London, Mar 23 : Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has warned his side to maintain their momentum if they want going to snatch the league title from Manchester United.

Benitez witnessed the 5-0 demolition of 10-man Aston Villa at Anfield that sees the Reds close to within one point of the champions, who have a game in hand.

Hamburg - Serena Williams of the United States retained top spot in the women's tennis rankings issued on Monday by the WTA while Russian Dinara Safina drew closer to her despite a quarter-final exit last week in Indian Wells.

Williams remained on 9,432 as she didn't play in the Californian Masters event, while Safina improved to 9,121 points. Third-placed Serb Jelena Jankovic has 7,985 points.

Hamburg - Rafael Nadal stretched his lead at the top of the men's tennis rankings by virtue of his Indian Wells Masters title on Sunday.

The Spaniard leads the list issued on Monday by the ATP with 14,990 points from Switzerland's Roger Federer (10,910) and Serbian Novak Djokovic (8,420). Nadal beat fourth-ranked Briton Andy Murray in straight sets on Sunday.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 23: Test cricket on Sunday said farewell and thanks to West Indian Steve Bucknor, the most experienced umpire to date in the longest form of the game.

The 62-year-old Jamaican umpired his final Test match at Newlands in Cape Town between South Africa and Australia, his 128th match in the middle.

Dubai, Mar. 23: Indian batswoman Mithali Raj has found a place in the ICC’s Team of the Tournament of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 which was staged in Australia from 7 to 22 March.

Indian wrist spinner Priyanka Roy and fast bowler Amita Sharma are also in the squad.

The team was selected by a specially assembled panel of experts, headed by former Australia captain Belinda Clark, which had also picked the player of the tournament.

Cape Town (South Africa), Mar. 23: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has appealed to the national selectors to provide him with a specialist spinner for the Ashes series.

The appeal has gone out following the disastrous debut of Bryce McGain in Cape Town, reports The Age.

McGain took 0-149 from 18 overs at 8.27 runs per over, the second-worst economy rate by a bowler in an innings in Test history.