Bangalore, September 26
Mumbai Indians continued their winning-run in the Champions League T20 cricket tournament with a nail-biting one-wicket win over spirited Trinidad and Tobago at the Chinnaswamy stadium here today.

Electing to bat, Trinidad and Tobago found the going tough and were bowled out for a paltry 98 in just 16.2 overs, courtesy a three-wicket haul from Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh.

However, Mumbai Indians floundered during their runchase and were into all sort of trouble with T&T's Ravi Rampaul doing most of the damage, claiming three wickets that had left them tottering at 33 for five in just 8.3 overs at one stage.

Ambati Rayudu (36) then took the onus on himself and stitched 32 runs in 7.2 overs with R Sathish and then added 21 runs with Lasith Malinga to keep them in the hunt.

Needing 11 runs from the last over, Malinga smashed a flat six over long-off in the second delivery. But the Sri Lankan was dismissed in the fourth ball while trying to steal an extra run.

Rayudu too was runout in the next delivery with the team needing two runs to win in the last delivery. Though tension mounted, last man Yuzvendra Chahal kept his cool and hit the winning runs as Mumbai Indians burst into celebration.

Earlier electing to bat, Trinidad and Tobago looked set for a blazing start with opener Adrian Barath (11), who was in a punishing mood from the word Go, blasting a couple of fours in the first over off Malinga.

However, the Sri Lankan pacer came back in his second over and uprooted his stumps with a beautiful yorker to deal the first blow. Lendl Simmons (21) too stared off well, cracking a couple of fours and a six, but he soon run himself out in a ridiculous manner in the fifth over.

Pacer Ravi Rampaul then struck thrice in five balls spread over two overs to break the Mumbai Indians back as all of a sudden they were reduced to 16 for four in 5.1 overs.

Rampaul first dismissed Tirumalasetti Suman after inducing a leading edge off his bat as Sherwin Ganga took the catch. The pacer then struck again after two balls, removing Franklin (0) in the last ball of his second over.

However, finally it was Chahal who brought smiles to the Mumbai camp, picking up two runs in the last ball of the innings. — PTI

New Delhi, September 26
The Supreme Court today rejected the plea of Indian Premier League (IPL) former Commissioner Lalit Modi for setting up an independent committee comprising retired Judges to inquire into the charges of financial irregularities against him, replacing a panel appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

A Bench comprising Justices JM Panchal and HL Gokhale ruled that Modi had failed to substantiate his allegations of bias against the BCCI panel comprising Arun Jaitley, Chirayu Amin and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Citing the verdicts of a Constitution Bench and a four-Judge Bench in similar cases, the Judges said “mere apprehension of bias cannot be a ground” for re-constitution of any inquiry panel. Such a relief could be granted only if there was a “real danger of bias.”

Observing that Modi had not made out a case against the BCCI panel, the Bench ruled that his “grievance is not well founded.” Merely because the panel members had taken part in a BCCI meeting where the decision to order an inquiry against Modi was taken, it could not be presumed that they would have “institutional bias” against the petitioner, the Bench remarked.

Going by Modi’s logic, institutional bias could be alleged against every member of the BCCI governing counsel. From the material available on record, “it is not possible to say” that Modi was “facing a real danger” of bias, it ruled.

Dismissing his appeal, the Bench observed that there was no ground to come to the conclusion that the BCCI panel would not give a fair and unbiased hearing to him. Also, interfering with the BCCI decision would encourage similar litigations involving other societies, the Bench noted.

Modi is facing five charges. 1) accepting a multi-million dollar kickback while assigning the telecast rights for IPL matches; 2) attempting to rig the bids for two new IPL teams; 3) having proxy stakes in IPL teams; 4) entering into transactions with rank strangers against the mandate of the Governing Council of the IPL; and 5) helping family members benefit from the IPL contracts.

New Delhi, September 26
The Durand Cup football tournament, currently witnessing its 124th year, is expected to raise the bar in terms of the number of teams participating, as well as financial quantum. This is being planned with an eye on the tournament in general as well as the 125th edition of the event, scheduled for 2012.

“We are trying our level best to take the tournament to a bigger platform,’ said Maj. Gen. Manvender Singh, GOC Delhi Area, who is also the chairman of the Durand Football Tournament Society.

“We envisage a bigger and better tournament, involving more teams. Even in this edition of the tournament, we have enhanced the prize money by about 3.5 times from the previous tournament, while the overall budget for the event has gone up 2.5 times.”

The prize money for the current edition is Rs 37 lakh, a significant hike from the Rs 11 lakh last year, while the tournament budget has been increased from Rs. 43 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the Sports Ministry, the All-India Football Federation and the Government of Delhi for the support they have extended us,” Gen. Singh said. “Also, I would like to welcome back the para-military teams, which have returned to the tournament after a while.

We are attempting improve a lot of things and as a part of that, we would also be reimbursing the travel expenses for the teams this time (earlier the teams used travel at their own cost).”

The tournament, the oldest in Asia and the third-oldest in the world, has been an event of notice on the Indian football calendar for a considerable period. However, it has lost a little bit of its sheen in the past few years, with several big teams opting to stay away and resulting in quite a dip in the number of spectators.

Asked about the absence of teams like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan or Dempo from the fray, Gen. Singh said, “While it is true that these big names are not in the fray, there is also no doubt that football has changed in India and the big names are not necessarily the best teams.

As you can see in the current edition of the tournament, some of the big teams in Indian football are playing the knock-out qualifying tournament.”

The society has also set its eyes on garnering sponsorship. “We are currently in discussion with several sponsors. Already, Cosco is sponsoring the match balls, while there are other companies with whom we are nearing some deals. Hopefully they will be in place by the time the main tournament begins,” Gen. Singh said.

Kolkata, September 26
In line for hat-trick of titles, East Bengal once again had luck on their side as they registered a 2-1 win over an impressive Prayag United SC to set up a summit clash with Salgaocar in the 33rd Federation Cup here today.

Conroversial refereeing decison that aided in their win over Dempo in the last quarterfinal league match once again helped East Bengal as they came back from behind to beat nine-man United SC.

The Sanjoy Sen-coached side had a spectacular start before Snehasish Dutta gave them a 16th minute lead but East Bengal fought back when Alan Gow converted from a penalty in the 37th minute as both teams locked 1-1 at the interval.

But there was more drama in the rain-soaked second-half as it was reduced to a 11 vs nine-man battle between East Bengal and United SC, whose Joshimar Da Silva Martins and Deepak Mondal were given marching orders after picking two yellow cards in an action-packed last 15 minutes.

East Bengal made good use of the opportunity to bring in the match-winner courtesy substitute Khan Thang Paite, who came in place for Reisangmi Vashum.

However, Manipur's referee Magho Singh ruled out a penalty in favour of United SC which was instrumental in the victory of East Bengal. The controversial decision had a cascading effect on the inexperienced outfit as they went on to lose two players before conceding the second goal.

East Bengal dished out a shoddy display in the dying minutes when an off-colour Baljit Singh Sahni and Orji Penn missed two back-to-back sitters in front of an open net. — PTI

Dharamsala, September 26
On the second day of the 37th All India power boards kabaddi championship, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. (HPSEBL) defeated Delhi Transco by a margin of 33 points. Final score in the match remained at 49/16 in favour of HPSEBL.

After today’s win, Himachal team entered quarter finals.

In the other matches played today Maharashtra Genco defeated Indraprasth JDCL Delhi by a margin of 39 points. Final scrores in the match remained 40/11 in favour of Maharashtra. Maharashtra Genco also entered quarter finals after today’s win.

Karnataka Power Transmission Company defeated Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. by a margin of 17 points with final scores remaining at 26/9.

In the other matches today Maharashtra SEBDC defeated Tata Power, 37/20, Andhra Pradesh Transco defeated Delhi Transco 36/30, Karnataka Power Transmission Company Ltd, the last year champion teams once again asserted its supremacy by defeating Haryana Power Ltd convincing, 30/13 point.

Punjab State Power Transmission Company Patiala kept their winning streak intact by defeating Chattisgarh Power Corporation 31/3 in a one-sided match that was dominated entirely by the Patiala players.

Chandigarh, September 26
Indian Navy defeated RCF Kaputhala and Indian Air Force beat Jalandhar Signals in their respective matches of ongoing 41st S.N. Vohra All-India Gurmit Singh Memorial Hockey Tournament at Hockey Stadium of the Sector 42 Sports Complex here today.

In the first match of the day, Indian Navy defeated Kaputhala 4-1. Sikander starred in the team’s victory with his two goals. Heer Singh drew the first blood after scoring the first goal for Navy team in the 15th minute. Ace half-back Sikander doubled the lead in the 29th minute followed by another goal in the 31st minute to take the score to 3-0.

Ved Prakash scored the fourth goal in the 57th minute to ensure his team’s victory. Ranjodh scored a consolation goal for RCF in the 60th minute of the game.

In the second match, Indian Air Force defeated Jalandhar Signals 2-0. Centre-half Harwant scored both the goalsas he struck the board off a penalty corner in the 43rd minute of the game. In the second half, he scored again to book the berth in the next round of the tournament.

Dunedin, September 26
Wales posted a record-breaking 81-7 thrashing of Namibia on Monday as the skewed World Cup schedule once again made a mockery of the International Rugby Board's claim it is trying to close the gap at the top of the game.

The win was Wales's biggest in a World Cup and also set national tournament bests for points scored, tries (12), and winning margin, while 19-year-old winger George North became the youngest scorer of any nationality in a World Cup.

However, while Wales took the plaudits and other Tier One nations such as England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia were planning their week's preparation for their decisive final pool games, Namibia were packing their bags after playing all four in 17 days.

After being thrashed 87-0 by holders South Africa on Thursday, it was hardly surprising to see the largely amateur African side fall apart in the second half against Wales four days later and they paid a heavy price for missing more than 40 tackles. — Reuters

Atlanta, September 26
Ice-cool Bill Haas held his nerve to beat fellow American Hunter Mahan in a thrilling playoff for the season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday and claim FedExCup honours with its $10 million bonus.

Haas coolly knocked in a four-foot par putt at the third extra hole, the par-three last, to seal victory with Mahan having bogeyed after hitting his tee shot into a greenside bunker and splashing out 15 feet beyond the cup.

"This just worked out for me," a smiling Haas said after pumping his right fist in celebration, removing his cap and embracing Mahan. — Reuters

Anand to meet Carlsen
SAO PAULO: It will be a clash of titans as world champion Viswanathan Anand will take on world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the first round of the Bilbao Final Masters chess tournament. The concluding event of the Grand Slam will be played in two parts of five rounds each. Anand, who is fresh from his recent victory at Botvinnik memorial rapid tournament, will be hoping for an improved performance from last time when he finished second behind Russian Vladimir Kramnik. — PTI

Chandok to endorse show
NEW DELHI: India’s Formule One driver Karun Chandhok will endorse ‘Motor Match’, an innovative motor show, which will be held alongside the Indian F1 Grand Prix in Greater Noida next month. Chandhok will be part of the communication campaign to demonstrate the inherent value of the platform and its unique positioning. “Currently, India is at the centre of the motoring world, providing Motor Match an excellent platform for a global launch. And Karun, as a symbol of a vibrant and young India, is the perfect person to draw the spotlight on India, and on Motor Match, as a world class event,” said Fiera Milano MD Mehul Lanvers-Shah. — TNS

Bhawanipur, BSF win
New Delhi: Bhawanipur Club defeated Army Green 3-1 while Border Security Force edged past Jammu & Kashmir Bank 5-4 in the knock-out qualifying matches of the 124th Durand Cup football tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here today. Bhawanipur got the better of Army Green in the tie-breaker shootout after playing a goalless game during regulation time. Duglas Desilva, Satyajit Bose and Rahul Mistry struck from the spot for Bhawanipur while Deepak Sreshta got the consolation goal for the Army team. BSF also won the tie via shootout after a barren regulation time play. Talwinder Singh, Gursewak Singh, Banti Singh and Sarbjit Singh scored for BSF. Ibraheem K.K., Shekh Rizwan and Bilal Ahmed found the target for the losers. — TNS

Junior golf camp from Oct 2
Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Golf Club Academy will hold a two-month junior camp for children aged 5-18 for members and non-members from Oct 2 at the Chandigarh Golf Club. The camp will be conducted by Manjit Kochar, joint director of the academy and will be held twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays. Participants will be taught fundamentals of the game alongwith golf etiquette and basic rules. For details Manjit Kochar can be contacted 9815554788. Participants will be awarded a certificate by the Academy on completion of the camp. — TNS

Pinegrove shine
SOLAN: Hosts Pinegrove School, Dharampur, won the inaugural match of the 11th All India IPSC Girls Cricket Tournament that took off last evening. Pinegrove School locked horns with Modern School, Delhi who had elected to field. The Pinegrove eves posted a total of 120 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs and won the match convincingly by 49 runs. — TNS

Steep fall for Somdev
NEW DELHI: India's singles star Somdev Devvarman, who will return to action this week, has suffered a steep slide of 19 places to 89 in the ATP rankings, issued on Monday. Somdev, who was advised two weeks' rest after suffering a shoulder strain during India's recent Davis Cup tie against Japan, will compete in the Malaysian Open. Another out of action player Sania Mirza has gained two places to be 86. — PTI

Indian squad on Sept 29
Mumbai: The Indian squad for next month's first two One-Day Internationals against the visiting England side would be picked in Chennai on Thursday. "The team for the first two ODIs against England will be selected at Chennai on September 29," BCCI said today. — PTI