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Results Based News

Iniesta stuns Blues

Author: Rose Young
Date: 07/05/2009

Andres Iniesta's stoppage-time equaliser sent tournament betting favourites Barcelona through to the Champions League Final on away goals at the expense of Chelsea.

The Blues looked as though they had done enough to reach the Final for a second successive season when Michael Essien's ninth-minute volley illuminated the early stages of the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Another meeting with Manchester United was within touching distance when Iniesta popped up in added time with a stunning equaliser to level the tie 1-1 on the night and also on aggregate.

The Spain midfielder's 18-yard strike - Barcelona's first shot on target on a night when their front players failed to shine - sealed their passage on the away goals rule after last week's first leg had ended goalless.

Ravi Bopara's second Test century helped England reach 289-7 at stumps on day one of the first Test against West Indies.

Bopara finished the day - his first in Test cricket at Lord's - unbeaten on 118 after being dropped twice and the new England number three helped steady a ship which had been rocking earlier in the day.

After losing the toss and being put in to bat, England lost only one wicket before lunch when captain Andrew Strauss was dismissed for 16 when he was caught by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin off the bowling of Jerome Taylor.

But immediately after lunch, Fidel Edwards dismissed Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen off successive balls with Paul Collingwood falling soon after.

England were left reeling on 109-4, but an unbroken stand of 73 for the fifth wicket between Bopara and Matt Prior restored some respectability to their innings.

In the closing session, Prior went for 42 when caught off the bowling of the impressive Edwards.

Stuart Broad partnered Bopara past his century despite being dropped twice before he was out for 38 when he was caught at backward point by Taylor off the bowling of Sulieman Benn.

Debutant Tim Bresnan was unlucky to be given out lbw to Benn on just nine.

The day ended with Graeme Swann unbeaten on seven alongside man-of-the-day Bopara.

In the Magners League, Cardiff Blues beat the Dragons 26-12 to move up to fifth in the table.

However, the Blues' victory was marred by an injury to Tom Shanklin who dislocated his shoulder in the closing stages of the victory.

In tennis, Ana Ivanovic surprisingly lost in the third round of the Italian Open to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska. The Serb lost 6-1 3-6 6-4 despite leading 4-0 in the final set.

Meanwhile, defending champion Jelena Jankovic, world number one Dinara Safina and fourth seed Venus Williams all won through to the quarter-finals.

Williams beat Russia's Anna Chakvetadze 6-0 6-7 6-4 while Safina was made to battle before seeing off Sheng Jie 5-7 6-1 7-6.

Jankovic was leading Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1 1-0 when her opponent was forced to retire because of illness.

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