Mumbai, May 7
Resurgent Mumbai Indians excelled with a superb all-round display to stun table-toppers Rajasthan Royals in their track and recorded a comprehensive seven-wicket victory, their third successive after four straight losses, in the Indian Premier League at the DY Patil Stadium here tonight.

Helped by some pathetic batting display by the visiting team, who went into their seventh tie with five successive wins behind them, the hosts bowled purposefully and fielded brilliantly to skittle out Rajasthan Royals for a meagre 103 in 16.2 overs.

The only way Rajasthan could win from that position when the asking rate was just over five was to trigger a dramatic collapse, which did not happen, and Mumbai Indians romped home by making 104 for three wickets in 15.1 overs to keep themselves firmly in the hunt for a semifinal berth.

Yogesh Takawale, the young Maharashtra Ranji wicketkeeper-batsman, came up with a fine all-round effort by snaring four victims behind the stumps and then making 27 during the run chase.

Jayasuriya fell pulling Shane Watson's long hop into deep square leg's hands and Takawale was bemused and bowled by a Shane Warne special, a flipper, as he shaped to cut to leave Mumbai Indians at 64 for two after 10 overs.

Uthappa top scored with 34 for Mumbai and he along with Abhishek Nayar took their team home in 15.1 overs.

Earlier, Man of the Match Ashish Nehra took three wickets in three overs. Bravo, Raje and Kulkarni took scalped two Rajasthan batsmen. Only Asnodkar (39) and Watson (32) reached double figures for the visitors.

Scoreboard

Rajasthan Royals

Smith st Y. Takawale b Pollock 5

Asnodkar c Uthappa b Rohan Raje 39

Y. Pathan b Nehra 1

Watson b Bravo 32

Kaif c Nehra b Rohan Raje 4

R Jadeja c Y. Takawale b D. Kulkarni 0

Warne c Y. Takawale b D. Kulkarni 7

Tanvir b Nehra 6

M. Rawat c Y. Takawale b Nehra 1

S. Trivedi b Bravo 1

Munaf not out 0

Extras (lb-2, w-5) 7

Total (all out, 16.2 overs) 103

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-21, 3-74, 4-82, 5-82, 6-94, 7-95, 8-102, 9-103

Bowling: Pollock 3-0-19-1, Nehra 3-0-13-3, Dhaval Kulkarni 3-0-21-2, Bravo 2.2-0-12-2, Jayasuriya 12-0-17-0, Rohan Raje 3-0-19-2.

Mumbai Indians

Y. Takawale b Warne 27

Jayasuriya c Y. Pathan b Watson 18

Uthappa not out 34

Bravo c Asnodkar b Watson 1

Abhishek Nayar not out 12

Extras (lb-2, w-10) 12

Total (3 wkts, 15.1 overs) 104

Fall of wickets: 1-41 2-64 3-72

Bowling: Tanvir 3.1-0-13-0, Patel 3-0-21-0, Trivedi 3-0-23-0, Watson 4-0-26-2, Warne 2-0-19-1.

Player of the Match: Ashish Nehra (Mumbai Indians). — Agencies

New Delhi, May 7
There seems to be a pattern emerging in Delhi Daredevils' fortune in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 Cricket Championship. Before every home match, they lose an away tie to arrest their winning momentum.

Daredevils had lost to Kings XI Punjab at Mohali before they took on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

And Daredevils suffered their second away defeat at the hands Mumbai Indians, who were themselves starved of victories, before they take on Chennai Super Kings at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tomorrow. This will be Daredevils' seventh, Super Kings' eighth and the 28th match in the IPL.

Delhi Daredevils have proved to be unbeatable at the Kotla ground, as they have been able to judiciously use their formidable batting and bowling resources, though Royal Challengers ran them close, thanks to Delhi captain Virender Sehwag's costly last-over spell, which yielded 19 runs.

But Sehwag's boys enjoy a huge psychological advantage over the Super Kings as the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team's luck suddenly took a nosedive after the Delhi Daredevils tamed them at their home ground Chepauk by eight wickets to inflict them their first defeat in the IPL.

Super Kings have been vainly battling a down slide since then, as they lost to Rajasthan Royals and even the winless Deccan Chargers to suffer three defeats on a trot, of which two were at home.

The composition of the Super Kings' lineup has taken a severe knocking with the departure of Australians Mathew Hayden and Mike Hussey and Kiwi Jacob Oram.

Daredevils have faced no such exodus of talent, barring the exit of Kiwi Daniel Vettori. Delhi have been firing on the batting prowess of openers Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Shikhar Dhawan while Glenn McGrath has been precisely spearheading the bowling attack, with Yo Mahesh proving to be a revelation.

Gambhir, in the previous two matches at the Kotla ground, had hit an unbeaten 58 and a brilliant 86 while Shikhar Dhawan's contributions were 52 not out and 50.

Though Sehwag has not hit it big at his home venue, he had helped Gambhir give an electrifying start to their innings.

And Sehwag acknowledged this fact when he said at a media briefing on the eve of the clash against Chennai Super Kings that "our top order had done well in four out of the six matches so far and I am looking ahead to see the top order continue in the same vein in the remaining matches too".

Though Sehwag does not undermine the strength of the Super Kings, sans three of their foreign stars, the Delhi skipper was hopeful that his players will take full advantage of home conditions, as they had done in the previous two matches.

Sehwag himself was happy with his blistering form while cracking 71 off 41 balls against Super Kings.

Kolkata, May 7
With their stars failing to live up to pre-tournament billing, two struggling sides Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers face off in a crucial battle to stay afloat in the Indian Premier League here tomorrow.

After a string of four losses, the Sourav Ganguly-led Knight Riders now occupy the fifth place, while the visitors languish at the bottom of the eight-team table despite having gleaned four points each.

The Knight Riders have failed to keep up the momentum after a good start and the inability of their top order to forge good partnerships in the initial overs is giving sleepless nights to the team management.

"The batting is an area of concern. We have to back each other and it's time for all of us to perform," Ganguly, himself going through a run drought, said at the customary match-eve media meet.

Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar, who joined the team two days back after his Pakistan Cricket Board-imposed ban was lifted for a month, does not feature among the 14 members shortlisted for the match.

"He is coming up reasonably well. He wants to play. But he is not in the condition he should be," said Knight Riders coach John Buchanan.

Delhi's Aakash Chopra is in the squad and speculation is rife that Ganguly would come lower down the order, with any two among Chopra, Australian Brad Hodge and Pakistan's Salman Butt likely to be asked to open the innings.

With hard-hitting Aussie David Hussey and Pakistan pacer Umar Gul being certainties, Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper batsman Tatenda Taibu will have to sit out once again. In-form Wriddhiman Saha will then continue to don the gloves.

The visiting side, owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, are in the doldrums after the dismal show, and their CEO Charu Sharma 'stepped down' yesterday to make way for Brijesh Patel.

Skipper Rahul Dravid has been a notable exception amidst the ruins and scored a gritty 66 of 51 balls in the previous match against Kings XI Punjab.

The foreigners - Cameron White, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn - have also been unable to do justice to their reputation, and the team management would be pinning their hopes on a good performance from hard-hitting Misbah-ul Haq who would play his second match of the tournament on the morrow.

Ganguly said that he was satisfied with the pitch, and did not think that the toss would be a factor. — PTI

Kolkata, May 7
Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has been ruled out of the match against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Eden Gardens tomorrow owing to his fitness condition, Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan said here today.

Akash Chopra for the first time features among the 14 probables while Pakistan all rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who has been playing all along, was dropped in order to strengthen the batting line up against Rahul Dravid's Royal Challengers.

“Shoaib is very keen to play but his fitness level is not as good as it ought to be for tomorrow's match,” Buchanan told mediapersons.

Chopra is the only new inclusion in the probables, but his cap in the side is almost certain as skipper Sourav Ganguly wanted a good batting line up, especially after the departure of Brendon McCullum.

Ganguly, while exuding confidence about winning second time against Bangalore, told a news conference that barring Mohali and Jaipur all other teams were very close to each other.

“The chances of making the last four are still wide open for Kolkata,” he said.
— UNI

Kolkata, May 7
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly today said the youngsters' performance in Twenty20 cricket does not count for much until they prove their calibre in the Test format as has been done by seniors like him.

"Let's not jump up and down too much at their performance in Twenty20. As a player, I'd love to see them perform in five dayers and 50-over games. That's where the real test lies," he said.

"If you see my performance, I've scored more than 3000 runs in international cricket, which is more than any other Indian batsmen, ever since my comeback (in late 2006). But still I'm under the scanner," said Ganguly, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain in the IPL told a press meet.

Ganguly, however, admitted that captaining a Twenty20 side was different. "Its different. It demands quick thinking."

Ganguly felt there was not much difference among the sides at the IPL now. "Though Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab have a slight edge, any team is capable of beating the other in the tournament." — PTI

Dubai, May 7
Umpiring in cricket is all set for a major revamp with the ICC Cricket Committee recommending a referral system in Tests and introduction of the hawk eye technology for deciding LBWs.

"Each team should be limited to a maximum of three unsuccessful referrals per innings," the ICC said in a statement after the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the Committee here.

"The process should take the form and order of: on-field umpire gives his decision; affected batsman or fielding sides captain asks the umpire to review that decision; the on-field umpire(s) and third umpire consult; the on-field umpire gives his final decision," it added.

On the introduction of Hawk-Eye for making leg-before decisions, the committee recommended that the third umpire should be allowed to use the technology to determine the actual path of the ball.

"... Hawk Eye technology could be used by the third umpire but only for the purposes of determining the actual path of the ball up until the point that it struck the batsman and not the predictor function of the technology," the statement read.

A Test series would be used to trial the new proposals after they are approved by the Chief Executives' Committee (CEC).

If that approval is forthcoming, then the decisions can be ratified at the ICC Board. Both the CEC and the ICC Board are scheduled to meet here from June 29.

The Cricket Committee also took stock of Twenty20's rise and stressed on the need to strike the right balance among the three formats of the game.

"The committee agreed that there was a strong need to identify and maintain a balance between the three formats so that all of them could continue to thrive," the statement said.

"It identified Test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport and expressed the need for the best available participants (players, umpires, referees etc) to be involved in international cricket. — PTI

Ipoh (Malaysia), May 7
Neck-deep in controversies and experiencing the winds of change, a young Indian side will start from the scratch as they seek to revive their fortunes through a decent showing at the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament starting here tomorrow.

India may be the bronze medallists in the last two editions of the annual tournament, but this time around they have to dish out a string of extraordinary performances right from the start of their campaign against New Zealand tomorrow.

Although defending champions Australia are not playing this time, four Olympic-bound nations - Canada, Belgium, Pakistan and New Zealand -, hosts Malaysia and Argentina will pose serious challenge for an inexperienced Indian team.

In recent times, India's failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in eight decades, a bribery scandal involving erstwhile Indian Hockey Federation Secretary K Jothikumaran and the eventual dissolution of the IHF and sacking of its President K P S Gill have rocked the system.

Besides, wooden spoon finishes at two just-concluded four-nation tournaments in Australia speaks a lot about the state of hockey in the country.

The new selection committee comprising five former greats have dropped nine players who played in Australia and named eight rookies in the 18-member squad.

However, the biggest responsibility will be on the shoulders of junior coach A K Bansal. He may have led the youngsters successfully in a few assignments abroad and done well in the Premier Hockey League, but Azlan Shah meet is the biggest opportunity the docile coach has ever got and how he rises up to the occasion will be interesting to watch.

Bansal will, however, have the privilege of seeking valuable inputs from Australian great Ric Charlesworth, who is serving as the Technical Advisor-cum-Expert Coach with Indian hockey.

After their opening encounter with the Kiwis, India will meet Argentina (May 9), Canada (May 11), Belgium (May 12), Pakistan (May 15) and Malaysia (May 17).
— PTI

Chandigarh, May 7
Thanks to bureaucratic rigmarole, Olympian Pargat Singh, who has been designated manager of the national team, will skip the opening match of the Azlan Shah Invitation Hockey Tournament which starts tomorrow.

India play New Zealand in the opener. Though the Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and secretary-general Randhir Singh personally wanted Pargat Singh, who is director of sports, to join the team in Kuala Lumpur tonight, delay in sanction of out-of-India leave forced him to stay back and wait for permission to fly out from the union capital tomorrow.

While nine members of the Indian team that finished fourth in the twin four-nation tournaments in Australia reached Malaysia yesterday, the remaining seven members accompanied by new coach C.P. Bansal, and adviser Richard Charlesworth, joined them today.

The IOA president and secretary-general were keen that Pargat Singh as manager of the team should be present when several administrative issues, including naming of the captain of the team, are resolved in Kuala Lumpur before the start of the tournament.

According to sources, principal secretary sports R.P.S. Pawar has referred the special leave application of Pargat Singh to his parent Police Department. Pargat is on deputation with the Sports Department. Normally, the department accepting a deputationist, sanctions out-of-country leave.

Interestingly, the IOA top office-bearers also sought the intervention of the Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the president of the Punjab Olympic Association Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also an MP, to get Pargat Singh cleared for national duty.

In case, his out-of-India leave is cleared tomorrow, Pargat Singh can hope to join the team soon after it had played its first match.