Stirling too Heavy for the Afghanis

It was Stirling Who gived  Ireland a Hopeful chance of qualifying into the ICC T20 and he did make it sure by hitting 50 in 17 balls .Ireland batsman Paul Stirling smashed the second fastest fifty ever in Twenty20 internationals as his side were crowned the best of the second-tier teams after winning a pulsating match against Afghanistan by five wickets on Saturday.The two countries had already qualified to join the major teams in September's ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka but victory for the Irish in the final of the qualifying tournament meant they will avoid holders England in the group stage.

Stirling reached his fifty from just 17 balls, a mark bettered only by the 12-ball half-century made by India's Yuvraj Singh against England in 2007, as Ireland scored 156-5 to pass Afghanistan's 152-7 with seven balls to spare.

Stirling ended up with 79 from 38 deliveries in an innings that included nine fours and three sixes as the two sides produced a cracking encounter in front of around 6,000 noisy supporters at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

It was Stirling's third fifty in four innings in a tournament where Ireland gained revenge for defeat in the previous final between the teams in 2010.

"I'm hitting it alright," Stirling told reporters. "I started (the tournament) slowly but it was nice to come on at the back-end and help the boys over the line.

"I'm trying to get more consistent as it's one thing to hit the ball far but it is another thing to be doing it consistently and I hope I can continue in that vein."

Ireland's win means they will play alongside Australia and the West Indies in Group B in the opening stage of September's tournament while Afghanistan will play in Group A against defending champions England and 2007 winners India.

Both countries will receive $250,000 from the International Cricket Council to help them prepare for the event.

Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal paid tribute to Ireland's effort in defeating his previously unbeaten side after the Europeans had sealed their place in the final and in Sri Lanka by beating Namibia by nine wickets earlier in the day.

"Hats off to Paul Stirling, who destroyed every single plan we set for him," he said through an interpreter.

"Congratulations to Ireland. They came hard at us, especially in playing their second game in a day, winning both. That was an amazing performance."

English Batsmen capable of proving themselves : J.Anderson

Following England vs Srilanka  Match , which is the upcoming match for England  Jamie Anderson says the batsmen   have “a point to prove” in Sri Lanka.The England batting line-up has been instrumental in the team’s surge to number one in the Test rankings but, after two years of consistent run scoring throughout the top seven, they came unstuck spectacularly in the recent series against Pakistan.

England were routed 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates as Pakistan, led by spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, bowled Andrew Strauss’ side out six times for less than 260.

Things have already looked better at the start of this trip, with first-class centuries from Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott.

There were also fifties from Matt Prior, Samit Patel, Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen as the tourists chased down a fourth-innings target of 359 against Sri Lanka’s Development XI.

“They obviously have a point to prove,” said Anderson after England trained for the first time in Galle ahead of Monday’s Test.

“The way we batted in our second innings of the last warm-up game was fantastic. We chased down a really high score in not many overs and we can take a lot of confidence from that.

“All of our top six or seven have had a good hit in the middle on this trip and hopefully they can start well on Monday.”

The issue that will be taxing Strauss and team director Andy Flower most in the build-up to the match is the number six position.

Bopara was the clear favourite to replace the axed Eoin Morgan, not least because his useful medium-pacers offered England another bowling option in unforgiving physical conditions.

Anderson and new ball partner Stuart Broad will be unable to settle in for lengthy spells in this heat and Essex all-rounder Bopara was seen as the ideal relief bowler.

But he is suffering with a side injury and is not fit to bowl in the series.

He may still play as a specialist batsmen, but will now face increased pressure from Patel and Tim Bresnan.

Patel’s batting is of a similar level to Bopara’s and his left-arm spin could make him an attractive option as England seek to lighten the load on their attack.

Anderson admits there is a dilemma.

“It is going to be a difficult decision obviously, with Ravi not being able to bowl,” said Anderson.

“It’s always difficult going in with just two seamers and two spinners and not having that fifth bowling option.

“It’s slightly different for seamers here because in this heat the spells will be shorter than we’re used to.

“Sri Lanka is probably a place where it is easy to leak runs and that’s something we’re well aware of. Hopefully it’s something we can combat.

“Obviously Trotty and KP can bowl a few overs but the decision the selectors have to make is whether they want that fifth bowler to be someone who is more capable with the ball.”

Broad missed England’s first tour match with an ankle sprain, sustained when he tripped over the boundary rope, and he did not bowl in nets this morning.

Anderson is confident that was simply a precaution and expects him to be back up to full speed tomorrow.

“I think his fitness is good,” said Anderson.

“He just wanted an extra day off from bowling after the last game. He bowled quite a few overs in the last game and he’s just giving his ankle a little bit of extra time to recover.”

Barclays premier league Saturday weekend Results

Liverpool 1-2 Wigan Athletic

It was Wigan who dominated the game as  Shaun Maloney and Caldwell Eased past through Pepe Reina's post. Wigan took the lead when Shaun Maloney scored from the penalty spot, but Liverpool equalised in the early stages of the second half when Steven Gerrard picked out Luis Suarez to steer the ball into the bottom corner.

Caldwell kept his cool to squeeze the ball past Pepe Reina to boost Wigan's hopes of avoiding relegation.

Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa

Arsenal strengthened their hold on third place with a convincing win over Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

Kieran Gibbs put Arsenal ahead when he was put through by Gervinho, squeezing a shot past Shay Given before Theo Walcott doubled their lead nine minutes later.

Mikel Arteta went close with a free-kick in the first half but there was no stopping the Spaniard's 30-yard piledriver in the third minute of second-half injury time.

BoltonWanderers2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Bolton boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop on an emotional day at the Reebok Stadium.

Prior to the match both sides paid tribute to Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who is recovering from a heart attack, and two first-half headed goals from David Wheater put the hosts in control.

Steven Nzonzi reduced the deficit with a glancing header to give Blackburn hope in the second half but Bolton held on to take the points. 

Norwich City 2-1 Wolverhampton

Two goals from Grant Holt helped Norwich come from behind to beat Wolves, who remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Wolves went in front when Jamie O'Hara's cross was touched on by Kevin Doyle into the path of Matt Jarvis to sidefoot home.

Simeon Jackson put Holt through to equalise and the forward put Norwich in front just before half-time from the penalty spot. However, Holt was sent off in the dying stages of the match for a second bookable offence.

Sunderland 3-1 Queens Park Rangers

QPR's problems continue to mount as Sunderland secured a comfortable home win at the Stadium of Light.

James McClean set uup the opener for the hosts with a whipped cross for Nicklas Bendtner to direct a header into the far corner and QPR's task was made harder when striker Djibril Cisse was shown a red card.

Sunderland went close when a Craig Gardner free-kick smacked against the post before McClean fired home via a deflection and Stephane Sessegnon put the hosts 3-0 up. Taye Taiwo grabbed a fine consolation for the visitors with a stunning free-kick.

Swansea City 0-2 Everton

Goals from Leighton Baines and Nikica Jelavic handed Swansea only their third home League defeat this season.

Baines put Everton in front with a beautifully struck left-foot free-kick just before the hour mark.

And Jelavic doubled their lead when he slotted home after good work from Marouane Fellaini.

Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham

The two sides largely cancelled each other out in the opening 45 minutes, although Spurs could have opened the deadlock in first-half injury time when Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor both went close.

Juan Mata hit the post from a free-kick for Chelsea while Adebayor rounded Petr Cech only for Gary Cahill to get back to block his route to goal, while Gareth Bale headed against the crossbar and had a free-kick well saved by Cech in the dying stages.

Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City

Stoke, who went close in the first half from a Ryan Shawcross header that was cleared off the line by Pablo Zabaleta, took the lead in the second period courtesy of a sublime volley by Peter Crouch from outside the box.
The visitors equalised when Yaya Toure fired in a long-range effort that took a slight deflection past Asmit Begovic, while Stoke's Wilson Palacios and then Toure both went close to a winner in the closing stages.
The point takes Manchester City top of the Barclays Premier League table on goal difference, ahead of Manchester United, who play Fulham on Monday.

Greatest player of all time "Roger Federer"

Roger Federer has been named the greatest player of all time by America's Tennis Channel. The television network s "100 Greatest of All Time," a five-night series, aired this week and culminated Friday. Federer edged Rod Laver for the top spot. Rounding out the top 10 were Steffi Graf in third, followed by Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Margaret Court, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King. The rankings were determined by an international panel.

Barcelona erases 13 points lead to 3 points lead

After Barcelona wining the match against Mallorca 2-1 Barcelona gets nearer to RM . It Was Messi and Pique who scored For the Catalans.Messi's strike took his season's league tally to 35, four days after he hit a hat-trick in the 5-3 win over Granada which made him Barcelona's all-time leading scorer.Barcelona had to play out the final 34 minutes a man down on Saturday after Thiago Alcantara was red-carded but they still did enough to make it seven successive victories in the league.

Real, who led by 10 points going into last weekend's matches, can restore their six-point lead later Saturday when they entertain Real Sociedad.

Barca were the better team and dominated possession throughout the first-half.

Their first opportunity came on 12 minutes when Dudu Aouate in the Mallorca goal came out to block a shot from Messi at close range.

Alvaro Gimenez had Mallorca's only chance of the first-half eight minutes later when his header drifted wide of goal after a right wing cross from Michael Pereira.

On 25 minutes Barca went ahead when Messi floated a free-kick over the Mallorca defence.

At first, the goal was credited to Alexis Sanchez, who appeared to get the slightest of glances to steer the ball past Aouate. But the goal was later officially awarded to Messi.

Barcelona continued to dominate and it was Sanchez again who thumped a shot onto the crossbar on 33 minutes before trying his luck from distance just before the break.

After a quiet start to the second-half the evening suddenly became complicated for Barcelona on 56 minutes when Thiago was sent-off for a second yellow card after the referee harshly deemed the midfielder had used his arm to control the ball.

Mallorca immediately launched their first attack of the second period and Cesc Fabregas was almost in danger of pulling down Jose Luis Marti in the penalty area.

However, from then on, Barcelona looked to kill the game with their passing game.

Pedro Rodriguez teed-up Messi, who shot just wide from 10 yards, before Pique wrapped the game up with 12 minutes remaining when he reacted quickest after a Messi shot hit the post.

Bangladesh weird move against sportsmanship

Its Cricket Board says it will challenge Pakistan win in Asia Cup final. Bangladesh said it will ask the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to review an incident in the final over of the Asia Cup final against Pakistan on Thursday which they believe cost them the game. Pakistan won by two runs after Bangladesh could score six runs only from the final over bowled by Aizaz Cheema. Enayet Hossain Siraj, chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cricket operations committee, told reporters on Saturday that Cheema had deliberately blocked batsman Mahmudullah in the final over. He said the BCB would demand five penalty runs which if granted could force the ACA to reverse the result. "We have seen video footage of the incident repeatedly. It is clear that Cheema blocked Mahmudullah deliberately," Siraj said. "We will lodge a written appeal to the ACC very soon and will also give a copy to the International Cricket Council."-

Federer gets better of Harisson

Roger Federer Defeated Ryan Harisson By 6-4 7-6 , although the match went into the tie break in 2nd set but federer got past through it and is through to the 3rd round of Sony Ericsson open. It looked like Federer was about to give his American opponent a clinic in high-level play when the match began, as he raced out into a 3-0 first set lead without ever really being tested. But Harrison then held his serve for the first time, a confidence-boost that saw him creep into the contest a bit more.

Nevertheless, the third seed was playing with a decent amount of freedom, and Federer soon picked up another break to claim the opening set - having dropped a sum total of three points on his own serve.

The second stanza looked like following the same blueprint after Federer - who won last week in Indian Wells - picked up another early break. But the Swiss then uncharacteristically allowed the match to be extended just as he looked to have finished things off; serving for progression at 5-3 but then making a number of uncharacteristic errors that allowed an opportunistic Harrison to pick up an unlikely break of serve.

That ultimately sent the set to a tiebreak, but a refocused Federer picked up an early mini-break and that was all the cushion he needed as he eventually rounded out the contest.

Elsewhere, there were victories for every seeded player in action - with No. 17 Richard Gasquet given the hardest time as he beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in three sets, 6-3 6-7(6) 6-2.

The other notable match saw David Ferrer triumph against Australian youngster Bernard Tomic, the fifth seed's high energy style yielding a 6-4 6-4 success.

Gael Monfils beat qualifier Sergei Bubka by the same scoreline, as Andy Roddick proved too strong for Gilles Muller in a 6-3 6-2 win. Fernando Verdasco defeated Bjorn Phau 6-3 6-0, while Juan Monaco profited from Lu Yen-Hsun's first set retirement.

There were also wins for Viktor Troicki, Julian Benneteau and Marin Cilic.