FOOTBALL | Page 5 GOLF | Page 9 Tottenham Woods To Advertise here Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 drop points confi rms he is in race for not ready for EPL title the Masters Sunday, April 3, 2016 CRICKET Jumada II 25, 1437 AH Explosive Windies GULF TIMES face fearless England in World T20 fi nale SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL Sadd rally to down Sailiya By Sports Reporter After a few fruitless exchanges, Al gory Gomis at his mercy inside the box. Doha Sailiya stunned Al Sadd by taking the Sailiya soon doubled their lead when Al Sadd’s Hassan al-Haydos lead through a penalty that left Al Sadd Aaish found the back of the net for the is congratulated by Baghdad coach Jesualdo Ferrieira red-faced. Al second time from the penalty spot. The atar giants Al Sadd bounced Bounedjah after he scored the Sadd’s Pedro brought down Colom- penalty came after Aaish had clipped a back from a two-goal defi - first goal for his side against Al bian attacker Carlos Alberto and the in- pass to his player inside the box but Al cit to overcome Al Sailiya 3-2 Sailiya yesterday. fringement was enough for the referee to Sadd defender Pedro deliberately poked in their round 24 Qatar Stars point to the penalty spot. his elbow out to stop the ball. QLeague clash yesterday. Al Sailiya striker Aaish then calmly In injury time, Al Sadd reduced the After conceding two goals in the fi rst put the ball into the Al Sadd net as goal- defi cit after striker al-Haydoos chipped 44 minutes, Al Sadd probably played keeper Muhannad Naim Hussein dived the ball above the Al Sailiya goalkeeper their best football this season when they the wrong way to his right, giving his Gomis following a neat through ball. fi red three goals in the space of 25 min- side a 1-0 lead. Soon after the resumption, Al Sadd utes at the Al Ahli Stadium. In the 35th minute, Aaish unleashed drew level with Al Sailiya after Baghdad Faouzi Aaish (28 and 44) scored two a ferocious shot from the edge of the Bounjah nodded the ball into the back of goals for Al Sailiya but Al Sadd hit back box following a goalmouth melee, but the net, on 49th minute after being as- through Hassan al-Haydoos (46), Bagh- Al Sadd goalkeeper Hussein this time sisted by Xavi. dad Bounedjah (49) and Morteza Poura- punched the ball up in the air before Al Sadd pushed hard for a winner liganji (70) for their 13th win of the sea- pouching it safely. and took the lead for the fi rst time in son. Five minutes from the fi rst-half whis- the 70th minute. Captain Xavi curled in The game was a tight aff air and tle, Al Sailiya’s Omer Ibrahim Hamad a beautifully-taken corner kick which spruug into life in the 19th minute; Al wasted an easy opportunity when goal- was headed home by Morteza Pourali- Sailiya’s Abdulrahman al-Harazi curled keeper Hussein produced a well-timed ganji. Iranian international Pouraliganji in a beautiful shot from the edge of the body save. Just seconds later, Al Sadd’s celebrated the goal by running towards Al Sadd box but the swinging ball sailed Bounedjah failed to connect a pass with coach Ferrieira who sported a huge smile just over the crossbar. only Al Sailiya goalkeeper Gomis Gre- on the touchline. Gulf Times 2 Sunday, April 3, 2016 CRICKET PREVIEW/ BATTLE ROYALE Explosive Windies face fearless England in fi tting World Twenty20 fi nale For a group of players who nearly boycotted the event over a pay dispute with their board, Darren Sammy and his troops have waltzed into the final displaying all the Caribbean flair that has earned them global admiration England captain Eoin Morgan (C) plays a game of football with his teammates during a training session at the Eden Gardens cricket stadium in Kolkata yesterday. Reuters Revenge may be regarded as to lead a team to a second World Equally, if not more impres- Kolkata a dish best served cold but Eoin Twenty20 title but West Indies are sive, has been their bowling at the Morgan’s men would probably like anything but infallible. death. nothing more than to exact it in the They showed two extremes to Ben Stokes appeared to have heat of a World Cup fi nal. their game in the last couple of ice in his veins in the final over est Indies’ rag-tag A task easier said than done outings, slumping to an embar- against Sri Lanka to thwart An- army of short-format against a West Indies outfi t packed rassing defeat to qualifi ers Af- gelo Mathews’s audacious bid to mercenaries will be with swashbuckling players who ghanistan before silencing a rau- pull off a sensational victory as hoping they have the ply their trade in lucrative Twen- cous home crowd in Mumbai as England secured their place in Wweapons to overcome a fearless ty20 leagues around the globe. they knocked out favourites India. the last four. England in today’s World Twen- What makes the job doubly dif- Also, the England they will face Against New Zealand, Stokes ty20 fi nal as both sides target the fi cult is that Sammy’s men have on Sunday is not the same team and Chris Jordan pacifi ed the Black honour of being the fi rst to claim a proved in India that they are more they thumped by six wickets in the Caps in the fi nal four overs, which second title in the tournament. than just a one-man army who group stage last month. cost only 20 runs and garnered fi ve For a group of players who nearly bank on Gayle to punch holes in Morgan’s side have peaked grad- wickets, to restrict them to a total boycotted the event over a contrac- their opponents. ually in the tournament since that that England could chase down tual dispute with their board, Darren Marlon Samuels, Lendl Sim- defeat and seem to have found the with 17 balls to spare. Sammy and his troops have waltzed mons and Andrew Russell have right rhythm and combinations. Morgan has freed his batsmen into the Kolkata fi nal displaying all stepped out of their illustrious They accomplished a high- from the weight of expectation the Caribbean fl air that has earned team mate’s shadow and made scoring chase against South Af- and it is showing in the team’s per- them global admiration. their own mark in the last month. rica, recovered well to subdue an formance. If Twenty20 cricket is essential- “We said this before the tourna- upset-minded Afghanistan, held “That’s the way a lot of us play,” ly about power-hitting, no team ment that Chris is under pressure,” their nerve to edge out Sri Lanka Roy said of England’s aggressive does it better and more unabash- Sammy said after the exhilarating and stunned the previously un- batting after his 44-ball innings of edly than the West Indies. semi-fi nal victory against hosts beaten New Zealand with a near- 78 set the foundations for victory England have fi rst-hand knowl- India. perfect game in the semi-fi nals. over New Zealand. edge of that destructive potency, “He is our best Twenty20 player Their batsmen—especially Jason “The whole team has got that having been blown away by Chris but we have 15 match-winners in Roy, Joe Root and Jos Buttler—have kind of licence, that kind of oppor- Gayle’s 47-ball century in a Super this side,” he added. batted with refreshing freedom tunity to go out there and do what 10 shellacking in Mumbai a fort- The ever-smiling all-rounder is and their catching has been ex- they want and be free with their England captain Eoin Morgan (R) and his West Indies counterpart Darren Sammy pose with night ago. seeking to become the fi rst captain traordinary. skills.” the World T20 trophy at the Eden Gardens cricket ground in Kolkata yesterday. BOTTOMLINE West Indies join the dots on path to the fi nal By Vithushan Ehantharajah conventional wisdom and smashed muscles. Gayle eviscerated England in Against India, their The Guardian it to bits. They have faced the highest the opening group match with 100 off percentage of dot balls of the teams in 48, Andre Fletcher blitzed 84 off 64 scoreless 47 balls were the Super-10 stage of the World T20 -- versus Sri Lanka before his injury re- put into perspective by a rather staggering 45.4%. Including placement, Lendl Simmons, silenced 146 of their 190 runs off Darren Sammy’s the semi-fi nal against India, they have India with 89 from 47, aided initially by failed to score off 259 balls across fi ve a brisk 52 from Johnson Charles. Rus- the bat coming in side have faced the matches. But what they cede in dots, sell has dipped in twice, with fi nishing boundaries highest percentage File photo of West Indies they more than make up in fours and cameos of 43 off 20 in the semifi nal and batsman Lendl Simmons sixes. Against India, their scoreless 47 a quick eight-ball thrash for 20 against The issue for England is that this is of dot balls from the playing a shot during the balls were put into perspective by 146 Sri Lanka. He has been undefeated in not simply a West Indies side that bats Super-10 stage semi-final match against of their 190 runs off the bat coming in three successful chases at this tourna- deep - it is one that can take you apart India at The Wankhede boundaries.