Man United on brink of 18th English title

Manchester United moved to within a point of a third consecutive Premier League title with a 2-1 comeback win over Steve Bruce's Wigan on Wednesday.

Second-half goals from inspirational substitute Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick overturned a first-half opener from the home side's Hugo Rodallega, meaning United will win their 18th English title if they take a point from either of their two remaining matches, against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday or away to Hull on May 24.

But they know they almost suffered a serious setback at the JJB Stadium as they came up against a spirited and well-drilled Wigan side who attacked at every opportunity. Wigan had not won in six matches going into this encounter but were a comfortable - if not surprising - match for the visitors throughout and were the first to go forward after just 90 seconds.

Colombian Rodallega headed a throw-in over United's Jonny Evans which allowed Antonio Valencia to then skip past Nemanja Vidic. He sped into the box unmarked but shot wide from a good position after Vidic had managed to sprint back and put him off. United seemed sluggish early on but finally ignited in the 10th minute when they could have scored twice in less than 60 seconds.

Following some superbly fluent passing, Dimitar Berbatov crossed from the right byline but Wayne Rooney could not steer his header on target despite being completely unmarked four metres out.

Within a minute of that action, some slick one-touch football between Rooney, Paul Scholes and Berbatov helped to release Cristiano Ronaldo down the right and his incisive pass back inside was met by Carrick but he shot over.

Valencia then had another fine opportunity courtesy of a free-kick on the edge of the box and although his curling effort was heading for the top corner, United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar managed to punch it clear at full stretch. Any United fans believing Wigan would merely lie-down were in for a disappointment and Wigan proved that on 28 minutes as they took the lead.

Lee Cattermole launched the ball into the United penalty area where Rodallega challenged Vidic in the air and after the Serbian defender slipped, the ball fell for the Wigan frontman who slotted comfortably past van der Sar.

Just before half-time, United strung together another sequence of fine passes until the ball finally worked its way to Rooney inside the box but with only goalkeeper Richard Kingson to beat, Rooney smashed the ball well over the crossbar.

Wigan then emulated the visitors by moving the ball from one of the field to the other thanks to link-up play by Cattermole and Charles N'Zogbia but Rodallega could not make the move pay off as he finally shot wide.

The match kept up its breathless pace after the interval with Rooney believing he was due a penalty following a sliding challenge from Paul Scharner close to the penalty spot but his claims were waved away.

Tevez then replaced Andersen after 58 minutes and within three minutes of his introduction, the striker made the crucial intervention that United were looking for. Carrick hit a poor shot across the box which was going comfortably wide until Tevez managed to cleverly backheel the ball in the opposite direction, leaving Kingson little chance.

A draw looked the more likely prospect but United are justifiably renowned for their ability to turn matches late on and so it proved again. With just three minutes remaining, John O'Shea passed to Carrick on the edge of the box and he struck a controlled left-foot drive into the top corner for an emphatic winner.

Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by 8 wickets

The VIP boxes at Supersport Park gave an exact picture of what happened on the field in the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Mumbai Indians' Dwayne Bravo plays a shot against Kings XI Punjab in Centurion.

Scorecard

The blue flags were all over the place, the red and white ones slowly kept disappearing. Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani sat in the dugout celebrating through the evening while Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, co-owners of Kings XI, were hardly noticed anywhere around.

It was a crucial encounter here that went in favour of Mumbai easily as West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo smashed a sizzling half-century to help his side easily chase a mere 120 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar’s team won the match by eight wickets, thus climbing up the points table to share the fourth spot with Team Jaipur. Yuvraj Singh’s team, on the other hand, had only themselves to blame for a poor display batting first, going down to the sixth spot in the rankings.

The last time these two teams met in this tournament, on April 29, Kings XI had scored exactly the same total as they did on Tuesday - 119 - and still won by three runs in a scintillating encounter.

On Tuesday though, Bravo had other ideas and he spelt it out for all those who were expecting the Kings to get lucky again. The right-hander clubbed seven fours and three sixes in his knock of 70 and remained unbeaten as Mumbai romped home.

Federer opens at Madrid with victory

Roger Federer began his final warmup for the French Open with a convincing 6-1, 7-5 win over Robin Soderling at the Madrid Open on Tuesday, while new No. 3 Andy Murray scored a tough 7-6 (9), 6-4 win against Simone Bolelli.

The Swiss star hit 24 winners and took advantage of the Swedish player's 25 unforced errors to capture four break points. Federer fired down 11 aces, including on the final point to clinch his place in the third round.

"It's about playing well and getting ready for Paris," said Federer, who has lost to Rafael Nadal in his last three trips to Roland Garros. "It's good to get the first match." Federer, who had a bye for the first round, could lose his No. 2 position in the rankings to Murray without a good showing at the joint ATP and WTA event.

Bolelli hit 30 winners to Murray's 22, but the 61st-ranked Italian also had 50 unforced errors, including a forehand long to give Murray the first set tiebreaker after 1 hour, 17 minutes.

Murray, the defending champion, clinched the win with the only break of the match in the final game when Bolelli netted a forehand. Murray will next play No. 16 Tommy Robredo after the Spaniard rallied to defeat Mardy Fish of the United States 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Earlier, Ivan Ljubicic scored the first upset after beating ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-5.

The Croatian wildcard broke ninth-ranked Tsonga three times, with two of those coming in the second set when Ljubicic rallied from 5-2 down to take it. Madrid's conversion from a fast-playing hardcourt to a clay surface looked to benefit 14th-seeded James Blake, who beat Romania's Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-4 for his first victory in the Spanish capital after six appearances.

Hanescu hit 27 unforced errors with most coming on his second serve where he scored only six of 18 points and hit three double faults. The 16th-ranked American player seemed to carry over his good form from Sunday's Estoril Open final loss.

"I just started playing my game instead of just trying to be a clay courter," said Blake, who will face another big-serving opponent in Ivo Karlovic next with the winner playing Federer. "I've got to play my style and play aggressive when I get the chance."

Other seeded players to advance included No. 7 Fernando Verdasco, No. 10 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 13 Marin Cilic, while Italian pair Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini plus Tomas Berdych also won.

On the women's side, fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic overcame a stubborn challenge from Daniela Hantuchova to win 7-5, 6-2. The fourth-ranked Serb got off to a slow start with Hantuchova slapping a forehand wide down the line as Jankovic broke to even the first set at 5-5. Jankovic took the first set when the 39th-ranked Slovakian netted.

Jankovic then broke Hantuchova early in the second frame but couldn't shake her opponent, who couldn't convert any of her seven break chances in the second set. Jankovic broke Hantuchova five times in the match to set up a third round match with Elena Vesnina of Russia.

Ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to play either Venus Williams or Alisa Kleybanova, while France's Amelie Mauresmo will play third-seeded Elena Dementieva after a 6-2, 7-5 win over China's Jie Zheng.

Italy's Francesca Schiavone, Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Russia's Vera Dushevina were also winners on Tuesday.

India out of semi-final race in Asia Cup

Needing an outright win to book a place in the semi-finals, India squandered a two-goal lead and settled for a 2-2 draw against China to see their title defence go up in smoke in the Asia Cup tournament on Tuesday.

Skipper Sandeep Singh (31st, 34th minutes) converted two of India's four penalty corners to put the side ahead but the Indian defence crumbled at crucial junctures to allow China escape with a draw.

For China, Lu Feng Hui (45th) and Yu Yang (59th) sounded the boards. India were beaten 2-3 by Pakistan in their tournament opener. China's tenacity and their ability to slow the pace of the game won the day for them against an inconsistent Indian side which played well in patches.

The Indians wingers, especially Arjun Halappa, was impeccable with his crosses but the forward line, comprising Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh, was guilty of fumbling and mis-trapping the ball on a number of occasions.

However, Sandeep, who was off-colour in the first match against Pakistan, answered his critics in style, converting two short corners in a span of three minutes to see the defending champions go into the breather with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Sandeep opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a fierce drag-flick that beat the Chinese custodian hands down after Tushar Khandekar had earned India's first penalty corner. Three minutes later, he doubled the lead with another immaculate short corner conversion.

With a 2-0 cushion, the Indians came out all attacking in the second half but the strategy backfired as it created open spaces in the mid-field and the nimble-footed Chinese were quick to cash in on the opportunity with swift counter-attacks.

The Chinese, who spoilt India's medal hopes in 2006 Asian Games beating them 3-2, reduced the lead in the 45th minute when Hui found the net with an indirect variation from their first penalty corner.

But it was rival forward Yang who drove the final nail in India's coffin in the 59th minute with a delicate touch from a free hit following a costly defensive lapse. A desperate India worked hard for the elusive winner but the Chinese defence stood tall to thwart any threat to their place in the last four stage.

Just 50 seconds from the hooter, Sandeep did get an opportunity to seal the match and a semi-final place for India but this time his drag-flick was stopped by a diving Chinese goalkeeper Su Ri Feng to dash India's hopes.

Delhi Daredevils beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets

Delhi Daredevils thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets to win the 39th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Delhi achieved the victory target of 124 runs in 17.1 overs with AB de Villiers top scoring with an unbeaten 40 that came off 32 balls and was studded with 5 fours. Delhi leg-spinner Amit Mishra was adjudged the Man of the Match for taking 3 wickets. Dinesh Karthik too remained not out on a 22-ball 17.

Delhi Daredevils were 72/3 in 10 overs.

Delhi got off to a steady start with captain Gautam Gambhir and David Warner putting up a 53-run stand. Gambhir hit 3 fours in his 18-run knock that came off 24 balls before he edged a Moises Henriques delivery to point for Brad Hodge to take the catch. Warner hit a six and 5 fours in his 36-run knock off 23 balls before edging a Ishant Sharma delivery to keeper Morne van Wyk for the catch.

Three deliveries later, Ishant took his second wicket having Tillakaratne Dilshan(1) caught at fine leg by Henriques. Earlier, Sourav Ganguly and Ajit Agarkar came up with useful knocks as Kolkata Knight Riders scored 123/8 in 20 overs.

Ganguly, who came to open the innings with McCullum, hit 2 sixes and a four in his 45-ball 44, while Agarkar chipped in with a 39-run knock that came off 29 balls and was studded with 2 sixes and 3 fours to take Kolkata to a respectable total.

For Delhi, leg-spinner Amit Mishra took 3 wickets, while Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes took 2 wickets each.

Put in to bat, Kolkata got off to a poor start losing two wickets in the first over. Nehra was lucky to get a leg before decision in his favour to dismiss Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum (6) even though the ball was going over the stumps.

Three deliveries later, Nehra had Brad Hodge (0)caught at first slip by AB de Villiers to reduce Kolkata to 7/2. Nannes struck in the next over when Morne van Wyk (0) pulled to square leg for Rajat Bhatia to take the catch.

Mishra then struck twice in his first over to increase Kolkata's misery. He first had Yashpal Singh (13) caught by Bhatia at deep extra cover and three deliveries later, had Wriddhiman Saha (0) caught behind by Dinesh Karthik.

Nannes dismissed Ganguly by having him caught by David Warner at backward point, while Pradeep Sangwan had Agarkar caught by Mithun Manhas at mid-wicket on the last ball of the Kolkata innings.

Kolkata have replaced Ashok Dinda with debutant Sourav Sarkar, while Delhi are unchanged from their last match.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), David Warner, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Brendon McCullum (Capt.), Morne van Wyk, Brad Hodge, Moises Henriques, Sourav Ganguly, Yashpal Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Sourav Sarkar.

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