Zimbabwe Vs Newzealand Final T20

 Zimbabwe has tried their heart out in the final T20 I of the tour, but at the end 

New Zealand comes out to be victorious. Simply, a superb

game of cricket, spectators have got their money's worth.

Well played Zimbabwe as well as New Zealand.

Zimbabwe: 200-2 in 20 overs.

New Zealand: 202-5 in 19.4 overs. New Zealand won by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining.

Man Of The Match: James Franklin: 60 off 37 balls.

Andre Villas-Boas on borrowed time at Chelsea as Guus Hiddink looms on horizon

Andre Villas-Boas is in danger of losing his job as Chelsea manager after meetings with the club’s owner Roman Abramovich.Sources close to the Russian billionaire last night suggested that he may now have lost patience with Villas-Boas and was considering making a change less than seven months after appointing the 34 year-old.

Nevertheless, Chelsea continued to insist that it was business as usual at the club and that there were no plans to change manager. But Guus Hiddink’s continuing availability – and Fabio Capello’s sudden availability – has not gone unnoticed in some quarters.

Hiddink was in the running to succeed Carlo Ancelotti after the Italian was sacked last summer before Abramovich decided he wanted to make more dramatic changes at Chelsea and personally selected Villas-Boas.

However, with Chelsea fifth in the Premier League, after two wins in 10 matches and struggling for form, Abramovich has let both Villas-Boas and the first-team squad know in no uncertain terms that performances have not been good enough.

As revealed by The Daily Telegraph, he met with the manager and players at the club’s training ground in Cobham, Surrey, on Sunday after a day off was cancelled following Saturday’s defeat at Everton. The meetings, following a week of Abramovich observing training sessions at Cobham, have, rightly or wrongly, left the impression with several Chelsea players that the manager is on borrowed time.

Whatmore to supervise Pakistan’s Asia Cup camp

The new national cricket coach Dav Whatmore and fielding coach will reach Pakistan in the first week of March and supervise the short training camp of the national team ahead of the Asia Cup.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf said that the committee constituted to shortlist the chief coach for the national team recommended the name of Dav Whatmore.

The committee comprising Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Naushad Ali and Rameez Raja named Whatmore as the new coach, he added.

“We want to take the team to new heights in world cricket and for that we want the best coach available. Our focus is set on 2015 World Cup and for that we would made every resource available for the team,” he maintained. 

On players reservations on the appointment of Whatmore, the PCB chairman said: “We will do what is in the interest of Pakistan cricket and what is good for us.”

Responding to a question about change of coach despite Pakistan’s winning combination, he said he had not taken the final decision on the appointment of the coach.

“The committee has taken the decision. Not me. We are yet to take the final decision,” he added.

The PCB chairman said everyone including players, coach, manager and even Aaqib Javed contributed in the victories. “Credit of success should go to all,” he added.

An official of the PCB said that the board wants Aaqib Javed in the support staff of the coaching team and would try to retain him with the team. Reports said that Aaqib has resigned as bowling coach for the Pakistan team and is to join the UAE cricket.

Barcelona boss says winning league 'very difficult'

 Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta says retaining the Spanish league title this season will be "very difficult" after Real Madrid opened a 10-point lead over the Catalan side over the weekend. 

Real extended its gap over second-place Barcelona with a 4-2 win over Levante on Sunday which came a day after the Catalan side slumped to a 3-2 defeat to Osasuna. 

"The league is very difficult now. Real Madrid is very strong," Zubizarreta told reporters as the squad headed to the airport to fly to Germany for their first-leg clash against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Round 16 match on Tuesday. 

"We will keep up the pressure so that in case something happens to Real Madrid, we will be ready to take advantage of it. The number of points which Real has racked up is extraordinary." 

Real has 58 points from 22 matches and have only dropped eight points so far this season, with defeats away to Levante and at home to Barcelona and one draw at Racing Santander. 

The club's coach Jose Mourinho attempted to play down title talk after his side's win against Levante. 

"There are many points still at stake and many games yet to be played," said Mourinho, who has won league titles in England, Italy and his native Portugal. 

"Every match is difficult and increasingly so because there is so much at stake for everyone now. Those who want to avoid relegation or play in Europe risk everything. 

"There are 39 points left, which translate into 13 victories, and that's still a lot. Ten points are just that, but they do give you some room for error Losing a game won't push us into a decisive situation," he added.

Lebanese delight for Pakistan with Davis Cup win

Pakistan reached the second round of their Davis Cup group, after securing a 3-2 win in a thrilling tie against hosts Lebanon on Monday. It was Aqeel Khan’s reverse-singles win over Karim Alayli that turned the tie in Pakistan’s favour on the third and final day, after star player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi was unable to conquer his opponent Bassam Beidas. After showing great fight in the first set against Beidass, Qureshi was unable to sustain his performance and lost the match in straight sets (4-6, 1-6, 2-6) to make it 2-2 in the tie. Khan’s straight-sets win against Ayali [6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (4)], however, turned out to be the tie-clinching performance for Pakistan. The 32-year-old from Karachi, who is Pakistan’s number one, gave one of his best Davis Cup performances to carry his team through to the second round. Playing away from home after the International Tennis Federation’s decision to switch the tie to Lebanon on security basis, Pakistan struggled against the Lebanese number one, Beidas and on the clay surfaces of the ATCL Club in Jounieh. Having progressed into the next round of the Asia/Oceania Group-II, Pakistan will now face Philippines, who swept aside Pacific Oceania 5-0. As per regulations, the tie should be scheduled in Pakistan, who have not played at home in over four years. The decision, however, lies with the ITF and the visiting team. At the start of the third day, Pakistan held a 2-1 edge over the hosts after having one the doubles match on Sunday. The four-hour-five-minute match saw Qureshi and Khan beat Beidass and Patrik Chucri 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a historic, 50th Davis Cup win for Qureshi. Earlier, Pakistan saw mixed results in the singles matches, where taking a lead through Qureshi (beat Ayali 6-4, 6-3, 6-0) they were tied at 1-1 as Khan lost his match against Beidas (1-6, 3-6, 2-6).

Zambia triumph in CAN penalty shoot out

Didier Drogba s ghosts returned to haunt him as Zambia won the African Nations Cup for the first time after beating Ivory Coast 8-7 in a drama-filled penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw on Sunday. Stoppila Sunzu converted the winning penalty after three successive efforts had been missed in a long and nervy shootout that totalled 18 kicks. But the goalless match might not have had to go to the shootout had Drogba not ballooned a 70th-minute penalty well wide to deny his team victory inside 90 minutes, repeating his miss in the 2006 final which the Ivorians lost to Egypt. The loss was another near miss for the Ivorian s golden generation, who had been expected to win African football s top prize at the last four editions but failed every time. Two of their English Premier League players - Kolo Toure and Gervinho - missed kicks in the shootout. Zambia, who had gone into the game as underdogs, won over the 40,000 crowd in the Friendship Stadium in the Gabon capital with their positive play against a surprisingly timid Ivorian side who failed to take the initiative in the game. After winning, the Zambian team held up banners remembering their side that died in a air crash not far from the stadium in 1993 and whose memory they had honoured on the eve of the game. At times, Zambia showed complete disdain for their star-studded opponents, with showy tricks on the ball and some clever routines although they also lived dangerously in defence. Yaya Toure and substitute Max Gradel both went narrowly wide for the Ivorians but it was Drogba who could have been the hero after Isaac Chansa had pushed down Gervinho in the penalty area in the 70th minute and the Senegal referee Badara Diatta bravely awarded a penalty.

England beat Pakistan by 130 runs

England beat Pakistan by 130 runs in the first-day night international here on Monday, to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Skipper Alastair Cook hit a career-best 137 to lift England to 260-7 in their allotted 50 overs before paceman Steven Finn registered his best one-day figures of 4-34 to bundle Pakistan out for a low score of 130 in 35 overs. For Pakistan Saeed Ajmal took a career-best 5-43. Shahid Afridi top-scored with 28 in a shaky batting display for Pakistan. The second one-day match will be played on Wednesday.