STANDINGS

Clubs P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Man Utd 33 24 5 4 70 17 53 77
Chelsea 33 22 8 3 58 23 35 74
Arsenal 33 20 11 2 63 27 36 71
Liverpool 33 17 12 4 57 25 32 63
Everton 33 18 6 9 49 27 22 60
Portsmouth 32 15 8 9 46 33 13 53
Aston Villa 33 14 10 9 56 44 12 52
Blackburn 33 13 12 8 43 39 4 51
Man City 33 13 10 10 37 39 -2 49
West Ham 32 12 8 12 35 39 -4 44
Tottenham 33 10 10 13 62 56 6 40
Newcastle 33 10 8 15 40 58 -18 38
Sunderland 33 10 6 17 32 50 -18 36
Middlesbrough 33 8 11 14 30 47 -17 35
Wigan 33 9 7 17 30 47 -17 34
Reading 33 9 5 19 37 61 -24 32
Birmingham 33 7 9 17 38 51 -13 30
Bolton 33 6 8 19 30 52 -22 26
Fulham 33 4 12 17 30 56 -26 24
Derby 33 1 8 24 16 68 -52 11

WEST INDIES SQUARE UP THE SERIES

West Indies v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Trinidad, 4th day

Sarwan ton helps West Indies square series

April 6, 2008

West Indies 294 (Sarwan 57, Muralitharan 5-79) and 254 for 4 (Sarwan 102, Chanderpaul 86*) beat Sri Lanka 278 (Silva 76, Dilshan 62, Edwards 4-84) and 268 (Samaraweera 125, Taylor 4-52) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Ramnaresh Sarwan's century ensured that West Indies squared the series 1-1 in Trinidad © AFP

Each time West Indies or Sri Lanka took the upper hand in the second Test in Trinidad, the other team clawed back to bring the match into balance. It took an innings of exemplary application from Ramnaresh Sarwan to decisively swing the closely-fought contest towards West Indies on the fourth day, and his partnership of 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul levelled the series, ensuring Sri Lanka's quest for a maiden series triumph in the Caribbean remained unfulfilled. The six-wicket win was West Indies' first at the Queen's Park Oval since 2000.

A target of 253 over two days with ten wickets in hand wasn't the most daunting but only twice had teams chased higher totals to win in Trinidad. Add to that the unpredictably of the West Indian batting order, the Chaminda Vaas-Muttiah Muralitharan factor and the task was anything but simple. The fourth day began with Sri Lanka taking early wickets before Sarwan started the recovery effort, single-handedly at first, later finding a steady partner in Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 86 at the end.

Sri Lanka were banking on the wizardry of Muralitharan to run through the batting order but he was blunted by Sarwan and Chanderpaul's patient approach. Not until the final stages did Sri Lanka's bowlers give it up but the pressure created by Vaas and Muralitharan was not sustained by the inexperienced support cast of Thilan Thushara and Ishara Amerasinghe, which allowed the batsmen to score steadily without having to look to hit boundaries.

It was fitting that Sarwan sealed victory with a hundred because he had scored three consecutive half-centuries in the series. West Indies needed a century from one of their batsmen and Sarwan did not throw it away after passing fifty. He started fluently, flicking and cutting Thushara to the boundary, and eventually hit him out of the attack by taking three fours - two straight drives and a leg glance - off his eighth over. Against Vaas, Sarwan stayed in his crease and gave himself time to drive the ball through the off side while his team-mates struggled on the front foot.

He was reprieved early in his innings by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who missed the stumps at the non-striker's end with Sarwan well short. Had he hit, one sensed that the chase would have been over, for apart from Sarwan's fluent innings the batsmen looked edgy. Even Chanderpaul had testing moments against Vaas, who caught the left-hander by surprise with a couple of deliveries that reared sharply off a good length.

The pair steered West Indies to 93 for 3 when rain forced the umpires to take an early lunch, giving Vaas and Muralitharan an hour to recharge. On resumption, they offered few scoring opportunities but Sarwan and Chanderpaul were up for the challenge. Chanderpaul concentrated on rotating the strike, often moving forward and across to work the ball through the leg side for singles and twos. He had a calming influence on Sarwan, who brought up his fifty with a slog-swept four followed by a cut towards point, and talked him through lapses in concentration such as a slash past the slips off Amerasinghe.

Sarwan used the cut effectively against the fast bowlers, forcing Mahela Jayawardene to put a fielder on the point boundary and successfully negotiated the threat posed by Muralitharan; he consistently worked him for ones and twos and occasionally moved out of his crease to hit him over midwicket or drive him straight down the ground. Sarwan was more positive as he moved towards his hundred, swatting Thushara twice from outside off stump to the wide mid-on boundary and the Trinidad crowd grew louder as they sensed a West Indian win.

A significant psychological barrier was crossed when Chanderpaul drove a full toss from Amerasinghe to the cover boundary to bring the runs required below 100. Another shower made the players take tea early, with Sarwan on 95, but when play resumed he reached his tenth Test hundred by sweeping Muralitharan to the long-leg boundary. By then, Chanderpaul was doing most of the scoring, repeatedly cutting and driving Vaas and Amerasinghe through the off side. Sarwan was eventually caught at bat-pad off Muralitharan for 102 but, with only 23 to get, the match was nearly won.

The game looked like it would be a lot closer during the morning session when West Indies' openers, Chris Gayle and Sewnarine Chattergoon, began tentatively. West Indies lost Gayle on 23 when he tried to slog Thushara. The ball moved away from him and the outside edge flew over point where Dilshan ran backwards to take the catch. Chattergoon fell in the next over, misjudging the line of a straighter one from Vaas and was trapped plumb in front.

At 24 for 2, Marlon Samuels joined Sarwan and they added 49, although Samuels looked out of sorts. He moved too far across his stumps against Vaas and survived several lbw shouts when the ball swung back and hit his pads. He eventually spooned a slower one to Malinda Warnapura at point. The match was in the balance at 73 for 3 but the three-hour partnership between Sarwan and Chanderpaul shut Sri Lanka out of the contest.

RESULTS OF BAHARAIN GP

Results of Bahrain Grand Prix after 57 laps of Sakhir circuit on 6 April, 2008:

1 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one hour 31 minutes 6.970 seconds
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +3.339 secs
3 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber +4.998
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber +8.409
5 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +26.789
6 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +41.314
7 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +45.473
8 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota +55.889
9 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota +1:09.500
10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault +1:17.181
11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda +1:17.862
12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari one lap behind
13 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one lap
14 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota one lap
15 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari one lap
16 Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri-Honda one lap
17 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda one lap
18 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault one lap
19 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari two laps
R Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 40 laps completed
R Jenson Button (GB) Honda 19 laps
R Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 laps

Fastest lap: Kovalainen, 1:33.193, lap 49.

Formula One: Massa wins in Bahrain

Sunday April 06, 2008
BAHRAIN - Felipe Massa proved himself a contender for world title glory this season on a day when Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso seemingly resumed their bitter rivalry.

Massa cruised to victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, taking the chequered flag for the first time since last August's race in Turkey, and the sixth of his career.

Despite Poland's Robert Kubica starting on pole for the first time in his Formula One career, the BMW Sauber driver was unable to prevent a Ferrari one-two.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen captured second to sweep to the top of the leaderboard by three points from Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber, with the Finn on the podium for the 50th time in his career.

The bulk of the drama, though, unfolded once the five red lights disappeared to signal the start of the 57-lap race at the Sakhir circuit.

Hamilton, who came into the race with a three-point cushion in the drivers' standings but now trails Raikkonen by five, appeared to temporarily stall.

That forced McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen into a swerving manoeuvre around Hamilton's seemingly stricken car.

But then the 23-year-old finally pulled away, finding himself amongst the mid-field runners heading into turn one and around the first lap, by the end of which he was running ninth.

Immediately ahead of the Briton was bitter rival Alonso, with no love lost between the duo following their feud last season when they were both at McLaren.

On lap two Alonso appeared to ease off the accelerator for a split second.

But that was enough for Hamilton to run into the back of two-time world champion Alonso, losing his nose cone in the process, while the Spaniard also damaged his rear-end plate.

Hamilton then struggled for the remainder of the lap to return to the pits for a new nose, following which he dropped to 19th.

That was due to Sebastian Vettel retiring on the first lap after he was shunted from behind, while in a disastrous day for the Brits, David Coulthard and Jenson Button suffered early punctures.

The Red Bull and Honda duo, running at the back of the field in the wake of their trouble, then came together on lap 19.

Button tried to dive down the inside of Coulthard, but succeeded to only remove his front nose cone, forcing him out of the grand prix.

For the remainder of the race, Hamilton was unable to make severe inroads into the field ahead of him and could only finish 13th as it appeared his car had suffered more damage than merely to its nose.

Out in front, the Ferraris were in a class of their own after the 26-year-old Massa succeeded in overtaking Kubica on the run down to the first corner.

In a wheel-to-wheel battle on lap two, Raikkonen also claimed the Pole, and from that point on it was a relative procession.

But unlike in Malaysia a fortnight ago when Raikkonen took the win as he blasted past Massa in the first round of pit stops, the Finn was unable to make any impression on this occasion.

For Massa, it was his second successive victory on this circuit, and after all the speculation about his future in the wake of his poor start to the season, he is up and running and in the picture.

Kubica held onto third for the remainder of the race from team-mate Nick Heidfeld, and with the 11 points from the duo it means BMW Sauber lead the constructors' championship for the first time in their history.

The team hold a one-point lead over Ferrari and two to McLaren, who barely salvaged a miserable day with Kovalainen's fifth place.

Jarno Trulli in his Toyota was sixth, followed by the Red Bull of Mark Webber for a second successive seventh place, with Williams' Nico Rosberg taking a point for eighth place.

UNITED 2-2 BORO

Barclays Premier League
The Riverside Stadium, Sun 6 April

MIDDLESBROUGH
Alves 35, 55

MANCHESTER UNITED
Ronaldo 10, Rooney 74
06/04/2008 12:24, Report by James Tuck
Report: Boro 2 United 2

Wayne Rooney rescued a point for United after Afonso Alves' double had looked set to give Middlesbrough a shock win at a wintry Riverside Stadium.

Rooney converted from close range with 16 minutes left after good work by substitute Ji-sung Park to ensure the Reds extended their lead over Chelsea at the top of the table to three points.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 37th goal of the season had given United an early lead, but Alves produced two superb finishes in each half to put Boro in command in an end-to-end game.

United’s defence, shorn of Nemanja Vidic, was frequently made to look uncharacteristically shaky by a lively Boro outfit and only a series of last-ditch tackles prevented the Teessiders from extending their lead in the second half.

Rio Ferdinand came off with what looked like a leg injury with 20 minutes left and, although United also had chances to win it, Sir Alex Ferguson will perhaps settle for a point after a testing encounter in the driving north-east snow.

As so often this season, United began brightly and took the lead inside 10 minutes. Ryan Giggs, making his 750th United appearance, swung over a deep corner to Michael Carrick, who made space before firing the ball back across goal for Ronaldo to convert left-footed from close range.

It was the winger's 27th league goal of an extraordinary campaign and it looked set to give United

Manchester United reduce Roma to ruins

Oliver Kay in Rome

Sir Alex Ferguson headed back from Italy in high spirits after Manchester United’s outstanding 2-0 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg victory over AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium last night, his joy tempered only by an injury to Nemanja Vidic that will be assessed this morning. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scored United’s goals, putting them on course for a semi-final showdown with Barcelona, after Vidic twisted his left knee when falling awkwardly in the first half.

The Serbia defender joined his team-mates on the flight home in the early hours of this morning but he will be sent for a scan today, with the club’s medical staff concerned that he may have damaged ligaments. “We hope it’s a nerve injury and I pray it’s not serious because he is such a vital part of our team,” Ferguson said.

Even without Vidic, Ferguson’s team stood firm for the final hour as they underlined their status as favourites to lift the European Cup. Their record away from home in Europe had been questioned, not least by Daniele De Rossi, the Roma midfield player, but a disciplined performance rounded off by goals from their young superstars earned them their first victory on Italian or Spanish soil since February 2003.

Ronaldo’s remaining detractors were surely silenced by his 36th goal of a remarkable season, a brave header six minutes before half-time. Ronaldo had been subjected to some strong challenges, Christian Panucci catching him with a stray elbow in the first half, but once again he enjoyed the last word, putting United ahead when he rose to head home from Paul Scholes’s cross. Rooney scored from close range midway through the second half to give his team what is surely an unassailable lead for the second leg at Old Trafford next Wednesday.

“I think it’s an absolutely outstanding result for us,” Ferguson said. “We showed great discipline and composure on the ball. I don’t think Roma showed any real threat in the first half.

“Ronaldo’s goal changed the game. It was a fantastic header. After that we rode our luck for a period at the start of the second half, but I thought we deserved our win. It’s a fantastic result, but in football you can never take anything for granted.”

It was a “good header” and a “very good performance”, according to Ronaldo. He believes that United have a great chance of winning the tournament. “The team is playing fantastically,” he said. “It is more mature. The Champions League is different from the league. Manchester United want to win it this season.”

Equally satisfying was that last night’s game passed peacefully. There were some missiles thrown between the rival supporters, but, with a heavy police presence inside and outside the stadium, there was no repeat of the ugly scenes that accompanied the clubs’ meetings last season.

Barcelona lie in wait for United in the last four, Bojan Krkic, their outstanding 17-year-old forward, scoring in a 1-0 win away to Schalke 04. That would mean United returning to the Nou Camp, the scene of their dramatic victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 final, but Ferguson will not allow his players to look beyond their Barclays Premier League match away to Middlesbrough on Sunday as they continue their quest for glory on the domestic and European fronts.

ROONEY AT HIS BEST

Rooney: It's Like Playing For Brazil

Wayne Rooney is living his boyhood dream by playing in the current Manchester United side.

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Having grown up being enthralled by footage of Brazil's national team in their pomp, Wayne Rooney reckons he is now living the dream by playing attacking football with Manchester United in a similar free-flowing style.

As United head for Rome buoyed by their impressive 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Saturday in what was one of their best performances of the season, Rooney told BBC Sport:

"To be at this club, with the football we play at times, is brilliant. It's something every player would want to be a part of.

"It's brilliant. Growing up I used to love watching Brazil. The football we play in this team is similar to the way Brazil play. It's an honour to be in this team."

For Rooney himself, scoring against Villa was poarticularly welcome. He netted twice to end a six-match run without a goal for United. Remarkably too, they were his first League goals at Old Trafford since 27th October, when United beat Middlesbrough 4-1.

The England striker said: "I was pleased to score, but I know I've been playing well and the main thing is that we've been playing well as a team and winning."

He also told MUTV: "It's been a bit frustrating in the last few weeks.

"I had a chance just before I scored that I missed. I should have scored, and I felt like I wasn't going to score again. But I was delighted to get two goals in the end."

"It was a good game for us," he added. "Coming after international matches, it can be tricky. But we got two goals in the first half which settled us down, and then we got two more in the second half. It was a good performance all-round and a well-deserved win.

"Each game we get closer [to retaining the Premier League crown]. But we have to keep playing our game and picking up the wins in every game. If we do that, that will hopefully see us through."

The next objective though is to defeat Roma in the Champions League. Rooney said: "Roma is going to be a massive game for us and we prepared the right way with the win against Villa."

CRICKET

Cricket: Sehwag becomes top ranking India batsman

It has been a great month for Virender Sehwag. (Action Images / Mick Tsikas)

Monday March 31, 2008
DUBAI (ICC) - Master blaster Virender Sehwag, who made 319 in the drawn Test with South Africa in Chennai has become the top ranked India batsman in the latest LG ICC Test Rankings.

Sehwag, whose triple ton was the fastest in Test history in 278 balls, leaps 13 places to 12th spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsman after a massive 17 per cent rise in his rating following his breathtaking batting display.

Sehwag’s ranking is his highest in two years while in 2004, the 29-year-old from New Delhi had jumped to second place behind team-mate Rahul Dravid.

On current form, Sehwag has a realistic chance of returning to the top 10. He is within touching distance of 10th place Kevin Pietersen of England who is just behind ninth-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies.

Sehwag has leapfrogged Dravid, who himself rises two places to 13th spot following his 25th Test century, Sachin Tendulkar, who drops three places to 15th position after a fifth-ball duck, and VVS Laxman, down one place to 18th spot.

Besides Sehwag, South Africa’s batting duo of Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have also made significant upward movement.

Amla, who made scores of 159 and 81, rockets up 10 places to a career-best 24th spot while McKenzie, who contributed 94 and 155 not out, jumps 26 places to 36th position. It is McKenzie’s first time in the top 40 in four years.

Jacques Kallis, however, continues his slide in the rankings as he slips another place to drop to fourth behind Australia’s Ricky Ponting, while captain Graeme Smith falls two places to 16th position.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, South Africa’s Dale Steyn took 4-103 to stay within touching distance of Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralitharan who still leads the list.

India’s Harbhajan Singh has climbed four places to 24th position after match figures of 8-265. The 28-year-old stands a good chance of returning to top 20 as only 25 ratings points separates him from James Franklin of New Zealand, who occupies that 20th place.

The LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Kallis but he is on the verge of dropping below the 500-point mark after conceding 23 ratings points from the Chennai Test.

Irfan Pathan is the highest ranked India all-rounder in seventh place while captain Anil Kumble is in 10th position.

league table 4 this week

Clubs	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Man Utd	32	24	4	4	68	15	53	76
Chelsea	32	21	8	3	56	23	33	71
Arsenal	32	20	10	2	62	26	36	70
Liverpool	32	17	11	4	56	24	32	62
Everton	32	17	6	9	48	27	21	57
Portsmouth	32	15	8	9	46	33	13	53
Blackburn	32	13	11	8	42	38	4	50
Aston Villa	32	13	10	9	52	44	8	49
Man City	32	13	10	9	37	37	0	49
West Ham	32	12	8	12	35	39	-4	44
Tottenham	32	10	9	13	61	55	6	39
Newcastle	32	9	8	15	37	58	-21	35
Middlesbrough	32	8	10	14	28	45	-17	34
Sunderland	32	9	6	17	29	49	-20	33
Reading	32	9	5	18	37	58	-21	32
Wigan	32	8	7	17	28	47	-19	31
Birmingham	32	7	9	16	38	49	-11	30
Bolton	32	6	8	18	30	48	-18	26
Fulham	32	4	12	16	29	53	-24	24
Derby	32	1	8	23	16	67	-51	11

EPL STANDINGS

Clubs	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
Man Utd	31	23	4	4	64	15	49	73
Chelsea	31	20	8	3	55	23	32	68
Arsenal	31	19	10	2	59	24	35	67
Liverpool	31	16	11	4	55	24	31	59
Everton	31	17	6	8	48	26	22	57
Portsmouth	31	14	8	9	44	33	11	50
Aston Villa	31	13	10	8	52	40	12	49
Blackburn	31	13	10	8	42	38	4	49
Man City	31	13	10	8	36	34	2	49
West Ham	31	12	8	11	34	37	-3	44
Tottenham	31	10	9	12	60	51	9	39
Middlesbrough	31	8	10	13	28	44	-16	34
Newcastle	31	8	8	15	33	57	-24	32
Wigan	31	8	7	16	28	45	-17	31
Reading	31	9	4	18	37	58	-21	31
Sunderland	31	8	6	17	27	48	-21	30
Birmingham	31	6	9	16	35	48	-13	27
Bolton	31	6	8	17	28	45	-17	26
Fulham	31	4	11	16	27	51	-24	23
Derby	31	1	7	23	14	65	-51	10