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Kings XI continue victory run
Bangalore clinch thriller
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Sachin’s fitness crucial to Mumbai’s fortunes
Akhtar seeks stay on ban
Yousuf restrained from playing in IPL
Snowfall hits Everest Olympic torch bid
Narain grabs India’s maiden pole position
India go down to Oz
Jeev tied fourth
Mithali fashions India’s win
Sharapova upset over photo shoot schedule
Jr Davis Cup
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Kings XI continue victory run Mohali, May 3 Batting first, Kings XI put 178 for 6 on the board. Kolkata were in dire straits at one point with half the side in the pavilion in 10 overs. But a stunning late charge by the two, who added 104 runs off just 55 balls, brought Kolkata within sniffing distance of victory before Pathan kept his nerves under control and kept it tight in the last over to ensure that Kolkata lose the match by nine runs. Had it not been for the last-over heroics by Kings XI’s Piyush Chawla, who spoiled Ishant Sharma’s bowling figures, clobbering the seamer for 20 runs in the last over of the innings, the story would have been different. Chasing a 179-run target for win, Kolkata lost too many wickets too soon. Though seamer Irfan Pathan bowled an impeccable spell keeping the batsmen guessing with his in-swing deliveries, the Kolkata batsmen were themselves to blame. Adopting indiscreet valour as their mode they played too many extravagant strokes too early and kept on losing wickets until Hussey and Saha suddenly brought some sanity to the innings. Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Sourav Ganguly, D.B. Das and Laxmi Rattan Shukla perished attempting expensive strokes, while Pathan got one to dart in after pitching to cause the downfall of Brad Hodge as Kolkata were left tottering at 50 for 5. But Hussey and diminutive wicketkeeper batsman Saha entertained the week-end crowd to some scintillating strokeplay. Saha cut loose dispatching Piyush Chawla for two towering sixes to enliven the proceedings. Hussey, in the next over, swatted Hopes for a towering six over long on. In the 18th over, Hussey and Saha clobbered one six apiece off Hopes and the over cost 18 runs as Kolkata inched towards the target. With 37 needed in the last two overs, Gagandeep, though got the crucial scalp of Hussey, was at the receiving end of some lusty hitting from the two and gave away 18 runs. Hussey scored a blistering 46 balls 71. Saha, who slammed Gagandeep for a six in the same over, completed his 28-ball fifty which included a lone four and four sixes. With 19 runs needed in the final over, Pathan, the best bowler from either side, stuck to basics as his team heaved a sigh of relief. Punjab’s innings was propped up by opener Shaun Marsh, who for the second time in two matches, rescued Kings XI innings. Continuing from where he had left off in the last match, it was primarily Marsh’s efforts which gave his team bowlers some modest target to bowl. Marsh scored 40, the best score from the side. Kumara Sangakkara was the second highest scorer from the side with 28. Sensible batting by Pathan and some lusty hitting by Chawla, who scored 7-ball 21, ensured that Kings XI Punjab reached a modest total.
Scoreboard Kolkata Knight Riders Player of the match: Irfan Pathan.
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Bangalore, May 3 Praveen returned figures of three for 23 even as the hosts successfully defended their modest total of 156 for eight to claim their second win in the tournament while the fine half-centuries by Deccan Chargers skipper V.V.S. Laxman and Rohit Sharma went in vain. Laxman (52) and Rohit Sharma (57) put on 96 runs for the third wicket to provide a ray of hope when Deccan Chargers appeared to be in trouble after losing two quick wickets. When the Hyderabad team needed 20 runs for victory in the last over, Sanjay Bangar (17 not out) hit Anil Kumble for two successive sixes raising the team's hopes but could not clinch the match for his team, which ended up at 153 for six in their stipulated 20 overs. Earlier, put in to bat, none of the Royal Challengers' batsmen could touch the half-century mark and opener Wasim Jaffer top-scored with a 37-ball 44. Virat Kohli (38) and Rahul Dravid (26) provided valuable contributions to the side when other batsmen were out cheaply. Jaffer also stitched a 72-run partnership off 54 balls with Kohli. The hosts brought on the 50 in 6.3 overs, and were 80 for one after 10 overs. Dravid, who was dropped by Scott Styris when he was on 12, finally got out on the last ball of the innings. He hit one four and two sixes in his 21-ball knock. Their batting collapse began after RP Singh, who was the pick of the bowlers returning figures of three for 41 runs, bowled out Bharat Chipli at a measly individual score of 10. Pragyan Ojha removed Jaffer by having him caught by Herschelle Gibbs and uprooted the middle stump of Jacques Kallis (6) to finish with two wickets to his credit. Opener Adam Gilchrist (10) and Herschelle Gibbs were sent packing, leaving the visitors struggling at 31 for 2 in the sixth over. Then came the big partnership between Laxman and Rohit Sharma, who executed some fluent strokes. They brought on the 50 partnership in 38 balls and appeared to be hardly troubled by the Bangalore team bowlers. Laxman’s 52 made of 44 balls, were aided by seven fours and Sharma hit a strokeful 32-ball 57 that included five fours and three sixes. Shahid Afridi, who came in after the departure of Sharma, did not last long and brilliantly caught by Dale Steyn in the deep for one. — PTI Scoreboard Deccan Chargers
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Royals confident against depleted Chennai
Jaipur, May 3 Having won all their previous matches, the Chennai side looked invulnerable till last night when Delhi Daredevils duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir tore them apart, much to the delight of the Rajasthan Royals. Since their first match defeat against the Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals’ graph has shot upwards and fresh from their win against Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne’s men are ready to come hard on the depleted Chennai side. The hosts have the resources and strategy to realise their dreams and their strategy of surprising the opponents has paid rich dividends too. Asking Swapnil Asnodker to open the innings against Kolkata Knight Riders was such a ploy that paid off well. South African Graeme Smith has added to the batting depth, while Shane Watson has proved to a fine investment. The bowling department does not look bad either. Apart from Warne who has always been threat to every batsman, pacers Watson, Munaf Patel, Sohail Tanveer and Sidhartha Trivedi have proved that they have the variations to keep the batsmen guessing. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings now need to bounce back after tasting their first defeat. They have been dented by departure of Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram even though Kiwi Stephen Fleming is expected to bolster their batting lineup, while Dhoni’s mere presence is enough to intimidate the bowlers. Their bowling attack boasts of names like Makhya Ntini and Muttiah Muralitharan and though they could not rein in the the Sehwag-Gambhir duo last night, they would be eager to put behind the setback when they take to the field tomorrow. — PTI
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Sachin’s fitness crucial to Mumbai’s fortunes
The home team has sorely missed its captain and injured icon player Sachin Tendulkar in their first five matches and the none-too-encouraging news is the master batsman is still not feeling 100 per cent fit. Tendulkar played his first match yesterday, albeit against a team made up of his own teammates, after more than a month and fielded for the whole of the opposition’s 20-over innings and also batted. He is to take a final call tomorrow on whether he is fit to play and the hosts are hoping fervently that he is available to play his first competitive game since turning out for India against South Africa in the first Test at Chennai in March-end. In his absence, the team has struggled to put together decent totals on board and strike at opportune times to put the opposition under pressure. The end result is that Mumbai Indians, for which Reliance Industries had paid the highest auction amount among all eight teams, are currently placed seventh. The batting has flopped by and large, shown by the fact that Robin Uthappa who is yet to make a half-century is the leading scorer for the team with 155 runs to his credit. The coming to form of West Indian all rounder Dwayne Bravo in their previous tie at Kolkata could not have happened at a more opportune time for the beleaguered team’s confidence. The booting out of the performing Harbhajan Singh from the tournament has left the team short on spin skills too and it has been left to the vastly experienced Jayasuriya to lead the slow bowling attack with his crafty With the youngsters in the team failing, barring the spunky all-rounder Abhishek Nair, the team has scored only one victory in five ties, against Kolkata Knight Riders, which should galvanise it to take on the well-balanced Delhi outfit. Delhi, on the other hand, have their top-order functioning like a well-oiled machine with Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan all coming good. They have a sound middle order too with the likes of Rajat Bhatia and Mithun Manhas, two stout-hearted performers in domestic cricket which has won Delhi the Ranji Trophy earlier this season, having enough power in their tanks to bail out the team if the top order fails to get going. The pace attack is top-class with Glenn McGrath, a largely unwanted man at the auction despite his record in international cricket, and the highly talented Pakistani Mohammad Asif spearheading it to a nicety. — PTI
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Karachi, May 3 "Shoaib said that since the tribunal will take time to reach a final verdict on the appeal he has filed against the ban, he should be given a temporary stay for a month so that he can play in the IPL,” Justice Aftab Farrukh (retd), who heads the three-man tribunal, told PTI. The tribunal will now meet tomorrow to deliberate upon the fresh application but Farrukh said the majority's decision would prevail in the matter. Farrukh, a retired judge of the Lahore High Court, said he had appointed a noted lawyer as amicus curiae to help the tribunal handle the case. He said the amicus curiae was an expert on criminology. This appointment gives credence to reports that the two other members of the tribunal, former Test player Hasib Ahsan and former minister Salman Taseer had joined hands in favour of Shoaib while the justice felt the case made against him by the board was very strong and the ban justified. The tribunal had recently turned down an application to stay the ban but had allowed the pacer to play anywhere outside Pakistan. The tribunal had earlier adjourned its regular proceedings to June but allowed Shoaib to play anywhere outside Pakistan while refusing to grant a stay on the ban. Farrukh said regular proceedings would be difficult in May because of the commitments of the tribunal members. "But we will deliberate on Sunday on his appeal and see what can be done. But it is hard to say now having deliberations with my colleagues if we can even grant him a interim relief to play in the IPL," he said. The ban came after Shoaib criticised the policies of the PCB which didn't award him a central contract earlier in the year and told him to prove his commitment and match fitness. — PTI
Hearing adjourned
A civil court in Lahore today adjourned the hearing of a defamation suit filed by Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf against Shoaib Akhtar for levelling corruption charges against him on a television show soon after being banned for five years by the board.
Ashraf's lawyer Tafazzul Rizvi said the court had issued notices to both parties for the next date of hearing. Ashraf has filed the suit for Rs 220 million against Shoaib for accusing him for asking money from Pakistani cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League.
— PTI |
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Yousuf restrained from playing in IPL
Mumbai, May 3 “Justice Dr B P Saraf (retd) passed an interim order restraining Yousuf from participating in IPL in any manner,” said ICL’s lawyer Hitesh Jain. Jain said now there would be a final hearing, which is likely to commence in July. Yousuf and ICL are caught up in legal wrangle, as the Essel Group-bankrolled ICL alleged that the player breached his earlier contract with them and signed up for the IPL. The dispute then landed before arbiter Dr Saraf who, on December 15 last year, restrained Yousuf from playing for any rival league till further orders. Though Yousuf signed up for IPL, he was not picked up by any of the IPL franchise teams. Advocate Jain said today’s order was a first of its kind in Indian sports. "It is significant for IPL too," the ICL lawyer said. At this stage, no penalty has been imposed on Yousuf, but the arbiter may contemplate such action at the time of the final decision, he added.
— PTI |
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Nadal in final
Barcelona, May 3 Nadal, trying to win the title for the fourth successive year, was in irrepressible form as he raced to victory in 50 minutes. He will play either Spanish second seed David Ferrer or Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. "I didn't know much about him," Nadal admitted in a courtside interview. "But I know he reached the semifinals in Estoril (last month) and he beat some good players to get through today.” Gremelmayr, who took a set off world number one Roger Federer in the Estoril semi-finals, had beaten three seeded players — James Blake, Dmitry Tursunov and Nicolas Almagro — en route to the last four but he was totally outclassed by a rampant Nadal.
— Reuters |
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Snowfall hits Everest Olympic torch bid
Everest Base Camp, China, May 3 “It’s normal to have snow in mountain areas,” said Suonam Cuomu, deputy director of the Everest torchlogistics department. “We are very well prepared. It’s not necessarily bad news because after snow there is often a few days of good weather. “But the heavy snow will have an effect on route building in the mountains,” she told a media briefing. Officials said they were unaware of conditions on Everest as they were still awaiting data from the meteorological centre. “In my experience, in heavy snow you could make a decision to retreat or abandon, but I don’t know the conditions up the mountain so it’s difficult to say,” said Beijing organising committee consultant Liu Jian. “For mountaineers, the snow we can see down here is not that heavy,” added Liu, who has climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and reached the north and south poles. “Generally speaking, snow in the Mount Qomolangma (Everest) area can last a day or a week. Obviously, we all hope it stops soon.” The snowfall left base camp and the nearby media centre effectively snowbound, with one journalist unable to get to hospital in the town of Shigatse for treatment of chronic toothache. Organisers said there were plans in place to evacuate anyone with more serious medical problems. “We would use cars but go really slowly,” said Suonam. The attempt to take the Olympic flame up Everest was intended as a showpiece, separate leg of the torch relay ahead of August’s Beijing Games. The main torch relay was dogged by protests and counter-protests over Tibet, but it now faces a joyous welcome as it heads into mainland China this week. — Reuters
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Narain grabs India’s maiden pole position
Brands Hatch (UK), May 3 Karthikeyan, India's first Formula One driver, recorded 1 min 14:682 seconds in the second session to earn himself a brilliant chance to end the season on a winning note. Kerr finished 0.227 seconds behind the Indian to be placed second and thus missing the chance to earn second pole position of the event after taking pole position in Sprint. Karthikeyan slipped to overall fifth in the Sprint race after Jonathan Summerton of the USA and Adam Carroll of Ireland raced brilliantly in the second session to pip the Indian. Kerr recorded a timing of 1:14:424 in his second session while Karthikeyan raced the best lap with 1:15:040 in the first session. Earlier, Karthikeyan had recorded the third fastest lap in the morning practice session, giving ample hints of what was in store for the Indian team. In the penultimate race in Shanghai, Karthikeyan was placed fourth in the Sprint and fifth in the Feature race. Elated after finishing the qualifying session, Karthikeyan said he was happy with his performance and blamed the tyres for dropping to fifth in the Sprint. "I always knew we had a car to be in the top three. I am happy with the performance. This is the last race of the season and last performance with this car. It is quite exciting," he said after the qualifying the session. — PTI
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Darwin, May 3 Australia will now play China in the final tomorrow after the Chinese side tamed Korea 3-1 to book their final berth. India is the only team which has not tasted a win in the tournament so far and they would meet Korea tomorrow hoping to record their first win and a third place finish. India dominated the first half but squandered three penalty corners which proved costly in the end. “We lost a minimum of four goal scoring chances due to strong defence by the Australians,” rued coach Joaquim Carvalho. “It was also an important match for the Australians, who played their full strength today and moreover, they had planned to select its team for the ensuing Champions Trophy at the end of this tournament,” he added. After tomorrow’s match against Korea, the Indian players and officials bound for Malaysia to play in the Azlan Shah would proceed to Kuala Lumpur, while others would return home. — PTI
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Togo (Japan), May 3 Jeev, who missed quite a few birdie putts, had an even par 70 with three birdies and as many bogeys. At one stage, the former Asian Tour number one was at the sole second spot with birdies on the second, 11th and 13th and a bogey on the third. But the Indian messed up his last five holes, dropping shots on the 14th and 17th and slipped to fourth at five-under 205. He is now three shots behind Japan’s Ryoken Kawagishi who fired a 68 to grab the pole position. Shingo Katayama (69), Liang Wen-chong (70) and Toru Suzuki (67) are sharing the fourth place with Jeev. Tomohiro Kondo (68) at eight-under 202 was at the second spot while Hiroyuki Fujita (64) was third at six-under 204. — UNI Atwal makes cut
Valdosta (USA): Arjun Atwal raised his game just in time and brought home a second round card of one-under 71 to make the cut in the $625,000 South Georgia Classic golf tournament here. Atwal’s 36-hole total of one-over 145 has him tied 55th after the halfway stage of the Nationwide Tour event. After a poor opening day card of 74, Atwal needed a solid second round and the Indian survived a scare in the form of a double bogey on the 16th hole before managing to hang around for weekend action.
— PTI |
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Mithali fashions India’s win
Colombo, May 3 Mithali's 63-ball knock, aided by nine boundaries, and a valuable contribution by Priyanka Roy (44) helped India post 227 for 8 in 50 overs after electing to bat. In reply, Sri Lankan eves, who looked in good touch as they reached 132-3 in 37 overs, could not finish the job for their team and were bowled out for 198 in 49.5 overs. Opener Dedunu Silva scored a brilliant 87-ball 74 but in vain. Brief scores: India: 227-8 in 50 overs. Sri Lanka: 198 in 49.5 overs
— PTI |
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Sharapova upset over photo shoot schedule
"They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from LA," Sharapova said in a statement posted on her website. "I have set my own personal rules when it comes to doing shoots and I never do shoots before tournaments because they are mentally draining and I want to just focus on my tennis." Sharapova said the WTA Tour has threatened to fine her more than $300,000 if she refuses. "As you can see the WTA Tour loves to fine players," Sharapova said in a statement under the headline "Maria needs your help". In an e-mail, the WTA Tour said players have off-court responsibilities. “Players have many obligations both on and off the court, and what is being asked of players in Rome is in the rules,” the tour said. Sharapova said she was not against promoting the tour and that her objection was to the schedule. She asked for fans’ opinions. — AP
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Jr Davis Cup
New Delhi, May 3 The Indians, who have not lost a single match in the tournament, did not give any surprises as Saurabh Singh overcame Motoaki Kita 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 while Yuki Bhambri defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-4, 6-1. However, it was not an easy match for Saurabh in the morning who was stretched to limit by Kita but eventually the Indian emerged as the winner. After being a set down, Kita fought back in the second set and immediately broke Saurabh in the first game. The Japanese then held his serve and put Saurabh further behind by breaking him again in the ninth game to draw level. Immediately at the start of the third set, Kita broke Saurabh in the first game. Just when the Japanese looked to completely dominate the Indian, Saurabh recovered well and fought hard in the third game. Saurabh then paced his volleys excellently and then went on to win the set and match as under pressure Kita made enough errors to provide the Indian a good number of opportunities. However, world number five Yuki Bhambari made light of the effort put up by an aggressive Yasutaka Uchiyama who did not allow the Indian to walk away with the match. Uchiyama broke Bhambri in the third game after the Indian had taken an early lead with a break in the first game. The Japanese used his skills at the net and served well to make it difficult for Bhambri. — UNI
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