Ignominious Champions League exits for both Manchester giants have made weekend Premier League victories essential for United and City as re-invigorated Chelsea hope to join the party at the top of England's top division.

Shane Watson has suffered a setback in his bid to regain fitness in time for Australia's Test series opener against India but he is still expected to recover in time for the big clash.

The South African government could deregister Cricket South Africa and withhold funding if it refused to accept the findings of an inquiry into its financial affairs, the chief of the probe panel said on Thursday.

David Silva and Yaya Toure's goals earned Manchester City a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich but it was not enough to prevent them from being eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday.

The trainer of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake has raised the possibility that the two Jamaican sprinters could race each other earlier than expected next year, providing an early preview of the blue-riband events at the London Olympics.

Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League at the group phase for only the third time in 16 years following a stunning 2-1 loss at Swiss champions Basel on Wednesday.

Embattled opener Phil Hughes retained his spot in Australia's unchanged team for the second test against New Zealand which starts on Friday in Hobart.   

India athletes Sandeep Kumar and Amit Siroha won gold in their respective events at World Games in Sharjah to qualify for the 2012 London Paralympics games. With their qualification the total number of Indian athletes has reached four for the 2012 London Games.

Lack of time between matches in the ongoing SAFF Championship is taking a toll on his players and is not giving them enough time to improve, feels Indian football coach Savio Medeira.

The strike duo of Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua were on target as India recorded a clinical 3-0 win over Sri Lanka to advance to the semifinal of the SAFF Football Championship.