 5

Bailey c Russell b Pollard 63

D Hussey c & b Rampaul 0

Wade c Badree b Narine 1

Cummins c Charles b Pollard 13

Starc b Rampaul 2

Hogg st Ramdin b Narine 7

Doherty not out 9 7

Extras: (lb 3, w 2) 5

Total: (all out; 16.4 overs) 131

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-22, 3-29, 4-42, 5-42, 6-43, 7-111, 8-111, 9-121

Bowling: Badree 4-0-27-2, Samuels 3-0-26-1, Rampaul 3.4-0-16-3, Narine 3-0-17-2, Russell 1-0-25-0, Sammy 1-0-11-0, Pollard 1-0-6-2

West Indies win by 74 runs

Colombo, October 5
After the win over Australia, West Indies opener Chris Gayle sounded the battle cry against Sri Lanka, saying that his team will definitely win the title on Sunday.

“World Cup is definitely ours, sorry Sri Lanka, but I think it is our World Cup. The support will be more for West Indies on Sunday. We love Sri Lanka, but sorry, it is going to be West Indies all the way. The final will be a good final but we will be on top, definitely," Gayle said after the match.

“We needed this victory badly and I am overall happy with the performance. Australia have been playing well so far, and to turn the tables on them today was very pleasant,” he added.

Gayle said the key for him was to hang around till the end of the innings.

“Initially I didn't get many strikes. The key for me was to be there till the 20th over. Support from Marlon (Samuels) and (Dwayne) Bravo was good and finally (Kieron) Pollard gave us a winning total. I didn't get the strike but I didn't panic, the key was to take it as it comes and be there till the end," he said. Gayle said his aim was to target the spinners.

“(Shane) Watson has been a genuine wicket-taker and (Mitchell) Starc has been bowling well up front. So we needed to target Hussey and the spinner.” — PTI

New Delhi, October 5
Sachin Tendulkar might be giving retirement a thought after 23 years at the international level but former captain Anil Kumble says he cannot think of Indian cricket without the iconic batsman. Kumble, however, refused to be drawn into the debate of when Tendulkar should retire and said the decision should be best left for the veteran batsman.

"I can't think of Indian cricket without Tendulkar and I want him to continue," Kumble said when asked about Tendulkar telling a television channel that he will re-assess his future next month as at 39 he does not have much cricket left in him.

"It's a privilege to have shared Indian team dressing room for 13 years with Tendulkar. Eventually, he will have to take the call (for retirement). But this question of when to retire should be best left to him only," added Kumble after launching his sports academy TENVIC at a city school.

Kumble said it's hard for any sportsperson to call it quits after playing for a long time at the highest level.

"For any sportsperson it is a tough decision and it is for the individual to take the call. Tendulkar will also eventually have to take the call," said the former leg-spinner.

On to other topics, the third most successful spinner in Test cricket disagreed with the view that spin bowling is on the wane in the game. "It's not like that and spin is doing well. You have Graeme Swann of England and he is a fantastic bowler. There is Saeed Ajmal (of Pakistan) and we have R Ashwin who has matured a lot in the matches he has played so far for the country," he said.

"Then you cannot discount Harbhajan Singh who has taken more than 400 Test wickets and he is 32 only and some years to go on playing. So, it's good future in spin department in the India," he added. — PTI

Chandigarh, October 5
Suresh Raina caused outrage in the cyberworld when offensive comments against the Pakistan cricket team appeared on his Twitter timeline on Friday.

A tweet on his page on the micro-blogging website Twitter ridiculed the Pakistan team, though it was deleted some time later and Raina said that it had been written and sent by his nephew.

The tweet read: ‘Ek do din late gaye ghar!!!! Woh bhi besharam ki tarah Gaye... Bye bye Pakistan!!!!’ It was published on Twitter in the wake of Pakistan’s defeat by Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup late on Thursday night.

Raina tweeted in explanation that the tweet, which had raised a controversy on the internet by then, had been sent by his nephew. “Smart phones r dangerous. Discovered it last night after my nephew posted random tweets. I'm a sportsman and would never disrespect," he tweeted. “Though I already deleted it, I felt its better to clarify. To all those who r upset, I'm sorry. I'm not one to show disrespect," Raina said in another tweet. The tweet was deleted after receiving a negative response and Raina posted an explanation the next day. — TNS

Colombo, October 5
Yuvraj Singh has become more worldly-wise after what he has gone through over the last one year. Though he keenly feels the disappointment of crashing out from the T20 World Cup, Yuvraj knows that there is more to life than cricket.

Yuvraj exchanges smiles with a select few from the media who are eagerly waiting to meet him in the lobby of the Taj Samudra hotel. He quickly senses what the reporters want — they want another piece of him. But he good-humouredly ‘sledges’ us: “Why it is always me for interviews!” And then he bursts into laughter.

It is difficult to miss his sense of relief and satisfaction with his own World Cup campaign. The dynamic batsman has now almost got the airs of a philosopher when he talks about his cricket and life.

"I don't know how to put this, but now life's meaning has changed for me. My performance is not in my hand but when you love something so much… and then get it back again, the feeling is full of joy," says the Man of the Match in India's last Super Eight match in Sri Lanka. It has been one step at a time for Yuvraj ever since he returned to the cricket field. Cricket is still the focal point of his world but he has matured immensely in the last couple of months. No longer does the ultimate dream of fulfilling his Test ambition make him desperate.

"It used to be the ultimate dream and it still is but I am happier to be alive. Nobody knows about the future but I will try to play Test cricket," Yuvraj says. "There are still one-and-a-half months to go before England come to India but before that I need to do well in domestic cricket."

"In this World Cup, I wanted to assess my fitness and I improved with each passing match. Hopefully, I will be back to my full fitness and can move on to the ODIs and Test cricket," says Yuvraj realistically.

There was a huge debate in India as well in Sri Lanka over the composition of the Indian playing eleven. It was argued, when Virender Sehwag was dropped, that Yuvraj should have sat on the bench instead. It was also said that his rerun was hasty and an emotional decision.

But perhaps captain MS Dhoni had sensed that while Yuvraj may not be the force he was at the 2007 T20 World Cup or the 2011 ODI World Cup, he still was good enough to command automatic selection in the XI.

"I won't say it was a dream comeback, but yes it was a nice comeback. I'm not really satisfied with the way I batted, as the team expected more from me. Everybody is entitled to his opinion," he says. "Each one views cricket from their own experience. I just wanted to concentrate on my game rather than getting distracted with what the others were saying. Thankfully, I had Dhoni's complete support, which is very important. I even joked to Dhoni that he must have missed me more as a bowler than as a batsman!"

Yuvraj is overwhelmed with the support he has got from his teammates, rivals and international fans. "I don't know how to put it, but now life's meaning has changed for me. Sometimes, I really don't believe that I am playing for India… and the script-writer is only God. I have felt a sense of belonging once again at the international level," says Yuvraj.

His comeback is as fascinating as a fairytale. However, the man himself knows that people will not always be sympathetic to him if he doesn't live up to the standards he has set, especially in one-day cricket. "Beyond a point, you will be judged only on your cricket. Of course, it's nice that people supported me so much but if I don't perform tomorrow I won't be in the team," he says. "It's the same for all of us. Of course, I need a bit of time to settle down since people expect a lot and want to see the old Yuvraj. If it were the 50-over World Cup, I wouldn't have made a comeback since the workload would have been more."

The writer is a journalist with CNN-IBN-7 

Beijing, October 5
World number two Novak Djokovic raced into the last four of the China Open in straight sets on Friday as home favourite Li Na set up a testing women's semi-final with Russian tennis queen Maria Sharapova.

The 25-year-old Serbian thumped Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-1, 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the Beijing tournament and continue his push to finish the year at number one in the rankings.

Djokovic, behind only Roger Federer in the ATP standings, has won the China Open on the two occasions he has entered — in 2009 and 2010 — but missed last year because of injury. The number one seed made light work of Melzer, winning in just 53 minutes, to set up a semifinal clash with Germany's Florian Mayer, who beat wildcard Zhang Ze to bring the Chinese wildcard's fairytale run crashing to a halt. The 22-year-old, ranked 165th in the world, made history in the last 16 when he became the first Chinese man ever to beat a top 20 player, dumping out France's Richard Gasquet.

His defeat of the Frenchman, ranked 14th, also meant Zhang was the first men's player from China to reach the quarter-final of an ATP event since Pan Bing made the semifinals in Seoul in 1995. But matching Pan's 17-year-old mark proved a step too far for the right-hander with Mayer winning 6-3, 6-4. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. — AFP

Chandigarh, October 5
There was a bit of good news for Indian hockey today as two causes of its recent problems have been resolved.

One, the Sports Ministry has agreed to extend the contracts of coach Michael Nobbs and David John, the team physiologist. “We had recommended their names to the Sports Ministry and now we have learnt that the ministry has accepted the proposal,” NK Batra, the HI secretary, said on Friday.

Two, after days of uncertainty, the Indian men's hockey team has been able to secure a venue for its training camp — Sports Authority of India, Patiala, will host the camp from October 15. HI had been struggling to find a venue for the camp. It originally wanted to hold the camp in Bangalore, but the poor condition of the astroturf at the SAI centre there forced the association to think of other options.

One option was Patiala, but the SAI Patiala expressed its inability to provide accommodation for the team as one of their two hostels was being renovated while the other was to be used by the women's team, which was scheduled to hold its own camp at the centre. HI and SAI discussed the problem after which it was decided to shift the women's camp to Bhopal. — TNS

new delhi, October 5
Medal-winners and participants in top international sports events will now have a solid reason to pursue their passion.

The Government today approved an ambitious scheme to offer free education to all medal winners in international events and even students who participate in top sporting events across the world. National level medal winners and participants in South Asian Games will also henceforth be given 75% cost of their higher education. Further the Government, through the University Grants Commission, today asked all universities to make “special arrangements” for the completion of syllabus and attendance of students who participate in games.

This direction comes close on the heels of problems which India’s junior T-20 cricket team captain Unmukt Chand faced at St Stephen’s which had barred him from taking exams due to short attendance. The new guidelines provide for free education of Bachelors Degree, PG diploma and PG degree students who win medals at Olympics or world championship involving more than 20 countries. 

London, October 5
Michael Chopra, the Ipswich Town striker, has been charged by the British Horseracing Authority with offering to bribe Andrew Heffernan, a jockey fraudulent practice", following an investigation into betting on nine races between November 2010 and March 2011.

He is alleged to have conspired with James Coppinger, a midfielder with Nottingham Forest, and Mark Wilson, once of Manchester United but recently released by Oxford United. Along with five others, these are charged with laying Heffernan's mounts on betting exchanges - or causing others to do so - after receiving information from the jockey. Wilson is also among those charged with offering him a bribe.

The Football Association is aware of the charges, but is understood to be awaiting the outcome of the BHA inquest - for which no date has yet been set - before considering any disciplinary action of its own. At the best of times, the racing authorities announce corruption charges with due ambivalence about the effect on perceptions of their sport. In yesterday accusing three professional footballers of involvement in a race-fixing conspiracy, they duly braced themselves for a fairly sensational journey to the facts.

Few laymen, certainly, will ponder the BHA's vigilance in raising its concerns about Heffernan.

Most will doubtless prefer to view allegations against Chopra, formerly of Cardiff City and Sunderland, in a tradition of venality in those who ride horses, as well as those who bet on them. Chopra, 28, has a history of gambling problems, entering rehabilitation clinics in 2008 and again last autumn. — Reuters