World T20: Waqar Younis slams 'non-serious' Afridi, alleges Pakistan captain of regularly missing practice sessions

Karachi: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has been accused of being non-serious throughout the Asia Cup and World Twenty 20 in the report filed by under-fire coach Waqar Younis who is furious about it being leaked to the media.

Senior batsman Mohammad Hafeez was accused of hiding his knee injury from the team management as per the report.

According to excerpts of the report leaked in the media today, Waqar said that Afridi appeared non-serious and not concerned about the team's performance in the two events.

He claimed that Afridi had regularly missed practice sessions and meetings.

File image of Waqar Younis. Reuters

The rift between the head coach and captain is not new as the two had also clashed during Waqar's first tenure in 2011 as a result of which the cricket board Afridi as ODI and T20 captain.

According to Waqar Hafeez didn't inform the team management about the injury which ruled him out of the last two crucial matches against New Zealand and Australia.

The legendary pacer expressed his "disappointment" at the report being leaked to the media.

"I am totally disappointed and upset with the way the report has been leaked and I think the Pakistan Cricket Board needs to find out who leaked it and for what purpose," Waqar told PTI from Lahore.

"I can only say what I have written in the report is what I sincerely feel. It is now up to the board to decide what to do. Because I have said before cosmetic measures will not bring about any good in Pakistan cricket," Waqar added.

Waqar talked about the indiscipline and arrogant attitude of players such as Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad.

He claimed that he had requested the national selection committee to include Salman Butt in the squad for the Asia Cup and World T20, but chief selector Haroon Rasheed, without consulting him, included Khurrum Manzoor in the side.

Waqar also accused his former teammate Moin Khan of promoting the culture of favoritism in the dressing room when he was the chief selector, saying that he even gave gifts to some players and them out regularly during the 2015 World Cup, which affected the team spirit.

Waqar had publicly begged forgiveness yesterday for the team's dismal performance, and Afridi took to the social media today to apologise to the nation.

Women's World T20: Run out by Dottin turned the game in favour of West Indies: Captain Taylor after beating New Zealand PTI Mar 31, 2016 19:22 IST #Anisa Mohammed #Darren Sammy #Deandra Dottin #ICC Women's World T20 #ICC World Twenty20 #ICC World Twenty20 2016 #ICC WT20 2016 #New Zealand #Sophie Devine #Stafanie Taylor #T20 World Cup #West Indies #Women's World T20 #WT20 #WWT20 0 Comments 10 Mumbai: West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor said that the run out of Sophie Devine by Deandra Dottin changed the game as they ended up beating New Zealand in the ICC Women's World T20 semi-final at the Wankhede on Thursday. "Anytime (Deandra) Dottin gets a run out it's something spectacular. She is so vibrant in the field and when whenever she gets a run out it brings the whole flame back, the run out changed the game and had us back in it," she told reporters at the post-match conference. When quizzed whether targeting spinners was part of the gameplan, she said: “No it wasn’t our game plan, maybe it was Britney’s (Cooper’s) gameplan, it was no time to play their game, it is time to play our game, the way we played them was fantastic. We knew, we had to put up a big total to push NZ back, and 143 was pretty decent." West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor in action. West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor in action. "We played Australia in the semi-finals (in previous World T20s) and now we play them in the final, they are a good and tough team, if we are consistent and play it like today, and bowl well against them we fancy our chance.” She said the men’s team supported their team and captain Darren Sammy wished the team for the match. The captain said Anisa Mohammed did start off as planned and it forced her to come back early on which “worked”. When asked whether she was thinking about a hat-trick after dismissing two set Kiwi batswomen, Taylor replied in negative. New Zealand women’s skipper Suzie Bates also termed Devine’s run out as a crucial moment of the game. "Sophie’s run out was pretty crucial, Dottin fielded exceptionally well and threw it on the stumps and Sophie, the way she was going could have taken the game away from the West Indies, so there are few turning points, the way (Britney) Cooper batted, that high in the innings and bat pretty deep and make 140 a good total for them," Bates added. The skipper also attributed losing top order batsmen early led to the loss. “We just lost wickets at the top order and put pressure on the lower order and in the whole tournament the top order has done the job,” she added. “I don’t think we played poorly today, the West Indies came out and hit their plan. They were better than us,” she added. 10 MORE IN SPORTS World T20 semi-final, India vs West Indies LIVE: Rahane falls for 40 as India look for a final push World T20 semi-final, India vs West Indies LIVE: Rahane falls for 40 as India look for a final push Boxing: Shiva Thapa qualifies for Rio Olympic Games, heartbreak for Mary Kom Boxing: Shiva Thapa qualifies for Rio Olympic Games, heartbreak for Mary Kom I will always consider Lee Chong Wei as my fiercest competitor: Lin Dan I will always consider Lee Chong Wei as my fiercest competitor: Lin Dan Called off! Pakistan drop plans to host Afghanistan in a bilateral series due to security concerns Called off! Pakistan drop plans to host Afghanistan in a bilateral series due to security concerns PROMOTED STORIES ICC World Cup T20: Google releases two new experimental Search features www.in.techradar.com Want to See How Celebrities Really Live? See Inside These Homes That Are Currently on the Market Mansion Global by Dow Jones Travel destinations that pass the stress test Skyscanner The trip that Karan Kundra can never forget Discover Hong Kong Recommended by You Might Also Like The real truth of Tipu Sultan Times of India Where the World's Billionaires Live Mansion Global by Dow Jones 7 Inspiring Stories of young achievers of India! LiveInStyle.com PowerEdge servers, powered by Intel® Dell Recommended by

Mumbai: West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor said that the run out of Sophie Devine by Deandra Dottin changed the game as they ended up beating New Zealand in the ICC Women's World T20 semi-final at the Wankhede on Thursday.

"Anytime (Deandra) Dottin gets a run out it's something spectacular. She is so vibrant in the field and when whenever she gets a run out it brings the whole flame back, the run out changed the game and had us back in it," she told reporters at the post-match conference.

When quizzed whether targeting spinners was part of the gameplan, she said: “No it wasn’t our game plan, maybe it was Britney’s (Cooper’s) gameplan, it was no time to play their game, it is time to play our game, the way we played them was fantastic. We knew, we had to put up a big total to push NZ back, and 143 was pretty decent."

West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor in action.

"We played Australia in the semi-finals (in previous World T20s) and now we play them in the final, they are a good and tough team, if we are consistent and play it like today, and bowl well against them we fancy our chance.”

She said the men’s team supported their team and captain Darren Sammy wished the team for the match.

The captain said Anisa Mohammed did start off as planned and it forced her to come back early on which “worked”.

When asked whether she was thinking about a hat-trick after dismissing two set Kiwi batswomen, Taylor replied in negative.

New Zealand women’s skipper Suzie Bates also termed Devine’s run out as a crucial moment of the game.

"Sophie’s run out was pretty crucial, Dottin fielded exceptionally well and threw it on the stumps and Sophie, the way she was going could have taken the game away from the West Indies, so there are few turning points, the way (Britney) Cooper batted, that high in the innings and bat pretty deep and make 140 a good total for them," Bates added.

The skipper also attributed losing top order batsmen early led to the loss.

“We just lost wickets at the top order and put pressure on the lower order and in the whole tournament the top order has done the job,” she added.

“I don’t think we played poorly today, the West Indies came out and hit their plan. They were better than us,” she added.

England promise 'all guns blazing' in T20 final

Dashing opener Jason Roy pledged that England would come out "all guns blazing" in Sunday's World Twenty20 final as they look to complete their head-spinning transformation from cricket's laughing stock to champions.

Just one year ago, England were licking their wounds after an ignominious exit from the 50-over World Cup in which they failed to beat any team apart from minnows Scotland and Afghanistan.

But after crushing New Zealand in Wednesday's semi-final in New Delhi, Eoin Morgan's England are now only one step away from becoming the first two-time world champions in the game's shortest format.

England team celebrate after beating New Zealand in the World T20 semi-final. Solaris

New Zealand's bowlers had no answer as Roy raced to 78 off 44 balls at the top of the order, rapidly taking the game away from a team that won all four of their previous matches in the tournament.

England were widely ridiculed for their demise in 2015, which came a year after their embarrassing exit from the last World T20 in Bangladesh culminating in a tame defeat to the Netherlands.

The turnaround has been remarkable, with England ironically seeking to emulate the more aggressive style of cricket that was pioneered by New Zealand under their former captain Brendon McCullum.

Players such as Roy, Joe Root and Ben Stokes have come to epitomise what Morgan has called a "brash" new style of play that has seen England score more sixes than any other team in the tournament.

Negative feedback

Sunday's final in Kolkata will pit England against the winners of Thursday's second semi-final between the hosts India and a West Indies side who beat England at the group stage.

"Whoever it is, we will meet them with all guns blazing," Roy told reporters, after England cruised to their target of 154 with nearly three overs remaining.

"We had a lot of negative feedback from a few people and to be in a world cup final now has hopefully got a few more people on our side."

The final is at Eden Gardens, one of the world's largest cricketing arenas, and Roy quickly abandoned his half-hearted attempt to portray it as just another match.

"This game is another game of cricket -- it just happens to be at Eden Gardens in a world cup final in front of 100,000 people," he said.

"It's going to be an incredible experience but we are going to go out there and play our natural way and the brand of cricket we have been playing for the last year or so."

England, World T20 champions in 2010, have been accused in the past of developing a siege mentality on tour under no-nonsense coaches such as Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower.

The scars left by Kevin Pietersen's acrimonious sacking in 2014 after a disastrous tour of Australia have also taken time to heal.

'Pinching themselves'

But Morgan and England's Australian coach Trevor Bayliss have encouraged players to go out and enjoy themselves on the field, while a trip to the Taj Mahal pointed to a new sense of adventure off it.

Roy said the team had been "extremely chilled out" in the dressing room during the semi-final, while underlining their excitement at making the final.

"It's something we are extremely buzzing for.. We can't wait," he said.

Their achievement was widely hailed by the British press who said England had transformed themselves from being a "laughing stock" to potential world champions.

"Only a year after England were sent packing from the 50-over tournament with the world's mockery ringing in their ears, they are pinching themselves at the near-absurdity of it all," Wisden editor Lawrence Booth wrote in the Daily Mail.

Roy's innings "was the perfect example of the aggressive and free-wheeling style of cricket that England have played in the past year," John Etheridge wrote in The Sun, highlighting the huge contrast with the "humiliation" of 2015.

And former England skipper Michael Vaughan described England's qualification for the final as a "remarkable achievement".

"It is a joy to watch England play with skill, execute sensible tactical plans and bully the opposition," Vaughan wrote in the Telegraph.

World T20: New Zealand media likens rampaging England to Frankenstein's monster post semi-final defeat

Wellington: New Zealand media have likened Eoin Morgan's England team to Frankenstein's monster, saying they turned the Black Caps' own game plan against them to win the World T20 semi-final.

While acknowledging England were the better team and deserved the seven-wicket win in New Delhi, Kiwi pundits said the seeds of the result were sown when the sides met in Wellington last year at the ODI World Cup.

In that match, eventual finalists New Zealand trounced England by eight wickets, prompting Morgan's men to review their style and emulate the Black Caps' aggressive tactics.

The England team celebrate the fall of a New Zealand wicket during the World T20 semi-final in New Delhi. Solaris Images

"There was an element of Frankenstein to New Zealand's departure from the Twenty20 World Cup," FairfaxNew Zealand's
Duncan Johnstone wrote.

"This was an England team that the Black Caps turned into a monster. And the monster came back to destroy them."

The New Zealand Herald's Andrew Alderson said England also mimicked the Black Caps by taking the emotion out of their cricket, delivering "a clinical dissection which wouldn't have looked amiss in an operating theatre".

"If the Black Caps could be deemed 'the masters', their apprentices trumped them," he wrote. He added that "England have morphed into a side with swagger and chutzpah", since their Wellington humiliation, rating them a good chance of winning the decider on Sunday against either India or the West Indies.

Johnstone said the heavy loss was a "limp" end to a campaign that saw the Black Caps cruise through the group stages undefeated, including wins over Australia, India and Pakistan.

The New Zealanders have shown they can advance deep into limited-overs tournaments but are yet to reach the next level and win a 50-over or T20 World Cup. However, Kane Williamson proved himself an able captain for the post-Brendon McCullum era and the promising young spin duo of Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner excelled.

Former Black caps paceman Simon Doull said Williamson's men exceeded expectations, finally showing they could play in
Indian conditions, and should not be judged too harshly.

"We've had a good tournament and adapted to conditions really well, I don't think this is a failure," he told Radio Sport.

"Today's game will be disappointing, but if you'd told me at the start of the tournament that we'll go there and make the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on the sub continent, I'd have said 'no way'."

Best is yet to come: Resurgent Victoria Azarenka aims for the Miami-Indian Wells double

Victoria Azarenka says she is playing better now than when she was ranked number one in the world in 2012 and warns rivals that her best is yet to come.

"I still feel that I'm far from my best and that's what's really exciting for me, to be motivated, to keep improving," she said.

The 26-year-old from Belarus advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Miami Open on Wednesday by beating British 24th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 6-2, ensuring she will jump to fifth in Monday's new rankings.

Victoria Azarenka at the Miami Open. PTI

After winning the 2012 and 2013 Australian Open and losing to Serena Williams in the US Open finals each of those years, Azarenka was nagged by a series of injuries that limited her 2014 and 2015 campaigns.

But she is back with a vengeance this year, winning at Brisbane, cracking the top 10 for the first time since August of 2014 by beating Williams in the Indian Wells final and marching farther up the ladder in Miami.

"I'm a better player right now," Azarenka said when asked to compare now to her days atop the rankings. "I improved my serve a lot. I'm just stronger in the tougher moments. I feel happier on the court so that's very important, to be able to go out there and perform in a difficult fight."

Azarenka has stressed improved performance with every match as a goal for the season.

"My game is developing with pretty big progress," she said. "I want to see this process moving forward and not really be stuck on the rankings or the tournaments, just give myself opportunities to grow."

A major part of her rise has been better utilizing her serve to attack opponents.

"I always had a pretty high first-serve percentage," Azarenka said. "I think the difference is the way I'm using my serve. I'm going for a lot more. I take a lot more risk.

"It has been more rewarding in terms of winning percentage as opposed to making percentage of serves in. Really trying to work on it and make adjustments to use it more as a weapon. I think that has been missing for a long time to really take my game to the next level."

Azarenka says confidence in her health has sparked confidence in her game.

"I never doubt my abilities," she said. "What came to my mind is definitely after being for so long injured, the doubt was to get healthy."

And Azarenka gladly will take a few bad language warnings to keep her focused.

"Sometimes I cuss and that's OK. Whatever is going to make me play better I'm going to do," Azarenka said.

"I understand the game a lot better. I'm not in the chasing position anymore. I don't feel I'm in the stage of my career where I have to go for every tournament and keep hustling and try to prove somebody something. I'm in the position where I just want to enjoy."

India will go for gold at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, says Sardar Singh

Bengaluru: With an eye on the Olympics, the India hockey team skipper Sardar Singh on Thursday said that the upcoming tournaments like Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and Champions Trophy will serve as important preparatory events in the run-up to the Rio Games.

Sardar said while the immediate aim is to win a gold in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh from April 6-16, the larger goal is to come up with a medal-winning show in the Champions Trophy, to be played in London from June 10-17.

"We have a very busy schedule over the next few months.

Sardar Singh. AFP

So, we need a very strong core group of players around which the team will revolve. Though the immediate focus of our preparation is the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, but we are also looking ahead at the Champions Trophy that will be played in June," Sardar said at the training-cum-conditioning camp, which is currently underway at the SAI Centre here.

The Indian team has enjoyed considerable success in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, winning the tournament five times -- 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010. Last year, India finished third and Sardar said his team's target is to do better this time around.

"We have a good record in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Our target is to do better than last year when we won bronze. We lost some close matches against New Zealand and Malaysia. But this year our aim is to come back with gold," he said.

This year, besides India, defending champions New Zealand, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Australia, Pakistan, Japan, Canada and hosts Malaysia will be taking part in the tournament.

The skipper feels that the preparations are in the right direction to win the upcoming tournament.

"The core group of players are shaping up very well. This team has the right balance of experience and youth and the youngsters are willing to stand up to be counted. We have a great chief coach in Roelant Oltmans, who is a very astute reader of the game.

"I can confidently say that the team is working in the right direction and is making 100 per cent effort to win the tournament," said the veteran of 236 international games.

Sardar said that the team has been working on a few grey areas like conceding early and late goals, and the inability to create more scoring chances by earning penalty corners inside the opponent's striking circle.

"We are conscious of the weak areas. We are working to eliminate the flaws that have plagued the Indian team in the past like conceding early and late goals. We felt that these two problems can be solved with better communication on the field. For better communication the boys need to spend a lot of time together off the field. We have been focusing on this particular aspect at the camp by spending a lot time doing things together off the field.

"Also, in modern hockey the result is determined by how a team plays inside the two striking circles. In our training, we are working on some new strategies and tactics how to create more opportunities inside the opponent's striking circle by earning more short corners and not to concede any early or late goals," Sardar explained.

India start their campaign in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup against Japan on 6 April.

Better fix it soon: Mumbai HC asks for progress report from police in IPL spot-fixing, betting case

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked the Mumbai police crime branch to submit a progress report in a case being probed by them into the alleged spot-fixing and betting in 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches.

On a PIL seeking a joint probe by CBI, Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate into the alleged spot fixing and betting in 2013 IPL matches, a bench of Justices Abhay Oka and P D Naik asked police to submit on April 27 the progress report of investigations made by them.

File image of Jaydev Unadkat. BCCI

The bench also asked investigation officer Nandkumar Gopale to appear in person on the next date of hearing on April 27.

The court asked police to inform on the same day what steps it had taken to trace the accused in the case.

In its affidavit, police said that it had arrested 22 accused, including bookies, in this case, and said they would make further investigations and file supplementary charge sheet.

The petitioner, activist Ketan Tirodkar, prayed that CBI be directed to register a case of cheating against players and bookies who had allegedly developed nexus with vested interests for "fixing matches or promoting betting in IPL matches".

The PIL alleged that offences had been committed in the context of spot-fixing during IPL 2013 and also sought a direction to the ED, IT Department as well as Mumbai police and Delhi police to cooperate with the CBI, which should take up the role of coordinating these investigations.

The petitioner said that on a request by the Central government, the CBI had earlier conducted a preliminary inquiry into the alleged nexus of players with bookies. This report should culminate in the filing of an FIR if offences had been committed. However, this had not been done, the PIL said.

When the IPL scam occurred in 2013, names of some bookies had cropped up during investigations, conducted separately by Delhi police and Mumbai police, the PIL said, adding that a central and independent agency like the CBI must be directed to probe the alleged cricket spot-fixing and betting.

World T20 semis: Fantasy of a fan — batting first, India should score 230, or restrict West Indies to 120

F is inconsolable. He wants to be heard but no one cares two hoots about him. They call him iss khel ki jaan but it’s the pundits, self-proclaimed or otherwise, who have hijacked all the space that should legitimately belong to him. He feels miserable before the India-West Indies World T20 match; the know-it-all crowd just won’t stop pontificating on the game and allow him to speak.

The Indian cricket fan is bit of an expert and bit of a novice. Above all, he is passionate about the team. AFP

F calls it overkill. The pundits won’t tire of talking about Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle, Dhoni and his astounding luck, the absence of Yuvraj Singh from the squad and the ability of the West Indies to pull off a surprise.

He would point to the acres and acres of print and broadcast space gone into discussing these before the semi-final clash at Wankhede. One found him nursing a bottle of suspicious-looking drink at a watering hole in the city at noon while mentally preparing himself for the big match in the evening.

“Their talk is all gas, superficial. Would any of these experts tell me how many runs India need to win this match or how many runs they should bowl West Indies out for?” F asks. “But dear fellow, they are not astrologers. Even astrologers are known to fail,’’ one replies. “Ah! Don’t give me this bulls***.”

Before you ask who the hell this F is, here’s the answer. He is your average Indian cricket fan – with a capital F, bit of an expert, bit of a novice. He is the non-playing skipper of the team and its coach too. He loves the game but loves his team madly. He simply cannot bear to watch it lose. He will burn effigies of players, set fire to the stands and badmouth everyone in that case. Still, he will be back backing the team to the hilt the next match, everything forgiven. You find him everywhere, from roadside tea stalls to corporate board rooms.

“So what is a good score for India to chase?” one asks. “Ninety,” says he and quickly provides the explanation, “See, none but Virat is scoring the runs. A small target will be comfortable for him. Cannot take any risk with the Shikhars, Rohits and Rainas.” One tells him this is silly. What is the fun in a match if the score is too low? And would he like Gayle, his favourite player, to fail too?

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“No man, he should score some runs. What’s the fun otherwise? He should hit 50 at least. Paisa vasool bhi chahiye.  You are right. Let’s revise the score to 120. India can manage that at Wankhede. It’s batting wicket you know,” the fan replies.

“What if India bats first?”

“Two hundred and thirty,” he has the number worked out. Overambitious, but you give it to him. A fan will be a fan. “You never know what this Gayle fellow will do when he starts hitting. Don’t forget Bravo, Fletcher and Sammy too. And with our bowlers, you never know what is safe,” he adds.

Then he is goes on into some pre-match analysis, on what batsmen should do if the ball starts spinning early – “ask Dhoni to open the batting. He can hit those skiers” - and what India must do if Gayle goes berserk – “make him run. Lazy bum will get tired soon”. This is pretty much what the experts say in more sophisticated language. But this man has gone further with the exact numbers.

Probe further and you find like every other cricket fan, he knows everything, has answers to everything. He is upset because nobody would seek his opinion. It seems his wife, being an expert herself, won’t often agree with him.

What if India lose? One puts the last question. “Lose? no way yaar.  It is such a silly question. How can India lose?”

You know then why he is called iss khel ki jaan. Without him cricket won’t be cricket. Three cheers for F.

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• 
  

Miami Open: Novak Djokovic limps into the quarter-finals, Simona Halep ousted

World number one Novak Djokovic was struggling to play his best, but held firm when pressed to the brink Tuesday and battled into the ATP and WTA Miami Open quarter-finals.

The two-time defending champion outdueled Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, stretching his Miami win streak to 13 matches to book a last-eight date Wednesday against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych.

"Straight set win but far from easy. It was a tough match," Djokovic said. "I kept my serves. But I made a lot of double faults and he had me under a lot of pressure."

Novak Djokovic returns to Dominic Thiem during their match at the Miami Open. AP

Djokovic, a five-time Miami winner overall, rescued 13 of 14 break points, four of them in the last game of the first set and four more in a dramatic 14-minute final game before hitting a forehand winner on his fourth match-point opportunity.

"I had some luck in that last game where he missed a couple of easy forehands to get the break back and get into the match," Djokovic said. "I stayed tough when it was most needed. The important moments I tried to make him play, make him run."

Djokovic won his 11th Grand Slam title two months ago at the Australian Open and has also lifted Doha and Indian Wells trophies this year while Thiem captured titles last month at Acapulco and Buenos Aires.

The 28-year-old Serbian made eight double faults and 29 unforced errors against only two aces and eight winners.

"The second serve was not working that well. That was due to the pressure he was imposing. I just didn't have the rhythm," Djokovic said.

"Generally I don't get to face that many break points. I'll try not to get myself in those positions as much."

Berdych outlasted French 10th seed Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, but has won only two of 24 meetings with Djokovic, having lost their past nine matches since a 2013 Rome quarter-final victory.

They are the only top-10 men still playing except for Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, who downed Spanish 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4.

"I played really well," Nishikori said. "I felt great out there."

Up next for Nishikori, who won his fourth consecutive Memphis crown last month, is French 16th seed Gael Monfils, who rallied past Bulgarian 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3.

"He is playing really well," Nishikori said. "He is a fun player to play against and we will have a good match."

Nishikori won their only prior meeting in 2014 on Halle grass.

"Kei is a good player, very consistent, and he has a win over me," Monfils said. "It will be a great match."

Only one of the world's top 12 women, second-ranked Angelique Kerber, is still playing after Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep was ousted 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 by 19th-ranked Swiss Timea Bacsinszky.

"To beat someone who fights as hard as she does, it's something amazing," Bacsinszky said. "I'm happy with it."

The 2015 French Open semi-finalist will play for a berth in the final against Russian 15th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 30-year-old two-time Grand Slam winner who ousted top-ranked defending champion Serena Williams in the third round.

Kuznetsova, the 2006 Miami champion, beat Russian 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-3.

"Just kept fighting," Kuznetsova said. "I was feeling low in energy but I tried to hang in there."

Kyrgios to face Raonic

Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios, the youngest top-30 ATP player at age 20, reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over Russia's 51st-ranked Andrey Kuznetsov.

The Aussie never trailed in the tie-breaker and took the only break of the second set when Kuznetsov double faulted away the fourth game.

Kyrgios, off to a career-best 13-3 start that includes his first ATP title last month at Marseille, next plays Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic, who ripped Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-0, 6-3.

Raonic owns a 2-1 rivalry edge but this will be their first match outside the Grand Slams. He won in 2014 at the French Open and Wimbledon but lost to Kyrgios last year at Wimbledon.

Constantine blasts players, says India deserved to lose to Turkmenistan

Kochi: National football team coach Stephen Constantine today lashed out at his players after India lost to Turkmenistan 1-2 to end at the bottom of their group in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, saying that they deserved to be beaten with the kind of play they dished out.

India squandered a 1-0 lead to lose the match and a disappointed Constantine said there was no excuse for the poor show from his players.

"There are no excuses. To be honest, we started very poorly and if we look at ourselves, we got exactly what we deserved from the game," he said at the post-match press conference.

File Photo of Stephen Constantine. GettyImages

India ended their World Cup qualification campaign at the bottom of the five-team Group D with just three points with a lone win over Guam in their home leg match last year. The tiny Pacific nation of Guam finished ahead of India at fourth with seven points while Turkmenistan were third with 13 points.

Maintaining possession seemed an impossible task for the Indian team, even at the pedestrian pace at which they played.

"Our stats suggest that a player gave away the ball 17 times. You cannot do that at any level, and here we are playing at the international level," said Constantine.

The weather in Kochi was humid but as the match progressed Turkmenistan, much to everyone's surprise, seemed to be more at home than the Indians.

"We need to take a look at ourselves and see what and how we can get better. Perhaps, we gave more than we had in the match against Iran and maybe, four days later we can't cope with two matches being played after four days," he stated.

"The GPS suggest that the fitness levels in the second half were considerably down from what we had in the first half but we did not play well in either half," he added.

India were further dented by the absence of captain Sunil Chhetri who was confined to the bench as he did not recover fully from an injury.

"I am not the kind of coach to play a player who is injured. He is recovering from an injury that he had for quite some time. I could have easily played him for the last 15 minutes but that would have risked him for the next six months," Constantine said.

PTI

Women's World T20: Defending champions Australia make fourth straight final after England self-destruct

New Delhi: Defending champions Australia made a dramatic comeback against old foes England to enter their fourth successive Women's World Twenty 20 final with a five-run win in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Chasing 133, England were cruising at 87 for one before they self destructed against their fighting opponents to end at 127 for seven in 20 overs.

Put in to bat, Australia captain Meg Lanning (55 off 50 balls) guided her team to 132 for six before the bowlers led by medium pacer Megan Schutt (2/15) pulled off a sensational victory for the team that has pocketed the last three World T20 titles.

Australia beat England by 5 runs to reach World T20 final. PTI

England needed 13 off the final over but Schutt bowled miserly to seal the issue for her side. It was hard to imagine an Australian win with the start that English team had got.

The in-form opening pair of Charlotte Edwards (31) and Tammy Beaumont (32) provided a brisk start to take England to 50-run mark in just seven overs.

This kind of stroke play was seldom seen in the tournament prior to today's game but England openers gave the sparse crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla plenty to cheer for.

Edwards, the team's leading run-getter in the tournament, carried her sublime touch to the crunch game and was ably supported by Beaumont.

Beaumont started with a fine flick off medium pacer Ellyse Perry in the second over before smashing her for a six over square leg three overs later.

Edwards was not to be left far behind as she combined elegance with innovation. She struck a copybook straight drive with as much ease as she orchestrated a reverse sweep.

It seemed England were running away with the game until Australia got the much needed wicket of Edwards, who was caught cleanly at the extra cover.

With the fall of their captain, England were 67 for one in 10 overs and needed just another 66 from the last 10.

It was imperative for England to keep going after Edwards' departure. Sarah Taylor joined Beaumont and she came out of the crease to smack left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen for a six over extra cover. However, Beaumont was caught at cover off Schutt, giving Australia another window for a comeback.

Another quick wicket of Natalie Sciver meant the contest was alive again and the target was now 42 more runs in the last five overs.

All England needed was some sensible batting to see them through but they kept losing wickets to be reeling at 103 for five from 89 for one.

T20 semi finals: Maharashtra chief secy gets 250 passes free, rest of Mumbai has to make do with 4,000

Did you by any chance see all the babus from Mantralaya at the Wankhede Stadium this Thursday for the big game between India and West Indies? The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has given away 250 free passes for the ICC T20 World Cup Semi Finals to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya.

At this point, if you are thinking of buying tickets for the big game, you can forget it. All the tickets have been sold out.

Firstpost has a copy of the letter, which clearly mentions that 250 free passes of the match were sent to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadhin Kshatriya.

Mumbai Cricket Association: MCA

When contacted by Firstpost, Kshatriya denied receiving any such letter and 250 free passes for the match. "The story is false," he told Firstpost over the phone. When Firstpost Bureau Chief Sanjay Sawant showed him the copy of the letter, Kshatriya quickly denied the allegations and said that the letter and the free passes for the match were for Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Wankhede has a total of 33,000 seats but only 4,000 seats have been made available for the public. Here's the break-up of the seats allocated for the 31 March semi-final.

Former office-bearer of the MCA and general manager game development in BCCI, Prof Ratnakar Shetty said that its not illegal for the state chief secretary to receive free match passes. In fact, Shetty added that according to an agreement between the state government and the MCA, every international match played at Wankhede, MCA will give 250 free passes of Garware stand to the state government.

Elaborating his point further, Shetty added that in 1974, Maharashtra government had donated Rs 20 lakh to build the stadium. For similar reasons, the five Gymkhana clubs in Mumbai — Hindu, Islamic, Parsee, Catholic and Bombay Gymkhana — get 4,200 free passes, Shetty said.

Since MCA did not have enough funds at the time Wankhede was built, the stadium was run on donations. "So every international match we had, we gave away more than 19,000 passes to the donor. Earlier the capacity of Wankhede was 38,000 but after the renewal, the capacity was restricted to 33,000 seats," Shetty said.

The demand for tickets is as usual maddening and is expected only to soar higher. As soon as India sealed their spot at the World T20 semi-finals, the MCA office was bombarded with requests for tickets. People are expected to fly into Mumbai for the match from all around the world. While some have managed to bag tickets, others have arrived only with a flicker of hope.

"We are four and we follow the Indian team everywhere," said a fan at the Wankhede Stadium and added, "But we have only three tickets and we're looking for one more so that none of us miss the match."

While MCA has graciously gifted him the free passes, RTI activist Anil Galgali points to the 'conflict of interest' in the acceptance of this generosity.

In a letter written to Devendra Fadnavis, Galgali stated that joint secretaries of MCA — Dr P V Shetty and Prof. Uday Khanvilkar — have issued 250 free passes to the state government. Galgali expressed his dismay that the top bosses of Maharashtra state government could fall prey to such free ticket bonanza. Galgali had also asked Fadnavis to inquire into the matter.

Meanwhile, every cricket fan around is scrambling for an extra ticket or a free pass for the big match, while Swadhin Kshatriya is sitting on 250 free big ones.

Encouraging to see PM Narendra Modi highlighting the importance of FIFA U-17 WC: Praful Patel

New Delhi: All India Football Federation president Praful Patel on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi"highlighting" the FIFA U-17 World Cup, to be held in the country next year, is an encouraging sign.

"Only the other day, the Prime Minister of our country highlighted the FIFA U-17 World Cup as a major milestone for transforming football in India. It's so encouraging that the Government at the highest level also recognises the potential of the sport," Patel said.

Through his radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi called upon the youth to participate in the Under-17 World Cup. He said it is a great opportunity for branding the country at the international level, for which immense awareness needs to be created within the nation.

File photo of AIFF President, Praful Patel.

The PM appealed to the students to come up with suggestion to take the game of football to every village of this country.

Patel spoke while chairing AIFF's Special General Body Meeting here and made a mention about the potential of women's football in India.

"More emphasis is being paid on women's football in India. AIFF will leave no stone unturned for providing support for us to qualify for the AFC Women's Asian Cup.

"We had talks about a Women's League and we shall kick-off the Women's League sometime this year itself," he said.

Patel requested the state associations to "concentrate on development of the sport", urging all stakeholders to come on the same platform.

Meanwhile, Mizoram FA has been allotted an artificial turf under the FIFA Development Programme.

The committee unanimously approved the financial statement and audit report for 2014/15 which was adopted into the accounts of the AIFF.

The AIFF president mentioned about the challenges which lay ahead.

"There are challenges which we will face but we have definitely moved ahead. We are a large country with our own unique proposition but the AIFF over the years have always tried to strike a balance to give due representation, due regards to different regions and that's why we have gone step by step," said Patel.

Not just Afridi and Waqar, PCB should also be held responsible for Pakistan’s slump: Mohammad Yousuf

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has urged the fact-finding committee of the PCB to not only blame the coach, captain and players for the national cricket team's dismal performance but also make the board officials accountable.

"I told the committee that it is fine they are inquiring into the team's performances and those of the captain and coach but what about the board officials who are also responsible for the steep decline in our cricket," Yousuf told PTI on Wednesday from Lahore.

"Every time the team performs badly, the responsibility is put on the captain, coach and the players but I have never seen anyone in the board being held responsible," he added.

File photo of Mohammad Yousuf. Reuters

The fact-finding committee was constituted by the Pakistan Cricket Board to probe into the team's poor performances inAsia Cup and World T20, as well as in earlier series against England and New Zealand.

The committee includes Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq and senior batsman Younis Khan -- both of whom have not attended the first two days of the fact-finding committee's three-day meeting in Lahore.

Present in the meeting were Shakil Sheikh, the head of the PCB's cricket committee and a senior member of the board of governors, Subhan Ahmed, PCB's chief operating officer and Iqbal Qasim, former Test player, besides Yousuf.

Yousuf said he had conveyed to the committee that there was an urgent need to introduce new faces in the management at all levels who have fresh ideas to improve the situation.

"I also told them clearly that I had serious doubts over the sincerity of the board in forming the committee and taking decisions to improve things," he added.

The former cricketer said that apologies from Waqar Younis and Shahid Afridi wouldn't resolve the crisis in Pakistan cricket.

"This is not the first time Afridi has apologised. I appreciate Waqar for having the courage to face the people and come out with a public apology. I think Afridi also needed to face the media instead of apologising through the social media," Yousuf said.

Dale Steyn not even thinking of retiring from any format: South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis

Dale Steyn is "not even thinking of retiring out of any format" confirmed South Africa T20I skipper Faf du Plessis in a recent media briefing.

Steyn, who took only one wicket in the ICC World T20 with an average of 68 and an economy of over 11, has recorded a decline in limited-overs internationals in the last couple of years, leading to speculations of him hanging up his boots in white-ball cricket.

File photo of Dale Steyn. AFP

However, a report on Cricbuzz maintained that Steyn still had the hunger for the game, and that he still wanted to play cricket, dismissing the talk of him retiring for the time being.

"On the future of Dale (Steyn), I am not the guy to ask. I think you have to ask Dale that question. He looks hungry still. He still wants to play cricket. I don't think he's even thinking of retiring out of any format", du Plessis was quoted as saying by the Cricbuzz report.

Steyn, who currently has 406 Test wickets to his credit, has had a long list of injuries in recent times which ensured that he remained out of the Proteas side for the most part.

His appearance in the first T20I against Australia on home soil in February earlier this year was his first in 20-over internationals since April 2014. Despite being the most experienced pacer in the side, Steyn had problems getting back his old rhythm.

"The hard thing for Dale was the fact that he was out of the team for so long. When you're out of the team for so long, you give guys opportunity to stake their claim," du Plessis said.

"Kagiso (Rabada) has grabbed it with both hands. He's won a lot of games for us and because he's done that, it's hard as a captain to overlook a guy who has used the opportunities to win you games of cricket," du Plessis added.

Summing up South Africa's dismal show in World T20, captain Faf du Plessis said small mistakes like conceding loads of extras in the games against England and the West Indies made a big impact and led to his team's early exit from the mega-event.

The Proteas, one of the strong contenders, conceded 26 extras against England including 20 wides while defending 229 for four, and eventually lost. Against the Caribbeans, they could not defend 122, losing the match in the last over having conceded 10 extras, including eight wides.

With inputs from agencies