Cape Town, October 15
Kolkata Knight Riders' chances of making the semifinals of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament suffered a major blow as they slumped to their second successive defeat after losing to Auckland Aces by seven wickets in a Group A match on Monday.

Auckland rode high on veteran Azhar Mahmood's superb all-round show as they knocked off a modest target of 138 runs with 14 balls to spare.

Mahmood, who was instrumental in restricting KKR to 137 for six with brilliant figures of 3 for 16, also produced an unbeaten knock of 51 runs, which turned out to be crucial in the final outcome of the match at the New Wanderers stadium.

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir's decision to induct Shakib Al Hasan at the expense of seasoned Brett Lee backfired badly as the reigning IPL champions missed out a genuine paceman on a pitch that was assisting the faster bowlers. Apart from Mahmood, Lou Vincent (30), Martin Guptill (25) and Anaru Kitchen (24) also came up with useful contributions.

Brendon McCullum top-scored for the Knight Riders with a 35-ball 40, which was laced with two sixes and three fours. But the Knight Riders could not build partnerships and lost wickets in regular intervals. Mahmood made inroads into the KKR's middle-order with his twin strike in the 10th over as he dismissed Jacques Kallis (0) and Manoj Tiwary (0) in successive deliveries to dent the Knight Riders innings, who after the early loss of Gautam Gambhir had tried to recover well.

Mahmood, in his second spell, removed McCullum to add to KKR’s misery, who were crushed by Daredevils (52 runs) earlier. — PTI

Scoreboard
Kolkata Knight Riders
Bisla c Kitchen b Hira 38
Gambhir c Guptill b Bates 5
McCullum c Hopkins b Mahmood 40
Kallis c Vincent b Mahmood 0
Tiwary c & b Mahmood 0
Hasan c Grandhomme b Mills 15
Pathan not out 22
Bhatia not out 9
Extras: (lb 4 w 3 nb 1) 8
Total: (6 wkts in 20 overs) 137
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-72, 3-72, 4-72, 5-98, 6-108
Bowling: Mills 4-0-23-1, Bates 4-0-33-1, Adams 4-0-31-0, Hira 4-0-30-1, Azhar 4-1-16-3.

Auckland Aces
Guptill c Narine b Balaji 25
Vincent c Tiwary b Narine 30 Mahmood not out 51
Kitchen lbw b Narine 24
Grandhomme not out 9
Extras: 0
Total: (3 wkts in 17.4 ovrs) 139 Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-76, 3-117
Bowling: Balaji 4-0-38-1, Hasan 4-0-34-0, Narine 4-0-24-2, Kallis 3-0-17-0, Sangwan 2.4-0-26-0

Hyderabad October 15
Yuvraj Singh carried on from where he left yeterday as he completed a well-deserved double century to put North in a comfortable position at stumps on the second day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone.

Undefeated on 133 overnight, Yuvraj scored a magnificent 208 off only 243 balls with the help of 33 boundaries and three huge sixes as North managed a commendable 451 in 119.2 overs. Central then crawled to 146 for five in 58 overs when stumps were drawn. They still need 306 runs to get an all-important first innings lead which now looks highly unlikely.

It was another day which was dominated by Yuvraj's blade as he added 75 runs to his overnight score and in the process scored 58 of those runs in boundaries. He added 13 more fours to his 20 hits and another big six to the couple he hit off Murali Kartik yesterday. However, the lower middle-order of the North couldn't provide him a lot of support as he was the only player who attacked the Central bowling. Yuvraj was finally removed by India discard Murali Kartik who caught the batsman off his own bowling.

The Central openers Tanmay Srivastava and Vineet Saxena sedately added 64 runs in 30-odd overs but their defensive approach only increased the pressure on the team. While Srivastava was run-out after making 23 off 89 balls, Saxena's painstaking innings of 33 made off 115 balls ended when Amit Mishra got him caught by Yuvraj. — PTI

Brief Scores: North Zone 451 all out in 119.2 overs (Yuvraj 208, S Dhawan 121, M Kartik 4/120, P Kumar 4/92). Central Zone 146/5 (V Saxena 33, P Awana 2/29).

Hyderabad, October 15
A lot of experts including former India captain Sourav Ganguly had questioned his early return to national team but Yuvraj Singh maintains that his double century against Central Zone was not an answer to his critics.

“I was not trying to prove any point to anyone. My aim was to go and enjoy myself out there in the middle. I wanted to have fun," an elated Yuvraj said after the end of the second day's play. The innings of 208 has been a strong message to the national selectors who are yet to completely sort out the middle-order worries in the longer version but the stylish left-hander doesn't want to look that far ahead.

“At this point of time, I don't want to look too far ahead. For me, it is important that I take one match at a time," he said. More than the amount of runs he scored, Yuvraj found it more satisfying that he had spent more than five hours in the middle which is a fair indication that he has recovered even faster than what one expected him to. “Especially, after what I went through, it really felt good that I batted for so long. What makes this double hundred special is that I had spent a good amount of time in the middle which is satisfying." He has already made his international comeback in the T20's but it was only in these two days that he got a chance to plan his innings properly.

“Everyone knows that T20 is very different from playing first class cricket. In the T20s, you don't have time to plan but that was not the case over here. I had enough time to plan my innings and that really helped." — PTI

Visakhapatnam, October 15
Orissa all-rounder Biplab Samantray's fine spell kept defending champions East Zone in hunt for a berth in Duleep Trophy final as South were precariously placed at 134 for five at stumps on the second day after bowling out their opponents for 267.

Samantray took 3/22 in 14.1 overs as South Zone now depend heavily on their last recognized batting pair of left-hander Amit Verma and wicketkeeper CM Gautham who now need to add another 134 runs in order to get first innings lead.

Earlier, Saurabh Tiwary duly completed his century and scored a patient 145 off 267 balls and his partnership of 153 runs for the seventh wicket with Basant Mohanty (58) that helped them reach a decent enough total after being reduced to 66 for six on the first day.

Samantray, who is known for his ability to move the ball got rid of Karnataka trio of Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Stuart Binny as South Zone seemed to be in a spot of bother after a solid stand of 69 between Robin Uthappa (40) and Abhinav Mukund (19).

But within a space of 10 deliveries both Mukund and Uthappa were back in the pavilion. Mukund was bowled by Bengal's left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena while Samantray got Uthappa who looked ominous having hit seven fours edge one to glovesman SP Gautam behind the stumps.

Ashok Dinda trapped Ramaswamy Prasanna leg before as South Zone were reduced to 71 for three.

Manish Pandey (31) and Amit Verma (22 batting) then added 44 runs as South looked like recovering from sudden collapse but Samantray struck twin blows.

First he was able to castle Pandey and then trapped all-rounder Binny leg before off the very next delivery but Gautham stopped the bowler from getting a hat-trick. The third day is poised to be an interesting affair

Brief Scores: East Zone 267 (Saurabh Tiwary 145, Basant Mohanty 58, A Mithun 4/68, S Binny 3/46); South Zone 134/5 (Robin Uthappa 40, Biplab Samantray 3/22). — PTI

Cape Town, October 15
A narrow 14-run defeat has not been an ideal start for the former champions Chennai Super Kings and they will look to make amends in their bowling when they take on impressive Highveld Lions, on Tuesday.

Save a mini mid-innings collapse, Chennai batted well in sunday's loss against Sydney Sixers but bowling was a bit of concern for them as they leaked too many runs at the death. Most of the bowlers used by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni went for runs and he needs his frontline pacers —Ben Hilfenhuas and Dough Bollinger — to fire in the next game.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja did a decent job and Ravichandran Ashwin played his part well but the side conceded too many runs in the last six overs to make it tough for themselves. One more defeat would put their semi-final chances in jeopardy as it will have them facing a must-win situation in the last two matches.

Dhoni may also consider replacing paceman Yo Mahesh, who bowled a very expensive over of 18 runs and was never introduced into attack again. Lions, the local outfit, are also a good batting unit. Veteran Neil McKenzie along with Quinton de Kock mowed down the Mumbai Indians attack without any fuss and hammered the defending champions by eight wickets last night. The other Lion bastmen are yet to be tested in this tournament but their bowlers gave a good account of themselves, especially fast bowler Dirk Nannes. The left-arm pacer bowled very tight as he gave away just 15 runs and also took a wicket. Except for Chris Morris everyone else bowled quite impressively in the game against Mumbai.

For Chennai, Suresh Raina is in good touch and he brought his side to the brink of win against Sydney. But the side would need contributions from Indian bunch of players such as Murali Vijay, Jadeja, S Badrinatrh and the captain himself to rein the Lions.

Probable XI:

(Chennai Super Kings): 1 MS Dhoni (c), 2 R Ashwin, 3 Michael Hussey, 4 Doug Bollinger, 5 M Vijay, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Ben Hilfenhaus, 8 Suresh Raina, 9 Ravindra Jadeja, 10 S Badrinath, 11 Shadab Jakati.

(Lions): 1 Temba Bavuma, 2 Alviro Peterson, 3 Zander de Bruyn, 4 Quinton de Kock, 5 Neil McKenzie, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Dirk Nannes, 8 Aaron Phangiso, 9 Sohail Tanveer, 10 Jean Symes, 11 Thami Tsolekile.

Cape Town, October 15
Australia's in-form Sydney Sixers start outright favourites but will have to guard against complacency when they take on spirited English qualifiers Yorkshire in their second Group B encounter of the Champions League Twenty20 on Tuesday.

Big Bash champions Sydney defeated IPL runner-ups Chennai Super Kings to make a resounding start in the event on Sunday. It was a clinical performance by Sydney in their lung-opener with the top half of their batting line-up playing its role to perfection.

The bowlers too did the job as was expected of them and given the all-round strength of the squad, it would not come as a surprise if they have it easy against Yorkshire.

Australia's World Twenty20 Player of the Tournament — all-rounder Shane Watson —seems to be unstoppable while turning up for Sydney as well and was the second highest scorer last night with a 30-ball 46 besides taking a wicket with the ball.

Another all-rounder who made an impression against Chennai was Moises Henriques. He top-scored with a 49 and picked up three wickets with his medium pace - an impressive effort effort that fetched him the Man of the Match trophy.

But young pacer Pat Cummins going going for over 10 an over in the game would be a concern for Sydney.

Yorkshire, on the other hand, don't have any big names to flaunt on paper but as a unit, the side impressed in its qualifying campaign by winning both the matches to ease into the main draw. Middle-order batsman Gary Ballance impressed with an unbeaten 64 in the final qualifying match against Trinidad and Tobago but the top-order's form remains a concern for Yorkshire.

The likes of Phil Jacques and Adil Rashid would be expected to continue better in the main event after failing to impress in the qualifiers. Veteran pacer Ryan Sidebottom would spearhead the Yorkshire attack and he was in superb form picking up three wickets against T&T in four overs that cost just 13 runs. — PTI

IT looks as if the Indian franchises are having a tough time on the pitches in South Africa. The only team that has won is the Delhi Daredevils and they did that playing against another Indian franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The defending champions Mumbai were taken apart in a clinical manner by the Highveld Lions, who made chasing a stiff target look as easy as taking candy from a kid, before that the Sydney team had put one across Chennai and again with some aggressive batting and bowling.

In a tournament like this losing the first game puts enormous pressure since it means that the team now has to win both the remaining games to stay in contention for a place in the semi finals. It is like a batsman hitting a boundary off the first ball of the over for then the pressure shifts to the bowler, and on the other hand if a wicket is taken off the first ball then it is the batting team that is looking to catch up. So the Indian franchises will have plenty to do to qualify for the semi finals and since there are two Indian franchises in each group it means that one in each group may have to miss out for a spot in the knockouts.

The one thing that is clear from the games seen so far is the athleticism of teams from Australia and South Africa. They give their team an added advantage with the way they convert ones into twos while batting and stop the fours. The one aspect that has been seen so far is that even the best of fielders are missing high catches and that could have something to do with the thin air over Johannesburg in particular which makes the ball come down faster than the fielder waiting underneath is expecting and also the last minute swirl takes it away from the hands.

The Chennai team needs to get a good start and once they do that then they have the big shot makers in Raina and Dhoni. Ashwin showed once again what a handy batsman he is, but as a bowler his length is just a trifle short and his direction more leg side than outside the off. As always for the Indian franchises the main issue is which four overseas players to pick in their final eleven. The Lions did exceedingly well in chasing down Mumbai score and they did it with a rookie, Quinton de Kock and the experienced Neil McKenzie at the crease. They will be the ones to watch out for again for the Chennai Super Kings and if they get these two out early then they give themselves a good chance.

The pitches mean that the seam bowlers will get preference over the spinners, but both Ashwin and Jadeja can bat too and that is a plus for Chennai. It is going to be a tough ask but doing that is what separates the champions from the rest. — PMG

Mumbai, October 15
The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League, a sub committee of the Cricket Board, is to meet on October 17 following BCCI's month-long legal battle against Deccan Chargers over the termination decision.

“There is a meeting of the IPL Governing Council in Mumbai on October 17th. I don't know any other details," said BCCI's CAO Prof Ratnakar Shetty on Monday. Chargers lost their status as an IPL team after the Bombay HC on Saturday stayed the order of the Arbitrator for maintaining status quo on the matter till further hearing.

Yesterday, the board began the process of finding a new team by floating tender notices for a fresh franchise. “Under this invitation to tender, the winning bidder will be granted the right to own and operate a new team which will compete in the IPL in each year from and including 2013 onwards and will have the opportunity (if applicable and subject to qualification) to compete in each and any CLT20 which is staged from 2013 onwards," the BCCI said.

The bids have been invited in respect of 12 cities —Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Indore, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kochi, Nagpur, Noida, Rajkot, Ranchi and Vizag. The tender notice said that all bidding parties will need to fulfil the eligibility criteria and other requirements specified in the Invitation to Tender. “Bids must be submitted at 12 noon on Thursday. The winning bids will be announced in the manner set out in the Invitation to Tender,” the BCCI said. IPL GC is made up of Chairman Shukla, Arun Jaitley, Anirudh Chaudhary, Dr G Ganga Raju, Sanjay Patel, Amitabh Choudhary and others. — PTI

London, October 15
England cricket chief David Collier has been forced to apologise to South Africa after accusing their players of provoking Kevin Pietersen in the text message row that led to the batsman being dropped.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) were furious about the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive's comments last week and demanded he say sorry. South African-born Pietersen was dropped by England for the third and final test between the two countries at Lord's in August after admitting sending provocative texts to the tourists but denying allegations he told them how to get captain Andrew Strauss out.

“Cricket South Africa has made clear to ECB that the electronic messages were not part of any initiative or plan to undermine the England team or players,” an ECB statement said on Monday. "ECB has unreservedly accepted that assurance and wishes to reiterate that it has no issue at all with CSA. "Although the two boards do not agree on the sequence of events regarding any responses to messages between Kevin Pietersen and certain Proteas players, CSA and SACA (South African Cricketers' Association) accept Mr Collier's apology.” Pietersen has been dropped for this month's tour of India but could be recalled after agreeing to a “reintegration” period after apologising to the ECB and Strauss who retired after the Lord's test when South Africa took England's number one ranking. — PTI

Chandigarh, October 15
What would Anil Kumble do if, as part of the ICC’s Cricket Committee, his views are sought on, say, the mushrooming of Twenty20 leagues around the world?

These leagues, with the money they offer, are luring players away from playing for their nation.

It’s not merely a question of a player choosing club over country – which our cricket god Sachin Tendulkar does regularly. It’s also about the survival of the toughest, best test of a cricketer’s abilities, Test cricket. The role of the ICC cricket committee is to recommend changes to the rules of the sport, to make it more balanced and appealing.

The ICC limits a country to playing no more than 12 Twenty20Is every year. But someone like Chris Gayle, the sublime hitter and the game’s supreme freelancer, could play 30-odd club games a year. This undermines the logic behind the ICC’s limit on the number of T20 matches played between nations. In the ICC’s Cricket Committee meetings, would Kumble speak his mind freely? He’s a honourable man, and we all know that he has discharged his job on the cricket field with the greatest focus and honesty.

But can he separate his different selves when doing his different duties as an official? Apart from being on the ICC Cricket Committee, he is the head of the BCCI’s Technical Committee. He is the president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. He is a paid staff of Vijay Mallaya, employed as the mentor of the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team.

He is a player agent as well, as his company Tenvic represents and promotes the commercial interests of several cricketers. Which means that if a Tenvic player is, say, chosen to play for Karnataka or RCB or India, Kumble gains personally through Tenvic. Kumble is a great cricketer, and he'd be an even greater man if these considerations don't cross his mind at ICC, BCCI, KSCA or RCB meetings.

Positions of conflicts of interests are problematic not because they’re illegal, but because they’re unethical – they could cause an individual to fashion his views and actions to suit his interests, or interests of those he represents. Kumble has said that he is “sad” when these questions are raised. “I seriously fail to understand why people talk about only one thing - whenever somebody is trying to contribute only in honorary positions as administrators or anything,” he said. “That’s a sad part, I am disappointed with that.” In India, there’s been a swell of nationalistic pride on Kumble’s appointment by the ICC. That’s no surprise, for conflict of interest has seeped into our system, and cricket actually flaunts it. That’s the really sad part, Mr Kumble.

Chandigarh, October 15
Former India speedster and Punjab bowling coach Harvinder Singh has expressed hope that Punjab pace attack will be the team’s biggest strength once the Ranji campaign begins.

“MS Gony, Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul are quality pacers and can run through any side,” he said. The coach also praised Yuvraj for his grit during his comeback in the longer format. “Yuvraj has shown what stuff he is made of,” he said. — TNS

New Delhi, October 15
Shuttler Saina Nehwal will be making a comeback at the Denmark Open Super Series Premier on Wednesday, after lying low since winning the bronze medal at the London Olympics Aug 5.

The Hyderabadi shuttler had taken a break and was busy attending felicitation functions during the last two months, also missing out on two Super Series events in China and Japan.

Seeded third in the penultimate Super Series Premier of the season, Saina will be up against South Korean Yeon Ju Bae, against whom Saina has a 4-2 head-to-head record. However, their last clash was won by the South Korean in the second round of the Indian Open in April. "I have practiced well and been trying to get back into rhythm. I hope to do well in Denmark," Saina said before leaving for the tournament.

In men's action, Mumbai's Ajay Jayaram will be facing Chinese seventh seed Pengyu Du in his first round singles match while Sourabh Verma faces a tough challenge against sixth seeded veteran and local favourite Peter Gade. — PTI

London, October 15
When Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo picks up his 100th cap against Northern Ireland on Tuesday, he will reflect on a career which started in central defence and was marked by early shyness before an explosion of attacking flair made him one of soccer's greatest players.

“It was on August 20th, 2003, against Kazakhstan, that I put on our national shirt for the first time. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life and a path which I am proud of," Ronaldo wrote on his Facebook page.

He came on as a substitute for Luis Figo in what was, in retrospect, a symbolic handover from one Portuguese hero to another.

Ronaldo, the future 2008 world player of the year, took 2001 world player Figo's mantle and helped inspire Portugal to third place in FIFA's world rankings even if a first major international trophy is still elusive as he struggles to shrug off accusations he goes missing in really big games. At 27, he will become one of the youngest European footballers to reach 100 caps behind Germany's Lukas Podolski and Estonia's Kristen Viikmae.

He is Portugal's third most capped player of all time behind Figo with 127 and centre back Fernando Couto with 110. "On Tuesday, I will reach my 100th cap next to my people and only with a victory in mind. I would like to thank all of those who helped me reach this point and will pack the stadium cheering for us," Ronaldo wrote.

Indeed he has many to thank, starting with his first coach, Madeira primary school teacher Francisco Afonso.

“He took his chances and always had the desire to learn and go further," Afonso was quoted as saying by Portuguese daily o Jogo. “Curiously, he started playing as a centre back. But, because he wanted to organise everything his way, he eventually went up field and became a forward.”

Ronaldo's club record with Manchester United and Real Madrid speaks for itself. He won Spain's La Liga last season and the Copa del Rey the campaign before after collecting three Premier League titles, a Champions League crown and an FA Cup with United.

Former Sporting coach Laszlo Boloni, who brought Ronaldo to public attention by giving the teenager several first-team starts at the Lisbon club, ranks the forward above other Portuguese idols from football to music.

“I was asked how could I say that Ronaldo was going to be better than Eusebio after he had played just five matches. I answered that Cristiano was exceptional, better than Eusebio and (Fado singer) Amalia, who are part of Portugal's heritage," he told o Jogo.

Ronaldo is now world renowned for his confidence, some would say arrogance, but most of those around him in his early years mention his humbleness and hard-work ethic. — Reuters

Singapore, October 15
High on confidence after their recent Nehru Cup triumph, India take on Singapore in a rare international football friendly on a FIFA date, which will also be the first away match under coach Wim Koevermans, here on Tuesday.

Having successfully begun his stint at the helm of affairs with a title win in the Nehru Cup last month, Koevermans would want to continue to maintain the momentum and collect some valuable ranking points at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium.

Koevermans has a full squad available to pick unlike the past wrangling between the AIFF and the clubs on release of players for such games.

A win on Tuesday for Indians against their opponents six place higher will be a good chance for them to stop the slide in the FIFA ladder which they have been experiencing despite the Nehru Cup win. Singapore will be without Shahril Ishak, but it won't be easy for Koeverman's men who have tasted much success mostly on home soil. — PTI

New Delhi, October 15
Leander Paes remained unchanged at number five but Rohan Bopanna on Tuesday re-entered the doubles top-10 on the back of his runners-up finish at the ATP Shanghai Masters. Paes won the Shanghai Masters on Monday with Radek Stepanek, who also moved two places up to number six. Bopanna jumped four places to number 10 after gaining 600 ranking points. Bopanna's partner Bhupathi improved his ranking by two slots to 16.

Yuki Bhambri continued to be India's number one singles player at 204, a loss of three places.

In the WTA rankings, Sania Mirza dropped a place to number 14 in women's doubles. — PTI

New Delhi, October 15
Fifth seed Tejas Kapoor became the biggest casualty when he was ousted by Sumit Pal Singh 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the boys under-16 singles Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship at the DLTA court.

However, top seed IB Akshay from Tamil Nadu made a smooth sailing past Parikshit Somani (6-0, 6-2), while second seed Vishnu Prasad of Delhi rushed past Priyavat Mehla (6-1, 6-2),Fatehdeep Singh of Punjab came up with an authoritative performance to demolish Shrey Gupta 6-0, 6-0. Delhi boy Garvit Batra caused the other upset of the day when he beat Gagan Sharma 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Sixth seed Deepak Vishvakarma had an easy opening set where he did not let Rahul Yadav win a single game but then had to battle hard in the next before advancing into the next round with a 6-0,7-5 win. In the girls under-16 category, Jahnvi Gupta won 7-5, 6-3 against GS Vasavi, Eeshita Pande blanked Vineeta Singh 6-0, 6-0, while Nandini Sharma got the better of Isha Budwal.

In the boys under-14 singles, top seed BR Nikshep had an easy opening round against Vannemreddy 6-0, 6-0. Mingkhi Talombeat J Oges Theygo 6-4, 6-3 in boys under-18 singles.

London, October 15
The Football Association had to abandon a last-minute call-up for Arsenal full-back Carl Jenkinson yesterday for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier in Poland when they realised the former Finland Under-21 needed three weeks' international clearance from Fifa.

Hodgson was about to bring Jenkinson into the squad for the flight to Warsaw today but was told he was not yet eligible. His mother, Hayde, is Finnish but Hodgson will announce today that he has committed his international future to England.

Jenkinson has impressed during a run in the Arsenal first team at right-back this season and trained with the England squad yesterday at the club's London Colney facilities.

For the vital game with Poland tomorrow Hodgson is preparing to make up to six changes from the team that beat San Marino 5-0 on Friday. Having praised his less experienced players in the win at Wembley, the England manager is ready to turn to the established members of the squad for the far tougher test in Warsaw.

London, October 15
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to join Ferrari for the 2014 season, according to reports today.

According to the BBC, the Red Bull driver has already signed a contract with the Italian team that allows him to join them in 2014 depending upon the Italian team's performance next season.

The report suggests the German two-time world champion will replace Felipe Massa, and become team-mates with Fernando Alonso, who has sanctioned the move.

Despite the reports, Red Bull have issued a flat denial that Vettel will leave, saying: "The BBC article is factually incorrect. Sebastian will be with the team in 2014."

Ferrari have also distanced themselves from the report, as well as claims that Red Bull designer Adrian Newey could also join them.

Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo is quoted as saying: "Today the problem is not with drivers. 2013 is still to come but I don't want to have two roosters in the same henhouse, rather two drivers who race for Ferrari and not for themselves," he said.

"I don't want problems and rivalries, which we didn't have between [Michael] Schumacher and [Eddie] Irvine, between Schumacher and [Rubens] Barrichello, between [Fernando] Alonso and Massa or Massa and Schumi or Massa and [Kimi] Raikkonen. As for Newey, I can say that he is very good at his job but we also managed to win eight constructors' titles in the last 13 championships without him: I have huge faith in our own engineers."

Should the report be true, it represents another huge defection in Formula One following the recent announcement that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving McLaren to join Mercedes (a story also broken by the BBC).

Vettel has been with Red Bull since 2009 and before that was at their feeder team Toro Rosso. The German holds a number of records, including the youngest driver to score a point in Formula One, which he did at the US Grand Prix in 2007 at the age of 19 years and 349 days. He is also the youngest driver to win a Grand Prix and the youngest ever world champion. Teaming up with Alonso would ensure the Prancing Horse have the most high-profile line-up in Formula One. Alonso, also a two-time world champion, reportedly agreed to Vettel joining, with the Spaniard contractually allowed a say in the identity of his team-mate. It is understood he vetoed a possible move for Hamilton having fallen out with the Briton when the pair drove together at McLaren. Massa, who has struggled since returning from a serious injury, will depart. The 31-year-old Brazilian's future has been the subject of speculation ever since the accident at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was at one point linked with a move to replace him. That speculation ended when the Australian signed a new contract with his current team earlier this year. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was also linked with Massa's seat.

A slight improvement in recent weeks, which saw Massa finish second at the Japanese Grand Prix - his first podium for almost two-years, as well as an impressive display in Korea yesterday, look to have ensured he remains with Ferrari until Vettel makes the switch.

When asked if Massa would remain with Ferrari in 2013, team principal Stefano Domenicali said: "You will know what will be our situation on that very soon." — Agencies