Totti to miss the first leg champions league encounter against MAN U

Totti misses out the first leg champions league encounter with MAN U due to a thigh injury which he sustained in 1-1 draw against cagliari. The former Italy international is backing his team-mates to do a job on in-form United in the first leg and he hopes to be fit for the return leg at Old Trafford.

Stock market updates

It was great day for the asian markets with HSI finishing the day at 23149 up by 300 points.NIKKEI closed at 12648 up by 123 points.CHINA closing at 3342 down by 130 points.
The European markets were a bit flat. FTSE closed unchanged at 5702.DAX closed at 6534 down by 25 points and CAC40 closed at 4707 up by 11 points.
The US markets also closed flat . DOW closed unchanged at 12262.NASDAQ at 2279 up by 17 points.S&P500 closing at 1322 up by 7 points.

Australia's squad for Windies tour!!!

After a controversial and a disappointing tour Aussies are on the verge of touring the West Indies. With the retirement of Adam Gilchrist it is most obvious that Brad Haddin will take his place. The aussie selectors had to go in for a few new faces as well as old ones. There were many inclusions in the squad to tour the carribeans. In the Test squad Simon Katich earned him a spot after an excellent Pura Cup scoring a mammoth 1506 runs at an average of 95.14, which was a world record beating the record held by Michael Bevan. Beau Casson was the spinner who was included as the follow up for MacGill. Casson is the left arm spinner from New South Wales who picked up 29 wickets in the Pura Cup at an average of 35 and also chipped in with some useful contributions with the bat with 485 runs at an average of 60. The other inclusion to the Test squad is the all-rounder Ashley Noffke. The inclusions in the one day squad are Hussey's brother David Hussey and Western Australian Shaun Marsh. Cameron White has also been included due to his recent form in the Pura cup matches.

Test squad Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Simon Katich, Brad Haddin (wk), Ashley Noffke, Beau Casson, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Stuart MacGill, Ben Hilfenhaus.

ODI squad Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, David Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Cameron White, Brad Haddin (wk), James Hopes, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark.

Sachin out ,Kaif in for second Test!

India will not play their full side for the Ahmedabad Test as Sachin will be out of action due to a groin injury. Sachin did not take the field for the first, second, fourth and fifth days. Mohammad Kaif has been named as his replacement in the squad, though Yuvraj Singh is likely to take the spot in the playing XI.

Tendulkar was advised two-weeks rest after the Australia tour and the then physio, John Gloster, in his fitness report, warned against the injury entering a chronic phase.

Kaif last played a Test for India during the 2006 tour of the West Indies. He enjoyed an impressive domestic season for Uttar Pradesh and Central Zone, finishing fourth in the list of run-getters, scoring 993 runs in 13 first-class matches at an average of 58.41.

Premier league results

ManchesterUnited 4-0 Villa

ManchesterUnited completed a 4-0 rout against Aston villa on Saturday.United were absolutely brilliant against a villa team that looked a level down.
Cristiano Ronaldo's outrageous flick started the agony for Aston Villa after 17 minutes and he provided Carlos Tevez with a simple second before half-time. Wayne Rooney rounded Scott Carson for a third after 53 minutes and he slid home the fourth with 20 minutes left after more superb creativity from Ronaldo. Manchester United now lead the league by six points from Arsenal, while Villa lie eighth.

Ten men Arsenal edge past Bolton in a Reebok thriller

Arsenal hung on in the title race by coming from 2-0 down to beat Bolton despite Abou Diaby's sending off. Matthew Taylor headed Bolton in front from a cross by Gretar Steinsson. Diaby produced a disgraceful challenge on Steinsson to earn a straight red card. Taylor's deflected drive doubled the lead before William Gallas volleyed home to cut the deficit. Robin Van Persie made it 2-2 with a penalty and Arsenal won it when Jlloyd Samuel put through his own net late on.


Chelsea keep their title hopes alive

Chelsea cut Manchester United's lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League table to five points with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge.

Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho scored the only goal in the sixth minute as Avram Grant's side moved back above Arsenal into second place.

Torres seals Reds win

Fernando Torres' early strike gave Liverpool a precious five-point lead over their Merseyside rivals in the race for Champions League qualification.

Liverpool dominated the first half, and should have been in total command. Steven Gerrard hit a post and a hatful of chances were wasted.

But Everton, to their immense credit, tested Liverpool to the absolute limits in the second-half, and the Kop stood in anguish as they watched their heroes defend the goal in front of them.

But Liverpool hung on to complete only their 12th league double over the Goodison Park side in what was virtually a final eliminator for fourth spot.

Brilliant Mckenzie helps South Africa to a draw

South Africa finished the first test against India strongly finishing the day at 331 for 5.Mckenzie and Amla played quite brilliantly .Neil McKenzie finished unbeaten on 155. India needed quick wickets if it was to force a result but some sloppy fielding in the morning session ensured that possibility did not materialise.


Hashim Amla, who went on to make 81, was twice dropped before lunch, once by Sreesanth and once by RP Singh. Those slips, combined with McKenzie's determination to occupy the crease, set the tone for the day. Amla's luck finally ran out shortly before the first interval when he edged an Anil Kumble delivery to Rahul Dravid at first slip.


McKenzie reached his fourth Test ton in an afternoon session which also saw two South Africa wickets fall. The first was that of Jacques Kallis, who made 19 before departing to a wonderful catch by RP Singh at square leg off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan claimed his third wicket of the innings two overs later, Ashwell Prince (five) lunging forward only to see the ball clip the glove on its way to Wasim Jaffer at short leg. AB de Villiers departed in similar fashion after tea, Virender Sehwag the bowler this time and Sourav Ganguly the fielder close to the bat. But they proved to be rare moments of success for the Indian attack as the final day panned out in a similar fashion to the previous four with the batsmen in charge. It was a match which featured a number of notable innings - Sehwag hitting the fastest triple century in Test history, Dravid reaching 10,000 runs in Test cricket and Amla and McKenzie both hitting sizeable centuries.

Huge fees hike at IIM-A!!!

IIM Ahmedabad recently announced after its board meeting that the fees for the two year course would increase by 300 percent. Now students will have to pay Rs 11.5 lakh for a two-year course, compared to the earlier fee of Rs 4.5 lakh.

The institute has softened the blow by raising the income limit for giving financial support to students. Earlier students were considered for support only if the family income was two lakh rupees. But now that has been raised to six lakh rupees.

The Centre and the Gujarat government have opposed the steep hike, saying it would set a precedent for other IIMs. A week ago, IIM-Bangalore had also proposed to hike its fee by 75 per cent, but it was not approved by the Centre.

Dravid joins the elite list!!!

With the 80th run during his 111 in Chennai, Rahul Dravid became only the sixth player - and the third Indian, after Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar - to reach the coveted milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He hasn't been at his best of late - this hundred was his first since last May - but Dravid's determination came to the fore yet again; perhaps it was fitting that he brought up the milestone with a typically characteristic knock, stonewalling his way to a hundred while Virender Sehwag stole the thunder with a blazing 319.

Dravid reached the landmark in his 120th Test and 206th innings, and although both Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar required lesser number of innings, Dravid has achieved the same in the shortest time span, a few months under 12 years, almost two years lesser than Lara. With an average of 55.41, Dravid has the best average among those with over 10,000 runs.

His career average is only bettered by two Indian batsmen, neither of whom has played more than three Tests. With a cut-off of at least 500 Test runs, Dravid's average is the highest among Indians.

Day 4 belongs to Proteas!

Day 4 started with all eyes on Sehwag. Sehwag started patiently knocking off just ones and twos. Dravid was cautious at the other end as usual. Sehwag added 10 runs to his overnight score before he was caught by McKenzie of the bowling of Ntini. After a standing ovation for his innings there was even a bigger roar as the little maestro walked into his favourite soil. Before the roar could even stop the crowd saw the back of Sachin walking back for a rare duck at Chennai. Ntini was in the midst of a great spell. Dravid and Ganguly then steadied the ship. They piled on useful runs. Ganguly then got a shocker from the pitch, the ball took off from nowhere and he was well caught behind the stumps. Dravid was now joined by Laxman, the famous pair. Dravid then went on to make his 10,000 runs in Test Cricket. He joined the elite panel and was the third Indian after Gavaskar and Tendulkar to do so. At luch India were 547 for 4 just 7 runs ahead of South Africa.

The post lunch session saw Dravid completing his 25th Century. Soon he fell and the batting collapse started. Steyn and Harris cleaned up the tail as the Indians were bowled out for 627 with a lead of 87. It was the turn of Proteas to bat after tea. As in the first innings the openers started confidently. Both Smith and McKenzie played attacking cricket. They reached 50 in no time. Bhajji got Smith for 35 when Amla joined McKenzie at the crease. McKenzie went on to score his fifty. Both kept on piling up the runs. At stumps South Africa was 131 for 1 with McKenzie and Amla at the crease.

The match is heading towards a draw. The only relief for the cricket fans is that many records were broken and set at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.

Sensex closes at 16371

Sensex yesterday closed at 16371 up by by 356 points.The Nifty closed at 4942 up by 112 points.
Yesterday was a very good day for the Asian markets with HSI up by 2.74%,NIKKEI up by 1.71% and china up by 4.94% .
The European markets were on the decline with FTSE down by 0.43%,DAX down by 0.28% and CAC40 down by 0.5%.
The U.S markets closed on the lower side with DOW closing at 12216 down by 86 points and NASDAQ closing at 2261 down by 20 points

TATA spreads its territory!!!

Having bagged Jaguar and Land Rover doesn't mean Tata is slowing down its big global ambitions.

Next stop is Thailand where Tata Motors launched its first product at the ongoing Bangkok Motor Show. Tata's launched the pick up truck Xenon, the first product of its JV with Thailand's Thonburi.

Tata has decided to enter the second largest pick up truck market in the world by launching its pick up truck called Xenon which will be followed by other products from their range. This pick up truck will also be branded as Fiat when it gets launched in Latin America later.

Tata has designed the Xenon to cater to foreign markets which explains Fiat's interest. The Xenon will be branded Fiat and sold in South America and will be made at Fiat's Cordoba plant in Argentina. In Thailand, Tata wants to cash in on a 400,000-unit strong pickup truck market.

The low cost of ownership tag is the big attraction for the Xenon but that won't be enough to take on a market dominated by the likes of Nissan and Toyota which control more than half the local Thailand market.

A Blitzkrieg at Chennai put Indians on top!!!

Resuming the days play at 82 for no loss the Indians just looked to play out the first hour. Jaffer moved on steadily to a half century while Sehwag was playing his natural game and reached his century in no time. The Indians were coasting along at 176 for no loss at lunch. The South Africans looked to pull things back in the post lunch session by picking up Jaffer for 73. Paul Harris picked up the only wicket of the day. When Dravid joined Sehwag the score was 213. The South Africans thought they could crawl back into the game but they never knew that a long hard day was awaiting them. Dravid played cautiously while Sehwag was striking the ball to all parts of the boundary. He brought his 150 in 175 balls. India were 309 for 1 at tea. Now the match drifted slightly in favor of the Indians. Sehwag batted courageously. His reverse sweeps against Paul Harris, full blooded strokes against the other South African bowlers sealed his second triple century to join the elite panel of Lara and Sir Donald Bradman of scoring 2 triple centuries.
On the other hand Dravid played himself to his 51st half century.
At stumps the Indians were 468 for 1 with Sehwag at 309 and Dravid at 65.
The Indians now feel that they are back into the game. Sehwag will eye Lara's record while the Indians will look to pile up a lead of at least 200. The Proteus will be hoping that they dont get to bat for a long time.

India get off to a Steady start

South Africa resumed the day at 304 for 4 and the visitors played cautious cricket in the first hour.The conditions were hot and humid at the M.A.Chidhambaram stadium in chennai.

Amla, 85 not out overnight, batted into the afternoon session and his 262-ball innings – his fourth Test hundred - was only curtailed by a needless run out, as he stranded himself calling partner Mark Boucher for a single that wasn’t.

Boucher hit 70 at an unusually slow rate for him, scoring at just 47 runs per 100 balls, but he did add 99 with Amla for the sixth wicket and help to take the Proteas nearer to a commanding first innings total.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh claimed his 21st five-wicket haul in Tests but his five-for did not come cheaply, conceding 164 runs from his 44 overs. It showed the nature of the surface. Maybe if India can score a similar total, things may be different in the second innings if the pitch cracks and breaks up.

India replied confidently on a flat pitch to reach stumps on day two at 82-0.Wasim Jaffer (25 not out) and Virender Sehwag (52 not out) will look to bat all day on Friday and exploit the placid wicket at the Chepauk and the draw would now seem the most likely outcome, unless South Africa’s bowlers can somehow find some menace in the wicket and use it to their advantage.

Sensex closes at 16015.

The Sensex today closed at 16015 down by 71 points and the Nifty closed flat at 4830.The other Asian markets were on the decline as well Nikkei at 12604 down 103 points and China closed at 3411 down by 196 points.

HSI closed slightly on the higher side at 22664 up by 48 points.The European markets had a slightly better day with FTSE closing at 5718 up by 58 points,DAX at 6569 up by 78 points and CAC 40 at 4718 up by 42 points.

US markets were also on the decline with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down nearly 110 points, or 0.9 percent, at 12422.86 Wednesday. The Nasdaq shed 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 relinquished 0.9 percent.

Crude oil surged above 106$ a barrel after an EIA report showed crude inventories held steady at 311.8 million barrels last week. Economists had expected a 1.7 billion-barrel build.

Ribery seals victory for France

France won the international friedly against England in Stade de France.David Beckham won his 100th cap and he lasted for just 63 minutes before he was substituted.Beckham was also booked for his challenge.It was not the result the LA Galaxy midfielder would have wanted to mark such a significant occasion, while there was little to suggest Rio Ferdinand had staked a strong case to be made captain on a permanent basis.

Capello's team started at a high tempo but it was France who created the early openings - Anelka heading wide from a Ribery free-kick and shooting weakly at goal after he was gifted far too much time to turn on the edge of the area.

England - with Gareth Barry and Owen Hargreaves shielding the back four - gradually asserted themselves on the contest and enjoyed a decent period of play.

A low teasing cross from the left was diverted clear of Beckham's path by keeper Gregory Coupet while Gerrard twice missed the target with headers.

Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery got the only goal from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute, after England keeper David James brought down Nicolas Anelka.

Capello opted to make four substitutions at the break - with Peter Crouch, Michael Owen, Stewart Downing and Joleon Lescott introduced.

Only Terry's substitution for Lescott was injury related, with the Chelsea skipper complaining of a tight hamstring.

The changes hinted at Capello's recognition that his decision to play Rooney as the lone striker did not work, with the Manchester United player often forced to come deep in search of the ball.

But it was France who continued to play the incisive football, breaking viciously with James saving from Anelka while Malouda shot narrowly wide.

In contrast, England were frequently betrayed by a poor first touch while a speculative - and wide - effort from Crouch was emblematic of their growing frustration.

Anelka had illuminated the contest with several audacious back-flicks and he also laid the ball off to Ribery but the goalscorer somewhat scuffed his shot.

France substitute Djibril Cisse went close towards the end, while England rarely looked like equalising.

Sri Lanka Draws first blood

Sri Lanka recorded their first ever test victory in carribean soil by beating the West Indies by 121 runs.Sri Lanka claimed nine West Indies wickets on the final day to seal victory in the first Test at Providence Stadium on Thursday.

Set an unlikely victory target of 437, the Windies were dismissed for 315 in their second innings, Chaminda Vaas finishing with figures of 5-61.

Opener Dwayne Bravo's 83 had given the hosts hope of pulling off a dramatic run chase as they reached lunch on 2-170, but an impressive afternoon session helped the tourists to a 121-run triumph.

Vaas removed Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in quick succession after lunch to put the tourists well on their way to claiming their first Test match win in the West Indies.

Samuels edged Vaas to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara for 10 and Chanderpaul was bowled off an inside edge for three as the Windies slumped to 4-178.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene paid tribute to the performance of his two senior bowlers, Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made 72, had earlier allowed the hosts to dream of a shock victory.

Bravo struck 10 fours and a six in his impressive knock before he fell caught and bowled to Muralitharan before lunch.

Sarwan - back in the Windies line-up after a 10-month absence - continued to look in good form as he followed up his first-innings score of 80 with another half-century before he fell LBW, playing back to Thilina Mirando.

Ryan Hinds then edged a Muralitharan delivery to Sangakkara for 10 from the final ball before tea to leave the Windies on 6-229.

The hosts had resumed on 1-96 at the start of the day and lost only one wicket, that of Bravo, in the morning session.

Fellow opener Devon Smith (10) had perished on Wednesday evening when Thilan Thushara took a brilliant catch at long leg off the bowling of Vaas.

The four wickets in the afternoon session though left the Windies hanging on for a draw.

Captain Chris Gayle frustrated the Sri Lankan attack with a stubborn 51 not out, but received little support from his partners at the other end.

Denesh Ramdin edged Mirando to Jayawardene at first slip for one, while Sulieman Benn also went cheaply, LBW, playing forward to Muralitharan for seven.

And it was the veteran Vaas who cleaned up the final two wickets as Gayle threatened to lead the hosts to a hard-fought draw.

First he removed Jerome Taylor, who sent an outside edge to Tillakaratne Dilshan at second slip for 12, and then Daren Powell, brilliantly caught at mid-off by Muralitharan for 14.

South Africa take the upper hand on Day 1

South Africa scored 304 for 4 at stumps on the first day.South Africa won the toss and greame smith had no hestitation to bat first on a good batting track.
Capatin greame smith opened the batting with Neil mckenzie and the pair put on a partnership of 132 runs after which greame smith was dismissed for a well played 73.Kumble got the wicket of his counterpart
Amla came into bat along with Mckenzie and they scored 64 runs before Mckenzie was dismissed for 94 .Harbhajan bowled the doosra and got Mckenzie caught at slip.
kallis just scored 13 and he was back in the pavillion because of some good bowling by harbhajan.Ashwell prince was out caught and bowled by kumble which was a brilliant catch.
Amla and Ab devilliers are are at the crease . Amla is on 85 and devilliers is on 10.