Kemar Roach Guided West Indies to a Commanding Win over Netherlands

Pacer Kemar Roach’s six wickets including a hat-trick guided West Indies to a 215-run victory in a group match of the World Cup Cricket 2011 in Delhi on Monday.

Winning the toss Netherlands sent West Indies to bat first. The Caribbean side put 330 runs on the scoreboard losing 8 wickets after 50 overs thanks to three half-centuries from Chris Gayle, Devon Smith and Kieron Pollard. In reply, Netherlands got all out for 115 runs after 31.3 overs with Roach finishing 6 for 27.

West Indies got a good start as the two openers- Smith and Gayle- brought 100 runs in the opening partnership. Gayle scored 80 runs, while Smith got out for 53. Pollard then played a blistering innings of 60 off just 27 balls, hitting five 4s and four 6s. Seelar took 3 wickets for the Dutch side.

Except Tom Cooper, who scored 55 off 72 balls, no other Canadian batsmen showed any resistance against the Caribbean bowlers. Besides Roach’s 6 wickets, Benn also picked up 3 wickets for West Indies.

Kemar Roach got the man of the match award for his match winning bowling performance.

Manchester City Facing Injury Scarce ahead of Aston Villa Match

Manchester City is going through a serious injury crisis at this busy phase of the season with their treatment room getting crowed after every week. They have some important matches ahead of them with the FA Cup fifth round tie with Aston Villa coming up this Wednesday.

Roberto Mancini’s side is currently missing a number of first team players and has only a handful of players to choose from. Naturally, this is creating more pressure on the fit players, and thus, making them vulnerable for falling in injury.

Mancini confirmed that winger Adam Johnson, who injured himself during a practice session in January, would require another month to get back in action. No doubt, it is a big blow for City who sorely felt the midfielder’s absence over the last one month.

After Sunday’s 1-1 draw with mid-table club Fulham, City now has 50 points from 28 matches and is still at the third place with 50 points from 28 matches. However, they have further fell behind Manchester United and Arsenal with fourth-placed Chelsea breathing on their neck. Chelsea is just 3 points adrift of City with a match in hand.

Manchester City owner splashed the cash over the last few transfer windows to strengthen the squad, but it seems their trophy-drought era spanning 35 years would be further extended as they have kept losing important players to injuries week after week.

Ahead of Aston Villa clash, Manchester City is missing David Silva, who is plagued by a recurring ankle problem, Micah Richards, Nigel de Jong and reserve goalkeeper Shay Given. Defender Vincent Kompany is doubtful for the Villa match and Shaun Wright-Phillips is not full-fit either. James Milner’s involvement in the match is also doubtful as the English international is current getting over from hamstring injury.

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Guardian

Zimbabwe Defeated Canada by 175 Runs in World Cup Cricket 2011

Zimbabwe clinched a 175-run victory over Canada today at Nagpur in India in a group A match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011. Batting first, Zimbabwe scored 298 runs losing 9 wickets after 50 overs. In reply, Canada got all out only for 123 runs after 42.1 overs.

Zimbabwe did not have a good start as they lost 2 wickets at 7, but Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine led Zimbabwe towards a big total, adding 181 runs for the third wicket. Taibu fell just 2 short of his hundred off Balaji Rao and Ervine scored 85 runs. After that Williams’ 30, Cremer’s 26 and Utseya’s 22 guided Zimbabwe to 298 runs. Balaji Rao picked up 4 wickets for Canada.

Chasing big total, Canadian batsmen could not show any resistance against the Zimbabwean bowlers. Gunasekera’s 24 was the highest score in Canada’s innings. Raymond Price and Graeme Cremer shared 3 wickets each for Zimbabwe.

Tatenda Taibu was adjudged man of the match for his match winning innings.

Arsenal Linked with £20m Pepe Reina?

Reports out in the media suggest that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would try to sign Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the Summer transfer window. Wenger was in the lookout for a reliable custodian last summer too and was very close to signing Mark Schwarzer from Fulham.

Arsenal has already used three keepers this season and it seems their goalkepping problem is yet to be solved. Young Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny looked to be a long-term solution in this cause. However, his involvement in the defensive lapse that resulted into Birmingham’s second and winning goal during Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Birmingham City in the Carling Cup Final 2011 on Sunday meant Arsenal’s search for a reliable custodian could be extended.

Pepe Reina is also reportedly interested to leave the Merseyside club sooner than later as the Spaniard looks to play in Champions League regularly. Moreover, Liverpool lost a number of Spanish players since the departure of manager Rafael Benitez and this could also prompt Reina to consider a move away from Liverpool.

According to reports out in the media, an offer around £20 million could be enough for Arsenal to convince Liverpool to let Reina come and join the North London club. However, nothing regarding this move has been said officially from Arsenal.

China will have 150 million 3G Internet users by the end of 2011

China introduced 3G network in May 2008 and after three years the country is seeing a major growth in the number of 3G users. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) there were more than 50 million 3G users in China and the ministry expects the number to grow up to 150 million by the end of 2011.

According to the statistics of China Mobile, the largest network carrier in the region, in January it had 22.6 million 3G users in January. The carrier is expected to active 12.2 million 3G cell phones this year. With the potential of mobile apps and app stores, the carrier also launched its own app store called Mobile Market.

China Unicom is reported to have 15.47 million 3G subscribers in January. On February 24, 2011, the carrier said that the number of its 3G subscribers increased by 27.6 percent to 2.34 million in January 2011 compared to December. It will also launch its new line of 3G cell phones called Wophone. The carrier will launch its own store on February 28, 2011. The apps would run on Google Android OS.

China Telecom, another Chinese telecom giant said that it will launch Apple iPhone 4 in the region and offer “customized services” to establish itself in the youth market. In January 2011, the carrier had 13.64 million 3G subscribers.

Related article:

China Daily

Winning Carling Cup: A Challenge for Arsenal

When Birmingham City is planning to celebrate the birthday of their owner Carson Yeung with a prestigious Carling Cup trophy, Arsenal is facing a challenge of putting an end to their trophy-draught era spanning almost half a decade. Arsenal players, officials and fans are eagerly waiting for their first major success since FA Cup 2005 when the Gunners face Premier League club Birmingham City on Sunday in the final of Carling Cup 2011.

Now, if this occasion is supposed to be the source of inspiration and motivation for the Arsene Wenger boys, then the absence of captain Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott- two of their most important players this season- is undoubtedly a major blow in their bid to winning the Carling Cup title at the Wembley Stadium.

The only good news for Arsenal is that Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny are available for the match after recovering their respective injuries that kept them on the sidelines since their Champions League victory over Barcelona.

It is true that Arsenal, even without Fabregas and Walcott, should be too good for Birmingham City who did not win any major trophy since 1963 League Cup (now also known as Carling Cup being named after the title sponsors). Arsenal has a number of talented players like Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin, Song, Wilshere and some others.

However, Wenger boys know it very well that Birmingham would do their best to cause an upset. In fact, for the Blues they have nothing to lose in this fixture, but have everything to win. Moreover, Birmingham owner Carson Yeung’s birthday would work as an added motivation for Birmingham City players. Overall, Arsenal is undoubtedly favorite in this encounter, but then Wenger boys have to put in all their efforts to nullify Birmingham’s chances in the match.

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NDTV Sports

Earning Money by Blogging is not Easy at All

I have been professionally blogging for the last 5 years and I have witnessed tremendous success and failures, ups and downs in the last 5 years. Now, after a long break of almost two years (mostly due to illness), I am trying to come back to the job earning money online through blogging. It is not that I have to start again from scratch but I am finding it difficult to start again.

I am finding again that it is difficult to get back good traffic for even one of my blogs. I am also worried about earning money. In fact, to some extend I feel helpless although having 5 years of experience. I have read vastly about blogging in the last 5 years.

Well, now, I realize that earning money by blogging is not easy at all but unless I try my best nothing will change and nothing will happen. So, I am going to be back to my full efforts from now. From the past experience, I know very well that it is better to try for just one blog instead of several blogs. So, I am going to try my best from now. 

No Worry for Indian Team for Virender Sehwag Injury ahead of England Match

Indian team is preparing to take on England in Bangalore this Sunday in their second match of the ongoing World Cup Cricket 2011. Today morning news surfaced in the Indian media suggest an injury for in-form Indian opener Virender Sehwag who played a magnificent innings of 175 runs in the opening match against Bangladesh. It appeared as a big cause of concern for the Indian cricket fans.

However, a BCCI press release, made public later on the day, assured Indian fans of Sehwag’s fitness. It reveals that Sehwag took a hit on his left ribcage while batting in the nets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday morning, but the injury was nothing serious and the player is now fit to play on Sunday.

This would really come as a big relief for the Indian supporters who are just expecting the hard-hitting opener to build on his innings against Bangladesh in the coming matches of the tournament. India is thought to be one of the hot favorites to the World Cup this time and Virender Sehwag is a vital member on this mission.

Cesc Fabregas Missing Action in the Carling Cup Final 2011

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will surely miss the Carling Cup Final 2011 against Birmingham City this Sunday at the Wembley Stadium. After being substituted in the 14th minute of the 1-0 win over Stoke City on Wednesday, the Spanish midfielder was assessed by club’s medical staff on Thursday and it was then confirmed he would have to sit out for the Carling Cup match which could have been his first final as Arsenal Captain.

In fact, Fabregas was reportedly urged Wenger to be part of the match, but the Arsenal manager did not want to take any risk on his most important player. Wenger said that his captain’s injury is a ‘very small one’ and he would like Fabregas to make a quick recovery ahead of a busy schedule including the Champions League second leg match at Barcelona.

Arsenal is also missing Theo Walcott as the in-form striker picked up a twisted ankle from the Stoke City match.

However, the good news is that Wenger would get the services of Dutch striker Robin van Persie. In fact, he would wear captain’s armband in the absence of Fabregas. He missed the last two matches with a minor hamstring injury, but the 27-year-old is now fully fit for the Birmingham City match.

Moreover, central defender Laurent Koscielny and midfielder Abou Diaby are also available for the Carling Cup final.

India Facing England on Sunday in World Cup 2011

After beating Bangladesh comfortably by 87 runs in the opening match of World Cup 2011, India is now going to face England on 27 February in their next match. India may have got off to a very good start to the tournament, but some of their weak points were exposed against a spirited Bangladesh side. So, the Men in Blue have no way to be relaxed, rather they are running against time to sort out those little but significant problems.

First of all, Indian bowlers conceded 283 runs to an under pressure side who were chasing a mammoth total of 371. Except Harbhajan and Munaf Patel, no other India bowler seemed to be a threat for the Bangladeshi batsmen.

Another thing is that Indian batsmen looked to be imbalanced while facing bounces or Yorkers, especially during the batting power play. I know some might try to prove me wrong by India’s huge total.

Well, you cannot just expect someone like Virender Sehwag to hit a big century everyday. In fact, Sehwag has managed only 14 centuries in his 229-match ODI career so far.

There is no doubt, India would start as favorite against England, but Dhoni’s men need to improve on these areas if they want to go far in this tournament.

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Cricket Next