Bradley”s late strike seals US draw with Slovenia

JOHANNESBURG: Midfielder Michael Bradley”s late goal sealed the United States” fight back as they drew 2-2 with Slovenia at the World Cup on Friday night to keep their hopes of reaching the Last 16 alive.

Slovenia were heading to their second win of the tournament, and unexpectedly becoming the first team into the last 16, having led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals by midfielder Valter Birsa and striker Zlatan
Ljubijankic before the US fought back to force the equaliser.

First right-wing Landon Donovan scored a superb goal on 48 minutes, then the equaliser came with eight minutes left as US striker Jozy Altidore flicked on a header deep in the penalty area and Bradley – son of the coach Bob – fired his shot home.

Slovenia had got off to the ideal start when Auxerre”s Birsa drilled in a long-range shot from 30 metres out which flew into the back of the net with US goalkeeper Tim Howard rooted to the spot after 13 minutes.

Centre-back Oguchi Onyewu”s challenge on Birsa looked to have left the goalkeeper unsighted.

Slovenia centre-back Bostjan Cesar then picked up the first yellow card of the match when he fouled Altidore on 35 minutes and Francisco Torres” free-kick forced the Slovenian goalkeeper into a diving save.

The US threatened with half-time approaching as a Bradley shot was saved off the line, but in the melee striker Robbie Findley was booked for hand ball and misses the next game against Algeria next Wednesday in Pretoria.

With three minutes left of the half, Ljubijankic latched onto a well-timed pass which split the US defence and drilled his shot past Everton”s Howard to make it 2-0 at the break.

US coach Bradley made two changes at the break bringing Maurice Edu in as a defensive midfielder and putting Benny Feilhaber on the wing.

It paid off as US Galaxy”s Donovan controlled the long-ball, dribbled into the area and drilled his shot into the roof of the net past Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic just three minutes into the half.

Slovenian centre-back Marko Suler was booked on 69 minutes for hauling down Altidore just outside the area and the forward managed to latch onto the end of the resulting free-kick but fired his shot at Handanovic.

With the US upping the pace, Slovenia”s left-wing Andraz Kirm also went into the referee”s book as did Bojan Jokic for a foul on Donovan just before Bradley”s late equaliser.

The US looked to have taken a sensational lead when Edu scored with time almost up, but the referee judged the goal off-side.

Both teams now have all to play for in their last group match when Slovenia play England in Port Elizabeth next Wednesday and the US face Algeria.

England play Algeria later on Friday in Cape Town.

Dilshan shines as Sri Lanka crush Bangladesh

DAMBULLA: Tillakaratne Dilshan starred with bat and ball as Sri Lanka trounced Bangladesh by 126 runs on Friday to virtually book their place in the Asia Cup final.

Dilshan smashed 71 off 51 balls and claimed three wickets as the defending champions piled up a commanding 312-4 in their 50 overs and then shot out Bangladesh for 186.

It was Sri Lanka”s second win in a row after the 16-run defeat of Pakistan in their opening match and helped them step closer to becoming the first team to take a berth in the June 24 final.

Bangladesh, who had lost to India on Wednesday, are virtually out of contention in the four-nation tournament.

Sri Lanka put on a dazzling batting performance to record the highest total ever at the Rangiri international stadium in Dambulla.

Dilshan and Upul Tharanga set the ball rolling with an opening stand of 111 by the 16th over after Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match.

Tharanga (54) and Sangakkara (52) hit half-centuries to build on Dilshan”s aggressive knock which included 11 boundaries and a six.

Mahela Jayawardene chipped in with 43 during a third-wicket stand of 69 with Sangakkara.

Angelo Mathews (42 not out) and Chamara Kapugedera (37 not out) hammered 73 runs in the last 10 overs to set Bangladesh a tough target of six runs an over under lights.

Bangladesh found the task beyond their reach despite a typically aggressive 51 off 53 balls by left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim put on 57 for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique (38) after opening partner Imrul Kayes was caught in the slips off Nuwan Kulasekera for three.

Bangladesh, who were 77-1 at one stage, lost five wickets for 66 runs as Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan sliced through the middle order.

Dilshan, bowling off-spin, sealed Bangladesh”s fate in the space of nine deliveries when he had Tamim stumped by Sangakkara and then trapped Mohammad Ashraful leg-before.

Dilshan also removed Mushfiqur Rahim, while Muralitharan dismissed Junaid Siddique and skipper Shakib Al Hasan at the other end.

Two crucial matches in Super8 today

BRIDGETOWN: Two crucial matches are being played in Super Eight of Twenty20 World Cup today, Geo News reported Sunday.

The first match is set between two teams India and West Indies, that is do or die clash for both. After an inept fielding display, in which five chances went a-begging in Friday”s loss to Sri Lanka, West Indies” semi-final hopes could hinge on the outcome of Sunday”s Super Eight game against India.

West Indies succumbed to Sri Lanka by 57 runs on Friday, while India lost by 24 runs to Australia.

A loss for either team on Sunday could end their sojourn in the tournament, depending on the outcome of the group”s other game between Australia and Sri Lanka.

West Indies Captain Chris Gayle says even though India has struggled with pace in past games, he is wary of relying too much on fast-bowlers.

“We can use the short ball but at the same time we have to be careful because it is a small ground and they have quality batters who can make adjustments. But it”s certainly something we will put into our plans,” Gayle said.

Gayle says the stakes make the game a much more interesting contest.

The second face-off is set between two teams that finished off their opponents rather ruthlessly in their opening Super Eight matches. The match between the two team could turn out to be a crucial clash for a place in the semi-finals of the third ICC World Twenty20 tournament when Sri Lanka meets Australia at the Kensington Oval on Sunday.

The winning team in today’s contest is assured of a place in the last four unless three of the four teams end with an equal number of points. Sri Lanka who swept aside West Indies by 57 runs on Friday is fully focused on what they have to achieve to earn a second successive semi-finals place in the World Twenty20 tournament having ended as finalist last year. In the other Group F game Australia demolished former champions India by 49 runs.

Sri Lanka’s performance was described as ‘clinically efficient’ by man-of-the-match Mahela Jayawardene whose unbeaten innings of 98 off 58 balls and his record second wicket stand of 166 with his captain Kumar Sangakkara (68 off 49 balls) formed the basis for their match-winning total of 195-3.

Their partnership was the highest for any wicket in an ICC World T20 tournament and the highest for the second wicket in a Twenty20 International.

“In the last two games we were not clinical in certain departments but today our fielding was much better so were the bowling areas and, we batted to a plan,” said Jayawardene.

“In a T20 format you have to get you’re all round game. The fewer mistakes you make the better for you because it is very difficult to come back into a game. It’s a short format and we don’t have many games. We have to make sure we get into some sort of a momentum. Hopefully we can continue to do that and execute the game plan.”

New Zealand Bats Against Pakistan In The Third ODI

New Zealand Bats Against Pakistan In The Third ODI: ABU DHABI: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat in the third and final one-day international against Pakistan at the Abu Dhabi Stadium here on Monday.

New Zealand Bats Against Pakistan In The Third ODI:ABU DHABI: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat in the third and final one-day international against Pakistan at the Abu Dhabi Stadium here on Monday.

The three-match series is tied at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first match by 138 runs on Tuesday before New Zealand came back by winning the second by 64 runs on Friday.

New Zealand remained unchanged from the last match but Pakistan left out middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf to bring back teenager Umer Akmal, who played the first match.

After the one-day series the teams will move to Dubai where they play two Twenty20 matches on November 12 and 13.

Squads:
Pakistan: Younus Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Khalid Latif, Umer Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (capt), Brendon McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Neil Broom, Tim Southee, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills
Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS), Nadeem Ghouri (PAK)
Tv Umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)