Hamilton Takes Control Of Championship

In a race full of drama and keenly contested battles, rookie Lewis Hamilton inched closer to creating history and realizing his dream. Hamilton, who pipped Alonso for pole position in ablistering last lap of qualifying led from start to finish to clinch the rain affected Japanese Grand Prix. Alonso hit a wall and was elimintaed from the race early on allowing Hamilton to open up a 12 point lead in the Driver's Championship. The safety car had been out for most of the first few laps due to bad weather conditions. The surprise of the race came from Renault driver Kovaleinen who raced to his first career podium finsih holding of fellow Finn Raikkonen for second place. Hamilton has 107 points followed by Alonso (95) and Raikkonen (90). With just two races left in the season at Shanghai and Brazil, it sure is heading to thrilling finish especially when people are predicting the next two race tracks to favour the ferrari cars.

A Similar Story For United

It was a similar story for Manchester United as they came away from Birmingham City with all 3 points thanks to a goal from Christiano Ronaldo who capitalised on a mistake by defender Quedrue. Manchester United remain in second place, a point behind leaders Arsenal who have a game in hand. Arsenal alo picked up three points away at West Ham with a Van Persie header. Liverpool also playing away from home at Wigan came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Benayoun strike. The Losers of the day were Chelsea who were brilliantly held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea also saw star striker Drogba sent off in the 75th minute. Chelsea are now falling behind considerably. Manchester City continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-1 home win against Newcastle United. Bolton stayed in the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw against Derby and Blackburn Rovers came home after beating Sunderland 2-1. The match of the day came from Fraton Park which saw a record number of goals being scored. Portsmouth, with a Benjani hattrick beat visitors, Reading 7-4 in a memroable goal fest. Portsmouth played absolutely brilliant football but should be disappointed about letting 4 goals in. Eight of the goals came in the second half.

Twenty20 Champions Vs The Kings Of ODI'S

Australia are all set to take on India in the first of Seven ODI'S. India who have only recently tasted success by clinching the inaugural Twenty20 world cup will be boosted by the return of the stalwarths, Tendulkar, Dravid, and Ganguly. Zaheer Khan also makes his way in to the bowling line up. Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to captain the side and has three former captains under him. Australia will be looking for revenge as India knocked them out at the semi final stage at the Twenty20 world cup. It has always been a battle of words when the Aussies are playing and things will not be any different this time. It will be an intense contest as both sides will be out to proive a point. All seven matches should be keenly contested. There are some new rules being implemented in the ODI format of the game, such as the free hit and an extra fielder outside the circle during the power plays.

Ten Men Want To Know

The Referee stole the limelight from the United vs Chelsea match at Old Trafford earlier today. Two dubious decisions saw United run out 2-0 winners at home. About 35 minutes into the game Obi Mikel was sent of on a lose ball foul on Evra. A yellow card was what was needed but the ref had no hesitaion in sending him off. Later in the second half there was a rash challenge by Joe Cole on Ronaldo which was a lot worse than Mikel's and all he got for it was a yellow card. The other talking point about the refereeing was the timing of the first goal. 2 minutes were to be added on for injury time in the first half, but Tevez's brilliant header, his first for United, came 3:32 seconds in to injury time.Saha's 89th minute penalty secured the win. Cheslea had gotten lucky early this season against Liverpool but not his time even though United played brilliantly and deserved to win. Chelsea are planning to appeal Mikel's red card. The refereeing this season however has not been upto the mark.

Its A Thriller Of A Final To Wait For

No one could have ever suggested that India would meet arch rivals Pakistan in the Finals of the Twenty 20 World cup going on in South Africa. In a tournament full of upsets and hard hitting, it has finally come down to the final game and between two countires where cricket is treated as a religion and the rivalry fierce and competitive. Pakistan got the better of New Zealand in the first final bringing back memories of the 1992 and 1999 World Cup Semi Finals. India took on favourites Australia in the second semi final and the match lived up to his thrilling nature. India who opted to bat first were boosted by yet another blistering innings by Yuvraj Singh (70 of 30 balls)and captain MS Dhoni (36 of 18 balls) to an imposing total of 188 in 20 overs. Yuvraj continued his form from the match against England where he hit the fastest 50 (12 balls) in any form of the game which included 6*6's of an over. The bowler unluckily was Staurt Broad. Chasing 188 was never going to be easy and Australia kept up the hunt with Hayden (62 of 47 balls). When Symonds (43 of 26) was dismissed with Australia still needing another 30 odd to win of the last 3 overs it was almost all over for them. Good bowling in the end gave India a 15 run victory and a mouth watering final clash with Pakistan. Afridi vs Yuvraj, both big hitters and a lot riding on their shoulders. The much awaited match takes place on the 24th of Sept. For a ll cricket lovers its a must watch.

Saturday's Premier League Preview

The Premier League is back after a break due to the Euro qualifiers. Saturday does see some interesting match ups in store for viewers.
Everton vs Manchester United- United playing away from home, will be bolstered by the return of Christiano Ronaldo after suspensionand Wayne Rooney from injury. Everton are sitting pretty near the top of the table and have looked good this season. A 2-1 win for United.
Liverpool vs Portsmouth- Liverpool playing away, will look to secure all three points. They have been in top form and are strong contenders for the title this year. 3-0 to Liverpool.
Tottenham vs Arsenal- The Spurs who have started this season pathetically will be hoping to salvage pride against rivals Arsenal. Arsenal have 10 points with a game in hand. 1-1 draw.
Birmingham City vs Bolton- Bolton should come away with all three points at City. 0-2 to Bolton.
Sunderland vs Reading- Sunderland after their stunning opening round win have not had a good run and will be hoping to get something from this game. 1-1 draw.
West Ham vs Middlesbrough- Craig Bellamy has looked in minous form this season scoring regularly for the Hammers. They should pull this one off. 1-0 Hammers.
Wigan vs Fulham- Both teams to fight out for points. 2-2 draw
Chelsea vs Blackburn- The last game of the day sees Chelsea take on Blackburn. Chelsea losing their first game of the season last time would ne hoping to climb their way back to the top of the table. 2-0 Chelsea.

Dravid Resigns As India Captain

News has just come in that Indian Cricket captain Rahul Dravid has sent in his resignation letter to the Board asking to be relieved of duties before the forthcoming Australia series later this month. This has come as quite a shock to all cricket fans considering he hasn't done all that badly as a captain. Dravid took over from Sourav Ganguly two years ago. He has captained India in 25 tests and 79 ODI's. India have won eight tests under his captaincy including series wins over Pakistan, England, West Indies and Bangladesh. HIs only major debacle was India's stunning exit at the early stages of the World Cup after a defeat to Bangladesh. Mahindra Singh Dhoni currently captaining the Indian Twenty 20 side at the Chamionship in South Africa could be the next man to be given the reins.

Sixes And Upsets Galore at Twenty 20 Cup.

The Twenty 20 Championship got off to an explosive start and has proved to be entertaining and absolutely unpredictable. In the first game of the tournament itself, records began to tumble and the crowd was treated to some high quality hitting. Chris Gayle set the stadium alight with a whirlwind innings of 117 of just 57 balls.(7*4's and 10*6's). The West Indies set an imposing target of 205 in their 20 overs for the hosts South Africa but thanks to Gibbs (90* off 55 balls) and Kemp (46*) South Africa brushed them aside. The second day so three matches and a massive upset. Early on New Zealand swept aside Kenya in a game where records fell again. First 4 batsmen (Kenya) out for 0 and 4-7 bowling figures for Gillespie. Pakistan beat Scotland by 50 runs or so thanks to some hard hitting by Afridi (22 of 7 balls)and Younis Khan getting 48 of just 29 deliveries. The last game of the day was dramatic and a shocker. The heavy weights and favourites, Australia against lowly rated Zimbabwe. Australia batting first struggled thanks to some brilliant fielding by the Zimbabweans and could only muster up 138. Zimbabwe reached the target on the penultimate ball thanks to an unbeaten 60 by Taylor, which produced a huge upset. Todays games were just as thrilling and featured upsets. The West Indies were sent packing byt Bangladesh, who have kept up their world cup form. Chasing 178, Bangladesh got their with 8 wickets to spare with credit going to Ashraful (67) and Aftab (69*). England saw off Zimbabwe by 50 runs. Kevin Pieterson doing the damage with an explosive 79. Zimbabwe were cruising at one stage and looked set to pull of another shock when they raced to 75/0 in the 7th over but ran out of steam and were bowled out for 120. The last game between India and Scotland was abandoned due to rain. In 6 matches so far 58 sixes have been hit. It is proving to be a very exciting format of the game. Big and crucial games tomorrow with England taking on Australia. Australia have to win this game and then Run Rate would come into play. The other big game sees India take on rivals Pakistan.

Bring In Technology For Cricket

The recently concluded Natwest Series ended in a farce with England running away with the match by 7 wickets. India managed a paltry 187 with Dhoni getting a crucial 50. England got off to a poor start with both openers sent back to the pavillion for zero. Captain Collingwood (64*) and man of the match, Kevin Pieterson (71*)steadied the ship and took England to victory.
The main talking point about this whole series was the umpiring. After six brilliant one day games that were keenly contested and built up for a huge final, ended on a damp note. This was thanks to umpire Aleem Dar who had two crucial wrong decisions, giving Dravid and Tendulkar out caught behind. Tendulkar had been in scintilating form the whole series and looked good for yet another big score, before being shockingly given out. From 50/1 India slumped to 70/4, game practically over.
It was'nt the first time Tendulkar had been wrongly given out this whole series including the test matches. An LBW, off Collingwood in a test, the caught behind on 99 at Bristol and the final at Lords were just a few of the harsh decisions he faced. Remarkable of him to still keep his cool and carry on playing. Many players would have just got fed up after so muh injustice.
They have the third umpire for run outs and stumpings. I feel they should have it for all other dismissals as well. All the umpire has to do is ask for the third umpire when in doubt. It will make the game a lot more fairer. I don't blame umpires in most cases because it is not an easy job giving these close calls, but there is a limit to human error and when technology is available, then why not use it.

What's With The Seeding System?

All along the years I thought, and I know thats the way it used to be earlier, that there was a method of sorting out the seeds in tournaments. Atleast from the quarter finals onwards it was pretty much determined. In the on going US Open Tennis I was just noticing the way the seeds were placed. In the quarter finals, it always used to be 1 vs 8, 2vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5. So according to this 5th seed Roddick should have been up against Davydenko and not the favourite and world number one, Federer. Davydenko is scheduled to play Federer in the Semis (1 vs 4) but the quarters finals I feel, should also have the same system. I understand that they probably cant adjust all 32 seeds like that but atleast for the top 8 seeds, it should be arranged.

Is This What We Are To Expect?

The inaugural 20-T Cricket World Cup gets underway on the 11th of september. This format of the game is definitely for the bowlers and its absolute entertainment for the fans. 20 overs is all the overs a team has to score maximum no. of runs, where a no ball accounts for 2 runs and a free hit the following ball. In London, two days ago, a young Sri Lankan lad showed us what we could expect from this twenty twent world cup. In the Lancashire's Saddleworth League, Dhanuka Pathirana, scored a staggering unbeaten 277 of just 72 balls, helping his side, Austerlands, to a mammoth 366/3 in 20 overs against Droylsden. His innings consisted of 18 hits to the fence and 29 hits over hit. The funny side of this is, that thinking the match would be washed out, Dhanuka did not bring his bat and had to borrow one. If this is what tenty twenty cricket is all about, I cant wait for the start of the Twenty Twenty World Cup.

Real Display Pure Class

Real Madrid put on a show to remember with a 5-0 thrashing of Villareal away from home. Seeing them pass the ball so fluently was a sight to behold and their finishing was impeccable. Raul scored the only goal for the visitors in the first half but thesecond half was all one way traffic. Sneijder got his first of the game through a brilliantly taken free kick and added a second to his name later on. Nistelrooy and Guti completed the rout which took them to the top of the table. Barcelona kept up with them with a 3-1 win at home to Athltic Bilbao with 2 goals from Ronaldinho(one penalty) in a game which saw both sides reduced to 10 men. Else where Juventus left it to the last minute to secure a 3-2 win away from home at Cagliari. Trezeguet, Del Piero and Chiellini netted the goals for the Old Lady. AS Roma were comfortable 3-0 winners at home to Siena.

India Win To Keep Series Alive

India won the 5th ODI in the Natwest Series to keep their Hopes alives. England,who won the toss and elected to feel could not take advantage of the overcast conditions, were witness to some explosive and classy batting from Tendulkar(71 off 59) and Yuvraj Singh(72 off 57). With the help of Ganguly(59) and Gambhir(51), India amassed 324 in heir allotted 50 overs. Rain came in to play which intorduced the D/L system which left England the daunting task of needing 289 for vicory in a mere 39 overs. Captain Collingwood's effort (91* of 71) went in vain as India won the game by 38 runs.Prior(44) and Bell(46) both provided England with a chance but the task was too much for them. All eyes will be on the sixth ODI in two days time.

Villa Stun Chelsea, Arsenal Overcome Portsmouth

Arsenal, who were reduced to 10 men in the second half secured all three points comfortably against visitors Portsmouth 3-1. Goals from Adebayor(Penalty), Fabregas and Rosicky saw the home side comfortably through. Kanu got a late consolation goal for the visitors who could not take advantage when Senderos was sent off in the 50th minute. The shock of the day came when Aston Villa ran out 2-0 winners at home to favourites Chelsea. Knight scored early in the second half and young upcoming senstation Agbonlahor sealed the win with a goal in the dying minutes. Elsewhere Blackburn Rovers beat Manchester City at home 1-0 thanks to an early goal from striker Benny McCarthy. This surely is turning out to be a great unpredictable season.

Djokovic Escapes, Sharapova Falls

In a match that lasted just under five hours, spectators were treated to some high quality and entertaining tennis. Novak Djokovic, the number three seed, was up against veteran Radek Stepanek in the second round. Djokovic was the firm favourite to walk away with a comfortable victory but unseeded Stepanek had other ideas. Stepanek played brilliant tennis and troubled Djokovic with his serve and volley game. Stepanek took the first set 7-6 but Djokovic responded by winning the second set,alsp 7-6. The third set saw Stepanek fight back and take it 7-5. The fourth set was a mirror image of the third only difference being Djokovic winning it 7-5. The last set was the test for both the players, the ageing Stepanek and the future of tennis, Djokovic. Both players raised their levels and brought out the best in their opponents . The last set was also stretched to a tie break where Djokovic held his nerve to win the marathon match.
Defending champion Sharapova was shockingly sent packing by unseeded Radwanska 6-4 1-6 6-2, leaving the bottom half of the draw slightly open. Radwanska playing in only her second US Open showed no signs of intimidation and played fluent tennis. The number seven seed, Russian Nadia Petrova was also sent home after a loss to A. Szavay in straight sets. 6-4 6-4.
Andy Roddick played some scintilating tennis to demolish former Australian Open chamion Thomas Johansson 6-3 6-2 6-0.

Reds Hammer Six Past Woeful Derby

One couldn't help but feel sorry and pity for Derby as they face a brutal onlslaught from Liverpool at Anfield. Liverpool playing without captain Gerrard and defender Carragher made sure their absence would not be felt. Alonso scored the opening goal and that led to the flood gates being opened. Alonso and Torres finished with two goals each. Voronin and Babel added a goal each. They certainly look a vey formidable and dangerous team. Elsewhere around the league Tottenham blew a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 away at Fulham thanks to a wonder goal by Kamara in the 90th minute. Everton came away with a late victory at Bolton 2-1. Middlesbrough beat Birmingham City 2-0 at home. Michael Owen's late goal helped Newcastle to a 1-0 home win against Wigan Athletic and Reading were hammered at home byt visiting West Ham 3-0. The late night game so United struggle at home against Sundreland. It was Louis Saha, returning from injury for his first game this season who broke the deadlock and gave them a 1-0 victory. Not a very warm welcome home for visiting manager and ex United legend, Roy Keane.