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Knights keep shining
Daredevils’ night out
Deccan in Charge |
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Commonwealth Championships
Shooting down the pessimism!
JCT take on Mohan Bagan today
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Kolkata, March 14 Cheered on by Shah Rukh Khan at the jam-packed Eden Gardens, Knight Riders first restricted the Royal Challengers at 135 for seven and then rode on half centuries by Manoj Tiwary (50) and Brad Hodge (50) to overhaul the target with four balls to spare. Having excelled with the bat against defending champions Deccan Chargers in their last match, Sri Lankan allrounder Mathews this time ripped the Royal Challengers apart with four for 19 to become the destroyer-in-chief. The medium-pacer was brilliantly supported by left-arm spinner Murali Kartik as Knight Riders prevailed from the beginning. Chasing 136 to win, Knight Riders had a flying start with Tiwary and Hodge milking the Royal Challengers bowlers as they cruised to 85 for no loss in 10 overs. Kumble used five bowlers in the first 10 overs but they failed to get a breakthrough with Tiwary and Hodge in fire. The duo did not let Kumble's opening bowling pair of Praveen Kumar and Jacques Kallis to settle as he brought in himself and Dale Steyn but without any success. RCB even struggled on the field and failed to bring in an easy run out in the 3.2 overs when Tiwary had some problem in his ankle and struggled to go for a second run. Steyn had a brilliant throw from the rope but stumper Goswami and Dravid made a mess of it with Kallis and Kumble looking aghast at the other end. Tiwary, however, wasn't complaining as he continued his assault smashing ace leg-spinner Kumble for 15 from eight balls including three boundaries as he cruised to 50 in 28 balls before being caught and bowled by Roelf van der Merwe. With Knight Riders 101 for one in 11.4 overs, Ganguly joined Hodge in the middle but the agony for the Royals Challengers continued with butter-fingered Goswami dropping Ganguly when he was yet to open his account. Hodge, in the mean time, completed his half-century and soon found himself caught by Manish Pandey off the bowling of van der Merwe as Cheteshwar Pujara joined Ganguly in the middle. Looking to complete the formality with three runs remaining, Ganguly found himself dismissed by Praveen Kumar. — PTI Scoreboard Royal Challengers: Knight Riders:
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Daredevils’ night out
Man of the Match Gambhir played a classic knock. Just recovered from the injury, the left-handed batsman paced his innings beautifully. There was not even a single false stroke. The regular fall of wickets at the other end failed to fluster him as he went about his job in a professional manner. The only time he played an uncharacteristic stroke to be caught by Jayawardene off Pathan was when he had scored 72 and the Daredevils were at the doorsteps of victory. Only formality remained to completed. Mithun Minhas and Ferveez Maharoof proved equal to the task as Daredevils completed their first engagement with a win. In fact, after the depleted KXIP had put up a modest total (142 for 9) in the stipulated 20 overs, a victory for the visitors looked very much on the cards as their batting line-up boasted of some of the most explosive contemporary batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik in the ranks. Luckily for KXIP, S Sreesanth got them of to dream start, getting rid of Sehwag and Dilshan in the space of just four deliveries in his first over at the same score of 10. The innings barely looked like getting the momentum, when the agility of Mahela Jayawardene, who dived full length to hit the stumps that ran De Villiers out, jolted the Daredevils. The batsman had yet to reach the two-digit mark. Scoreboard Kings XI Punjab Delhi Daredevils
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Chennai, March 14 Earlier, Andrew Symonds (50) and Hershelle Gibbs (45) weaved together a crucial 95-run partnership to lift Deccan Chargers to a competitive 190 for four. Symonds, who scored his second IPL fifty, and Gibbs joined forced after Deccan had lost two quick wickets, albeit after a fiery start at M A Chidambaram stadium. The two batsman dug in and placed the defending champions to a position from where the can push for their first points. Both Symomds and Gibbs were run out in the fag end but Rohit Sharma (19 off 10) together with T Suman (10 off 5) finished the innings splendidly, taking 22 runs from the last over bowled by Sudeep Tyagi. Symonds's 50-run knock came off 43 balls with three sixes and an equal number of boundaries while Gibbs took 36 balls for his 45 with the help of five fours and one six. Earlier, Deccan were off to a flying start on electing to bat with skipper Adam Gilchrist (38) and VVS Laxman putting on 55 for the first opening wicket within first five overs. Gilchrist was his usual destructive self and both the opening bowlers of the hosts -- Albie Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi were in for some really good punishment. Tyagi was hit for 19 runs in his first over with ball soaring twice over the ropes. Morkel was hit for two fours and a six in the next over as Deccan scored 41 runs from the first three overs.
— PTI Scoreboard Deccan Chargers: Super Kings: Vijay b Vaas 3 (6)
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Sangakkara: Didn’t score enough runs
Mohali, March 14 “We needed more runs on the board. We lost wickets at crucial positions and that in the end proved costly.” The Kings XI skipper further added, “Even the fielding was not upto the mark. It is always a bad way to start a tournament with a loss, but there are still a lot of matches to go. We started both previous seasons with a couple of losses. This time hopefully this will be just a one-off.” Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir, who also was leading his side for the first time, said that he was happy that their bowling, thought to be their weakness, faired well, especially in the absence of Ashish Nehra. “I think we did rather well to restrict them to around 140. Although at one stage I thought we could have shot them out for under 120, but such is the nature of T20 that plugging runs is not always easy.” Gambhir also said there was not too much in Sehwag’s dismissal as that is just the way the dashing opener bats. He also lauded Yusuf Pathan for his extraordinary innings against Mumbai Indians. |
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Commonwealth Championships
New Delhi, March 14 Akhil went down 6-12 to 20-year-old Englishman Iain Weaver, who is competing in his first major senior international tournament since graduating from the youth level last year. However, Amandeep, a South Asian Games gold medallist, out-punched Tanzania's Rajabu O Mbwana 9-1, while Jai got the better of Scot Josh Taylor 7-1 to cheer up the Indian camp. But the day brought in another disappointment when Manpreet Singh (+91kg) lost to Scot Stephen Simmons. The most anticipated bout of the day was Akhil's but much to the disappointment of the crowd, the 28-year-old ended up on the losing side. It was a closely contested affair until the second round by the end of which, the Indian trailed by just a point. Fighting with his trademark open guard, Akhil raced to a 3-0 lead with a few straight jabs in the first three minutes. It went neck and neck thereafter as Akhil's attempts at landing uppercuts failed to fetch him the points. Weaver scored on counter-punches and rarely left his guard low. As Akhil's frustration mounted, the baby-faced Englishman continued to mix caution with aggression stretching a one-point lead to five by the end of the final three minutes. "My uppercuts just didn't get the score. I fail to understand why. Every blow above the belt gets you points, why I didn't get for my uppercuts baffles me," Akhil said. — PTI
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Shooting down the pessimism!
Mohali, March 14 Q: You were promoting hockey in a big way. Has the result somehow been a dampener? A: Not at all. The team played with resolve and flair. And just because they finished 8th, doesn’t mean that we start to look down upon them. You have to keep the faith. Q: But don’t you think that with the World Cup happening in New Delhi, they could have done better? A: You have to look at it practically. The team cannot just pull out a medal because the tournament is in India. If tomorrow, India hosts the Olympics, does it mean we will win loads of medals? Lets not read too much into the World Cup performance, and for once just back the team unconditionally. Q: Coming to your performance, do you think with the Commonwealth Games in India, it adds any pressure on you? A: As I just said, you have to look at it practically. There is no added pressure on me because the CWG is happening in India. It is a big competition, and I will be preparing for it the same way, as for other big competitions. Q: What was your take on the Abhinav Bindra Vs NRAI controversy? A: All I can say is that Abhinav is a great sportsman. He is a true national hero and when any sportsman of that stature says something, you have to listen. If he has a grievance, it must be looked into. After all sports in India is not improving because of the officials, or the federations. It is because the players, and the fans are pushing it ahead with their passion and love. Q: There has been talk of the Karni Singh Range being among the best in the world. Have you seen the facility and do you agree with this assessment? A: Well, there are lots of factors that contribute towards making a facility top class. Keeping in mind its location and the vast infrastructure that has been put up, I have to say that it is indeed among the top shooting ranges in the world. Lets hope it contributes in a big way to helping our shooters.
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JCT take on Mohan Bagan today
Chandigarh, March 14 The teams have had a contrasting season till now as the Kolkata-based side fight it out for the title placed at 4th position and the Phagwara-based JCT still languishing at a lowly 10th. But the match is expected to be a fierce encounter as it has proved to be through the years. JCT have been reeling this year due to injuries to some of their key players and will hope to find their feet in front of home support. The match begins at 3.30 pm. |
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Kolkata, March 14
