SA to play one-off T20 against India

South Africa will play India in a Twenty20 international at the end of this month after establishing the match as a permanent fixture on the calendar, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday. The Protease will host the one-off contest at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on March 30, just three days after completing an away test series against New Zealand. "This match is a follow-up to last year s successful one at Moses Mabhida Stadium (in Durban) and after discussions with the Indian board, we have agreed to make this an annual fixture," CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said in a statement.

Milan, Barca within reach of quarter-finals

AC Milan and defending champions Barcelona are both well placed to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League as the first four of this season’s last-16 ties conclude this week. Milan take a 4-0 lead to Arsenal on Tuesday evening, while Barcelona – who got the better of the Italian champions in the group phase – have a 3-1 advantage to defend when Bayer Leverkusen visit Camp Nou on Wednesday. A slickly taken first-half hat-trick from the returning Zlatan Ibrahimovic set Milan on the way to a 4-0 win at Palermo on Saturday that enabled them to open up a three-point lead over Juventus at the Serie A summit. Massimiliano Allegri’s side were similarly ruthless in the first leg of their tie against Arsenal three weeks ago, when a Robinho brace helped the seven-time European champions condemn the Londoners to their heaviest defeat in continental competition. Arsene Wenger labelled his side’s performance “shocking” and the Gunners must now do what only three teams have managed to do in the history of UEFA tournaments and overhaul a four-goal deficit from the first leg of a knockout tie. Milan, however, have unwanted experience of throwing away handsome leads in the Champions League. In 2003-04, they went out to Deportivo La Coruna in the quarter-finals despite leading 4-1 from the first leg and the following season witnessed their famous loss on penalties to Liverpool in the final after they went in 3-0 up at half-time. Arsenal can also take heart from a run of four straight wins in the Premier League, the latest of which being a smash-and-grab 2-1 success at Liverpool on Saturday that took them to within four points of third-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Six of Arsenal’s last 19 home wins in Europe have been by four goals or more, and Wenger knows that in Robin van Persie – scorer of both goals at Anfield – he possesses one of Europe’s most in-form strikers. “We will give absolutely everything to win,” he told the Arsenal website. “We know the statistics are against us, but you can realise the impossible when you don’t know it is impossible. Let’s ignore that and just go for it.” Leverkusen face a similarly daunting task against a Barcelona side who appear to have rediscovered themselves in recent weeks, having registered three consecutive wins culminating in Saturday’s 3-1 success over Sporting Gijon in La Liga. Furthermore, Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in 13 European home games and Leverkusen have not won away from home in Europe’s premier club competition for more than a decade. Barca will welcome back tournament top scorer Lionel Messi after he missed the victory over Gijon through suspension, but forward Alexis Sanchez (thigh) and left-back Eric Abidal (groin) are both likely to miss the game due to injury. Perhaps the most finely poised match of the week sees Zenit Saint-Petersburg travel to Benfica on Tuesday protecting a 3-2 lead from the first leg. Roman Shirokov’s 88th-minute winner gave Zenit victory at Stadion Petrovski on Valentine’s Day but Benfica have two away goals under their belts, as well as a record of 15 wins, three draws and one defeat in their last 19 European home games. Lyon will also take a narrow lead into Wednesday’s game at Cypriot side APOEL FC, whose hopes of reaching the last eight remain alive despite a 1-0 loss at Stade Gerland in the first leg. OL are bidding to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since their run to the last four in 2009-10 but domestically they are without a win in five Ligue 1 matches, which has seen them fall seven points below the Champions League places. “The match in Nicosia on Wednesday is important for the players, but also for the club,” said Lyon coach Remi Garde after Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Nancy.

Runako Morton killed in car crash

The former Test and one-day batsman was killed in a car accident. "Our deepest condolences to Runako Morton s family. Such devastating and tragic news," the board said on its official Twitter account, after the 33-year-old s death was announced. Morton, who played 15 Tests for the West Indies, scoring 573 runs at an average of 22.03, died when he lost control of his car and careered off the road in Trinidad on Sunday, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper s web site. His last appearance for his country came against Australia in a Twenty20 international in 2010. Morton s career was blotted by disciplinary breaches. He was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, and a year later was called up to the injury-plagued West Indies squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels. He pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident.

Chelsea sack Villas-Boas after less than season

Andre Villas-Boas’s tortured spell as Chelsea manager came to an end on Sunday when the Premier League club sacked the Portuguese after less than nine months in charge. The London club handed over first-team duties to assistant manager Roberto di Matteo for the remainder of a season that is in danger of becoming the worst since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003. Speculation over the future of Villas Boas, at 34 the youngest manager in the league this season, had been swirling in the British media for weeks after a series of poor results and reports of rifts with senior players. The dismissal of the man often referred to simply by his initials “AVB” came after Saturday’s 1-0 league loss to West Bromwich Albion, their seventh league defeat of the season and a dreadful performance all round. “Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season,” the London club said in a statement on their website. The Stamford Bridge outfit have won three of their last 12 Premier League games and are in danger of missing out on qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since Russian billionaire Abramovich bought the club. They are trailing 3-1 in their round-of-16 Champions League tie against Napoli ahead of the March 14 second leg, while they sit fifth in the Premier League table with 46 points from 27 games. “The club is still competing in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts,” the statement said. “With that in mind we felt our only option was to make a change at this time.”

Federer beats Murray to win Dubai Championships

The second-seeded Federer didn t drop a set all week and was rarely threatened by the third-seeded Murray, who was coming off his semifinal win against top-ranked Novak Djokovic. The win was Federer s fifth title in seven tournaments and his 72nd overall. He also won two weeks ago in Rotterdam. "This is perfect. This is great. Any title is a good one, I ll tell you that," Federer said. "I have a losing record against Murray, I do believe, and not against Novak ... I don t want to say (beating Murray) means more to me but it s a beautiful victory." The 16-time Grand Slam champion kept Murray off balance much of the match, outplaying the 24-year-old from Scotland with a mix of powerful groundstrokes, drop shots and the occasional serve-and-volley. Federer saved two break points when down 3-2 in the first set at the Aviation Club. He saved the first when Murray hit a forehand long and won the second with a backhand volley. Federer broke Murray to go up 6-5 and took the first set when Murray hit a forehand wide. The two players traded breaks early in the second set before Federer broke decisively to make it 5-4. Murray saved one match point before the Swiss star hit a forehand winner into the corner. "The match was close I think in both sets, I just gave myself more opportunities than Andy did overall," said Federer, who used the fast surface to his advantage. Murray struggled much of the night with his backhand and his serve also let him down. He won 85 percent of his first service points against Djokovic, but only 48 percent against Federer. "For sure I made a few too many mistakes in the second, and he was playing a lot more aggressive than in the first set," Murray said. "Sets can come down to just a couple (of) points. You get a lucky shot here or one great shot and you can break the set wide open." Murray insisted his win over Djokovic was not on his mind as he took the court against Federer. "It was a good win yesterday, good win the day before, tough match today," Murray said. "So I m just happy with the week, because at this stage last year I was in a very different position, different frame of mind." Despite losing, Murray said his performance this week will help him at upcoming tournaments in the United States. "I was happy I managed to adjust to the court," Murray said. "The conditions over in Indian Wells (and) Miami are going to be very, very different to here. Much slower court, which hopefully will suit my game a little bit better." The 30-year-old Federer now heads to New York, where he will play an exhibition match Monday at Madison Square Garden against Andy Roddick. "There is no substitute to confidence," Federer said. "I ve played great."-

BCB 'satisfied' with Pakistan security arrangements

Officials from Bangladesh and Pakistan are escorted onto the field at the Gaddafi Stadium

There were two choppers patrolling the sky at the Gaddafi Stadium

The Bangladesh delegation sent to inspect security arrangements in Pakistan is "satisfied" with the infrastructure and BCB president Mustafa Kamal has said he is keen to send the Bangladesh team on a tour of Pakistan. Now, both boards are seeking consent from the ICC to go ahead with the tour that is proposed for April this year."After seeing all the security arrangements all of us agree and are satisfied that the security infrastructure is in place," Kamal said at a press conference in Lahore. "Now it is my responsibility to convince my government to allow the tour and also request the ICC to approve the tour. Since the ICC governs and regulates the game we have to take this issue to them and must bring it to their notice that we want to send a team."A nine-member delegation, headed by Kamal, had been sent on a two-day visit to Pakistan to observe a demonstration of the security plan for the proposed series. Kamal had said he was positive about the tour after a meeting in which the security plan was explained on Saturday. On Sunday, there was a full demonstration in Lahore, which involved more than 500 policemen being deployed between the Pearl Continental hotel, where the players will stay, to the Gaddafi Stadium. The Bangladeshi delegates, along with members of the PCB, including chairman Zaka Ashraf, were transported from the Pearl Continental hotel to the ground by a bus that was surrounded by two police jeeps, a police truck and several motorbikes.There were two helicopters patrolling the sky at the stadium, and a mock evacuation via helicopter was also carried out to demonstrate how players or spectators could be rescued in case of an incident. The officials observed the same security protocol that would be in place should an international match be hosted by the stadium."We are here for three objectives," Kamal said, "One is to see the infrastructure, second to get information about the security plan and third to see the capability to execute the plan, and definitely all of us agree that all the segments were in place."There has been no international cricket in Pakistan since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists on March 3, 2009, following which Pakistan were also stripped of the matches they were to host during the 2011 World Cup. Kamal said the ICC might have a different outlook this time since they were being directly approached by another member board."We will be approaching the ICC and telling them that we are keen to come to Pakistan. Here lies the difference: earlier nobody approached them, this time we will be approaching them in a positive way. We must get them engaged; we must get their consent. It is the beginning of the process [to return international cricket to Pakistan], which was stalled for the past couple of years."The ICC has not sent any representatives to Pakistan for a security assessment of the proposed tour yet but will do so before it agrees to send its match officials for any games in Pakistan.Zaka Ashraf said he was optimistic that the ICC would give their consent since both countries' boards had agreed to the tour. "I have personally met with the ICC chief; they want to see international cricket return to Pakistan, and were supportive, but the only concern was security," Ashraf said. "Now that we have the Bangladesh security team here and they are satisfied, the ICC's role is important."There are two itineraries proposed for the tour, one of which includes a three-match ODI series, and the other a series of two ODIs and one Twenty20 international, to be completed in one week in April. Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi's National Stadium are the venues expected to host the matches.

Anderson equals best ranking

South Africa's number one tennis player Kevin Anderson has equalled his career-best ranking after winning his second ATP Tour title at the weekend.

Anderson climbed six places to 30th in the latest world rankings released on Monday.

The big-serving South African defeated Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-4, 7-6 (2) to win the Delray Beach International in Florida, United States, on Sunday.

Anderson admitted both players were feeling the pressures of the final, but felt that mentally he was prepared for the match.

“Both of us were a little nervous at the start of match, so I had to find my rhythm,” Anderson said.

“I think at the end, I felt I was mentally composed throughout 1/8the tournament 3/8. I didn’t let any patches of bad tennis affect my mindset 1/8this week 3/8.”

In his run to the final, Anderson beat former world number one Andy Roddick and current world number 11 John Isner.

Anderson was pleased with his performance and believed he had settled into life outside South Africa.

“It feels fantastic, it's my first one in the United States, which is great,” he said.

“I feel apart from South Africa, this is my new home.”

The South African number one celebrated his victory with his new wife Kelsey and South African coach Louis Vosloo, who said Anderson was strong throughout the tournament.

“Kevin was a tough nut to crack all week, a real mental giant,” Vosloo said.

Anderson lifted his only other tour title, also an ATP 250 event, when he won the SA Open in February last year. – Sapa

Real Madrid smash Espanyol to go 10 points clear

Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain (R) celebrates his goal against Espanyol as teammate Cristiano Ronaldo walks by after congratulating him. -Photo by Reuters

MADRID: Real Madrid crushed Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday to record a 10th straight league victory and restore their 10-point advantage over Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Two goals from Gonzalo Higuain, and one each from Cristiano Ronaldo, Sami Khedira, and Kaka gave Real victory after Barcelona had reduced the gap to seven points with a battling 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon on Saturday.

Madrid were dominant throughout and their quick passing and counter-attacking play, together with world-class finishing, was too much for a disappointing Espanyol side.

Real coach Jose Mourinho, who has already been installed as favourite to replace the sacked Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea, opted to skip the post-match news conference, sending out his assistant Aitor Karanka instead.

“Everyone can see that Higuain is a special player. When he is not happy you can see it and when he is you can tell as well. Kaka is another who you can see it in his face when he is enjoying his football,” he said.

Koffi Romaric for the vistors and Kaka for Madrid both tried their luck from long range in the opening periods but once the home team grabbed a 23rd-minute lead, the result was never in doubt.

A stray pass out of Espanyol’s defence from Raul Rodriguez was intercepted by Mesut Ozil whose quick thinking found Higuain with a first time pass who in turn laid the ball into Ronaldo’s path for a simple finish.

It was Ronaldo’s 30th league goal of the season and paved the way for the easy victory that was to come.

German international Khedira got the second when he made and finished a swift passing move on 38 minutes for his first league goal for Madrid, giving his side a two-goal cushion at the break.

Within 90 seconds of the restart, Higuain added the third, finishing first time after Kaka’s charging run down the left.

Another swift counter attack by Madrid gave Kaka his deserved goal for a fantastic performance on 67 minutes.

Ronaldo galloped away down the left to supply Higuain with a pass and enough time to turn and play Kaka into space on the right side of the area for the Brazilian to finish neatly into the left corner.

Twelve minutes later and the Brazilian was the provider again with good work down the left to supply Higuain for his second of the night and 15th league goal of the season.

Valencia beat Granada 1-0 away from home thanks to a Sofiane Feghouli goal that strengthened their hold on third position.

Algerian midfielder Feghouli finished of a successful week after scoring the winner on his international debut against Gambia on Wednesday.

Valencia remain six points clear of Athletic Bilbao who moved fourth after earlier beating local rivals Real Sociedad 2-0.

Markel Susaeta scored a goal in both halves for Athletic to move them level with Malaga on 37 points, two ahead of Levante who welcome Real Betis on Monday.

The Basque Country derby was closer than the result suggests and Real Sociedad had their chances to level in an end-to-end second-half, before Susaeta stepped up to convert a spectacular free-kick 10 minutes from the end.

The result will give Athletic confidence ahead of their trip to Old Trafford on Thursday to face Manchester United in the first leg of the last 16 of the Europa League where they will be backed by more than 4,000 travelling fans.

Bottom club Zaragoza came from behind to beat Villarreal 2-1 at home with goals in the last five minutes from Luis Garcia and Abraham Minero.

Hernan Martinuccio had given the away side the lead on 15 minutes that they held for 70 minutes but Zaragoza fought to the end to take a crucial victory.

The defeat leaves Villarreal only three points clear of the relegation zone and nine points ahead of Zaragoza.