Sammy forgives critics, sees West Indies resurgence

(Reuters) - Leading West Indies to their first World Cup title since 1979 gave Darren Sammy a chance to hit back at his critics but the all-rounder preferred to forgive them and talk about a possible resurgence of cricket's former superpower instead.

Sammy's rise to captaincy and his place in the side have often been questioned by critics, including former players, but the 28-year-old silenced them all on Sunday.

Sammy hit 26 runs off 15 balls and then returned to claim two Sri Lankan wickets as West Indies emerged as the new World Twenty20 champions.

"I never worry about the critics," Sammy, the first player from St Lucia to captain West Indies, said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

"I go by one way in my life. I say if Jesus Christ... never did a thing wrong but yet still he was crucified, who is Darren Sammy? That's the way I live my life.

"Everybody will have an opinion but when I go out there on the field, I go on to play for this crest," said the ever-smiling player, tapping on the West Indies logo on his shirt.

"...as long as I go out there and put a hundred percent, that's what matters to me," he said.

West Indies are a pale shadow of their former self, having ruthlessly dominated the game in the 1970s and 1980s, winning the first two 50-over World Cup.

Their glory days well behind them, West Indies rank seventh both in the test and one-day rankings but Sammy expected Sunday's victory to trigger a turnaround.

"The last decade we have been through a lot... this hopefully would be the beginning of things to come, a step in the right direction," he said.

"Hopefully this team would go on. We won't say we are back but it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can maintain the team spirit and make the Caribbean people proud.

"I know it's a party from Jamaica down to Guyana. Thank God it's a Sunday. If it was a weekday, nobody would be at work. It means a lot to the Caribbean people." (Writing by Amlan Chakraborty; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

UN condemns Syrian attack on Turkish town

The UN Security Council has condemned a Syrian mortar attack on a Turkish border town that killed five civilians.

The statement said the attack underscored the grave impact the Syrian crisis was having on "regional peace and stability".

An earlier draft referring to "international peace and security" was blocked by Syria's ally Russia.

Turkey's parliament has authorised military action inside Syria, a move that triggered anti-war protests.

However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country does not intend to start a war with Syria.

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN says the statement was strongly worded but was still the result of a compromise with Russia, which has blocked previous resolutions condemning Damascus.

Russia had tried but failed to include language apparently aimed at balancing the Syrian attack with Turkey's military response, she says.
Threat or not?

But Russia did succeed in blocking a draft version that called the mortar attack "a threat to international peace and security", a phrase our correspondent says could be used to justify greater Security Council involvement.
Continue reading the main story   
“Start Quote

    We never want to fight with the Syrian people or go to war with them. We have lived with them for centuries”

Ufuk Yigit Turkish resident of Izmir

    Turks react: 'Enough'
    Analysis: Underlying issues
    Tensions in pictures

The final version said the incident "highlighted the grave impact the crisis in Syria has on the security of its neighbours and on regional peace and stability".

It demanded that "such violations of international law stop immediately and are not repeated".

It called on the Syrian government to "fully respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbours" and urged "restraint".

Syria's UN envoy Bashar Jaafari said his government was not seeking escalation with Turkey.

He criticised the Security Council's silence on "suicide terrorist attacks that struck the city of Aleppo" that killed dozens of Syrians on the same day as the Turkish incident.

A senior diplomat said the Security Council would address that issue on Friday.

On Thursday, Turkey's parliament authorised troops to launch cross-border operations against Syria for a period of one year.

The emergency vote followed the shelling of the Turkish town of Akcakale in which two women and three children were killed.

Turkey's immediate response was to shell targets inside Syria.
Mr Erdogan said at a news conference in Akcakale on Thursday evening: "We want peace and security and nothing else. We could never be interested in something like starting a war."

But he added: "The Turkish Republic is a state capable of defending its citizens and borders. Nobody should try and test our determination on this subject."

On Thursday evening thousands of people held an anti-war rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square.

Demonstrators chanted: "No to war! Peace now! We won't be soldiers of imperialists!"

Some banners accused Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being a stooge of the US.

Bedri Baykam, a Turkish artist and activist, said: "[The] United States wants Turkey to enter war against Syria because there are elections coming in the United States. Obama doesn't want to send American troops so the Turkish army serves as their tool but we don't want to be part of the bloodshed in the Middle East."

Other, smaller anti-war protests were reported in Izmir, Mersin, Eskisehir and other cities and towns.

Mr Jaafari said his country had offered condolences over the deaths but not an apology because an inquiry into the incident had not been completed.

Turkey has been a critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since anti-government protests erupted there more than a year ago.

Ankara has openly supported the armed rebellion and called for the end to the regime.

Obama comes out swinging at Romney after debate

US President Barack Obama has accused Mitt Romney of being dishonest, after a televised debate that most observers agreed his Republican rival won.

'If you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth'

Speaking in Denver, Colorado, Mr Obama urged his rival to tell the "truth" about his own policies.

A total of 67.2 million people watched Wednesday's debate, the Nielsen TV ratings service announced.

The Obama campaign has said there will be some "adjustments" in strategy before the election on 6 November.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Thursday suggested Mr Romney had a net positive rating for the first time in the presidential campaign.

The poll said 51% of voters viewed him positively, with Mr Obama at 56%. The Republican moved ahead of the president on which candidate voters trust to handle the economy, create jobs and manage the deficit.
'Big Bird'

Mr Obama told a rally of some 12,000 supporters on Thursday: "When I got on to the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney.
"But it couldn't have been Mitt Romney, because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favour the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn't know anything about that."

The president continued the theme in front of an estimated crowd of 30,000 people on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Madison later in the day.

At a campaign rally in Virginia on Thursday evening, Mr Romney did not respond directly to the president's criticism.

But he did argue that Mr Obama had failed during the debate to make his case for another term.
"I got the chance to ask the president questions people across the country have wanted to ask him." Mr Romney said.

"Such as why is it he wanted to push through Obamacare at a time when we had 23 million people out of work?"

During Wednesday night's head-to-head Mr Romney repeatedly denied the $5tn (£3tn) claim.

Fact-checkers have said that Mr Romney's proposal to lower taxes by 20%, abolish estate tax and the alternative minimum tax would reduce revenue by $5tn over a decade.

The Republican has said he would help offset that by eliminating tax loopholes; the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says the sums do not add up.

Mr Obama told Thursday's rally: "So Governor Romney may dance around his positions. But if you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth.

"So here is the truth. Governor Romney cannot pay for his $5 trillion tax plan without blowing up the deficit or sticking it to the middle class. That's the math. We can't afford to go down that road again."

The Democratic president also mocked Mr Romney's plan to cut government subsidies for the PBS television channel that produces Sesame Street.

Mr Romney said during the debate: "I love Big Bird", adding that would not stop him axing federal funding to the public broadcaster.

"Thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on Big Bird," Mr Obama told Thursday's rally. "It is about time. We didn't know that Big Bird was driving the federal deficit."
'Damage control'

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams dismissed the president's attack.

"In full damage-control mode, President Obama today offered no defence of his record and no vision for the future," he said.
Obama strategist David Axelrod told reporters on a conference call that the campaign would now rethink its strategy.

"We are going to take a hard look at this," he said. "I'm sure we will make adjustments as to where to draw the line in these debates and how to use our time."

The candidates went head to head on Wednesday for 90 minutes on jobs, taxes and healthcare.

Opinion polls agreed that Mr Romney had the upper hand in the debate - the first of three between the White House rivals.

Various surveys gave Mr Romney a 46-67% margin, with Mr Obama trailing on 22-25%.

The president was criticised for appearing hesitant and subdued, while the former governor - who has been lagging in the race - seemed animated and assertive.

Vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will meet in Danville, Kentucky on 11 October, before the second presidential debate on 16 October.

India beat South Africa but crash out of World Twenty20

 COLOMBO: India would say that they were a bit unfortunate to exit from the World T20. They beat England and Pakistan, and then pipped South Africa by one run in a thriller, as L Balaji castled Morne Morkel, who has just smashed the first six of his T20I career.

India's chances were dented grievously by Pakistan's big win over the favoured Aussies which left the Men in Blue with the stiff ask of beating the Proteas by a minimum margin of 31 runs in their final Super Eights game on Tuesday in order to make the semis. They sneaked out a close win, but couldn't do enough to make the cut for the last four.

India made 152 for six, and needed to stop the Proteas at 121, but Faf du Plessis, who had a highest T20I score of 13 before this match, smashed 65 (38b, 6x4, 2x6) to spoil their plans.

However, questionable team composition for Tuesday's must-win game, along with a major captaincy gaffe by skipper MS Dhoni didn't help India's cause. In the end, the hammering at the hands of Shane Watson and David Warner, which won Australia their Super Eights game against India with 31 balls to spare, came back to haunt them. It just proved too costly.

Dhoni will have much answering to do about why he didn't play veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on a wicket on which Pakistan played four spinners against Australia with much success. The Proteas are as bad players of spin as anybody in the world, so why was Harbhajan, who took four for 12 against the English earlier in the tournament, not brought on in this game at the expense of a seamer, preferably Balaji?

Zaheer and Balaji bowled their heart out, picking up three wickets each, but India needed to win a bit more easily. Harbhajan could have helped them do that.

That wasn't enough. Even as South Africa, especially Du Plessis, seemed to be rather comfortable against the seamers after suffering the initial blows, Dhoni perhaps forgot that he had R Ashwin's services up his sleeve.

One of the best off spinners in world cricket was brought on after even part-timer Rohit Sharma had tried his arm around! Ashwin came on in the 10th over but it was too late by then.

Yuvraj Singh did his bit for India, scoring 21, and then taking two wickets, but he would trade his Man of the Match award with a spot in the last four for his team any day.

Earlier, Suresh Raina's run out off the final ball of the Indian innings summed up India's campaign in the World T20 this time. The stylish left-hander, who had kept India's challenge alive till then with a 34-ball 45, was found inches short of the crease while going for the second run. For both India, and Raina, it was a case of being so near, yet so far!

India fumbled initially, slipping to 36 for three, as the top-order batsmen panicked in search of quick runs, throwing their bats around at everything. It was always going to be difficult to go bang bang against the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel from ball one. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag fell trying to be too adventurous. Sadly, Virat Kohli, who normally steps up on these occasions, had an off day, gloving Jacques Kallis down the leg side.

Yuvraj then brought India back into the game, smashing two trademark sixes in a 15-ball cameo. There was a 44-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Raina off 36 balls that gave India a decent total. In the slog, Dhoni and Raina gave India the surge they needed.

It was tragic to see India crash out despite the batting line-up they posses, and despite eking out a thrilling win on Tuesday.

Somewhere, though, they had themselves to blame.

HOW INDIA LOST THE PLOT

After Pak beat Aus by 32 runs, India needed a big win over S Africa to make the semis. Pak used spinners for the first 17 overs against Aus, but on the same ground, India went in without Harbhajan.

The openers failed again. Kohli's rare off-day plunged India into trouble. Rohit Sharma tried to rebuild but his 25 off 27 balls was too slow.

Having scored 152, India needed to restrict the Safs to 121 or less. But Dhoni gave Irfan a third straight over which went for 14 runs. Part-timer Rohit's over too was taken for 13 runs as the momentum swung decisively.

By the time India's main spinner R Ashwin came on, S Africa were already 68/3. Balaji got his first over at 79/3. India finally won by 1 run, but were knocked out of the World T20.