Chennai, May 3
It will be a clash of mid-season favourites when defending champions Chennai Super Kings host Shane Warne's sprightly Rajasthan Royals, as the Indian Premier League crosses its halfway stage at the M A Chidambaram stadium here tomorrow.

While the evergreen Warne will attempt to rouse his under-rated team to yet another upset win, M S Dhoni's side would be keen to continue its unbeaten home run this season. Both teams have won three matches on the bounce, the CSK taming Pune Warriors home and away before seeing off Deccan Chargers at home on Sunday; and the Royals prevailing over Kochi, Mumbai and Pune Warriors, respectively.

While tomorrow's match will be the first of two back-to-back matches against the CSK for the Royals, the men in yellow have a game in hand over Warne's boys and will travel next up to Kolkata to face the Knight Riders on May 7. It remains to be seen if Elizabeth Hurley, the Royals' lucky mascot, turns up to support her boyfriend Warne at the Chepauk stadium.

Also, the Aussie wizard will be hoping his top order turns up at the big match, because barring South African Johan Botha, none has scored a half century in nine matches, into their IPL season. Botha has played some crucial knocks to hand his side the momentum when needed but Rahul Dravid, Aussie Shane Watson and the young Ashok Menaria have failed to build on starts.

New Zealander Ross Taylor, bought for USD one million in the IPL auction, finally proved his value in Royals' win over Pune in their previous match with a 35-ball 47. While Siddarth Trivedi and Amit Singh, two former bright prospects of Indian cricket, have pocketed nine and seven wickets respectively, the story of the Royals' season has been Warne.

Four years after his retirement from international cricket, his offerings are as sinister as ever. Pushing 42, Warne still cares. And it is reflected in the bowling leaderboard, where he is joint second with 11 wickets at a superb economy rate of 6.03. If there is a place CSK's batsmen can confidently take guard against Warne, it's at home, where they are seeking a fifth successive victory.

Though CSK coach Stephen Fleming has denied that the team looks at matches on a 'home' and 'away' basis, he also agreed the team was at an advantage at the Chepauk, because they are familiar with the conditions and know how to handle them.

CSK's biggest positives from their last match, against Deccan on Sunday, was the return to form of Suresh Raina, who smashed a half century, and South African Albie Morkel, who took 3/38 and thumped a six-ball 19 to win the man of the match award. — PTI 

Kolkata, May 3
Ignored at this year's IPL auctions, former India captain Sourav Ganguly made a dramatic return in the cash-rich league today, signing for Pune Warriors India in place of an injured Ashish Nehra.

"I was approached by them yesterday and I've confirmed about my availability to them. I am leaving for Mumbai today and the details will be announced there," Ganguly told reporters here today. Ganguly is however unlikely to feature in Pune Warriors' match against Mumbai Indians tomorrow.

Ganguly, who was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders for the first and third season of IPL, was given a cold shoulder by Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise as well as nine others, who didn't bid for him during the auctions. The Pune Warriors are in the midst of a disastrous campaign having lost six consecutive matches under Yuvraj Singh's captaincy. With the batting looking depleted, the new franchise couldn't have thought for a better replacement as Ganguly brings with him a vast experience.

Confirming the development, Pune Warriors team director Abhijit Sarkar told PTI that roping in Ganguly was not a gamble and he would prove his worth with the former India captain being the "best cricketing brain" in the country. "He is playing in IPL not for money, but to prove a point. He deserves a lot of respect, but not the way he has been treated (by Kolkata Knight Riders)... He is the best cricketing brain in the country. Taking Ganguly is not a gamble," Sarkar explained.

Sarkar said their side was plagued by a lot of injuries and they thought of Ganguly. "At the start of the tournament, Angelo Mathews, the best all-rounder, was ruled out. Australian T20 vice-captain Tim Paine, South African skipper Graeme Smith too are injured, while Ashish Nehra was also battling with injury. We waited for Nehra's fitness report that came yesterday."

"We have been in talks for last two-three days. Our team think-tank felt that Sourav Ganguly is the best possible option available, so we went for him. He has been a fighter and a master of comebacks. We are very much confident that he will prove his worth. We welcome him on board. He is joining the side (in Navi Mumbai) this evening and will train with the coach and support staff. But, I don't think that he will be playing in our next match (against Mumbai Indians) tomorrow."

The May 19 clash between Pune Warriors and KKR will assume greater significance as Ganguly is a certainty for that particular match. Asked about the tenure of Ganguly's contract, Sarkar said, "We want to go step by step. Of course, Sourav is a part of Sahara India Pariwar and we will want this association to be a long term one. The contract will be assessed at the end of the year."

Incidentally, Ganguly has always shared a cordial relationship with Team Pune owner Subrata Roy. Speculations were rife that Warriors will pick him from auctions if KKR doesn't bid for him. But one learns that chief coach Geoff Marsh and assistant coach Praveen Amre were against the idea of roping in former India captain due to his strained relationship with Aussie coaches.

But having failed to deliver the goods with Warriors down in the dumps, they now have no option but to toe the management line. The move to join Warriors definitely came as a bolt from the blue for the KKR management, who have all this while tried to convince Ganguly to join the team as 'Mentor'. — PTI

Mumbai, May 3
Six straight defeats weighing them down, debutants Pune Warriors' enormous task of keeping their wafer-thin hopes of advancing to the next stage alive doesn't get any easier, as they take on table-toppers Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League match here tomorrow.

The two teams are on opposite ends of the win-loss table going into their ninth round clash at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai here. Pune have, however, got a shot in the arm with the inclusion of Sourav Ganguly in place of the injured pacer Ashish Nehra today. But it remains to be seen whether he would get a game tomorrow itself.

Mumbai bounced back from a hiccup against Rajasthan Royals to notch up their sixth victory in eight ties last night against Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium, while Pune went down to the same Jaipur franchise two days ago for their sixth loss in eight games.

The six-wicket defeat to the Royals has put the Warriors at the bottom of the 10-team ladder with just four points to their tally. Another defeat would put their campaign off track, making the rest of their round robin engagements into matters of only academic interest.

In such a do-or-die situation, the Yuvraj Singh-led Pune need to show iron-clad nerves to pull it through against the high-flying Mumbai, led by Sachin Tendulkar, in what is termed as the local "Derby" and carry off a stunning victory. The first leg clash between these two neighbouring city franchises had ended in a massive defeat for Yuvraj and Co. as they were shot out for a measly 112 in just over 17 overs by their rivals who went on to complete a seven-wicket triumph.

The Warriors have shown only fleetingly the desired combined effort after notching up two impressive victories at the beginning. — PTI 

Madrid, May3
Real Madrid are attempting to revive former glories to inspire them on their mission to overturn a two-goal deficit at arch-rivals Barcelona in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg.

Real's website (www.realmadrid.com) ran a picture on Sunday of their players celebrating a 2-0 semi-final first-leg victory at the Nou Camp in 2002 that paved the way for their ninth and most recent triumph in Europe's elite club competition.

Zinedine Zidane and Steve McManaman scored that night and the Spanish giants drew the return leg at the Bernabeu 1-1 before Real beat German side Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in the final thanks to Zidane's stunning volley.

"Everyone agrees it will be difficult, but no one gives up hope," the club wrote. "This historic precedent is just what Real Madrid need to have even greater faith in their chances on Tuesday." Goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas added his voice to the message of optimism.

"The names of the two teams that will play the final haven't been inscribed yet," the Spanish World Cup winner said. "You never know what may happen. We will play in Barcelona knowing a final is set to take place in a month and that any of the four teams still in the championship may be in it."

The ill-tempered first leg in Madrid last week, when World Player of the Year Lionel Messi struck two late goals after Real defender Pepe had been sent off, resulted in UEFA opening probes into the two clubs. — Reuters