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chennai earn final chance
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Bayern beat Lyon
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Opting to bat first, the Super Kings looked in trouble before a 52-run partnership between skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) and S Badrinath (37) guided them to a competitive 142 for seven. For the Chargers, Ryan Harris bowled a fine initial spell to get rid off openers Murali Vijay and Mathew Hayden cheaply and finished with excellent figures of three for 29. The Super Kings, however, returned to defend the total with all their might and resource, skittling out their opponents for 104 in 19.2 overs and dashing Deccan Chargers' hopes of a successful title defence. For Chennai, Bollinger (4/13) stood out, having rocked the Deccan top order and then dropping curtains on the opponent's innings with his tidy four overs. Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati also chipped in with two crucial wickets to hasten Deccan's fall. Chasing a modest target, the Chargers were never in the game as they lost wickets at regular intervals and their listless batting could be gauged from the fact that Andrew Symonds topscored them with a 22-ball 23. The Chargers will now return to the same DY Patil Stadium on Saturday where they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore for the third place playoff, which will decide which one of them would join Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League Twenty20 later this year. The Chargers' chase got off to a poor start and skipper Adam Gilchrist's (15) dismissal in the sixth over was not only the continuation of his personal bad patch but also a bad omen as the Chargers never got any partnership going. Herschelle Gibbs (18), Symonds and B Sumanth (16) got the starts but could not capitalise on it. Earlier the Chargers bowlers stuck to their task brilliantly and even though there were spilled chances early on, managed to apply the brakes effectively to give their batsmen a golden chance to overhaul the modest Super Kings total. Super Kings made a shock start by losing their top three batsmen, including in-form Suresh Raina, inside five overs with only 29 runs on board and never recovered. The 52-run partnership between Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30), who struck three fours, and Badrinath, who was dismissed for 37 made in 41 balls, was the lone bright spot in an otherwise listless batting display. For Chargers, Ryan Harris bowled a fine initial spell to get rid off openers Murali Vijay and Mathew Hayden cheaply and finished with excellent figures of three for 29. The Super Kings' of a flying start after opting to bat first on a wicket offering lot of carry to the pace bowlers seemed to be on thin ice with Hayden living a charmed life. The left-handed Australian opener was dropped twice but he failed to utilise his good fortune and was dismissed in the last ball of the second over. Murali Vijay (15) followed suit after looking good for a big score when he took 13 runs in the third over from RP Singh, which included a superbly struck six over mid-wicket, before being trapped leg before by Harris with an in-dipper. The loss of the two openers after the first ball of the fourth over looked bad and worse followed when Super Kings' batting lynchpin Raina departed for two, edging a drive off Symonds to Adam Gilchrist. — PTI Scoreboard Chennai Super Kings: Vijay lbw b Harris 15 (10)Hayden c Symonds b Harris 8 (9) Raina c Gilchrist b Symonds 2 (4) Badrinath run out 37 (41) Dhoni c Sharma b Harmeet 30 (32) Morkel c Symonds b Ojha 4 (4) Anirudha c Gibbs b Harris 24 (15) Ashwin not out 6 (5) Jakati not out 0 (0) Extras: (b 8, lb 5, w 3) 16 Total: (7 wickets; 20 overs) 142 Bowling: Symonds 4-0-18-1, Harris 4-0-29-3, RP Singh 4-0-33-0, Ojha 4-0-27-1, Harmeet 4-0-22-1.
Deccan Chargers:
Gilchrist c Anirudha b Bollinger 15 (20) Gibbs b Jakati 18 (26) Suman c Raina b Bollinger 4 (4) Rohit c Murali b Morkel 2 (5) Symonds c Vijay b Ashwin 23 (22) Mishra st Dhoni b Jakati 2 (5) Sumanth b Bollinger 16 (18) Harris c Vijay b Bollinger 15 (8) Harmeet lbw b Muralitharan 0 (1) RP not out 0 (3) Ojha c Bollinger b Raina 1 (4) Extras (lb 2, w 6) 8 Total: (all out; 19.2 overs) 104 Bowling: Ashwin 4-0-14-1, Bollinger 4-1-13-4, Murali 4-0-16-1, Morkel 3-0-15 -1, Jakati 4-0-44-2, Raina 0.2-0-0-1. |
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Sachin hopes for final recovery
Tendulkar, IPL III’s top run getter, suffered a right hand webbing split while taking a dropped catch of Dravid in the fourth over and he did not field after that during Bangalore’s run chase. “My right hand is not too great. Split my webbing and got five stitches. But hopefully I will recover for the final,” Tendulkar said after Mumbai thumped Bangalore by 35 runs in the first semifinal to storm into their maiden IPL final at DY Patil Stadium. Tendulkar was all praise for Suarabh Tiwary (52 not out) and Ambati Rayudu (40) who began a splendid Mumbai recovery before Kieron Pollard’s late onslaught to take Mumbai score to 184 for five. “Fantastic performance. Rayudu and Saurabh’s performance was great, mental strength, shot selection, everything. And then final burst from Pollard, it was exceptional. And then we bowled really well. Pollard is getting bigger and bigger, and his hits are getting farther and farther,” he added. Bangalore captain Anil Kumble blamed the loss to the runs galore his side conceded in the last five overs. “We conceded 77 runs in the last five overs of Mumbai batting, it was too much. I also conceded runs in my last spell. But we were in the game till the ninth over of our run chase. We were 80 for two in the ninth over but we lost two wickets in two balls, that did us in,” he said. “It was disappointing not to have reached the final. The only consolation is we can still qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 (by winning the third-place play-off on April 24),” he added. Man-of-the-match Kieron Pollard, who was limping while batting but bowled exceptionally well later to take 3/17, said he would be fit for the final. “After running the first two runs, I twinged my knee. But it feels good now, and hopefully I should be fit for the final,” he said. “Thanks to the team and the management for sticking with me. I know my role was to go in and up the run-rate. I think I did that and then take a couple of wickets,” added the West Indian. Pollard fit for final Mumbai Indians today heaved a sigh of relief after key all-rounder Kieron Pollard was found fit for Sunday’s Indian Premier League final even though there remains a cloud of doubt over captain Sachin Tendulkar's availability. “There is no problem with Pollard. He’s fit,” team sources said here today. In that match, Pollard was seen limping during the semifinal tie against Royal Challengers Bangalore last night while batting as well as bowling even though it did not deter the big-built West Indian from dishing out a superb all-round display. “He had some cramps, but he’s okay now,” the sources added. The Trinidadian struck a belligerent 33 not out in 13 balls with three sixes, bowled his four overs tightly to pick up three vital wickets and effected a run out as well to bag the man of the match award as Mumbai Indians won the match by 35 runs. Pollard had played another blistering knock of 45 in 13 balls with five sixes and two fours for MI against Delhi Daredevils at the Brabourne Stadium on April 13. That match too went in his team’s favour. — PTI
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Villa keep alive hopes of 4th place
London, April 22 For Hull, the defeat brings the prospect of relegation ever closer. With only three games remaining, they sit in 18th place on 28 points, three points from safety. The opening goal for Villa came after 13 minutes when poor defending from Hull left Agbonlahor space on the left edge of the penalty area to finish expertly past Matt Duke in the home goal. A largely uneventful second half was partly overshadowed by what appeared to be a serious injury for Hull striker Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, who was carried from the pitch after a clash of heads with Villa defender Richard Dunne. It was Agbonlahor again who had the best chance to add to the away side's lead, but his shot was tipped over the crossbar by Duke. But shortly after, Hull captain George Boateng brought down James Milner in the area and the England midfielder himself fired in the penalty to confirm the three points for Villa. — DPA
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Munich, April 22 Ribery, in the spotlight this week after being questioned by French authorities as a witness in a prostitution investigation, was shown a straight red card for stepping on Lyon forward Lisandro Lopez's ankle in the 37th minute. Lyon were also reduced to 10 men nine minutes into the second half after Jeremy Toulalan picked up two bookings in quick succession. Bayern were the more aggressive side from the start, threatening with a Bastian Schweinsteiger header in the 14th minute after Lloris misjudged a corner kick. Ribery, who found himself constantly double-marked, managed to break free with some nifty footwork but his shot sailed wide. But as Bayern upped the pressure in search of a goal, Ribery stunned the sold-out 66,000 crowd when he stamped on Lisandro's ankle and was dismissed. — Reuters
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Soccer takes a BIG step forward Pune, April 22 The occasion was the formal opening of the AKFDC, the development centre, which will be run under the supervision of European and English giants Liverpool FC. The club will run a various number of courses at the academy and will train personnel to carry out the work all through the year. Students at the centre will be able to enroll in a number of football-related courses, which are to be delivered in partnership with some leading UK colleges. The courses include coaching, refereeing, sports science, sports turf technology and football industry management. Most of the curriculum will be delivered in Pune but students will be offered the chance to complete some of their studies in the UK. Aspiring young footballers will be able to combine their studies with football playing under the guidance of Liverpool coaches. The international coaching and refereeing courses will be the first courses to take off at the AKFDC. The courses will be conducted by English FA from around the first week of May onwards. Students who complete the FA level-1 coaching and refereeing courses at AKFDC will be allowed to move to England (only within FA jurisdiction). While the International Refereeing course at AKFDC will enable anyone completing the course to be recognised as a qualified referee in England. |
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Mumbai, April 22
Mumbai, April 22
