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Super Kings record revenge win
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High time Gibbs, Afridi deliver for Deccan
Jhulan Goswami joins 100-wicket club
Ammunition shortage hits Punjab shooters
Rajput shoots gold, Abhinav silver
Azlan Shah Hockey
Will Sukhbir be new PHA chief?
Hockey upgraded to priority category
MCC sets new standards for bats
2 NIS officials suspended
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Super Kings record revenge win
New Delhi, May 8 Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahender Singh Dhoni won the toss and put Delhi Daredevils in. Delhi scored 187 in 20 overs to set Super Kings a target of 188, with an asking rate of 9.40 overs. Super Kings, who had suffered three defeats in a row after Virender Sehwag-led Delhi Daredevils crushed them at their home ground of Chepauk, not only avenged that defeat, but also resurrected themselves in the race for a semifinal berth with their fifth victory in eight matches, to log ten points. Delhi Daredevils suffered their first home defeat and third in seven matches to be on eight points. It seemed like a gamble when Dhoni decided to field in the searing heat, and give Daredevils a chance to bat first on the flat wicket. But in the given circumstance, Super Kings succeeded in restricting the Delhi team to 187 in 20 overs with some tight bowling, though Delhi would have been worse off, had Chennai's fielding been not sloppy, letting off Daredevils opener Gautam Gambhir from two easy runout chances. Yet, after Gambhir and Sehwag put on a fast opening wicket partnership, Shikhar Dhawan helped Gambhir keep up the run-scoring momentum. But all that good work was undone by some costly bowling lapses by the hosts. Sehwag once again failed to reserve the best bowlers for the death overs as with 15 runs needed off the last over, the ball was handed over to Shoaib Malik, whose first over had cost 13 runs. Shoaib was struck for a six over mid-wicket off the very first ball of the last over, by Manpreet Goni. The next ball was a wide, but Goni carted the third ball to the boundary, and the last three balls yielded, 1, 2 and 2 runs, to seal the fate of delhi. Super Kings would have found the going tough had not the tall and confident Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, in the company of Stephan Fleming, given them a blazing start to their knock. Vidyut swung Glen McGrath's very first ball to the square leg fence. He repeated the shot off the third ball to set the tone and tenor of his knock. McGrath conceded nine runs in his first over, which was very unlike of him. With Mohammad Asif getting whacked for 15 runs in the second over, with Vidyut slamming two more boundaries, Super Kings kept themselves abreast of the required run-rate. Then Yo Mahesh was hit for 20 runs in his second over, which helped Super Kings ease the run rate and keep themselves in line for a win. Sehwag pulled his men close to the ring to cut down the flow of runs, still Vidyut tried to find gaps to hit over the field and through the gaps in the infield to gather runs at a fast clip. Delhi heaved a sigh of relief when Vidyut was caught by Shikhar Dhawan (40, 23b, 6x4, 1x6) at square leg off left-arm medium pacer Pradeep Sangwan. But Fleming, who slammed a boundary off Asif to get off the mark, stayed put to indulge in some lusty hitting to compile 44 off 28 balls with seven boundaries to anchor Super Kings closer to the target. When Fleming and Suresh Raina exited in the space of two runs with the visitors slumping from 97 for 1 to 98 for 3, Delhi sensed their chance again. Though captain Dhoni kept one end up, with his runs coming at a slow pace, it was the swashbuckling knock of Albie Morkel, that really turned the match around for Super Kings. Morkel, who had taken two wickets for 35 runs in his four-over spell, tore into Sehwag’s bowling in his second over with three consecutive sixers and one four. Sehwag gave away 23 runs in the over though he somewhat made up for this lapse when he ran out his tormenter in the next over for 30 (15b, 3x6). Yo Mahesh then scalped Dhoni and Chamara Kapudesara off successive balls in the 19th over, with the visitors, needing 22 runs off 12 balls, slumping to 166 for 6. Yo Mahesh was helped by the bowling tips from Glenn McGrath in between deliveries, but Daredelivs ran short of a dependable bowler on the death as Asif just failed to play the containing act. Sehwag had committed the same mistake against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Kotla in their previous match which Delhi, however, managed to pull off by ten runs, despite the Delhi skipper conceding 19 runs in the final over. Scoreboard Delhi Daredevils Gambhir c Kapugedera b Balaji 80 Sehwag b Gony 23 de Villiers b Morkel 0 S Dhawan c Kapugedera b Morkel 59 Shoaib Malik c Raina b Balaji 2 D Karthik not out 6 MK Tiwary not out 5 Extras
(lb-6, w-4, nb-2) 12 Total (5 wkts, 20 overs) 187 Fall of wickets:
1-45, 2-46, 3-167, 4-175, 5-176 Bowling: Gony 4-0-36-1, JA Morkel 4-0-35-2, Muralitharan 4-0-25-0, Amarnath 3-0-35-0, Balaji 4-0-35-2, Kapugedera 1-0-15-0 Chennai Super Kings S Vidyut c Dhawan b Sangwan 40 Fleming c de Villiers b Asif 44 Dhoni c de Villiers b Mahesh 33 Raina c Tiwary b Sangwan 1 JA Morkel run out 30 Kapugedera c Dhawan b Mahesh 8 Badrinath not out 8 Gony not out 13 Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-6) 11 Total
(6 wkts, 20 overs) 188 Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-97, 3-98, 4-138, 5-166, 6-166 Bowling:
Glenn McGrath 4-0-23-0, Mohammad Asif 4-0-33-1, VY Mahesh 4-0-40-2, P Sangwan 4-0-29-2, Shoaib Malik 2-0-28-0, Sehwag 2-0-30-0 Player of the match: Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) |
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Knights reign in rain-hit game Kolkata, May 8 In the rain-truncated match, the Knight Riders posted 129 for seven in their allotted quota of 16 overs. The Royal Challengers' slow scoring rate in the middle overs left a huge task for them at the end as they managed only 124 for four. Boucher (50 not out, 40 balls; 5x4, 1x6) and Cameron White (30 off 16 balls, 3x4, 1x6) stepped on the accelerator with some lusty hittings to make it a humdinger of a contest at the Eden Gardens. But disciplined bowling and superb fielding by the Knight Riders thwarted the visiting team's effort to stay them afloat in the tournament. Having managed only 53 for three in ten overs and with the asking rate steeply climbing to almost 13, the duo of Boucher and White put on an entertaining 45-run stand off just 30 balls. But the Aussie was unlucky to run out at the non-striker's end in the penultimate over and that dealt a severe blow to the Royal Challengers' chances. Knight Riders' skipper Sourav Ganguly played a vital part in his side's third win of the tournament. With his medium-pace bowling, he returned splendid figures of one for seven off three overs that put the home side in the drivers' seat at the middle stage. The Knight Riders now have six points from seven games, while the Royal Challengers have moved further down the path of oblivion as they succumbed to their sixth loss in eight ties, managing only four points so far. Electing to bat after rains delayed the start, the Knight Riders lost wickets at regular intervals while the Challengers fielded brilliantly to effect a couple of run outs. For the visitors, South African pacer Dale Steyn (3 for 27) was the most successful bowler. The Knight Riders' opening blues continued as they lost openers Aakash Chopra (2) and Brad Hodge (10) within the first four overs. Chopra, making his debut in the IPL, was beaten by the pace of an incoming Steyn delivery and was wrapped plumb in front of the wicket while Hodge played an atrocious hook to be caught at long leg off Zaheer Khan. — PTI Scoreboard Kolkata Knight Riders A. Chopra lbw Steyn 2 Hodge c V. Kumar b Zaheer 10 Ganguly run out 20 Hussey run out 26 Taibu c Boucher b Steyn 15 L. Shukla b Steyn 11 W. Saha not out 17 M. Kartik c & b P. Kumar 17 Umar Gul not out 6 Extras (lb-3, w-2) 5 Total (7 wkts, 16 overs) 129 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-20, 3-46, 4-64, 5-80, 6-88, 7-122. Bowling: Dale Steyn 4-0-27-3, Zaheer Khan 3-0-27-1, P. Kumar 3-0-36-1, Vinay Kumar 3-0-15-0, Anil Kumble 3-0-21-0. Bangalore Royal Challengers Arunkumar run out 22 Chanderpaul c Kartik b Ishant 7 Boucher not out 50 Dravid b Ganguly 5 White run out 30 P Kumar not out 4 Extras (lb-3, w-2, nb-1) 6 Total (4 wkts, 16 overs) 124 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-32, 3-51, 4-96 Bowling: AB Dinda 3-0-20-0, Ishant 4-0-25-1, Umar Gul 3-0-30-0, Ganguly 3-0-7-1, M Kartik 2-0-24-0, LR Shukla 1-0-15-0. Player of the match: Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata Knight Riders).
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Gavaskar resigns as ICC cricket panel chief
Dubai, May 8 The former India captain conveyed his decision to the ICC bringing an end to his long eight-year stint which was not only marked by a number of innovative decisions but also landed him in controversies for his outspoken views. Gavaskar intimated his decision to the ICC yesterday after chairing the Cricket Committee meeting which concluded here on Tuesday, ICC's acting Chief Executive Officer David Richardson said in a statement here. The ICC had put Gavaskar on notice after discussing the potential for a conflict of interest for a person chairing the ICC Cricket Committee while, at the same time, working for a media outlet in its meeting in March in Dubai. Gavaskar took over as the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee from West Indian Clyde Walcott in June 2000. He was given a one-year extension in 2006 and was re-elected to the post in 2007. His term was due to end next year. No decision has yet been made on who will succeed Gavaskar. Gavaskar said with more and more cricket being played it was not possible for him to do justice with the two jobs. Some of Gavaskar's critical columns had not gone down well with the ICC top-brass and his scathing attack on match referee Mike Procter after the controversial Sydney Test between India and Australia irked the game's world governing body. Gavaskar had alleged that Procter preferred to agree with a "white player's version" than a player of Sachin Tendulkar's integrity during the racial row involving Harbhajan Singh and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds in January. Gavaskar had also termed some ICC member countries like England and Australia as "dinosaurs", alleging they could not stomach India's growing clout in the game. The ICC then decided to give the former Indian captain the option of choosing between his job as a commentator and columnist and that of the chairman of the cricket committee. "I have thoroughly enjoyed the eight years I have held the role (of ICC Cricket Committee chairman), which is an honorary position, and it has been extremely fulfilling to be able to give back to the game through that role", Gavaskar said.
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High time Gibbs, Afridi deliver for Deccan
Jaipur, May 8 Shane Warne’s team was totally outplayed last night just when they were riding high on consecutive wins at the half-way stage of the Twenty20 tournament, which they began with the tag of underdogs after their opening match loss.
At present, with 5-2 record, they share the top spot with Kings XI Punjab and are well placed in the race for the semifinals but lag behind on run rate. The heartening fact for Warne is that they now play two matches on home turf and Warne has already started calculating how to extract the maximum out of home advantage. Besides, the loss also gives them an opportunity to regroup themselves and work out new strategies. Although the batting of Rajasthan Royals had miserably failed with only Swapnil Asnodkar and Shane Watson getting into double figures but it was more because of the fact that Mumbai bowlers made full use of the conditions and sent the visitors gasping. On the other hand, Deccan Chargers’ victory over Chennai Super Kings has given them some self belief. The 50-plus-run innings of Australian Adam Gilchrist had paved the way for the Chargers’ win. Though skipper V.V.S. Laxman, who could not play in last match due to fitness problems, too has played a few good knocks, their batting has been largely dependent on Rohit Sharma. South African Herschelle Gibbs and Pakistani Shahid Afridi are yet to make their presence felt in the team. It was the medium pacers — Vijay Kumar, R.P. Singh, and New Zealander Scott Styris — who exploited good bowling conditions in their victory over Chennai Super Kings. The Deccan Chargers are trying hard to regain the ground they had lost in earlier matches. They mean business, this can be judged by the fact that they came here a little earlier to get acclimatised with the conditions. Laxman a doubtful starter Deccan Chargers skipper VVS Laxman is a doubtful starter against the Rajasthan Royals for the IPL tie to be held here at the SMS Stadium tomorrow. Laxman told mediapersons here that he was feeling much better now after having injured his right hand due to which he had missed the last match. He will decide tomorrow weather he would play or not. — Agencies
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Jhulan Goswami joins 100-wicket club
Colombo, May 8 Jhulan completed the century of wickets in her 82nd ODI when she had Sri Lanka's last batter Deepika Rasangika caught by Asha Rawat on the second last delivery of home team's quota of 50 overs as Sri Lanka was restricted to 123-9. Asha remained unbeaten on 56 that came off 71 balls and included eight fours and one six while Mithali hit five fours in her 44-ball 36. Jhulan had entered the tournament with 96 wickets against her name and came into this match requiring two wickets to join Neetu David as the second Indian bowler to achieve the rare feat. She claimed the wicket of Chamari Polgampola with her eighth delivery of the match but then had to bowl 51 more deliveries to pick the elusive wicket. Australia's Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who took 180 in her illustrious 14-year career, leads the list of most successful bowlers, followed by Neetu (135) and Clare Taylor of England (102). Brief scores: Sri Lanka 123-9 in 50 overs India 124-2 in 26 overs.
— PTI |
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Ammunition shortage hits Punjab shooters
Chandigarh, May 8 Even the world class ranges established at the Deshmesh Girls School and College in the home turf of Badal, the native village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as well as the Mohali Range have been affected. While international shooters from the state, including Abhinav Bindra, Manavjit Singh, Avneet Sidhu and Ronjon Sodhi, have managed to go abroad for training, hundreds of other shooters in the state are suffering for no fault of theirs. Take the case of the range at Badal village. The range has been successful in producing shooters like Avneet, Lakhbir Kaur and Ruby and Preeti Tomar, all of whom have represented the country at various levels. The range has succeeded in encouraging rural youth to take up shooting but is presently facing problems, as it is unable to import the weapons its needs or the ammunition. Punjab Olympic Association secretary general Raja K.S. Sidhu, who is also looking after the Punjab Rifle Association, said the range at Badal was functioning with air pistols and air rifles only. He said other shooting pistols and rifles as well as ammunition worth nearly Rs 1 crore had been ordered by the range nearly six months back but were still to be received. “The order is to be executed by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) which is facing problems in the import of ammunition since quite some time”, he added. NRAI, which has been providing ammunition to state bodies for 23 years, stopped doing so two-and-a-half years back. The Sports Ministry asked it to import equipment as well as ammunition but it was unable to get an import licence and is still to get one till now. Shooting as a game has become a force to be reckoned with in Punjab due to the success achieved by youngsters like Abhinav and Manavjit. Sidhu disclosed that all 17 district associations as well as schools affiliated with the association and also academies were suffering due to lack of ammunition.
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Rajput shoots gold, Abhinav silver
New Delhi, May 8 Rajput, with his impressive performance, made a bold statement that he was not just good in the 50 m events but could also upset the world's best air rifle shooters on any given day. Rajput entertained the spectators with his five consecutive perfect series of 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 and 98 to register a qualification score of 598 and then followed it up with 102.8 in the final round to win the gold yesterday. Bindra, who shot a qualification score of 594 (99, 99, 99, 100, 99, 98), made sure it was one-two for India as he won the silver medal after shooting a good final round of 103.1. The third Indian in the event Gagan Narang, who recently won a bronze at the Beijing World Cup, shot a final score of 693.7 (593+100.7) to finish eighth. Gagan shot a qualification series of 99, 100, 99, 97, 100 and 98. The Indian trio of Rajput, Bindra and Narang also won the team gold with a total combined score of 1785/1800. The team silver went to Germany for scoring 1772 while the Switzerland shot 1767 to claim the bronze. Rifle coach Laszlo Szucsak was all praise for Rajput and described his effort as "spectacular". In the women's 3 position event, Anjali Bhagwat finished fifth with the tally of 678.5 (581+97.5) while Samresh Jung shot 676.1 (576+100.1) to finish 5th in the men's air pistol event. — PTI
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Kiwis beat India in opener
Sandeep’s hat-trick goes in vain
Ipoh (Malaysia), May 8 Comeback man Sandeep converted all three penalty corners but the resilient Kiwis scored twice in the first half and as many after the breather to walk away with full points. For the winners, Andrew Hayward, Simon Child, Phillip Burrows and Gareth Brooks sounded the board. India made a good start and were leading 2-0 with Sandeep converting both the penalty corners that came his way before Hayward first reduced the margin from a penalty corner and Child deflected home a pass just in time to go into the breather at 2-2. In the second half, the Kiwis ruled the roost with Philip and Brooks slamming back-to-back goals to snatch the lead. Though a field goal eluded them, India managed to win a penalty corner in this session and Sandeep was again bang on target as his rasping shot beat the Kiwi defence all ends up. The Indians did everything they could for the equaliser but the Kiwi defence did well to thwart the raids till the end. —PTI
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Will Sukhbir be new PHA chief?
Chandigarh, May 8 If the statement issued today by the Shiromani Akali Dal chief is any indication, Sukhbir Badal, may be in the run to head the restructured Indian Hockey Federation as well. “Hockey is my personal agenda” Sukhbir Badal has been quoted as saying offering on behalf of the SAD-BJP alliance government to nurture and train the national team for next four years.
Traditionally, hockey in Punjab has always remained under the direct control of the police. It has been a tradition and unwritten constitution that head of the state police would be the president of the Punjab Hockey Association and every district police chief as president of the district hockey association. Sukhbir Badal, indications are, is set to change this convention. To get into the national body, he has to represent a state unit and what would be better option than representing his own state in the Indian Hockey Federation. His unstinted support to the Indian Olympic Association in suspending the IHF after removing its president KPS Gill is indication enough of things to follow. Even before Sukhbir Badal offered to train the national team for next four years, the previous Congress government headed by Capt Amarinder Singh had also made a similar offer. There were exchanges of notes and correspondence between the Punjab government and the IHF but it fell through on technical grounds. At one stage, the then Punjab government was under pressure to announce a one-time major grant to the IHF for training the national team. A couple of years ago, the IHC had declared Punjab as host for the National Hockey Championship for five years in a row. But after holding the first of five editions in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the agreement ended abruptly because of change of ruling party in the state. Now the SAD chief has been reminding the IHF that in 1975, it was the Punjab government that had trained the national team that won the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. The Punjab government had chosen Panjab University Campus for training the team and medical support for fitness of players came from the PGI. It was the team of Balbir Singh Senior as manager, Gurcharan Singh Bodhi as coach and Dr Rajinder Kalra as doctor of the team that put India back on top of world hockey. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Ministers’ media adviser Harcharan Bains confirmed that the state government’s offer to sponsor the preparation of Indian hockey teams for international events. The Chief Minister had been "deeply pained" at the manner in which the sport had suffered a decline in recent years and was willing to "contribute in every possible manner to help the revival of the country's premier sporting discipline." Sukhbir Singh Badal extended his "full support to the IOA-backed organizational restructuring of the 'affaire de la hockey' and said that he was in touch with the India Olympic Association on "charting the way forward for Indian hockey". “People have been shocked by the shameful manner in which the country had suffered hockey humiliation at the international level, failing for the first time to qualify for the Olympics.”
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MCC sets new standards for bats
London, May 8 MCC members overwhelmingly voted in favour of re-writing Law 6 (The bat) at a Special General Meeting at Lord's yesterday. While a two-thirds majority was needed to pass the Law, and the final result saw 98.6 per cent votes in favour. The new Law, which will come into effect from October 1, stipulates that 90 per cent of the volume of bat handles should consist of cane, wood and/or twine, with the other 10 per cent for the purpose of reducing vibration. It states bat handles (including the splice) must not exceed 52 per cent of the overall length of the bat, and restricts the thickness of materials that can be used to protect and repair bats.— PTI |
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2 NIS officials suspended
Patiala, May 8 According to NIS authorities, NIS director (administration) Radhika Sreeman and assistant director (legal) Mangat Goyal were suspended on May 6. An inquiry against the two officials had been initiated. According to NIS sources, Mangat Goyal had been in the bad books of SAI over the years because of his “eccentric behaviour”, while Radhika Sreeman has shown complacency in sensitive cases.
— UNI |
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Hosts Rajasthan Royals, for whom the defeat against Mumbai Indians came as a rude shock after five straight wins, will be keen to return to their winning ways against Deccan Chargers in their Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium tomorrow.
Shane Warne’s team was totally outplayed last night just when they were riding high on consecutive wins at the half-way stage of the Twenty20 tournament, which they began with the tag of underdogs after their opening match loss.
