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Azlan Shah Hockey
Busy time ahead for paddlers
United thrash Schalke
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Kochi do the double on Knight riders
KKR paid the price for a poor final over bowled by Brett Lee that cost them 22 runs with Man of the match Brad Hodge (35 not out, 3x4, 2x6) hitting a couple of sixes and boundaries. Chasing 157 for victory, Morgan and Jacques Kallis (45, 41 balls) got 69 in the first 10 overs but Raiphi Gomez dismissed Kallis and rival skipper Gautam Gambhir (0) off successive deliveries to bring the home team right back in the match. It was Gomez's spell of two for 14 that became the turning point. He was brilliantly backed up by India discard R Vinay Kumar (2/28) and some tidy work by the fielders. Morgan finally came good with the bat as he smashed eight fours and two sixes in his 51-ball knock to provide solidity to Kolkata's run chase at the Nehru Stadium. It was the middle overs where Kolkata frittered as KTK bowlers kept a tight leash on them. The boundaries were difficult to come by adding to the pressure. Having watched Morgan hit two boundaries off pacer R P Singh in the first over, Kallis got into the act, hitting the same bowler for couple of more boundaries. Gomez who bowled wicket to wicket breached Kallis's defence when he played inside the line to get bowled. Gambhir tried to make room in order to hit over extra-cover but was holed out by his counterpart Mahela Jayawardene. But the loss of two crucial wickets did not stop Morgan from taking chances as he clobbered R P Singh for a four and six in the 12th over and then picked Vinay Kumar for special treatment, hitting him for two fours. However he failed to up the ante after that. In-form Manoj Tiwary (1) too departed as he was caught by Brendon McCullum at midwicket off pacer Vinay Kumar. Morgan somewhat tried to break the shackles in the 17th over, clobbering Sreesanth for a four and six to accumulate 13 runs of the over. With 31 required of last two overs, Morgan and Yusuf Pathan (17) tried to accelerate the innings but only ended up in a terrible mix-up resulting in Morgan's run out. Pathan followed the suit with Mahela taking a brilliant catch as KKR's hopes were completely dashed.
— PTI Scoreboard Kochi Tuskers Kerala McCullum c Kallis b Unadkat 1 Klinger c Abdulla b Yusuf 29 Parthiv c Bhatia b Unadkat 21 Jayawardene run out 55 Jadeja c Yusuf b Bhatia 8
Hodge not out 35
Gomez not out 1 Extras: (lb 1, w 3, nb 2) 6 Total: (5 wkts; 20 ovrs) 156 Bowling: Lee 4-1-42-0, Unadkat 4-0-25-2, Abdulla 2-0-16-0, Kallis 3-0-21-0, Ladda 1-0-13-0, Bhatia 3-0-22-1, Pathan 3-0-16-1. Kolkata Knight Riders Kallis b Gomez 45 Morgan run out 66 Gambhir c J’rdene b Gomez 0 Tiwary c Brendon b Vinay 1 Yusuf c J’rdene b Vinay 17 Boucher b RP 5 Lee run out 1 Bhatia not out 1 Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3 Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 139 Bowling: RP 4-0-44-1, Sreesanth 3-0-24-0, Vinay 4-0-28-2, Parameswaran 4-0-21-0, Gomez 4-1-14-2, Jadeja 1-0-7-0. |
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Kings face Royal Challenge
Bangalore, May 5 Thanks to successive victories, RCB have nine points from eight games, but will have to win at least four of their next six matches if they entertain hopes of being amongst the top four teams in the Twenty20 tournament. Mumbai Indians, with 14 points from nine games, Kolkata Knight Riders (12 from nine) and Chennai Super Kings (12 from nine) are the front-runners at this stage of the competition. And three wins from the remaining five games could certainly seal a place for these sides in the play-offs. Given this scenario, RCB will have to play their best cricket possible in the remainder of their six matches. A blip against Kings XI could make their climb to the summit more difficult. For Kings XI too, it will be a crucial game, as they are languishing at the ninth place with just six points from seven matches. Kings XI will have to win tomorrow, if they want to keep themselves in the reckoning for a place in the qualifiers. A defeat could virtually throw them out of the contest, unless they win all their remaining six games. All in all, the fans can expect a sizzling contest as both the teams boasts of batsmen who can devastate any bowling attack. If RCB have the likes of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers; Kings XI have Adam Gilchrist, rising star Paul Valthaty and Shaun Marsh at their disposal, who can tear apart any bowling side on their day. And considering the form of these gladiators and with the wicket expected to play hard and true, we can expect a heap of runs. Interestingly, RCB have raised their game by a notch or two since the advent of Gayle. However, the Daniel Vettori-led side have serious concerns when it comes to their bowling department. With pace spearhead Zaheer Khan looking out of sorts, RCB's bowling continues to remain it's weakest link. Captain Vettori has been a standout performer with the ball and domestic recruits Syed Mohammad and Sreenath Arvind have done reasonably well, but what the Bangalore outfit lacks is a genuine wicket-taking bowler. Kings XI, on other hand, have lost steam after making an impressive start to the tournament. Since winning three games on the trot, the Gilchrist-led side have lost three, which includes a small margin defeat against Delhi Daredevils in a high-scoring thriller. Punjab's batting has simply not been up to the mark despite Mumbaikar Valthaty's early heroics and Gilchrist once-in-a-while pyrotechnics. The visitors' batting had depended too much on these two big-striking openers and Punjab's success depend much upon how their opening duo perform against RCB's attack.
— PTI |
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Hyderabad, May 5 Sehwag single-handedly tore apart the Deccan bowling as his side overhauled the target of 176m with an over to spare, keeping Delhi’s chances in the League alive. He scored a 48-ball century, and by the time Dale Steyn got rid of him for 119 (56 balls), he had already hit 6 sixes and 13 fours. This performance also sees Sehwag grab the Orange Cap from Sachin Tendulkar. Jean-Paul Duminy finally came good with a slice of luck as his smashing 54 helped Deccan Chargers post a challenging 175 for five. It was Duminy's power-hitting that saw Chargers score a whopping 108 runs in the last 10 overs after scoring 67 in the first 10. Off-spinner Yogesh Nagar 'dismissed' both Duminy and Daniel Christian (27, 22 balls, 2x4) in the 15th over. Tragically, on both occasions he overstepped. While Christian got a boundary off the free-hit, Duminy's aerial shot yielded maximum results.
— PTI Scoreboard Deccan Chargers Dhawan c Salvi b Agarkar 29 Teja c Ojha b Salvi 2 S’kara c Sehwag b Hopes 44 Duminy run out 55 Christian not out 27 Chipli c Finch b Agarkar 1 Malhotra not out 7 Extras (lb 4, w 4, nb 2) 10 Total: (5 wkts; 20 ovrs) 175 Bowling: Morkel 4-0-37-0, Irfan 3-0-18-0, Salvi 4-0-26-1, Agarkar 4-0-29-2, Hopes 3-0-29-1, Rao 1-0-12-0, Nagar 1-0-20-0. Delhi Daredevils Finch c Christian b Steyn 0 Sehwag c S’kara b Steyn 119 Ojha c S’kara b Ishant 7 Rao c Duminy b Ishant 3 Birt b Christian 4 Irfan st S’kara
b Mishra 12 Hopes not out 17 Nagar not out 7 Extras (lb 1, w 8, nb 1) 10 Total: (6 wkts; 19 ovrs) 179 Bowling: Steyn 4-0-24-2, Ishant 4-0-16-2, Christian 4-0-31-1, Malhotra 1-0-23-0, Mishra 4-0-53-1, Chipli 1-0-20-0, Duminy 1-0-11-0.
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Cook is England ODI skipper, Broad to lead in T20
London, May 5 Cook took over from Andrew Strauss, who has retired from ODI cricket, while Broad replaced Paul Collingwood, who had led the national side to World Twenty20 title last year. Strauss had quit ODI captaincy after the World Cup to concentrate on Test cricket and it left Andy Flower and the ECB with no choice, but to go for a new captain. Now England have three different captains for all three formats of the game. Collingwood was keen to continue as T20 skipper, but ECB opted for 24-year-old Broad. Strauss, who played 127 ODIs and led the side in 62 of them during his two-year stint as captain, said, "We still have a long way to go if we're to achieve our goal of winning ICC global events and I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and ensure someone else takes up that challenge. "Retiring from one-day cricket will also enable me to focus solely on the Test captaincy and our ongoing development in the Test arena, as we also strive to be the top-ranked team in world cricket. I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England's development across all forms of the game," he said. 26-year-old Cook had led England in both the Test and ODI in Bangladesh last year in Strauss' absence, and will reprise the role when England will host Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval on June 28. Cook said, "Andrew Strauss has led the one-day team to continued success over the past two years and I'll be looking to continue that progress as captain. I'm excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain.” Broad will make his debut as captain when he leads England against Sri Lanka in Bristol on June 25. "It's a huge privilege to be named England Twenty20 captain and form part of a leadership team that I've no doubt will work well together with a great deal of synergy. "I've always enjoyed playing the shortest form of the game and I relish the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as England's Twenty20 captain. As captain, the chance to work closely with Andy Flower is an extremely exciting one and as current World Twenty20 champions, I know there is a real responsibility to continue the team's recent success," Broad said.
— PTI |
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Azlan Shah Hockey
Ipoh, May 5 The double defending champions were leading 2-0 till the 31st minute when the South Koreans, the joint champions with India last year, pierced open the Indian defence with their brisk pace to begin the fightback before pumping in three goals. India, outright winners of the Azlan Shah Cup in 2009 and joint champions in 2010, failed to match the speed of the Korean side, who at one stage were reduced to nine players after the referee flashed green cards to two players following their vehement protest, resulting to their temporary suspension. It was South Korea who forced an early penalty corner in the eighth minute but Hong Eun-Song shot wide. India took the lead in the 20th minute from their first penalty corner with Diwakar Ram sounding the board with a powerful grounder after Dhananjay Mahadik squared the ball to him. Three minutes later, the Koreans got another penalty corner and a mid-field ruckus followed after umpire Martin Madden signalled that Hong Eun-Song's shot had gone wide to the right. The Koreans protested strongly, arguing that the ball had gone through the goal netting and play was held up.
— PTI |
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Busy time ahead for paddlers
New Delhi, May 5 Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) secretary-general Dhanraj Choudhary said here today that though the 2011 TT calendar started with the Polish Open pro tour in March, the TTFI waited for the Sports Ministry's clearance before releasing the full calendar of events. Choudhary said the TT calendar has been drawn up based on the performances of the Indian players in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. The Asian Juniors in New Delhi in July will be very important for the players as it will help them compete against top paddlers from the region, besides keeping a watch on their rankings. The Senior Nationals will be held in Lucknow early next year while Siliguri will host the Youth and Junior nationals in December. The national championships for cadet and sub-juniors will be held in Kochi in December. The prestigious India Cup will be held either in Rajasthan or in Bengal as both the States have offered to host the event, though the TTFI will make a final choice later. |
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Nadal
crushes Baghdatis
Madrid, May 5 Novak Djokovic, the world number two, maintained his unbeaten start to the year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over unseeded South African Kevin Anderson; while fourth-seeded Briton Andy Murray went through 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 against Gilles Simon of France. Nadal did not face a break point on his serve and converted his first match point, when he whipped a trademark forehand winner down the line. — Reuters |
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United thrash Schalke
Manchester, May 5 Two second-half goals from Anderson after first-half efforts by Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson saw United stroll into their third European Cup final in four seasons and book a date with Barca in the May 28 showpiece at Wembley Stadium. United manager Alex Ferguson said he had a sleepless night worrying about his team selection, but his side effortlessly reached the final as he set a personal milestone. The Scot has become only the second man to lead his teams into as many as six European finals - one with Aberdeen and now five with United, including four Champions League finals. Italian Giovanni Trapattoni has steered teams to seven European finals. Three-times winners Manchester United won their first European Cup at Wembley in 1968, as did Barcelona in the first of their three triumphs in 1992. It will be the third European final between the clubs.
— Reuters |
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Kochi, May 5
