War Vs Som: Somerset Beat Warriors By 12 Runs, Enter Clt20 Semifinals

NEW DELHI: Somerset booked their berth in the semifinals of the Champions League Twenty20 after registering 12 runs victory over Warriors on Wednesday.

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Chasing 147, Adam Dibble provided Somerset crucial breakthrough as he removed Colin Ingram.

Earlier, Craig Kieswetter scored a patient unbeaten half century as Somerset posted a fighting 146 for four.

Electing to bat, Somerset made a shaky start, losing opener Peter Trego (0) in the very first over but recovered well when Kieswetter (56 not out) got the game going.

Fast bowler Lonwobo Tsotsobe gave the Warriors an early breakthrough, removing dangerous Trego, who had also scored a half century against Royal Challengers Bangalore, in his first over to start off with a maiden over.

Tsotsobe's joy was short-lived when he was treated with disdain by Roelof van der Merwe. Van der Merwe took 17 runs in an over, laced with two boundaries and a six.

Thanks to van der Merwe's quick-fire 16-ball 32, Somerset recovered from early jitters. Kieswetter and van der Merwe stitched an impressive 29-ball 48 from 4.5 overs for the second wicket.

With wickets falling at regular intervals, the onus of bailing Somerset out of danger shifted to Kieswetter and he did it quite well by batting through the innings and taking the team score to near 150 mark.

Jos Buttler (30) and James Hildreth (21) chipped in with cameos for Somerset to post a fighting total.

Teams:

Somerset: Alfonso Thomas (captain), Peter Trego, Craig Kieswetter, Roelof van der Merwe, James Hildreth, Jos Buttler, Nick Compton, Arul Suppiah, Adam Dibble, Steve Kirby, Murali Kartik.

Warriors: Johan Botha (captain), Jon-Jon Smuts, Ashwell Prince, Colin Ingram, Craig Thyssen, Kelly Smuts, Athenkosi Dyili, Nicky Boje, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

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Csk's Early Exit Blessing In Disguise: Ms Dhoni

CHENNAI: Although disappointed with Chennai Super Kings' ouster from the Champions League T20, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that it will be a "blessing in disguise" ahead of his team's important ODI series against England which starts from October 14.

"That's the only blessing in disguise, a few days off, not that we have earned it, but a bit of rest will help us," said CSK skipper Dhoni.

Dhoni has been playing near non-stop cricket for a long time now, his only break coming during the five-match one-day series in the West Indies in June.

India play five ODIs and a Twenty20 international against England at home.

Apart from Dhoni, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin are two other Indian ODI players in the CSK squad.

Meanwhile, David Warner smashed a blistering unbeaten 69-ball 135 as 2009 champions New South Wales put up a determined show to beat the defending champions Chennai by 46 runs to join Mumbai Indians from Group-A in the semifinals of the Champions League here today.

Electing to bat, New South Wales posted an imposing 201 for two, riding on Warner's second Twenty20 ton. In their reply, Super Kings could muster just 155 before being all out in 18.5 overs.

"Getting 200 became a difficult task when our big-hitters departed. That is very important to get the big hitters out of the game, you don't want them to bat 15 overs but want to get them in the powerplay," said Dhoni.

Man-of-the-match Warner said that he has learnt a lot in the last few years and his efforts paid off today.

"Tonight was my night, I have been practicing the switch hit a long time now in the nets. It paid off today. I have learnt a lot in the last few years, that has come through playing more four-day cricket back home," he said.

NSW captain Simon Katich heaped praise on Warner and said, "the way he batted was simply outstanding, he constructed his innings superbly."

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China Paints A Gruesome Picture Of Unmarked Graves In Kashmir

BEIJING: China's State-run Xinhua news agency is running a report that paints a gruesome picture of a burial ground filled with unmarked graves in Poonch in Jammu & Kashmir. Bodies are mostly brought in for burial by the police and the army, and some of them are brought without their heads, the report said quoting local sources.

The report, which would be carried by several Chinese newspapers, is likely to cause some ripples in the region. It may be viewed by some in India as an attempt to justify China's involvement with the political system and development projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, while others might see it as an expose of the highhandedness of Indian armed forces.

The State Human Rights Commission has recently asked the government to identify unmarked graves in 38 sites in the northwest of Srinagar city, the report noted. The Commission has found there are over 2,100 unidentified bodies in the area, it said.

But the Xinhua report does not carry the views of the Indian Army, the governments in New Delhi and Srinagar. Interestingly, the Chinese media has not carried any significant reports about the grave law and order situation in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Burials are carried out quietly without involving the local people. "Burials of those killed by army and police usually stoke protest demos in the region especially against police and army and reverberate with the demand of end to New Delhi's rule," the report said.

It quotes Sofi Aziz Joo, caretaker of a graveyard located about 30 kms from Mandi, as saying: "Police and Army used to bring those bodies and direct me to bury them. The bodies were usually bullet-ridden, mutilated, faces disfigured and sometimes without limps".

Xinhua said that "A strong separatist movement is going on in the region seeking end of New Delhi's rule". Rights groups say around 70,000 people have been killed in 22 years of conflict while the official figure stands at 45,000, it said.

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Lanka To Scrap 'Visa On Arrival' For Indians

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka plans to scrap the 'visa on arrival' system applicable to 78 countries, including India, from next year in bid to streamline the issuance of the travel document.

The government has been complaining of foreign nationals abusing the on arrival visa policy. The new system is being viewed as an attempt to streamline the entry visas system prevailing.

The new electronic travel authorization (ETA) would enable the authorities to track down any foreigner who will overstay in the country, officials said today.

With effect from January 1, 2012, the government will scrap its visa on arrival system applicable to 78 countries including India.

Only the Singaporean and Maldivian nationals would be allowed 'on arrival' visas without prior approval under Sri Lanka's new visa regime, officials said earlier.

The ETA would issue visas at USD 50 a person for a 30-day stay with double entry.

People who had entered the country as tourists have been found to be working, set up business and even done reporting as journalists, the authorities said.

Chulananda Perera the top immigration official said that the state would be able to monitor and track foreigners.

"Each hotel and guest house will be given a machine," he said, adding "Foreigners will have to keep their passport on this machine before going to their room."

"The system would enable us to gather data on tourist arrivals to the country," Perera stressed.

Tourism is a major foreign exchange earner for the island nation.

Responding to a question if the new system would hinder tourist arrivals to the country, Perera said the efficiency of the system would not pose such problems.

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After 7-Yr Wait, Man Gives Up Space Dream

LOS ANGELES: Venture capitalist Alan Walton has trekked to the North Pole, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and skydived over Mount Everest . A hop into space to enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness would have been the ultimate adventure.

After waiting seven years to fly aboard Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceline, Walton gave up on the dream and asked for a $200,000 ticket refund on his 75th birthday this past spring. Walton, who was among the first 100 customers to sign up, is not as spry as he used to be, and he's concerned about project delays.

"This was a decision I wish I didn't have to make," he said recently. But "it was time." Promises of space travel for masses reached a euphoric pitch in 2004 when the experimental SpaceShip One airlaunched over the Mojave Desert and became the first privately financed spacecraft to dash into space.

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30-Year-Old Topless Photo Haunts Spanish Duchess On Wedding Eve

SPAIN: Spain's fabulously wealthy 85-year-old Duchess of Alba faced a topless photo scandal Tuesday on the eve of her wedding to a civil servant 25 years her junior . A 30-year-old photograph of the duchess as she sunbathed topless in Ibiza was splashed on the cover of the racy Spanish magazine Interviu, reportedly prompting a legal threat.

"We are considering suing for interfering with her rights to privacy," her friend and lawyer Javier Saavedra was quoted as telling show business site Vanitatis on Tuesday. The widowed aristocrat , renowned for frizzy hair and colourful dress sense, will marry 60-year-old Alfonso Diez on Wednesday in the chapel of her 15th century Palacio de las Duenas in Seville.

Spain's media are devouring every detail of it and duchess' tussle with children who were doubtful about the match. The noble said she had to work hard to convince her offspring. She showered her five sons and one daughter several months ago with her estate palaces.

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In Uk, English Test Must For All Non-Brit Docs

LONDON: Doctors trained in the European Union, who were so far exempted from taking the English language test, will now be required to clear it before starting their practice in the UK.

Indian doctors seeking to train and work in the National Health Service (NHS) are already required to pass the language test before they qualify to practice here.

The NHS has now decided to introduce mandatory language tests for doctors moving to UK after training elsewhere in the EU.

The move came as some EU doctors with poor grasp of English , who were working in the NHS, could not diagnose patients correctly, leading to wrong diagnosis and grave consequences for British patients .

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Brits Can’t Live Without Tissue Paper

LONDON: Move over, smart phones. The humble paper clip, sticky plasters, and tissue papers are among the 40 breakthrough inventions most Britons can't live without , it has emerged.

From elastic bands to bubblewrap , experts have compiled a list of inventions that cost mere pennies but are a vital part of everyday life for billions of people. In fact, they may not be as revered as the latest iPhone, but are as much a "genius" product and possibly more influential.

Between them the items cost less than 100 pounds to buy and many would, individually cost less than a penny. They include: sticky tape, sticky plasters, tissue paper to teabags and light bulbs to barcodes, all of which have changed lives around the world, the 'Daily Mail' reported. The products were showcased at an exhibition devised by Hi-Cone , the little known manufacturers of the plastic ring carriers that hold six packs of beer or multiple packs of soft drinks.

Hi-Cone Director Ton Hoppenbrouwers said: "The objective of the Hi-Cone hidden heroes exhibition is to highlight genius of everyday things and remarkable technologies that sit behind contents of kitchen drawers."

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Qaida Weakened, Can't Do A 9/11 Again: Obama

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has said that the entire al-Qaida leadership has been decimated and it would be "very difficult" for the group to stage a spectacular terror attack on the scale of the 9/11 strikes in near future.

"When you look at that entire leadership tier of al-Qaida , they have been decimated. And they are rapidly approaching the point where they just cannot replace trained, skilled operatives who could threaten," Obama told the ABC News and Yahoo-. com said in an interview.

"I think that we have done more in the last couple of years than anytime in the last 10 years to bring that about. Obviously the most prominent case was us getting bin Laden," he said in response to a question.

Obama conceded that the US is still not free from any possible terrorist attack. "I think that given the nature of our open society, we're always going to be vulnerable to the possible terrorist attack," he said. "But for them to be able to mount something that is a big project with a lot of financing , that is very difficult for them to do now,"he said.

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