BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel presents Sachin Tendulkar with a portrait, India v West Indies, 2nd Test, Mumbai, 1st day, November 14, 2013

LONDON (Reuters) – Champions Manchester City climbed to second in the Premier League table after Carlos Tevez’s fierce strike in the second half gave them a 1-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday.

Unbeaten in the Premier League, City moved on to 21 points from nine games, a point behind leaders Chelsea who play Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

United slipped to third on 18 points but they and Chelsea have a game in hand on City who needed a boost after a 3-1 defeat by Ajax Amsterdam in midweek left their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

Arsenal, who also needed a win after two defeats in the last week, beat bottom club Queens Park Rangers 1-0 with a late winner from Mikel Arteta while Reading and Fulham fought out a 3-3 draw at the Madejski Stadium.

In Saturday’s other games, Wigan Athletic beat West Ham United 2-1 while Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Norwich City and Stoke City and Sunderland ground out an uninspiring 0-0 draw.

City midfielder Gareth Barry told ESPN afterwards: “It was a massive three points. Three games in seven days is always tough. It wasn’t a great performance but the manager said at halftime to stay calm and we’ll find our way and get a goal and Carlos came up with the goods.”

The champions failed to impress against a Swansea side who enjoyed the better chances in the first half, most notably when Spanish striker Michu forced a sharp save from City keeper Joe Hart shortly after he had a goal disallowed for offside.

City improved after the break and Tevez struck with a venomous angled shot from 25 metres which nestled in the corner of Swansea keeper Michel Vorm’s net.

Vorm injured himself while diving for the ball and after a lengthy stoppage for treatment he was replaced by German Gerhard Tremmel. Another long stoppage followed soon after when City defender Micah Richards went down in agony clutching his knee with no-one near him.

He was taken off on a stretcher and the match ended after almost 103 minutes, including nearly 13 minutes of stoppage time — the longest in the league’s 20-year-history.

ARTETA WINNER

Arsenal rose from ninth to fourth after Arteta’s 84th minute goal secured the points for Arsene Wenger’s men against QPR.

They have 15 points from their nine games but could end the weekend in sixth place if Everton beat Liverpool in Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and Tottenham Hotspur win their match on Sunday at Southampton.

Arteta struck from close range, turning the ball in from the rebound after he had hit the bar.

The goal came soon after Rangers’ Stephane Mbia was sent off for lashing out at Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, QPR’s ninth red card during 2012.

Arsenal’s win halted a run of two successive defeats to Norwich City in the Premier League and Schalke 04 in the Champions League over the last seven days.

The Gunners welcomed back Jack Wilshere after the England midfielder missed the last 17 months with ankle problems and he played well for the 67 minutes he was on.

Arsenal manager Wenger told Sky Sports the victory came as a relief after a difficult week.

“When you lose two games the confidence goes quickly and for us today the most important thing was to win the game,” he said.

“It was a fight against a good QPR side and a fight against our nerves. But QPR are a good team and they will not stay bottom of the league.”

QPR manager Mark Hughes though, was far from happy as his side stayed bottom without a win from their nine games.

“The referee has absolutely killed it to allow their winning goal because Arteta was clearly offside on two occasions,” he told the BBC.

SIX-GOAL THRILLER

Reading and Fulham shared the points in a six-goal thriller which left Reading still looking for their first win of the season, although they moved up a place from 19th to 18th, ahead of Southampton.

Mikele Leigertwood put Reading ahead with a long range shot after 26 minutes before Brian Ruiz equalised for Fulham in the 61st minute, three minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Chris Baird headed Fulham 2-1 up after 77 minutes but had to go off after injuring himself on the advertising hoardings as he celebrated his goal.

Three goals then followed in the closing stages as Reading substitute Gareth McCleary made it 2-2 after 85 minutes before Dimitar Berbatov looked to have scored Fulham’s winner two minutes from time with a thunderous drive.

Then, almost with the last kick, Reading’s second sub, Hal Robson-Kanu earned his side a point, scrambling home from close range 12 minutes after coming on.

(Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Martyn Herman)

The three cricketers from the People’s Republic of China, Fast bowler Zhang Peng, teenage off-spinner “William” Wang and wicketkeeper “Jason” Zhao, who spent the past two months learning the Aussie approach, said Beijing was already making its best efforts in improving the national cricket team.

Their dinkum Aussie mate Brian Freedman said their enthusiasm bowled everyone over, adding that China would one day field a competitive team.

“They’re preparing for a tournament in Malaysia so they are getting exposure. They play 50-over games and T20, but I’m sure they won’t play five-day games in my lifetime,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Freedman, as saying.

According to Zhang, who was 22 when he took up cricket after his university basketball coach suggested he consider becoming his nation’s answer to paceman Brett Lee, the Georges River club instilled invaluable lessons, the paper said.

“I have learned to control [the] ball better,” he said. “The cricket [was] much harder than China. The people at Georges River very friendly,” he said. (ANI)

New Delhi (AFP)- England jet into Mumbai on Monday under new captain Alastair Cook, striving to win their first Test series in India in 27 years against a home team desperate to make amends for last year’s 4-0 drubbing.

The four-Test series, starting in Ahmedabad on November 15, will be further spiced up by Kevin Pietersen’s return to the England fold after his exile and hints that Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is on the brink of retirement.

The series gives the home side an opportunity to make amends for the humiliating 4-0 whitewash in England last year that saw them dethroned as the number one Test side — and their replacement by England.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team then suffered another 4-0 defeat in Australia, capping a miserable six-month period that took the shine off India’s 50-over World Cup triumph in 2011.

But with the series against England followed by four Tests against Australia in February-March, India, ranked fifth in the world, will look to take advantage of familiar conditions to haul themselves back up the rankings.

Dhoni has urged groundsmen to prepare wickets that suit spin bowling and selectors refused to pick a spinner for England’s three-day opener in Mumbai from Tuesday, denying the tourists early exposure to the turning ball.

“When we go to England, we get wickets that help the seamers and in Australia you get tracks with bounce,” said Dhoni. “In the subcontinent, spin is what matters and we should stick to that.”

England, who last won a Test series in India under David Gower in 1985 and lost their number one status to South Africa in August, will receive a boost from the return of the dangerous Pietersen.

Pietersen, who has hit more than 7,000 Test runs at a shade under 50, smashed a brilliant 144 in England’s last Test on Indian soil in 2008 and knows the conditions well as a player for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.

And the 32-year-old will be keen to impress after he was dropped in August for sending text messages to touring South Africa players that contained criticism of then skipper Andrew Strauss.

Numerous meetings with England team bosses and players eventually saw him added at the last minute to the Indian tour party and Cook said Pietersen was “contrite” over his actions and would be welcomed back into the squad.

India, who began their busy home season by winning both Tests against lowly New Zealand in August and September before being ousted in the second round of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, are facing a future without Tendulkar.

The plans of the 39-year-old superstar are in the spotlight after the admitted earlier this month that the clock was ticking on his run-filled 23-year career.

“I don’t think I have plenty of cricket left in me,” said Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in Test and one-day cricket history — and the only batsman to notch 100 international centuries.

Tendulkar, who has scored a record 51 Test centuries, has now gone 25 innings without a hundred in the five-day format since making 146 against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2011.

He was bowled in all three innings against New Zealand with a top score of just 27, raising fears that age may finally be catching up with him.

England have the rare luxury of two three-day games and one four-day match to acclimatise to Indian conditions before the series starts in Ahmedabad.

Further Tests are scheduled for Mumbai, Kolkata and Nagpur.

The tourists, who also play two Twenty20 matches following the Tests, will go home for Christmas before returning in the New Year for a five-match one-day series.

New Zealand: Former paceman Shane Bond was appointed New Zealand’s bowling coach on Friday, ahead of a tough international season that includes Test series against South Africa, England and Sri Lanka.

Bond, 37, said he had aspired to the role since 2010, when a succession of injuries that blighted his once-promising career forced him out of the game with just 18 Test caps in nine years.

“This is a role I have worked towards since I stopped playing,” he said. “The experience of playing for New Zealand exceeded my expectations and I’m sure it will be no different as a coach.”

Bond will accompany the Black Caps to Sri Lanka later this month and be part of the coaching set-up when New Zealand tour South Africa in December, then host England in February.

“The Black Caps have some very important cricket coming up and we are delighted to have Shane on board to help develop and prepare our international bowling attack,” New Zealand Cricket director of cricket John Buchanan said.

“His knowledge of the modern game will be a valuable asset to the team.”

London: US gymnast Gabby Douglas won the Sportswoman of the Year award beating out Lindsey Vonn, Serena Williams and Missy Franklin at a star studded ceremony in New York City.

America’s greatest female athletes gathered to attend the Women’s Sports Foundation awards ceremony on Wednesday night, the Daily Mail reported.

Dressed in a sophisticated gold sheath dress and peep-toe gold booties the 16-year-old sparkled, as she received her award.

Douglas is the third gymnast to win the coveted prize, joining fellow Olympic gold medalists Mary Lou Retton and Nastia Liukin.

“Thank you so much @WomensSportsFdn for nominating me for such an AMAZING award! Thank you everyone that voted for me! Love you guys!” Douglas tweeted later that night.

Also present at the event was tennis great Billie Jean King, boxer Laila Ali, and a host of US female London Olympics stars.

Other honorees included U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team forward Alex Morgan who was awarded the prestigious Sportswoman of the Year Award for a team sport. (ANI)