Sehwag, Tendulkar put India on top

Sports Encounter Desk:

India are on driving seat after excellent partnership 3rd wicket partnership of 249 runs between Sehwag and Tendulkar. At stumps on day 2, India were 342/5 with an overall lead of 46 runs. Sehwag scored brilliant 165 runs whereas Tendulkar completed his 47th test hundred. South African bowlers were struggling today and the absence of regular wicket keeper Boucher also hurt them as AB was not impressive with his gloves work and also missed stumping opportunity of Sehwag. Earlier South Africa were bowled out for 296. India need to win this match not only to square the series but also to retain their No. 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings.

Match Summary Stumps Day-2
South Africa 1st Innings 296/10
Hashim Amla  114
Peterson 100

Zaheer Khan 4/90
Harbhajan 3/64

India 1st Innings 342/5
Sehwag 165
Tendulkar 106

Duminy 1/4
Steyn 1/66

Bolt off to winning start

Sports Encounter Desk:

World record holder Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt started his 2010 season with victory in  400metres  at the Camperdown Classic in Jamaica. Usain Bolt who won the three Olympic sprint golds in Beijing 2008 and three World Championship titles in Berlin last year won the race in 45.86 seconds at the National Stadium in Kingston 0.49seconds better than the previous best, set by himself in winning the same race in 2009.

Bolt said: “It was a good race; to run 45 seconds was a good sign. I never feel as good as I wanted. I guess I am getting there, I would say. I just want to get my fitness up, I don’t think I am where I would want to be.”

Abbas hopes for better show in World Cup

Sports Encounter Desk:

World record holder penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas is hoping for better show in  Hockey World Cup which is to be started from 28 February at New Delhi. Pakistan to play its first match against arch rivals India on 28. Sohail Abbas is optimistic about team performance and said we will play every match as final and will not repeat our mistakes made in the previous tournaments. He said playing in Champions Challenge Cup was a good experience and we have worked out our weaknesses. We have strong defence and forward line and we are also working hard to overcome our weaknesses in penalty corner and goal keeping. The nation will witness a better performance from us on Indian soil. Place in top 4 is our first target.

Kiwis in strong position against Bangladesh

Sports Encounter Desk:

New Zealand were 258/5 at stumps on day 1 against Bangladesh of the solitary test match. Kiwis recovered well thanks to unbeaten partnership of 100 runs between Guptill (80*) and McCallum (58*). After putting into bat New Zealand were struggling at one stage with 5 wickets down for only 158 runs on the board.  Rubel Hussain took 3 wickets for Bangladesh. Ingram makes a test debut for New Zealand in this test match. There was only 68.1 overs play was possible due to bad light.

Match Summary

Stumps Day 1

New Zealand 1st Innings 258/5 in 68.1 overs

Martin Guptill 80*

McCallum 58*

Ingram 42

Taylor 40

Rubel Hussain 3/86

Shakib 1/34

Leggie Rashid takes England Lions to T20 series win over Pakistan A

Osama Tariq for Sports Encounter
DUBAI: The second line-up of English cricket team continued to overwhelm Pakistan A at the Sharjah cricket ground Sunday when they won the second Twenty20 match by eight wickets to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 thanks mainly to the leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

The orthodox leg-spinner took three important wickets to take the sting out of Pakistani middle order as the “Home” side skittled out for only 106 runs, extending the poor run of luck for Pakistan in the game of Cricket. Adil Rashid came in the middle of the innings and handed Pakistan severe blow with the latter losing four wickets with an addition of only 7 runs on the board.

Adil Rashid the main destroyer for England Lions

In reply, England Lions raced to the target in only 16.1 overs  with Craig Kieswetter top scoring with 40 as the visitors won the match by eight wickets and with it the series by two games to nil.

The Lions won the first game by seven wickets and will look to whitewash a sorry Pakistani team Tuesday in the final of the three T20 matches.

Aamer Sajjad (13), Kashif Siddiq (0) and Asad Shafiq (5) were the main victims of Rashid who finished with 3-13, thus claiming Man of the Match Award. Other main wicket takers were Chris Woakes and Sajid Mahmood with two wickets each to their names.

MATCH SUMMARY

Pakistan A     106/10 from 19.1 overs

Wahab Riaz   28*       Adil Rashid   3/13

Shahzaib        21        S Mahmood   2/22

England Lions          107/2 from 16.1 overs

C Kieswetter 40*       Wahab Riaz   1/17

Ian Bell           32*       A Rehman     1/24

Result: England Lions won by 8 wickets and take 2-0 lead in 3-match series.

Cristiano Ronaldo hints Manchester United reunion

Sports Encounter Exclusive

LONDON: World’s best football player of the Year 2008 and former Manchester United striker, Cristiano Ronaldo can’t forget his days with the Red Devils as he hinted a possible return Sunday.
Ronaldo had quite Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United last year to join Spanish Real Madrid in a mega £80million transfer deal.

Afghanistan qualify for ICC T20 World Cup

Sports Encounter Desk:

Afghanistan beat UAE by 4 wickets in tense encounter and qualify for upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. Chasing 101 to qualify in 20 overs, Afghanistan had to worked hard for their runs and they achieved the target in 19.3 overs. Batting first UAE were restricted to 100 in 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets. Saqib Ali was the top scorer for UAE with 24 runs. Muhammad Nabi took 3 wickets for Afghanistan. In replying Afghanistan were cautious in their approach and achieve the target in last over as its opener Noor Ali guide them to victory.

Match Summary
UAE 100/9 in 20 Overs
Saqib Ali 24
Abdul Rehman 18
Naeemuddin 18

Muhammad Nabi 17/3
Ashraf 15/2

Afghanistan 101/6 in 19.3 overs
Noor Ali 38*
Asghar 26

Silva 14/2
Fayyaz 14/2

Champions League fixtures for Tuesday Feb 16

Sports Encounter Desk
Tuesday
AC Milan v Manchester United
Venue : San Siro
Kick-off : 1945 GMT

Managers : Leonardo (40, Brazilian) v Alex Ferguson (68, Scottish).

Group stage : Milan finished second in their group, four points behind Real Madrid, winning just two of their six games. They only lost once, though, at home to bottom club FC Zurich, and managed to beat Madrid at the Bernabeu. United topped their group, their only slip-up a home defeat to Besiktas.

Top scorer (in group stage): Pato, Filippo Inzaghi, Ronaldinho (2); Michael Owen (4).

Position in their domestic league : Milan 3rd (10 points behind Inter); United 2nd (two points behind Chelsea).

Milan knocked United out of the competition last time they met, winning 5-3 on aggregate at the semi-final stage in 2006-07.

Tuesday
Olympique Lyon v Real Madrid
Venue : Stade Gerland
Kick-off : 1945 GMT
Managers : Claude Puel (48, French) vs Manuel Pellegrini (56, Chilean).
Lyon took the runners-up spot behind Fiorentina in Group E, their 2-1 win at Anfield all but ending Liverpool’s hopes of progressing. They lost just once, away to the Italians. En route to winning their group, ahead of Milan, Madrid scored more goals (15) than any other team in the competition, Cristiano Ronaldo getting six of them.
Top scorer (in group stage): Miralem Pjanic (3); Cristiano Ronaldo (6).
Position in their domestic league: Lyon 4th (eight points behind Bordeaux); Madrid 2nd (five points behind Barcelona)
Lyon had the upper hand when they played Madrid in the Champions League in the 2005-6 and 2006-07 seasons, winning both home games and drawing twice in the Bernabeu.

Tuesday
Bayern Munich v Fiorentina
Venue : The Allianz Arena.
Kick-off : 1945 GMT
Managers : Louis van Gaal (58, Dutch) vs Cesare Prandelli (52, Italian).
Having lost home and away to group winners Bordeaux, Bayern needed to beat Juventus in Turin in their final game to go through – they did so, comprehensively, 4-1. Fiorentina had a less stressful passage, winning all five of their games (including Liverpool home and away) after losing their first to Lyon. Only Bordeaux won more points in the group stage.
Top scorer (in group stage): Ivica Olic and Thomas Muller (2); Adrian Mutu and Alberto Gilardino (3).
Position in their domestic league : Bayern 2nd (level on points with Bayer Leverkusen); Fiorentina 11th (21 points behind Inter).
The teams were drawn in the same group in last season’s competition, Bayern winning 3-0 at home before drawing 1-1 in Italy.

Tuesday
FC Porto v Arsenal
Venue : Estádio do Dragão
Kick-off : 1945 GMT
Managers : Jesualdo Ferreira (63, Portuguese) v Arsene Wenger (60, French).
With Atletico Madrid and APOEL of Cyprus failing to mount any kind of challenge in Group D Porto cruised to a second-place finish behind Chelsea, who beat them home and away. Arsenal had no problems either, their only defeat coming in their final game when the group was already won – a weakened side lost 1-0 away to Olympiacos.
Top scorer (in group stage): Falcao and Hulk (3); Cesc Fabregas (3).
Position in their domestic league : Porto 3rd (seven points behind Benfica); Arsenal 3rd (nine points behind Chelsea).
Having already secured qualification for the knock-out phase last season Arsene Wenger sent a second-string team to Portugal – and they lost 2-0. By then, though, Arsenal had beaten Porto 4-0 at home.

Fracture keep Giggs out for four weeks

Sports Encounter Desk:

Fracture on right arm will force Giggs out of action for four weeks. Giggs suffered the injury in his right arm against 1-1 draw match with Portsmouth when he collided with Steve Sidwell in the second half. Giggs will miss all important matches which includes both legs of the Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan and also the Carling Cup final with Aston Villa at Wembley on 28th February. Apart from Champions League matches Giggs will also miss important matches of English Premier League against Everton, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Rain spoils West Indies chances

Sports Encounter Desk:

After good effort with the ball West Indies were looking to make a good match but rain ruins the chances of West Indies first win in the series. The 3rd ODI ended as No result. After put Australia in to bat at Sydney cricket ground West Indies made early in roads. Australian batsmen failed to play any substantial inning. Vice captain Clarke was the leading scorer for Australia with 46. Ravi Rampaul was on fire and took 4 crucial wickets. Rain allow only one over to bowl in second innings.

Match Summary

Australia 225/10 in 49.5 Overs
Clarke 46
Hussey 44
Hopes 30

Ravi Rampaul 4/61
Smith 3/45

West Indies 6/0 in 1.0 overs