The skipper hit run-a-ball 83 under troubling circumstances to help the tourists manage 233-7 before a mighty Pakistani bowling attack bundled the hosts out for 135 in 39.4overs.

Pacer Junaid Khan was the chief-in-destroyer of minnows’ batting line with the figures of 3-19. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal conceded 25 runs for as many wickets.

Reaching 52-1 in thanks to the levelheaded batting display from Kyle Coetzer (32) and Josh Davey (20) after the cheap dismissal of Neil Carter, the hosts might had been dreaming about a famous upset but Pakistan made a remarkable comeback to shatter their hopes.

The hosts failed to recover after the dismissal of Coetzer and Davey in successive overs and crumbled. None of their other batsman failed to demonstrate resistance.

Ehsan Adil triggered the Scottish collapse by scalping the crucial wicket of Davey, edging him behind the stumps to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal before Mohammad Hafeez dismissed Coetzer in the similar fashion.

Moneeb Iqbal suspended the tumble of wickets for six overs before eventually getting run-out while taking a risky single. Ajmal further extended the Scottish misery by removing Preston Mommsen (15), Richard Berrington (10) in his alternate overs.

Junaid snared David Murphy (7) and Majid Haq (0) leg-before on successive deliveries to put hosts at the verge of victory before Ajmal scalped Robert Taylor in the similar fashion to wrap the things up.

Earlier, Imran Farhat (49) and Nasir Jamshed (20) got Pakistan off to a steady start and shared 50 runs for the first wicket before latter perished to Taylor. Mohammad Hafeez (18) failed to snap up his run dearth in competitive cricket and departed to pavilion, holing out an easy catch to Davey off Majid Haq at covers.

Pakistan’s troubles further increased when Asad Shafiq (7) and Farhat, who managed five fours in his 73-ball vigil, departed in five balls.

This time Misbah came to rescue the innings and steadied the ship with his classical temperament. The hosts, however, continued to enjoy the flurry of wickets on the other end.

Umar Amin (3) and Kamran Akmal (12) failed to develop a strong association with Misbah before skipper found an able ally in Ajmal (28).

The couple stitched up 51 runs for the seventh wicket before Iain Wardlaw uprooted the stumps of Ajmal.  Misbah’s knock was studded with three boundaries and two sixes.

The second and final ODI between the two sides will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

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The three players, all of whom are bowlers, were alleged of fulfilling promises they made to alleged bookmakers for money, ranging from US$36,000 to 109,000 for each over.

At least a dozen bookies have also been arrested. Police said one of the middlemen is a close friend of Sreesanth. All the detained persons where produced before a local court in evening with black masks on face and have been handed over to police on five-day transit remand.

Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar presented a comprehensive explanation of its probe, which got underway early last month, but said there are not evidence of the involvement of other players, team owner or administrators in the scam.

The case has been lodged against the players and bookies under the section of 120B and section 420 of Indian Panel Code which deal with cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy.

Sreesanth, who represented India in 53 ODIs, 27 Tests before being sidelined from national setup two years ago, was detained from Carter Road in Bandra, Chavan was arrested from the Royals team in Mumbai while Chandila was nabbed outside a hotel where an alleged bookie was staying.

Police said they have identified three matches where the alleged fixing happened – against Pune Warriors (May 5), Kings XI Punjab (May 9) and Mumbai Indians (May 15), adding the deal was to give specified number of runs in a predetermined over.

Kumar hinted the association of overseas gamblers in the scam but refused to name anybody.

Earlier, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also suspended trio players following a meeting of IPL governing body.

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Daily Mail suggested that the 71-year-old Scot will make the announcement ahead of Man United’s clash against Swansea at Old Trafford on Sunday. The news, however, hasn’t been confirmed or denied by the club’s press-club.

Health is considered as the primary reason behind Ferguson’s potential retirement decision. On Friday club confirmed that the Scot, who had a heart pacemaker fitted nine years ago, would undergo hip surgery in August, two weeks before the commencement of the new season.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, who is likely to become available this summer, is expected to be the frontrunner for Ferguson’s successor. Some others believe that Everton manager David Moyes could fill the void when Scot leaves.

Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in English football history. He led Man United to thirteen Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two Champions League titles.

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Apart from them four other players, top-order batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and pace duo Ashok Dinda and Shami Ahmed, who were the part of India’s squad for the home ODI series against England in January, have been left out.

Dinesh Karthik, who last played an ODI almost three years ago, made a comeback to the squad while pacer Umesh Yadav has also succeeded to find room after recovering from injury.

 All-rounder Irfan Pathan, seamer Vinay Kumar also found their name in the 15-man list, which also feature Shikhar Dhawan, who grabbed the limelight in the Test series against Australia by hitting the quickest ever debutant ton and the dazzling run in the on going Indian Premier League.

Gambhir and Yuvraj both look lackluster in the ODI series against England, in which the former could manage to score 127 in the five matches. Yuvraj has managed to hit just one half-century in eight ODIs since making a comeback to the team after defeating the lung-cancer.

The selectors continued to overlook Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan, putting their international careers in jeopardy.

India, who have been placed in Group B, will take on South Africa in the tournament opener on Cardiff on June 6 before coming head-to-head against West Indies on June 11 at London. They will play their last league match against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 15 at Birmingham.

India Squad:

MS Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik (wk), M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar

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Afridi was following his string of below-par performances with ball during the South Africa tour earlier this year, in which he failed to claim a single wicket despite of bowling 37 overs, though he scored 126 runs in four innings.

Since the commencement of last year, Afridi has managed to take on 15 wickets in 21 ODIs, five of those came against Afghanistan. His batting average during this period was just 19. Following his consistent failures in was also left out for the India tour in December-January.

Though many believe that the dumping for second imperative series inside five months has put his career in jeopardy but the all-rounder dispelled the idea, saying still has a lot of cricket left in him.

“The decision to drop me from the side is taken by the captain (Misbah-ul-Haq),” Afridi told the Daily Jang. “It isn’t a big thing if the captain does not want a player but in cricket, being in and out is a one-off thing. It happens and I will soon come back.

“I am still better than most. I know I have ample cricket left in me and I can represent Pakistan for the next few years. Players usually get dropped but I appeal to my fans to pray for me.”

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Pacers Asad Ali and Ehsan Adil, and the batsman Umar Amin have been picked. All of them weren’t the selected for South Africa tour earlier this year. Asad is yet to make his international debut while Amin has played three ODIs and four Tests.

Pace Umar Gul was already been ruled out of the tournament which means that Junaid Khan will spearhead the pace attack.

Afridi was axed in the wake of his poor form with ball during the South Africa tour. He was also left out for the India tour in December-January. Though the omission from two imperative series in five months have raised question mark on his future but chief selector Iqbal Qasim insisted that the doors are team are not closed for all-rounder and he can make a comeback by rediscovering his form in domestic circuit.

“Afridi had been selected as a bowling allrounder but he was not up to the mark and couldn’t score at crucial occasions so we had to left him out,” said Qasim.

“His career is not finished, if he performs at domestic level, he can stage a comeback. He is an asset to Pakistan, and as long as a player is performing he keeps on playing, if he doesn’t perform he goes out of the team.”

Though Afridi convinced with bat in South Africa ODI series and scored 126 runs in four innings at an average of 31 but he failed to claim a wicket despite of bowling 37 overs.

Pacer Wahab Riaz has been retained despite of below-par performance in South Africa.

Pakistan will play two matches in Scotland on May 17 and 19 and as many games in Ireland on May 23 and 26 before heading to The Oval and taking on West Indies in their tournament opener on June 7.

Squad:

Misbah ul Haq (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Asad Ali, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Amin, Shoaib Malik, Ehsan Adil, Saeed Ajmal.

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According to sources the committee took the decision to drop Afridi with the consent of team management.

The final team is expected to be announced today after the approval of board chairman Zaka Ashraf, however, due to team manager Intikhab Alam’s busyness in fast bowling camp in Karachi, the announcement could be delayed till tomorrow.

The insiders have said that probable likely to be comprised of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Imran Farhat, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Shoaib Malik, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil and Aizaz Cheema.

Pakistan will play two matches in Scotland on May 17 and 19 and as many games in Ireland on May 23 and 26 before heading to The Oval and taking on West Indies in their tournament opener on June 7.

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He sustained the injury during last month’s one-day international series against South Africa and has been sidelined since. He also missed the ongoing President’s Cup domestic one-day tournament for Habib Hank Limited.

The 29-year-old will undergo knife early next month in Melbourne.

Pakistan will play two ODIs against Scotland at Edinburgh on May 17 and 19 and two ODIs against Ireland at Dublin on May 23 and 26 before heading to England and taking on West Indies in their tournament opener at Birmingham on June 10.

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Felling two goals down early on in the second half, Rafael Benitez’s side seemed in tatters of a humiliating loss, but they made a phenomenal comeback later on and managed to reduce the deficit.

Costel Pantilimon’s great saves, however, shattered Chelsea’s hopes to win the competition for the fourth time in six years last season. They were unconquered in normal time in a tie for 29 games, with last defeat coming against Barnsley in Quarter Final five years ago.

The results means that the Benitez only has one more trophy to go for, the Europa League, before the conclusion of his contract.

Manchester City will be the hot favourites when they will take on Wigan in the final next month.

It seemed that Chelsea didn’t have the tempo left in them sustain astounding run going for the first hour as they had no answer to the cleverness of City, who are all set to chase their third trophy in as many seasons.

Chelsea’s two veteran campaigners Frank Lampard and John Terry, both of whom were present in their four FA Cup victories in last six years, were left bout by Benitez on the bench.

Since the beginning of his career with Chelsea, it was first occasion that Lampard didn’t kicked-off at Wembley.

The brawniness of Yaya Toure proved the main difference between the two teams once again. He set up the first goal in 35^th minute as the men in blue move him away amid scare.

Samir Nasri swept ball past Cech, but he had the rub of the green going in his favour as ball the back to his feet after his tried give the pass back to Sergio Aguero rebounded back from Cesar Azpilicueta on his way.

After Nasri’s goal, City squandered several categorical chances to scotch the game, though it looked like they had done that just after the recommencement when Aguero headed in cross of Gareth Barry.

Benitez’s decision to bring Fernando Torres on for John Obi Mikel in 66th minute changed the complexion of game; they had a goal back within seconds.

Capitalizing City bewilderment in presence of two strikers, Demba Ba hit David Luiz’s long ball into the goalpost.

The goal revitalized Chelsea and they made a flurry of attacks on City’s net but Pantilimon’s promptness evaded their all attempts to level the game.

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Faisalabad Wolves to represent Pakistan in this year’s Champions League T20

Pakistan’s domestic champion Faisalabad Wolves will represent Pakistan in the fifth edition of Champions League Twenty20, scheduled to be run from September 17 to October 6.

The Misbah-ul-Haq led Faisalabad Wolves, which recently won Fasyal Bank Super Eight T-20 Cup, will have to play qualifying round to get entry into the main draw of lucrative club-cricket tournament.

New Zealand’s domestic T20 champion Otago Volts, the fourth ranked team of ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and the winners of Sri Lankan Premier League scheduled to be held in August this year, are the other teams who have to play qualifying round.

Top two qualifying sides will qualify join eight others, who have been divided into two groups, into the main draw.  In total there will be 29 matches will be played in the tournament.

Sialkot Stallions had represented Pakistan in the last edition of tournament held in South Africa, though their journey ended in the qualifying round.

There will be no team from England will be featuring in the tournament this year, instead West Indian domestic champions, who had to play Qualifiers in the last two edition of tournament, will get direct entry into the main draw.

Trinidad & Tobago’s convincing performance in the event in the previous seasons, opened the doors for them to the mainstream tournament. They were runners-up in the integral edition of tournament in 2009 but had to play the qualifying round in 2011 and 2012.

Group A: IPL 1st ranked team (India), Highveld Lions (South Africa), Perth Scorchers (Australia), IPL 3rd ranked team (India), Q1 (Qualifier)

Group B: IPL 2nd ranked team (India), Titans (South Africa), Brisbane Heat (Australia), Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies), Q2 (Qualifier)

Qualifier: IPL 4th ranked team (India), Otago Volts (New Zealand), Sri Lanka qualifier, Faisalabad Wolves (Pakistan)

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