Pakistan bounce back, win Ist T20 against England

With the win, Pakistan earned themselves some solace after whitewash of ODI series by England. England won the toss and decided to bowl in their first T20 encounter. Pakistan, defending their target of 145, restricted English side to 136-6. Shoaib Mailk earlier scored the highest 39 for his side. Off-spinner Graeme Swann took 3-13 as England kept Pakistan down to 144-6 in the first of three Twenty20 internationals at Dubai Stadium on Thursday. Swann rocked the middle-order with a burst of three wickets off eight balls to derail Pakistan after skipper Stuart Broad elected to field after winning the toss. England, the reigning Twenty20 world champions, started the match on a high note after sweeping Pakistan 4-0 in the one-day series and once again pegged their opponents back through some disciplined bowling and fielding. Pakistan made a flying start with debutant Awais Zia hitting a four and six during his 12-ball 18 but Pakistan lost four wickets in the space of eight runs as Asad Shafiq (19) fell run out, Mohammad Hafeez (23), Shahid Afridi (seven) and Umar Akmal (nought) followed each other, with Swann taking the last three. It was left to captain Misbah-ul Haq (26 not out) and Shoaib Malik (39) to put on 71 for the sixth wicket to take Pakistan to a respectable total. Malik hit four boundaries and six off 33 balls before he fell to a superb catch by Jonny Bairstow off Jade Dernbach off the last ball of the innings. Misbah gave Malik good support during his run-a-ball innings, hitting one four and a six. Pakistan brought in Zia and allrounder Hammad Azam while Ravi Bopara and Swann returned for England after missing the fourth one-dayer due to fitness problems.

South Africa clinch T20 series in thriller

South Africa battled to a thrilling three-run win over New Zealand to claim the Twenty20 series 2-1 after the Black Caps suffered a dramatic late batting collapse in Auckland on Wednesday. New Zealand restricted South Africa to seven for 165 and went into the last two overs needing just 10 runs for victory, only to fall short after losing three wickets, including ducks for Nathan McCullum and Doug Bracewell. Adding to the tension, James Franklin and Tim Southee both had chances to snatch victory at the death off the bowling off Marchant de Lange but could not connect bat with ball. Franklin needed a six off de Lange’s last ball but missed, scampering down the wicket for a run as the Proteas celebrated, then realised to their horror that the delivery had been ruled a no ball. That gave Southee the opportunity to be the hero with a boundary but his air swing went nowhere near the ball, stranding New Zealand on seven for 162. It was a disappointing end for New Zealand after Jesse Ryder marked his return from injury with 52 and openers Rob Nicol (33) and Martin Guptill (26) started their run chase brightly. But the result was also testament to South Africa’s never-say-die attitude after man-of-the match Johan Botha picked up the crucial wickets of Guptill and Ryder to swing the match their way. “It was an amazing team effort, I’m really proud of the men,” captain AB de Villiers said. “We hung on at the end there.” De Villiers admitted South Africa lost momentum when batting first and he was unsure if 165 runs would be enough on the short boundaries at Eden Park. JP Duminy top scored for the tourists on 38 and there were decent contributions from Hashim Amla (33) and AB de Villiers (29). But the Proteas never fired and needed a 22-run cameo from tail-ender Wayne Parnell to edge them towards a competitive total. New Zealand’s top priority early in the innings was to defuse the threat from opener Richard Levi, fresh from a record-breaking unbeaten 117 in the second match, in which he smashed 13 sixes and scored a 45-ball century. The dangerman helped himself to one six from Michael Bates but was dismissed for 11 trying for a second off the next ball, failing to get enough power onto his shot and sending the ball sailing to Nicol. Nicol was the stand-out performer for New Zealand, taking two wickets and two catches as well as being involved in a run out.

FIFA panel calls for more on-field handshakes

FIFA says it will improve the game s image and sportsmanship. Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of the Task Force Football 2014, said after a meeting Wednesday that it recommended players should meet opponents in the center circle after matches. "At full time I think it would be a better image ... when leaving the pitch together and not refusing a handshake," Beckenbauer said. "They should be role models and should behave like role models." The German great later added that the sport must prevent future incidents such as Liverpool striker Luis Suarez s recent refusal to shake the hand of Manchester United defender Patrice Evra before a match. "This is the first time I ever saw it myself. I think we simply have to stop it," he said in comments translated from German. Beckenbauer advised against disciplining players for falling short of FIFA s fair play code, saying the governing body should first remind players and coaches of their responsibilities. FIFA President Sepp Blatter created the task force to suggest ways of improving the quality and image of football at the next World Cup, after suggesting too many matches lacked excitement at the 2010 event in South Africa. Blatter became embroiled in a separate furor about handshakes last November, following reports that Chelsea and England defender John Terry had aimed racial insults at an opponent. Terry denies the allegations and will stand trial in July. Blatter later apologized for suggesting that on-field confrontations should be settled by a handshake after the match. Beckenbauer said he believed a FIFA campaign promoting fair play would be "more intense during the 2014 (World Cup) in Brazil." The panel, which includes former playing greats Cafu of Brazil and Kalusha Bwalya, now president of Zambia s football body, gave its advice after watching footage of bad-tempered, high-profile matches. They included the 2010 World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain; a Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona last April; and last season s Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Penarol. Bwalya noted that coaches and substitutes also were criticized for their reactions to events on the field. "Officials on the bench are to first people to get upset," said Bwalya, whose national team won the African Cup of Nations this month to widespread public acclaim. Beckenbauer said encouraging handshakes and sportsmanship were "small things that could improve the image of football." He suggested that teams could leave the field together at halftime and emerge for the second period together, as well as gather in the center circle after the final whistle. "That is what we used to do when I was at school," Beckenbauer said. "I believe one should leave the pitch the same way one has entered the pitch."

Villas-Boas future in the balance after Champions League gamble backfires

Andre Villas-Boas’s gamble in leaving Frank Lampard, fit-again Ashley Cole and even the out-of-form Fernando Torres on the bench backfired spectacularly when Chelsea lost 3-1 at Napoli on Tuesday, increasing speculation over the coach’s future. Chelsea’s defeat in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie in Naples leaves them on the brink of elimination from the competition and means they have now gone five matches without a win. With Arsenal facing a 4-0 deficit in their second leg at home to AC Milan next month, England now faces the very real prospect of failing to have a team in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1996. Chelsea can still turn the tie around in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 14 and are lucky to still have the chance after a late goalline clearance by Cole, who came on as an early substitute for the injured Jose Bosingwa. Whether Villas-Boas is still Chelsea’s coach by the time Napoli come to London was the subject of some heated debate in Wednesday’s English media, with reports saying he omitted the big names because of a dressing-room power struggle. Although he is still talking confidently about his three-year project to rejuvenate Chelsea’s ageing team, his billionaire boss Roman Abramovich is not noted for patiently tolerating failure. “Speculation will continue as the results don’t happen,” the 34-year-old Portuguese said. “We have to solve these mistakes at the back. We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure.”

BAD DAY

A day that began badly for Chelsea with news that skipper John Terry needs surgery on a knee injury and is likely to be out for between six to eight weeks ended with them trudging off the San Paolo pitch with Villas-Boas looking stunned. Chelsea started a roller-coaster match the better of the two sides and went ahead after 27 minutes when Juan Mata capitalised on a mistake by Paolo Cannavaro to pick his spot. But Napoli responded with goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani before halftime, with Lavezzi scoring a third midway through the second half to put Napoli in command of the tie as Chelsea’s shocking defensive lapses continued. “At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently. We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John,” Villas-Boas added. “But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right.” David Luiz, who has suffered a torrid time during an unhappy season, gifted Napoli their third goal with Chelsea defending like a parks team. “It’s obvious that the player has become a target,” said Villas-Boas. “He’s a fantastic young player with a big future ahead of him, and he has to work to try and be a bit better. We suffered three goals. If he’s linked to one, he might not be linked to the other two.” It was not only what happened on the pitch that is so alarming to Chelsea’s increasingly disgruntled fans, who have been accustomed to their team winning things since Abramovich bought the club nearly nine years ago. Reports of what is going on behind the scenes is worrying them too. While no-one is likely to say anything publicly until they retire and write their autobiographies, the relationship between Villas-Boas and some senior players is reported to be deeply strained and may have been reflected in his team selection. Villas-Boas, however, said his decision not to start Lampard, Cole, Torres and Michael Essien was purely tactical. “You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts,” Villas-Boas said. “Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we’d won the game. Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there’s no point.” Villas-Boas continued: “I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank. Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team. That’s perfectly understandable.” Only three teams have overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit since the Champions League format was introduced 20 years ago, but Villas-Boas added: “I want us to be the fourth.”

Pakistan look to redress balance in T20

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said his side are desperate to redress the balance in a Twenty20 international against England Thursday after a one-day series whitewash by the tourists. Pakistan were Tuesday routed 4-0 by England, who showed a big improvement from their 3-0 defeat in the preceding three-Test series. Misbah wants his side to regain the upper hand, but also wants to use the match as a stepping stone towards the World Twenty20 series later this year. “This is a very important series for us, more so because we won the Tests, they won the ODIs and now it’s almost the decider,” said Misbah. “And if you consider that this is World Twenty20 year, it’s very important for us to come back.”England will defend the title they won in the West Indies in 2010 when Sri Lanka host the fourth edition of the World Twenty20. “I think we need to learn from England on how they transformed their fortunes in ODIs, and I am confident that my boys can do that,” added Misbah. “I don’t think we were dispirited, because the team wants a win desparately and that’s why we were like that. Everybody was trying to give one hundred per cent and when it slips out of your hand it seems you are disjointed.” Pakistan will ring some changes, with experienced batsman Younis Khan and Azhar Ali returning home while dashing uncapped left-handed opener Awais Zia joins the Twenty20 squad. England have retained Alastair Cook, originally not named in the Twenty20 squad, after he showed great form in scoring back-to-back hundreds in the first two one-day matches. England paceman Stuart Broad meanwhile said his side would be using every opportunity possible to help prepare them for the defence of their World Twenty20 title. “Of course, we need to make use of every game we have because there isn’t many leading to the World Twenty20. And that being in the sub-continent we need to really make use of these conditions,” said Broad. “It makes these games pretty important. We are not looking to these matches as a warm-up, we are looking to win this series and that is what we will be focusing on,” added Broad. “Cookie is keen to play Twenty20 cricket. He has made that pretty obvious. He has been kept on in the squad because obviously we have got some injury concerns in the squad,” said Broad of Cook, retained as cover-up for injured Ravi Bopara.

Arsenal fans voice ire over lack of spending

Angry Arsenal shareholders have asked the English Premier League club whether it has curbed spending to cushion against a possible failure to qualify for the Champions’ League after another disappointing season. Small shareholders represented by the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) have also demanded greater engagement from Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire who owns a majority stake in the club. Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005 and have suffered a disastrous week in which they were knocked out of the FA Cup and effectively eliminated from the Champions’ League following a 4-0 first leg drubbing by AC Milan in the round of 16. In an analysis of the club’s finances, the AST estimated that Arsenal had around 50 million pounds ($79.4 million)to “spend or to save for a rainy day”. It asked whether this was made available to manager Arsene Wenger to strengthen his squad. “Did the manager have the option to use all or some of these cash reserves in summer 2011 and January 2012, or are resources being held back as a contingency for failure to qualify for the Champions League?”, it asked in an online posting. Faulure to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition would cost Arsenal 45 million pounds, the AST estimated. Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League, level on points with fifth placed Chelsea in the battle for the final Champions League slot. The success of north London rival Tottenham Hotspur, 10 points ahead of Arsenal in third place, has added to frustration among the AST, who represent shareholders owning around 4.5 percent of the club. “Our wage spend is 40 percent higher than the payroll at another club in north London and Arsenal are in danger of being overtaken more than temporarily by those who spend their wages more efficiently,” it said. Owner Kroenke would attend the monthly Arsenal board meeting on Thursday, a club spokesman said. It was not clear if he planned to meet anyone from the AST and the club declined further comment on their financial situation ahead of the publication of interim results this month. Arsenal host Tottenham on Sunday in a game that will dictate the mood at the club for the short term at least.

CSKA Moscow 1 Real Madrid 1: match report

The late show: CSKA Moscow celebrate their equaliser in the Russian capital

An injury-time goal on his debut by Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom grabbed CSKA Moscow a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in Russia on Tuesday in their Champions League last 16 first leg match.A goal from Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the 28th minute put the nine-time European Cup winners ahead and they looked set for their seventh successive win in this season's competition until Wernbloom blasted the equaliser.The hosts, supported by a 63,000 home crowd, started in lively fashion as they looked for weaknesses in the Real defence and created the first chance in the seventh minute.However, Alan Dzagoev's shot from 10 yards out went wide and was the hosts' only opportunity in the first-half.Real replied with a long-range shot by Karim Benzema, which also went wide forcing Jose Mourinho into an early substitution as the Frenchman pulled a muscle and was replaced by Gonzalo Higuain in the 16th minute.CSKA goalkeeper Sergei Chepchugov pulled off a great double save a minute later as first he beat away a Higuain effort and was able to get back up and deflect for a corner Sami Khedira's follow-up.However, he was unable to prevent Ronaldo from opening the scoring, as he drilled home from inside the area after Zoran Tosic failed to clear Fabio Coentrao's cross from the left.CSKA, who have never lost to a Spanish team before in European competition, poured forward seeking an equaliser but the visitors defence was solid and repelled the hosts attacks.After the interval CSKA continued testing the visitors defence but failed again to create any serious threat to Iker Casillas lacking accuracy in the decisive moments.Meanwhile Real, who were relying on rapid and dangerous counter-attacks missed a host of chances to increase their lead before the one-hour mark.CSKA, who were lacking match practice as the Russian league is on the winter break, nevertheless showed strong character trying hard to pull the scores level but Real looked comfortable.In the 82nd minute the hosts missed a chance to level as Casillas produced a diving save to prevent CSKA midfielder Keisuke Honda's freekick ending up in the net.But in the third minute of injury time Wernbloom had the CSKA fans on their feet as he sent tha ball into the net from six yards, converting an Alexei Berezutsky cross from the left.

SKorea vows 'no mercy' against match-fixing

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports that Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik is vowing to show "no mercy." Choe reportedly says there will be a zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing and that professional clubs will be responsible for protecting players from corruption. Last year, South Korea s football league was hit by a huge match-fixing scandal, with nearly 80 players and brokers convicted. South Korea s volleyball association has announced the banning of four players for life over alleged match-fixing. Recent media reports say a broker told prosecutors that match-fixing had also taken place in baseball.