Sports

This was a throwback to the bad old days. As West Indian wickets tumbled at Lord’s yesterday – four off six balls in one frenetic period, seven for 29 off 41 balls before an irrelevant 24 from the last pair – dark memories were evoked of double digit totals and two and three day losses.

With the omission of Rupununi players from this year’s Inter- Guiana Games (IGG) female team, representatives of the hinterland football association are crying foul, saying that it is a slap in the face.

The top teams of the Georgetown Football Association (GFA) 2008 Banks Beer First Division tournament were awarded their prizes in a simple ceremony in the Conference Room of the Banks DIH Building yesterday.

CENTURION, South Africa, (Reuters) – Matthew Hayden’s  swashbuckling knock of 89 helped propel the Chennai Super Kings  to a 12-run victory over Kings XI Punjab that put them top of  the Indian Premier League standings yesterday.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi shared  the bowling honours as Pakistan defeated Australia by seven  wickets in a Twenty20 match yesterday.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Kobe Bryant scored a  game-high 40 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the  Houston Rockets 111-98 yesterday and level their NBA Western  Conference semi-final series at 1-1.

Defending champions Berbice were in control at the end of the penultimate day in their final preliminary round Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/GTM sponsored Under-19 Inter-county match against Demerara at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday.

GDF book final spot Last year’s runner-up Guyana Defence Force has booked their place in this year’s Bakewell Buxton Stars organized Digicel/Mackeson Stout sponsored Sweet 16 football tournament, following a hard fought 2-1 victory over Alpha United at the Plaisance Community Centre ground on Tuesday night.

The second Caribbean Hockey Cup which was slated for Jamaica next month, has been postponed and may now take place next year, president of the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB), Philip Fernandes confirmed yesterday.

-Guyana ranked at number 9 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Jamaica stretched their reign as No.1 in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to six consecutive months yesterday when FIFA released its May ratings.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports nationwide inter-block football tournament moved to the East Bank community of Grove on Tuesday last and defending champs Grove South along with Craig and Grove North have all qualified for Sunday’s semi-finals.

World Youth Championship-bound athlete Ricardo Martin along with junior sprint champions Roxanna Rigby and Treiston Joseph each received a pair of Adidas training sneakers  yesterday, compliments of the West Indian Sports Complex.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Barcelona snatched a place in the  Champions League final yesterday when a last-gasp goal from  Andres Iniesta earned them a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and victory  on away goals.

It is a recurring and irritating storyline – and one which the West Indies have done nothing to change.

LONDON, England, CMC – Pacer Fidel Edwards lamented the poor West Indies fielding yesterday that allowed England to complete the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s in a satisfying position.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Trinidadian ex-West Indies batsman Gus Logie is to stand down as coach of Bermuda’s national team, the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed yesterday.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) – LeBron James showed why  he is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, scoring 34  points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a crushing 99-72  victory over the Atlanta Hawks in their Eastern Conference  semi-final opener.

CENTURION, South Africa, (Reuters) – A hat-trick by  off-spinner Rohit Sharma propelled the Deccan Chargers a 19-run  victory over the Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League  match yesterday.

LONDON, (Reuters) – European champions Spain remained  unchallenged at the top of FIFA’s world rankings published yesterday which showed no movement at all in the top 39 places  after a quiet month with little international activity.

MADRID, (Reuters) – Seve Ballesteros is “already 90  percent” recovered from surgery to remove a cancerous brain  tumour, he said in a radio interview late on Tuesday.