Afghanistan booked their place in 2012 World Twenty20

The coveted berth came with a 47-run victory over Namibia in the first final of the 16-nation qualifying tournament. In a battle of two undefeated teams, Afghanistan were bowled out for 146 in their 20 overs before Namibia were dismissed for 99 in the 19th over. Despite the loss, Namibia will get a second chance of making the World Twenty20 when they face either Ireland or the Netherlands in Saturday s second qualifying final. Afghanistan, who also played in the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, saw openers Karim Sadiq (28) and Javed Ahmadi (24) give their side a flying start with a partnership of 57 by the seventh over. But Namibia slammed the brakes on the scoring rate with skipper Sarel Burger taking with 3 for 16. However, the African side never recovered from a precarious 18 for four by the fourth over with seamer Dawlat Zadran boasting figures of 3 for 1 off his first two overs. Burger and Nicholaas Scholtz, with 22 runs each, gave a little middle-order impetus, but Afghanistan were simply too powerful in all departments as they coasted to a place in the finals in Sri Lanka in September and October. Right-arm fast bowler Aftab Alam claimed 4 for 25, sweeping up the tail in the process. Earlier, Ireland swept past Canada in the play-offs, winning by 10 wickets while the Netherlands edged out Scotland by three wickets. Ireland will face the Dutch on Friday with the winner of that game taking on Namibia on Saturday for the second available berth in Sri Lanka. Afghanistan and the winner of Saturday s final play-off will meet in the tournament finale on Saturday night. The winner will be slotted into Group B in Sri Lanka alongside Australia and the West Indies with the runner-up going into Group A against India and defending champions England.

Wayne Rooney has apologised

The striker accidentally broke the boy s wrist with a stray shot before his side s 5-0 win at Wolves on Sunday. Rooney was taking shots at goal during the pre-match warm-up and one wild effort from the United star flew into the crowd and struck Jamie Thomas on the wrist as he tried to block the ball. Thomas managed to watch the first half of the Premier League match, but was taken into the first aid tent after his arm "ballooned" at half time.

Pakistani Shaheens have beaten Bangladeshi Tigers

In the end, it was 4 runs required off one ball for Bangladesh to win, and Aizaz Cheema couldn’t do better than bowling a perfect yorker to bring home the victory well longed for now. Bangladesh fell two runs short of Pakistan’s modest total of 236. Pace bowler Aizaz Cheema grabbed three wickets at key moments to help Pakistan beat Bangladesh by two runs in a thrilling final to win the Asia Cup for the second time on Thursday. The home side came agonisingly close to becoming the new Asian champions with nine needed in the final over. However, Cheema conceded only six runs and took a wicket in the process to see his side home. Shahadat Hossain took the strike in the final ball after Cheema bowled Abdur Razzak when a boundary would have done it for Bangladesh. But he could manage just a leg bye as the home side were restricted to 234 for eight in reply to Pakistan s 236 for nine. Tamim Iqbal scored 60 off 68 balls, his fourth half-century in as many matches in the tournament, and Shakib Al Hassan (68) added 89 runs for the fourth wicket stand with Nasir Hossain (28) to put Bangladesh in control. Umar Gul broke their resistance, inducing Nasir to hit a catch to Misbah-ul-Haq at mid-wicket and Cheema silenced the roaring Sher-e-Bangla crowd in the next over when he bowled Shakib around his legs. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was caught by Nasir Jamshed on the square-leg boundary off Cheema for 10 then Mashrafe Mortaza struck 18 off eight balls. Shahid Afridi won the man-of-the-match award after scoring 32 runs off 22 balls and conceding 28 from his 10 overs. Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez scored 40 off 87 balls and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed contributed 46 not out. Sarfraz took 19 runs off the final over bowled by Shahadat that finally proved to have made the difference Shakib, who also took two wickets for Bangladesh alongside Mortaza and Razzak, was adjudged player of the tournament

"Lionel Messi" majestic best

Lionel Messi, a scrawny kid turned away by River Plate in 2000 despite being described by one of the club’s youth coaches as a mixture of Omar Sivori and Diego Maradona, set a Barcelona scoring record of 234 goals at the age of only 24 on Tuesday.  Barca’s faith in their ability to groom the little lad from Rosario for their first team and transform him into the world’s best player has paid off handsomely while River have been left to rue not making him theirs. Messi has already won 18 titles in his eight seasons in the Barca first team – three Champions Leagues, five La Ligas, one King’s Cup, two European Super Cups, five Spanish Super Cups and two Club World Cups. Three World Player of the Year awards in a row look like being followed by a fourth for 2012 – and it is only March. The Catalan club are through to the last eight of this season’s Champions League and will play the King’s Cup final against Athletic Bilbao in May though they are five points behind Real Madrid in La Liga with 10 matches left. Messi was once again at his majestic best on Tuesday and scored a sublime hat-trick in Barcelona’s 5-3 league win over Granada at the Nou Camp to cruise past Cesar Rodriguez on the club’s all-time scoring list. The diminutive forward, who has now netted 34 league goals and 54 in all competitions this season, needed 314 games to break the record, while Cesar scored his 232 goals in 354 official matches. “He (Messi) is sat at the same table as the best in history because he was won very important titles, because he has three Ballon d’Or awards and he will be the one who wins the most because being the player he is he can achieve a lot more,” Johan Cruyff was quoted as saying in the Barca’s latest club magazine. “Messi is by far the best player in the world,” added the Dutchman, who won European titles with Barcelona as a player and coach and three World Player awards. “He is incomparable, he plays in a different league.”

Asia Cup 2012 tough final Pakistan v Bangladesh

On the other hand, BD captain Mushfiqur Rahim is confident he can lead Bangladesh to an historic victory when it plays in its first Asia Cup final against Pakistan at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Rahim says, "We are now so close and do not want to lose the chance." Bangladesh beat both World Cup finalists, champion India and Sri Lanka, to reach the final, and lost to Pakistan by 21 runs in the round-robin. Senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan paid respect to Bangladesh for its gutsy performances and expected a hard-fought final. Khan says Bangladesh s teamwork is "tremendous," and the team has demonstrated a "great strength" to chase any big total.

Liverpool beat Stoke 2-1 in FA Cup quarter-final

Liverpool reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory over Stoke. The Reds opened the scoring at Anfield after 23 minutes thanks to a sublime finish from Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan striker stroking the ball into the corner of the net from 20 metres. Last season s FA Cup runners-up struck back quickly, however, when former Liverpool forward Peter Crouch nodded in the equaliser from a corner. Liverpool, who won the League Cup in February, dominated possession after half-time and they got their reward in the 57th minute when winger Stewart Downing ran across two Stoke defenders in the penalty area before drilling a firm shot past goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. In the semi-final Liverpool will play either Everton or Sunderland.

Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka

Bangladesh reached its first Asia Cup final by cruising past Sri Lanka by five wickets with nearly three overs to spare in a rain-disrupted match. Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the final on Thursday at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium having upset both finalists from last year s World Cup. After limiting Sri Lanka to 232 in 49.5 overs, Bangladesh was handicapped by a mid-innings downpour which reduced the winning target to 212 but increased the required run rate from 40 overs. Bangladesh s win has come as a shock for India since they stood a chance only if Lankans had won. Tamim Iqbal (59) and Shakib Al Hasan (56) hit impressive half-centuries as Bangladesh achieved the rain revised target of 212 with 17 balls to spare in the day-night match. Pakistan topped the league with nine points from three matches, followed by Bangladesh (8/3), India (8/3) and Sri Lanka (0/3). The hosts made it to the final as they beat India in the league match. Bangladesh’s good bowling limited Lankans to 232 runs, but the target was lowered to 212 runs after the rain. Yet, the revised target was even difficult since the overs, on the other side, had also been slashed to 40. Nazmul Hossain took 3-32 and Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak two wickets each to dismiss Sri Lanka for 232 in 49.5 overs.

Australian Grand Prix 2012

McLaren's Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix in a thrilling start to the season Sunday as he held off two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel in second place. Button took full advantage of an error by pole-sitting team-mate Lewis Hamilton to lead from the start of the race. Hamilton finished third with Vettel s Red Bull colleague, Mark Webber, fourth. Button, the 2009 champion, finished second to Vettel in last year s standings but way ahead of Hamilton in fifth, and the affable Briton will be delighted to throw down the gauntlet to both rivals in the year s first race. Vettel, 24, is aiming to become just the third man to win three championships in a row, while Hamilton is determined to bounce back from his poor showing in 2011.