Brazil rallies to beat US in Confed Cup final

JOHANNESBURG – Brazil’s “Beautiful Game” came alive in the second half Sunday with three comeback goals in a 3-2 win over the United States in the Confederations Cup final.

Luis Fabiano scored two of the goals and Lucio added the third in the 84th minute to give Brazil its second straight Confederations Cup title and third overall.

But it was all looking good for the Americans, playing in the men’s final of a FIFA tournament for the first time, in the first half when Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan gave the team a 2-0 halftime lead.

“You realize why these guys are worth so much at times like this, but it’s still disappointing,” Donovan said. “We are in the position where we don’t want respect, we want to win.”

Brazil really did look like a beaten team in the first 45 minutes, creating little and being constantly stymied by the United States defense and goalkeeper Tim Howard. During that time, the American attack was stretching the nervous-looking Brazil defense, with Donovan working hard to give his team several scoring chances.

Although that quality play managed to give the Americans a hefty lead, Brazil was not about to let yet another title slip by.

“At halftime, we said there was something lacking, some lack of positioning,” Brazil coach Dunga said through a translator. “We corrected that and we pressured our opponent in the second half and we were able to score a goal.”

Luis Fabiano started the comeback in the 46th minute. The striker collected a pass from Ramires before turning and shooting past defender Jay DeMerit for his fourth goal of the tournament. He added a tournament-leading fifth to equalize in the 74th, heading in a rebound after Kaka’s cross was kicked against the crossbar by Robinho.

“We gave up the first goal so early in second half,” United States coach Bob Bradley said. “We really put ourselves in a tough spot.”

Lucio then delivered the decisive goal in the 84th, heading a corner from Elano past Howard.

“We made more use of the wings and we scored goals,” Dunga said.

Dempsey, who also scored in the 2-0 semifinal win over Spain, gave the Americans the lead in the 10th minute by redirecting a cross from Jonathan Spector. Donovan added the second by finishing off some nice passing play with Charlie Davies on a fast counterattack in the 27th.

Spector started the unthinkable after only 10 minutes, running down the right and sending a low cross into the area. Dempsey, who had plenty of room to maneuver, raised his right leg and put just enough of a touch on the ball to alter the direction and send it past a diving Julio Cesar.

Donovan then got possession at his own end shortly after Maicon had sent in a corner for Brazil from the right. The United States midfielder ran up the middle, passed to Davies and then reclaimed the ball from his teammate before beating Julio Cesar.

“They turned the ball over, Ricardo gave me a good pass in the middle,” Donovan said. “I gave it to Charlie and he did a good job getting it back to me. Just did the rest from there.”

The Americans appeared to get some luck in the 60th when Kaka headed a cross from Andre Santos to the near post. Howard stepped back into his goal and knocked the shot off the underside of the crossbar and then grabbed it safely in his arms.

Kaka appealed, arguing that the ball had crossed the line before Howard was able to get to it, and television replays appeared to show he was correct.

“I don’t know whether the ball crossed the goal line,” Kaka said. “Maybe the TV images will show. It would have been fantastic for me to score a legitimate headed goal.”

Brazil has won eight matches in a row, and is unbeaten in 16. The five-time world champions also won the Confederations Cup in 1997 and 2005.

And in 15 matches against the United States, the Brazilians have only lost once — a 1-0 result in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Americans reached the semifinals at the first World Cup in 1930, and made the quarterfinals in 2002. Besides that, its most famous victory before ending Spain’s record 15-match winning streak in the semifinals was a 1-0 win over England at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.

“I think people around the world see that we have a good team, we have good players,” Bradley said. “Hopefully we can continue to step forward.”

In the third-place match, Spain fought back to beat host South Africa 3-2 after extra time in Rustenburg.

___

Lineups:

United States: Tim Howard, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Spector, Ricardo Clark (Conor Casey, 88), Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Charlie Davies, Jozy Altidore (Jonathan Bornstein, 75), Benny Feilhaber (Sacha Klejstan, 75).

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Luisao, Lucio, Andre Santos (Daniel Alves, 66), Felipe Melo, Gilberto Silva, Ramires (Elano, 67), Kaka, Robinho, Luis Fabiano.

Source: AP

Samaraweera hit in chest: Geo TV

Sri Lankan cricketer Thilan Samaraweera has been hit in the chest, after gunmen fired on his team’s bus as it drove into Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday, reports Pakistan’s Geo TV.

Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by a dozen gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the bus drove to the 60,000-seater stadium.

Sri Lanka’s sports minister said five players and an assistant coach were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

The Samaraweera seemed to be the worst hit among his team members.

Police said it was unclear whether injuries were caused by bullets, shrapnel or flying shards of glass.

“Police are chasing the terrorists,” police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said. “They appeared to be trained men.”

The attack had echoes with one on the Indian city of Mumbai in November which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan.

India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.

“We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible,” a Sri Lankan cricket official said.

Pakistan TV showed footage of gunmen with rifles and backpacks running through the streets and firing on unidentified vehicles.

The driver of the Sri Lankan team coach said one of the attackers had thrown a grenade under the bus, but it did not detonate.

A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden.

Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

“It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time,” said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan cricket players shot in terrorist attack in Lahore

At least six players in the Sri Lankan national cricket team were hurt when masked gunmen fired on the team bus in Lahore while being driven to the Gaddafi stadium on Tuesday.

Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed when 12 masked gunmen on rickshaws attacked with guns, grenades and rockets.

The team bus came under fire as the players headed to the stadium for the third day of the second Test against Pakistan.

Thilan Samaraweera was one of those hurt along with Tharanga Paranavitana. Both are in hospital. Samaraweera has a bullet wound to his thigh. Paranavitana has a gash to his chest from shrapnel.

Those wounded with minor shrapnel injuries were skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas and Ajantha Mendis.

Samaweera scored back-to-back double centuries in this series, 214 yesterday and 231 in the first Test in Karachi last week.

The assistant coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Paul Farbrace from England, was injured by shrapnel.

It was previously reported that Australian Trevor Bayliss sustained minor injuries, but this is not correct.

“The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium, the gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus,” Jayawardene told Cricinfo.

“We all dived to the floor to take cover. About five players have been injured and also Paul Farbrace, but most of the injuries appear to be minor at this stage and caused by debris.”

Australian umpires Simon Taufel and Steve Davis were both in the convoy that was fired on, but both were OK, an International Cricket Council spokeswoman said.

“They are both fine and we are in the process of getting both out of Pakistan and back home,” she said.

Match referee Chris Broad was also fine, however the spokeswoman would not comment on the condition of reserve umpire Ahsan Raza.
CNN reported that he was in a critical condition.

Former captain and star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya said he had spoken to the team and was thankful all players and staff were OK.

“I spoke to Kumar Sangakkara … [he said there were] little injuries but everyone is OK, under control, thank God,” he told CNN-IBN.

‘Flesh wounds’

Gavin Scowell, a director of sports channel Ten Sports, said he saw a number of Sri Lankan players with “flesh wounds” soon after the shooting.

Mr Scowell, who was in Pakistan to cover the tour, told CNN-IBN he heard gunfire and ran towards the Sri Lankan dressing room when he saw a number of players being carried in.

He believed about eight players had been hit, many with flesh wounds.

However there was “no panic”, and everyone was “very brave”, he said.

Mr Scowell said he saw spinner Ajatha Mendis with a wound to his head, but he was sitting up in a chair and offered a thumbs up.

‘Grenades lobbed’

Indian TV network Zee News reported two grenades were lobbed at the bus as it moved  from Liberty Chowk to Polo Ground Road.

There was then “indiscriminate firing”, it said.

Sri Lanka is to immediately pull the team out of Pakistan.

History of security fears

The shooting came as the Sri Lankan army pushed its final offensive against ethnic Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the country in a civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Fears of attacks by Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda have caused many teams to postpone or cancel cricket tours to Pakistan in recent years.

Australia earlier this month forced Pakistan to change the venue of a one-day series to the neutral venues of Dubai and Abu Dhabi when the two sides meet in April-May this year over security fears.

Australia, which also played Pakistan in three Tests at the neutral venues of Colombo and Dubai in 2002, have not toured Pakistan since 1998.

India also refused to send its team across the border amid heightened tensions in the wake of attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on militants based in Pakistan.

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are due to jointly host the cricket World Cup in 2011.

Last month, Pakistan’s cricket chief vowed to improve security arrangements for the 10th edition of the four-yearly event and denied there was a risk associated with staging some of the games in the troubled country.

Last month, security concerns raised by other teams forced the ICC to move the 2009 Champions Trophy out of Pakistan.

The elite eight-nation competition was to be held in September-October this year but the ICC was to announce a new venue in April.

The event was originally scheduled for last year but was put off after South Africa pulled out of the event and Australia, England and New Zealand showed reluctance to tour because of fears about players’ safety.

In 2002, the New Zealand cricket team withdrew from a tour of Pakistan after militants exploded a bomb outside the team hotel in Karachi killing 11 French defence technicians.

AFP, Arjun Ramachandran, Jamie Pandaram

Kolkata buys Mashrafee for $6 lakh

Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders has dramatically bought Bangladesh allrounder Mashrafee Bin Mortaza for $ 600000 in an auction, according to crininfo.com.

Mashrafee became the first Bangladeshi player sold from Pool F in the official Indian Twenty20 league.

There were no bids for him initially but just before the hammer went down, Kolkata made a bid at the base price of $50,000. It was the start of the most dramatic sale at the auction.

Kings XI Punjab threw themselves in the fray, locking horns against Kolkata, for Mashrafee. The bids spiralled slowly towards $400,000 and the auctioneer asked Punjab if they want to go $410,000, Priety Zinta nodded.

The raises were slow and the bidding went on and on and on. Kolkata touched the $500,00 mark. Punjab went further at $550,000. The atmosphere in the room grew quieter as the bids rose and the auctioneer attempted to speed up the process.

Kolkata was the first to bid $600,000 for Mashrafee at which point Punjab bowed out of the race. It was the longest lot in the auction, almost as long as a short chess game. A bit similar to Ishant Sharma’s surprise $950,000 tag at fag end of the auction last year.

Bet there are celebrations in Narail, Mashrafee’s hometown. What a moment for Mashrafee, he’s the first Bangladesh player to be bought by the IPL.

Wonder what Shakib Al Hasan is thinking? He’s had such a fabulous year with bat and ball and yet there were no bidders for him. Do the franchises look at ICC rankings?

Mashrafee’s base price was $50,000 and he went for $600,000.

COURTESY: cricinfo.com

Bangladesh clinch ODI series

Bangladesh clinch the Grameenphone ODI Series 2-1 when the Tigers crushed Zimbabwe by six wickets in the third and final ODI match at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.

Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by two wickets in the first ODI on January 19.

Later, the Tigers took the sweet revenge over the African side defeating the tourists by six wickets in the second ODI on January 23.

The match was fixed 37-over-a-side affair due to foggy weather.

Chasing Zimbabwe’s 119 for the loss of nine wickets in 37 overs, Bangladesh overhauled the winning taeget in 32.4 overs making 121 for the loss of four wickets.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the country’s best medium pacer, prolific all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and

spinner Mahmudullah Riad played the key role to restrict the African side to a modest total.

Mashrafe completed at 3/26 and Shakib Al Hasan finished at 3/15 while Mahmudullah Riad chipped in with two wickets for 17 runs.

Sean Williams of Zimbabwe top-scored with 38 before he was cleanly bowled by Mahmudullah Riad. Williams hit five fours in his 46-ball knock.

Besides, Keith Dabengwa remained undefeated with 21.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza gave his team early breakthrough as the medium pacer trapped lbw opener Vusimusi Sibanda for a duck. Then, Hamilton Masakadza, the other opener was caught at the first slip by Mehrab Hossain (Junior) off Mashrafe for just 10 runs.

Mashrafe struck again as he cleanly bowled one down Stuart Matsikenyeri for 10 runs.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Shakib Al Hasan, who is now the world number one ODI all-rounder according to the ICC ranking was adjudged the player of the series. Shakib harpooned six wickets in three matches and scored seventy runs.

Opener Tamim Iqbal and Mehrab Hossain (Junior) added together 38 runs in the opening stand before Mehrab was unfortunately run out by Sibanda scoring two.

Opener Tamim Iqbal hit a worthy 34 off 49 balls amid five strokes beyond the ropes.

Skipper Mohammad Ashraful again showed a poor batting performance. He was trapped lbw by Raymond Price scoring just three runs. His five previous scores are 18, 26,13, 4 and 5.

After dismissal of Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan came to the crease but his innings was short-lived as Raqibul was trapped lbw by Raymond Price scoring 14. At that time the board was giving a reading of 89 for the loss of four wickets.

Later, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim contributed a valuable 32 runs in their unbroken fourth wicket stand and powered their side to reach the winning spot.

Shakib Al Hasan cracked an undefeated 33 off 36 balls including four fours while wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim hit 20 (not out ) off 31 balls with three boundaries.

Raymond Price bagged a couple of wickets giving away nine runs.

Source: The New Nation

Shakib takes top spot among ODI allrounders

Shakib Al Hasan has confirmed his consistently impressive performances by heading the ICC’s ODI allrounder rankings, the first time any Bangladesh has topped any ICC rankings. His performances in the home tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, took him to 380 rating points, helping him surge past last week’s top two, New Zealand’s Jacob Oram (368 points) and England’s Andrew Flintoff (366).

Shakib (21) was the highest run-scorer in the tri-series and the second-highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh, behind Mashrafe Mortaza. He scored 153 runs in the three matches at 76.50, with a strike-rate of 101.32, and picked up five wickets at 13.80.

“It feels great to be ranked No. 1. My only goal is to keep performing and win matches for the Bangladesh team and I feel more inspired and motivated to give my all in the field. I also know that retaining the top spot will be even tougher and it will require lots of sacrifices, consistency, hard work and dedication,” Shakib said.

He is the second Bangladeshi cricketer to break into any top 10 list, after left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who reached the eighth spot in the ODI bowling rankings in November 2007. Shakib, currently ranked number 12 in the ODI bowling charts, is tenth on the list of Test allrounders as well, making him the first from Bangladesh to enter the top 10 in any Test category.

Source: Internet

Kumble calls it a day

India captain Anil Kumble has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, reports BBC.

The 38-year-old decided to stand down during the final day of the drawn third Test against Australia in Delhi after sustaining a finger injury.

The leg-spinner took 619 Test wickets, including all 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999, in his 18-year, 132-Test career.

Kumble’s successor has not been named but is likely to be Mahendra Dhoni.

The wicketkeeper led India to an emphatic 320-run win in Mohali in the second Test after a shoulder injury had ruled Kumble out.

His replacement Amit Mishra took seven wickets at the PCA Ground, heaping further pressure on Kumble, who had been wicketless in the drawn first Test in Bangalore.

The veteran had previously suggested he would retire on his terms after he faced constant questioning on the subject from the Indian media.

But he admitted a finger injury sustained on day three attempting to catch a difficult Matthew Hayden chance proved to be the catalyst for his decision.

“It was tough, especially after 18 years when you have been so competitive, but the body gave me the decision and the injury helped,” said Kumble, who needed 11 stitches on his little finger of his left hand.

“I had already made the decision yesterday (Saturday), I knew I would not be fit (for the Nagpur Test) and I don’t want to let the team down.”

Kumble stands third in the all-time leading wicket-takers in Test cricket, behind fellow spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

He remains the only bowler to emulate Jim Laker’s feat of taking all 10 wickets in a Test innings with a match-winning 10-74 in Delhi nine years ago.

India lead the series 1-0 with one Test match to go, which starts in Nagpur on 6 November.

Bangladesh Cricket team off to SA

Bangladesh National Cricket team left the city yesterday night for South Africa to play three One Day International (ODI ) matches, two Test matches and a Twenty20 match against South Africa National Cricket team in South Africa. With cricket being as physically demanding as, say football, and as mentally draining as, say poker, this tough stretch will really test the team’s limits.

Besides, Bangladesh National Cricket team will face South Africa A team in a two-dayer match.

Bangladesh team will meet South Africa team in a Twenty20 match at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on November 5.

The Tigers will face the Proteaous in the first ODI,which will be a day-night affair at the Senwas Park in Potchefstroom on November 7.

Bangladesh team will play against South Africa team in the second ODI at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni on November 9.

The Tigers wiil meet the Proteaous in the third ODI, which will be also a day-night affair at the Buffalo Park in East London on November 12.

Bangladesh team will take on South Africa A team in a two-dayer match, which is scheduled to be held in Kimberly on November 15-16.

The Tigers will face the Proteaous in the first Test match, which begins on November 19 at the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein.

Bangladesh team will meet South Africa in the second Test match scheduled to be held at the SuperSport Park in Centurion from November 26 to November 30.

It may be mentioned that Bangladesh Cricket Board announced on last Tuesday the 15-member ODI and Twenty20 squad which will play against South Africa in ODIs and Twenty20 match.

Bangladesh Squad : Mohammad Ashraful (captain ), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (vice-captain ), Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain (Junior ), Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Nazmul Hossain, Mahbubul Alam, Roqibul Hassan and Imrul Kayes.