Maria hungry for success

Maria Sharapova said she was gunning for Grand Slam glory again after making her comeback from a nine-month injury lay-off with a first-round victory at the WTA Warsaw Open on Monday.

The 22-year-old former world number one was taken to three sets by Italy's Tathiana Garbin before eventually prevailing 6-1, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 and said she was delighted to be back in action.

"In these nine months, the only thing that I've accomplished is a good pasta carbonara," she joked.

"At the end of the day, that's not my specialty. My specialty is to go out and compete in Grand Slams."

The Russian has slipped to a world ranking of 126 after being laid low by an injury to her right shoulder and she admitted that the road to recovery had not been easy.

"Right now I've been not playing for nine months, so everything is a test," she said. "Every single day is a test, especially after you have surgery."

Sharapova appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory when serving for the match at 5-3 up in the second set, but a nervy service game enabled her opponent to get back into the match.

The three-time major-winner, though, said her errors had nothing to do with her problematic shoulder.

"I think it was definitely me trying to finish the match off and being a bit more nervous in that second set," she said.

"It's a whole different ball game when you haven't been there in a while and it throws you off a little bit.

"There you are after nine months, you have an opportunity to win your first match back so you start thinking of everything that has gone on and how you've planned to use the present time."

Sharapova, who has titles at Wimbledon (2004), the US Open (2006) and the Australian Open (2008) under her belt, revealed that the time off had made her feel like a returning veteran.

"I feel like I'm 30," she said. "It's definitely strange.

"I feel like I've been around for so many years and you come back after nine months and you're eating dry pasta without sauce and you're thinking: 'Oh, is this what I came back for?' But then you go out on the court and it's like: 'This is what I came back for!'"

Sharapova, though, rubbished suggestions that her extended lay-off might have dulled some of her appetite for the game.

"I don't think I've done enough," she said. "I feel I can accomplish a lot more. I may be 22 years old but I'm not done. I have many things to do and many things to accomplish and I'm a girl on a mission."

Barclays English Premier League Black Cats struggling

Sunderland's struggle to avoid relegation will go down to the wire after lax defending contributed to a 3-1 loss at Portsmouth's Fratton Park here on Monday.

The Black Cats' needed all three points from this visit to the south coast but their Premier League fate will now be determined by Chelsea's visit next Sunday.

Sunderland were left just two points clear of the drop zone with a win against Chelsea seeing them safe while anything else and their future will be decided by results elsewhere.

Ricky Sbragia's strugglers remain a point better off than Hull, who host Manchester United, and two ahead of local rivals Newcastle.

Portsmouth had already ensured their topflight status last weekend.

Both sides hit the post in a goalless and largely lifeless first half.

Sunderland were lucky to escape when the woodwork diverted Peter Crouch's close range header in the fourth minute, while the visitors were groaning when Kenwyne Jones' glancing header hit Asmir Begovic's right-hand post approaching the break.

Begovic, replacing the injured David James, was having his first start for Portsmouth, and the lanky Yugoslavian-born Canadian made his mark when producing a double save to deny efforts from Steed Malbranque in the 14th minute.

Then after almost 12 and a half hours without either side scoring a goal, first Sunderland and then Portsmouth put an end to that miserable statistic as a dreary encounter suddenly caught fire.

Jones had the Sunderland fans dreaming of another season in the Premier League when he half-volleyed Calum Davenport's cross from the right past Begovic in the 58th minute.

But Portsmouth were back on level terms seconds later when Nigerian John Utaka held off a Black Cats defender to rifle past Marton Fulop, although it was not without controversy as the referee had blown his whistle for a penalty before the ball crossed the line.

Poor defending by Anton Ferdinand who failed to secure Begovic's long punt down field left Utaka in a one-on-one with Fulop with Phil Bardsley's attempt to prevent the inevitable resulting in an own goal.

With 20 minutes on the clock Begovic denied Grant Leadbitter's low 30 yard drive and the Canadian keeper did well shortly after to keep out Jones' determined volley.

Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia introduced Djibril Cisse for Teemu Tainio in a last ditch bid to find the all important equaliser, the Frenchman quickly followed on the pitch by Daryl Murphy for Leadbitter.

But it was Portsmouth who had the last word, killing off the game and possibly Sunderland's tenure in the Premier League when on-loan Armand Traore drilled a shot into Fulop's far corner.

Sbragia, reflecting on the second goal, told Setanta Sports: "We knew in the second half they'd push on to us and close us down. but we got off to a good start. Kenwyne scored and from then on we should have been a bit more confident and bossed the game.

"We kept the lead for two minutes, and that's not acceptable. The second goal was a bad mistake by Anton. He switched off. I would imagine he should have just put his foot through it and helped it on.

"From then on I thought we played reasonably well. We left ourselves open late on - we were obviously trying to go for the equaliser."

ICC World Twenty20 Their T20 with media

Given their reticence, it is uncommon for any of the national cricketers to speak with the reporters so when the entire national cricket team turned up to face the media yesterday, it yielded interesting results for both parties.

The occasion was the ICC World Twenty20 for which the Bangladesh team will take off for London on May 23, and a few of the team members are new to the national fold and absolutely raw when it comes to facing the media. Remarkably, even the more experienced ones find talking to the media troublesome but then there are a few who talk openly and eloquently enough to sound reasonable.

To the surprise of many, the introverted Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim delighted the journalists with their wise replies. The two BKSP lads have come a long way from the days when they were said to be difficult with the media. "We have specific goals for the team like starting well and how to finish an innings but if we can't fulfil them, we will think differently," said the world's No. 1 ODI all-rounder. Mushfiqur was bold enough to suggest that he wasn't happy with the practice in Dhaka but reminded everyone that their first match opponents should remember the Tigers. "India are a big team and probably the favourites but for what happened in 2007 [World Cup in West Indies], they will keep us on mind," said the baby-faced wicketkeeper.

Among the new boys, Mohammad Mithun seemed confident enough but for Shamsur Rahman and Rubel Hossain, it was nothing short of an ordeal. The same goes for some of the older boys in the group who bank on obvious lines even when pressed with a difficult question. They would merely mention their targets, an obvious question, and fend off the harder ones with some difficulty. 'I will try to do well' is a favourite for this shy lot while some simply inform what they are, a batting or bowling all-rounder.

This sort is a nightmare for the journalists who always stay in the lookout for stories with unique angles. Yesterday it was all going downhill until Tamim Iqbal, Shahadat Hossain and to some extent Nayeem Islam came to the rescue.

"Look, if I bowl at the same pace Yusuf Pathan will send me out of the ground. But not me, he will dispatch my ball!" quipped the easy-going Shahadat who informed that he himself couldn't hit the ball a long way.

Tamim's little quip in third person could be taken as a slight sense of arrogance but it's quickly covered by his witty persona. "Nobody knew Tamim, but Tamim also didn't know Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma," jibed the left-hander when asked about the loss of his surprise factor.

But before the likes of Tamim, Shahadat, Shakib and Mushfiqur got to the dais, their teammate Nayeem Islam turned heads with his icy counter when asked about concerns with his strike-rate. Nayeem's outburst stunned many who know him as a quiet chap.

Coach Jamie Siddons however believed that some of the new boys find it difficult to cope with the pressures of media and officials when they play at home. "I think they are in some pressure when they play at home with the media around but look how Tamim (Iqbal) and Shakib (Al Hasan) have managed everything," said Siddons.

Siddons targets India

ICC World Twenty20

Bangladesh national cricket team have tar-getted beating India in their first match of the ICC World Twenty20s in England and are all set to depart amidst some modest but important concerns from coach Jamie Siddons.

Siddons's biggest worry is the lack of international exposure that the Tigers have had ahead of the tournament and he believes that it is a worrying factor as the players have not faced quality bowling attacks in the recent past.

"Definitely it's a cause for concern for us since we haven't faced world-class opponents for some time now. The boys have played plenty of domestic cricket here and in Chittagong, but they haven't faced good fast bowlers and the practice matches we have played are good but not really world-class," said Siddons.

Bangladesh team will fly out for London on May 23. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have scheduled a seven-day training camp at Wormsley, which includes three unofficial practice matches against New Zealand on May 26, Netherlands on May 28 (Canterbury) and against Scotland on May 29.

Captain Mohammad Ashraful and vice-captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will join the squad in Wormsley a day after the team arrives in England as they would first travel from South Africa to Dhaka and then catch a flight to London on May 24.

Bangladesh's official practice matches are against Australia on June 1 and Sri Lanka on June 4 at Trent Bridge.

Bangladesh have been pitted in Group A along with defending champions India and ICC associate member Ireland in the second version of the ICC World Twenty20s which will begin on June 5. Ashraful's men face India on June 6 and Ireland on June 8 at Trent Bridge.

Siddons is happy with his schedule of practice matches but felt that it would have been better if the side were pitted against more quality bowling line-ups.

"I hope the five practice matches will help us recover all that we have missed but again, we are facing the likes of Scotland who also don't have fast bowlers to push us. So I hope we pick up the pace sooner so that we are ready for the challenge ahead," added the coach.

Siddons did not just point out India as an early kill but also explained that reaching the second round and living up to the Tiger's name of giant killers were equally important.

"Anyone can win in a Twenty20 game and anyone can get knocked over. But we are hoping to beat India in our first game and we are not too worried about our second game against Ireland. Realistically we want to get to the Super Eights and once we are there we want to be the giant killers that people think we are. But we don't want any games to be a fluke; I'd rather want them to be genuine victories for us. It's bit of a cliché but we are trying to beat India first, that's our main target," said Siddons.

On the issue of whether captain Ashraful and his deputy Mashrafe have missed out on some valuable preparation ahead of the competition, the coach kept his fingers crossed and considered the practice matches will be good enough for them to turn in some good performances.

"I pushed for Mash (Mashrafe Bin Mortaza) and Ash (Mohammad Ashraful) to join the squad early as it's important to gel together as a team. It's a big sacrifice on their part as they are going to come here and just a day later they will fly out to England.

"They are not getting the match practice they need at the moment so its important for them to join us for the practice games in England. If they have some success they will be ready. Ashraful holds the key for us to win games as he is the number three batter and it's important for him to fire early on if we want to win games," added the Australian.

The rookies in the team Shamsur Rahman and Mohammad Mithun look forward to making the playing eleven in their debut season but the shaven-headed coach thinks they need to work on a few things before they can sustain their careers at the international stage.

"I haven't seen too much of the two new boys although we have been working with them. They have got issues as most of the guys who have gone through our system have had like backlift and stuff but I am not toying too much with them and just letting them play their instinctive game.

"But for them to be long term players a few changes need to be made and then there's the added pressure of facing the media and meet the board members and cameras in their faces; its all so nerve wracking. We just need to give them some time and they will be okay," said Siddons.

Bangalore stay afloat

Jacques Kallis struck an unbeaten 58 and took a key wicket as Royal Challengers Bangalore beat leaders Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets Tuesday to stay in the Indian Premier League title hunt.

The big South African batted throughout the 19-over Bangalore innings as they reached 135-3 in reply to 134-7 in 20 overs from Delhi, who are sure to finish first with one round of group fixtures left.

But below them the stage is set for a thrilling climax to the round-robin phase of the Twenty20 extravaganza on Wednesday and Thursday with five franchises chasing three semifinals places.

Chennai Super Kings have 15 points, Deccan Chargers, Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab 14 each and defending champions Rajasthan Royals 13 with double-headers to come in Durban and Centurion.

While many in the team dug-outs at the Wanderers used blankets to fend off the autumn chill, a good crowd turned up at one of the homes of South African cricket and were treated to a tense struggle until the final few overs.

Winning skipper and India legend Anil Kumble claimed he is not even checking the standings traffic-jam, but concentrating on masterminding another win when they face Deccan Thursday.

"I'm taking this tournament one game at a time and not looking at the table. All I'm thinking about is how to win the next match which would guarantee us a place in the semifinals."

Kallis said his role was critical: "In big games senior players must come through and I knew that someone had to stay at the crease for the innings. After a run of four losses, the hunger for success is back in the team."

Delhi captain Virender Sehwag offered no excuses after only their fourth loss in 13 outings: "Perhaps the boys were a little relaxed knowing that we were through, but there is nothing for us to worry about."

SCORES IN BRIEF
DELHI DAREDEVILS: 134 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik 31, De Villiers 28, Gambhir 27, Nagar 20; Praveen 3-30, Kumble 2-24)
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: 135 for 3 in 19 overs (Kallis 58 not out, Dravid 38, Taylor 25; Nagar 2-20)
Result: Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 7 wickets.
Man-of-the-match: Jacques Kallis.