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Balaji’s hat-trick wrecks Kings XI
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Royals take on Delhi Daredevils
Worst-behaved cricketer unmasked, says Ponting
Nanavati to submit report on Tuesday
Azlan Shah Hockey
Ramesh leaves Indian camp
Reena replaces Swuro for Olympics
Kapur zooms to tied 13th
Anju 5th at Doha Super GP
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Balaji’s hat-trick wrecks Kings XI
Balaji claimed five wickets, including a hat-trick in the last over of the match, and gave away just 24 runs in his four overs to seal his team's victory.
Put in to bat, the Chennai team piled up a competitive 181 for four, thanks to superb batting by S. Badrinath and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and then restricted the visitors to 163 for nine in their quota of 20 overs. Balaji provided crucial breakthroughs early and then got his hat-trick in the last over, in which the visitors required 27 runs for the victory. Opener Shaun Marsh (58) hit a blazing half-century but that was not enough to earn a revenge victory for his team as other batsmen let the visitors down. Marsh's innings came off just 38-balls with three boundaries and four sixes including a towering one, which landed on the roof of the stadium, off Muttiah Muralitharan. Like their opponents, the Punjab team also had a bad start losing two early wickets with James Hopes (14) and Karan Goel (1) departing early. Marsh and Ramnaresh Sarwan (20) did try to bring their team back in the match as they put together 64 runs for the third wicket. But Balaji, star bowler for the hosts, removed both of them in one over to deal severe blow to the visitors’ hopes. More disaster was waiting for the Punjab team as skipper Yuvraj Singh (2) too started his walk back to pavilion after he found Stephen Fleming off P Amarnath at point. The visitors lost three wickets in space of seven deliveries and that wrote the fate of the Punjab team. Irfan Pathan (40 not out) and Piyush Chawla (17) hit some lusty shots towards the end but that just helped in reducing the defeat margin. Earlier, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (60 not out) and S Badrinath (64) hit half-centuries to help Chennai Super Kings set a challenging target. The hosts overcame two early jolts to pile up 181 for four with Badrinath figuring in two crucial partnerships to lift his teams from the pits. He first shared a 44-run stand for the third wicket with Suresh Raina and then joined hands with Dhoni to weave a 91-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take his team to a competitive total. Badrinath's knock came off 47 balls and was adorned with six boundaries and three shots over the ropes. Dhoni's consumed 43 balls for his unbeaten innings, which was studded with two fours and four sixes. At one stage, it looked the hosts would easily go past the 200-run mark but a disciplined bowling by pacemen S Sreesanth and James Hopes at death restricted the Chennai team to an achievable target. — PTI Scoreboard Kings XI Punjab
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Hyderabad, May 10
The badly-bruised Hyderabad team, which has won only two of the eight matches it has played so far, are sharing the bottom spot with Bangalore Royal Challengers on four points and would have to reverse the losing trend to remain in contention for a semi-final berth. The VVS Laxman-led side will have to overcome the jinx of losing at home having failed to post a single win from three matches so far at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium with its two wins coming away from home in Mumbai and Chennai. The bad news for the team was that Laxman, who is recovering from a hand injury, is still doubtful for the crucial match and responsibility of steering the team would once again fall on stand-in-captain Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist, who has rediscovered his form after initial failures, would have to repeat his fine form with the bat against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur though his side lost the match. The Australian, who has made 284 runs in eight matches, is the highest run-getter for the team, followed by Rohit Sharma who has been consistent so far and has worn the Orange cap for highest run getter though he is now in the fourth place with 263 from eight matches behind Gautam Gambhir, Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag. The Hyderabad side's main worry has been that some big batting stars in the team, including, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi, are yet to make their presence felt in the tournament though the Pakistani has taken seven wickets in six matches. In the bowling department, except for RP Singh and city lad Pragyan Ojha, others are pedestrian in their performance so far. The Shahrukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, would look to carry on their winning momentum after their impressive victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers in their last match. The Kolkata team has reliable batsmen in David Hussey, and captain Sourav Ganguly, who also had an inspiring bowling spell in his side's victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers in Kolkata. Hussey is the highest scorer for the team with 206 runs from seven matches, though the absence of his country-mate Brad Hodge, who has been called up for national duty, could be felt by his team. Sourav Ganguly-led team also boasts of effective bowlers like Ajit Agarkar, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda. Meanwhile, the soaring temperature would be a cause of concern for the players, especially the bowlers, as the match is scheduled to start at 4 pm with the mercury levels in the city hovering around 40 degrees Celsius for the last few days. The match is expected to be a high-scoring one as the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium traditionally favours the batsmen. — PTI
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Royals take on Delhi Daredevils
It was Delhi Daredevils who had beaten Rajasthan Royals in their first match and the comprehensive defeat which had strengthened the belief that Royals was a weak team. But much water has flown under the bridge since then and Shane Warne's men are now the table toppers with 12 points from a 6-2 win-loss record. With a comprehensive eight wicket victory over Deccan Chargers, the hosts are high on confidence and it is no surprise that skipper Warne has given a war cry asking for revenge. Warne himself concedes that the defeat in first match was shocking but it also helped in introspection and to work out new strategies. Since then it has been a dream run for the Royals except their loss against Mumbai Indians. The only matter of concern is injuries of Dimitri Mascarenhas and in-form diminutive opener Swapnil Asnodkar. "We have a big game against Delhi. A victory would help us entrench our self at the top but a defeat might see few teams tie up," Warne said calculating that Delhi with eight points from seven matches might come level with Chennai and Punjab who also till have 10 points each. The hosts might sit relaxed. Making full use of the home conditions they also have the arsenal to fire. Seamers Sohail Tanveer, Shane Watson, Munaf Patel and Sidhartha Trivedi have done a decent job and Warne is looking as good as ever. The part time bowlers in Yousuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja have also delivered when required. This has given Warne more options and he can dare put opposition in to bat. The batting has a healthy look too. Pathan is relishing his new role and giving his best, Graeme Smith, Watson and Jadeja too are in good form. The biggest strength is that they have combined well as a team. "I trust my players and the intensity is there. After the first match we have responded well as a group. Even at the time of auction I was in constant touch. We wanted a team with 2-3 options for each slot. Touch wood that the strategy has paid off till now," Warne said. On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils have lost a few close matches. They are certainly better than what they are looking in points table at present. Captain Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan are in good form but AB de Villiers and Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik are yet to come in with a big contribution. In the bowling departent, Australian Glenn McGrath's experience and fire power of Pakistani Mohammad Asif is supported by V Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Sehwag and Malik. — PTI
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Worst-behaved cricketer unmasked, says Ponting
Melbourne, May 10 ''The (slapping) incident was him dealing with a guy that he has probably played 20 Tests with,'' Ponting told ''Herald Sun'' in an interview. ''After this latest issue in India, I think people should be making their own judgements about Harbhajan. He has again done something wrong,'' he said. Though, the temperamental off-spinner was banned from the ongoing Indian Premier League after he was found guilty of slapping Sreesanth, he is still facing a potential life ban from the BCCI's disciplinary committee. Ponting, however, insisted that he wanted to look forward from here on, but the captain was still not able to digest the fact that how the BCCI had used its power to clear Harbhajan from racial charges. Harbhajan was initially suspended for three Tests. But after India threatened to boycott its tour, he was cleared and received a 50 per cent match-fee fine on a lesser charge. ''It certainly wasn't the outcome that we expected,'' Ponting said. ''He ended up being fined 50 per cent of his match fee. As it is, I will cop a 20 or 30 per cent match-fee fine most one-day games because I am behind in the over rates.'' The right-handed batsman also admitted that the recent summer series against India was one of the toughest test of his career and added that even his boys were blamed for the controversies engulfed with that series. After the Sydney Test which was marred by umpiring mistakes, on-field confrontations and Australia's in-your-face celebrations, Ponting was accused of ''turning a group of professional cricketers into a pack of wild dogs''. ''Most of us would put our hands up and say we made a few minor errors last year,'' Ponting conceded. ''I think the thing that happened was that every time there was a minor error it was turned into something that was a lot bigger than it was. ''I was reading things about Harbhajan and I having run-ins on the field when we didn't talk to each other in the course of the day. But the thing that I was happy with was that our cricket was generally pretty good in amongst all the stuff that was going on,'' the captain said. ''At the start of the summer everyone had a lot of doubts about the team with the changeover of players and everyone thought we would probably be pushed. We played pretty well,'' he added. After his not so successful stint in the IPL, Ponting expressed his confidence that the tournament will go a long way provided it is handled correctly. ''If there is some sort of window carved out for an opportunity for international players to play (in the IPL) most years - and it doesn't have to be every year because that will never work out for everybody - I really do think they can manage it well,'' Ponting said. — UNI
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Nanavati to submit report on Tuesday
Ahmedabad, May 10 "I will not recommend any sort of punishment to the players as I have been appointed to inquire about the incident under rule 32 of the BCCI," Nanavati told PTI. "I will have to submit my report on the incident to the Board President and he will forward it to the disciplinary committee which will decide about the quantum of punishment to be given to the person who is found guilty," he said adding that "it is up to them. They can even let off a person. "Earlier, I was going to submit my report on Monday, but now I have decided to do it on Tuesday," Nanavati added. "Change of date is due to busy schedule on Monday. I have to appear for some cases in the Gujarat High Court," Nanavati, who is an senior advocate, said, adding that the stipulated time of 15 days given to him to complete the inquiry also ends on Tuesday.
— PTI |
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Super Gony, deadly Dinda
Chandigarh, May 10 One had never heard of Manpreet Gony. He was not even part of the Ranji Trophy squad till nearly six months ago. The exodus of regular Punjab Ranji Trophy seamers to the ICL provided him an opening to showcase his talent. Not managing anything worthwhile in the Ranji Trophy games that he played, the 24-year-old Gony raised his game by a few notches when selected to represent North Zone in Deodhar Trophy. Two four-wicket hauls in the losing cause gave him some confidence. Surprisingly, picked up by Chennai Super Kings, Gony started to realise a dream. By sheer hard work and skill, the lanky bowler has had his moments, when he outshone his more illustrious and experienced mates. Blessed with good physique, skill and temperament, the Ropar-born 24-year-old Gony has been as good as, say Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Makhaya Ntini, Albie Morkel or S. Sreesanth. Within no time, Gony has established himself as a reliable customer for his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Having to bowl alongside the likes of Makhaya Ntini, Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel has made Gony a better cricketer. He has played a key role in the success of the Super Kings in the highly competitive league. When he won the battle against explosive Virender Sehwag, castling the dangerous opener with a perfect yorker in the game when Chennai Super Kings were out to avenge their earlier defeat at the hands of Delhi Daredevils, Gony took his tally of wickets in the competition to 10, behind only Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan, who led the wickets table at that time with 12 wickets apiece. Besides his bowling, Gony has shown that he is a fighter to the core and no rabbit with the willow. If Chennai were able to halt their four-match winning streak against Delhi Daredevils, Gony played a vital role as a batsman as well. It was his brief but timely pyro-techniques in the last over (Chennai needed 13 runs) which was crucial to his team’s victory. Ashok
Dinda
Ashok Dinda owed his selection to the Kolkata Knight Riders squad to skipper Sourav Ganguly, who had put a word in his favour to the team franchise. Blessed with an ordinary physique, Dinda started to find his bearings right in the IPL opening match at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Opening the bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders as Royal Challengers started their uphill victory hunt, he bowled a miserly and effective spell (3-0-9-2). Ajit Agarkar also joined the party as Royal Challengers, needing 223 runs for victory, were bowled out for a paltry 82 runs. He earlier caught the imagination of Ricky Ponting who was also playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. Ponting was impressed with Dinda after seeing him bowl in the nets and had remarked that he was capable of generating good pace. Though not very successful in terms of wickets (five wickets in seven games), Dinda has best best economy rate of (6.00), better than Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan or Irfan Pathan, the most successful bowlers in the competition. In the match against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Eden Gardens, the 24-year-old Bengal seamer struck instant rhythm. The first ball he bowled was clocked at over 140 kmph. Persistently bowling in excess of 140 and even touching 145 kmph besides pitching the ball in right areas, Dinda made life difficult for the batsmen. Dinda, in fact, was the pick of the bowlers and skipper Sourav Ganguly made a mention of the role he played in the team victory. Dinda’s bowling is somewhat dissimilar to others of his ilk. Running in smoothly, he takes an abrupt jump before he delivers the ball with a whippy action. Getting the ball to climb onto the batsmen or getting it to dart out, he tries to make life difficult for batsmen. There are other youngsters doing well in the IPL, but more will be heard of Gony and Dinda in the days to come! |
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Azlan Shah Hockey
Ipoh (Malaysia), May 10 The Sardara Singh-led Indian side has lost its first two matches but Bansal said the team would not be affected by past disappointments and would avoid soft goals against the Canadians. "Tomorrow is another day and we don't hang on to past results. I watched the Canada-Belgium match here. I am confident a victory is within our reach," Bansal said as the Indians had some intense training on the rest day today. India went down to Argentina 1-5 yesterday and Bansal thought such defeats could be avoided. "Yesterday, we lost not because we did not play well, but because we conceded two easy goals in the second half. My focus now is midfield and defence. Soft goals are dangerous and spoil the team's morale. This was exactly what happened against Argentina," he said. One issue that should worry Bansal is the performance of recalled star Sandeep Singh, who scored three goals against New Zealand and just one yesterday. Asked if he depended too much on Sandeep for the goals, Bansal said, "I have not instructed my forwards not to strike. They are inexperienced and I would have loved to have a player like Tushar Khandekar." "I don't look at the outcome of a match solely on the basis of scoreline. Forwards are doing reasonably well," he added. Bansal admitted that Sandeep appeared to have some specific problems against Argentina. "He has some problems against Argentina. In the Champions Challenge Cup in Boom also, he could not strike against Argentina despite getting more penalty corners than what we got yesterday. He must learn to tackle dashing goalkeepers," he said. Meanwhile, Canada's preparations received a setback as their most experienced player Ken Perreira is yet to join the team. The 34-year-old forward has so far earned 254 caps and is now playing for the HGC, Amsterdam, in Holland. "His club plays the European Club semifinal today. He won't be joining us before the Pakistan match scheduled for Monday," said Canadian coach Louis Mendonca. "His absence will certainly make a difference to the team, but again you see Ryan Archibald is not with New Zealand. Such things happen, and every team is supposed to have replacements," he added. Mendonca, however, hoped that Perreira's absence would not affect his team much. "Bindi Khullar and Mathew Guest are his replacements and I am glad the latter scored the winning goal against Belgium." For Mendonca, the match against India would be no different from other encounters. "We are preparing for the Beijing Olympics. We have to face all sorts of teams. The Indians are a skillful side and we have to manage that aspect," Louis said. Under Mendonca, Canada qualified for the Beijing Olympics defeating Argentina in the Pan American Games final last year. Asked if he had any plan to counter Sandeep, Mendonca said his team would be careful against him. "The likes of Sandeep and Kiwi Hayden Shaw can make their team's chances easy. We have to take care of them," he said. — PTI
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Ramesh leaves Indian camp
Ipoh (Malaysia), May 10 Pargat Singh, manager of the team here, said Ramesh left citing personal reasons even though he requested the assistant coach to continue
here. Ramesh officiated as manager of the Indian team till Pargat arrived here on Friday. Ramesh's name has been entered as manager here in all records, including the official souvenirs and the first official match sheet. He was on the team bench as manager for the first match against New Zealand before Pargat took over. The newly-formed ad hoc Selection Committee named Ramesh as assistant coach of the team as "he has been working on match videos for quite some time."
Ramesh came to Ipoh from Darwin where India played a four-nation series with Joaquim Carvalho as the chief coach. Trainer Mathews and physiotherapist Sreekanth
Iyenkar, who were also with Carvalho's team and came to Ipoh along with
Ramesh, are here and will continue till the end of the tournament. — PTI |
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Reena replaces Swuro for Olympics
Kolkata, May 10 Swuro, part of the Indian women's side at the Leipzig World Cup team championship, lost out in a trial to Kumari at the Sports Authority of India campus. The trial was held to give Swuro, who had not been in her elements of late, a last opportunity to make the cut for the Olympics. Kumari gained an Olympic berth by finishing first in the trial, where Swuro managed only a fourth spot. The three-member womens' team also includes Dola Banerjee and L. Bombaila Devi. India had earned three women's quota for the Beijing Olympics at Leipzig. Mangal Singh Champia, who earned a continental quota for the Olympics from the Asian Championship at China's Xi'an, would be the sole men's representative at the quadrennial showpiece. The AAI also announced teams for the season's third and the fourth World Cup competitions. Dola Banerjee, Bombaila Devi, Reena Kumari and Punyaprabha would form the women's squad, while Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee, Priyank and Mangal Singh Champia would be the men's representatives for India in the third World Cup slated to be held at Antalya, Turkey, from May 27-31. The team for the fourth World Cup in Poe, France, comprises Talukdar, Banerjee, Priyank and W. Ranjan Singh (jr) in the men's section, while Punyaprabha, V. Pranitha, Swuro and Rimil Biruli make up the women’s team. — PTI
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Djokovic, Wawrinka reach Rome final
Rome, May 10 Serbian third seed Djokovic went through after unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who stunned world number one Roger Federer on Friday, pulled out with what looked like a wrist problem when 6-0, 1-0 down. Wawrinka made the final after American sixth seed Andy Roddick withdrew, apparently suffering from a shoulder injury, at 3-0 down in the first set. On Sunday, Wawrinka will be aiming to repeat the success of Spain's Felix Mantilla, who defeated Federer in the 2003 final to become the only unseeded Rome champion of the Open era. All-Russian final
at Berlin
Berlin: Dinara Safina of Russia booked a place in the German Open final with a 6-4, 6-1 win over unseeded Belarussian teenager Victoria Azarenka on Saturday. The 22-year-old 13th seed has beaten world number one Justine Henin and eight times grand slam winner Serena Williams this week. Safina, younger sister of former men's number one Marat Safin, faced a stiff challenge from 18-year-old Azarenka in the first set, losing her serve twice in the sunshine at the Steffi Graf stadium. But the Belarussian appeared to be struggling with a knee injury in the second set, which severely hampered her movement, and Safina cruised to victory in just under one-and-a-half hours. It was her first match against Azarenka, who has had her best run at a tier one event in Berlin and will break into the top 20 for the first time when the rankings are updated. In the second semifinal, world number two Ana Ivanovic suffered a surprise 6-2, 7-5 defeat by Elena Dementieva on Saturday. The 20-year-old Serbian made far too many unforced errors and was broken five times by the Russian seventh seed. Dementieva, ranked nine in the world, will play compatriot Dinara Safina in Sunday's final.
— Reuters |
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Milan, May 10 The Delhi lad, who was tied 53rd overnight, sank in seven birdies - five of them in the back nine - to chalk up a two-round total of nine-under 135. Kapur picked up a stroke on the very first hole before stroking another birdie on the fifth to make the turn two-under. The youngster hit a purple patch in the backward stretch and started with a birdie hat-trick from the 10th to 12th holes. A birdie-brace on the 15th and 16th completed a remarkable day for Kapur. Swede Robert Karlsson carded a sensational course record 61 to grab a two-shot lead at the halfway stage. Chopra rises to tied 16th
Florida: On a day when sub-par cards were hard to come by, Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra returned a second successive even-par 72 to leap to the tied 16th spot after the halfway stage of the $9.5 million Players Championship here. Chopra's 72 in the second round took his overall score to even-par 144. The Swede made a fine start, sinking in a birdie on the second hole. He parred the remaining eight holes in the front nine to make the turn one-under. On his way back, Chopra picked up shots on the 10th and 16th holes but a bogey and a double bogey sandwiched in between spoilt his chances of breaking par. Meanwhile, American Kenny Perry (70) dislodged Sergio Garcia as the leader and established a one-stroke advantage with a total of six-under 138. Digvijay, Gangjee blown away
Beijing: Digvijay Singh and Rahil Gangjee stuttered to over-par cards on a windswept day, which saw only eight golfers return sub-par scores, and were tied for the 46th spot after the penultimate round of the Pine Valley Beijing Open here today. While Digvijay carded a two-over 74, Gangjee was four-over and the duo had totals of two-over 218. A bogey-brace on the first two holes was not the kind of start Digvijay would have wanted and his woes were further compounded when he dropped another stroke on the ninth. A birdie, sandwiched in between, was hardly of any help as he made the turn two-over. Digvijay's backward stretch started well with a birdie on the 10th but it was back to square one when he stumbled to a bogey on the 12th to complete an ordinary day in the greens. Gangjee was even worse as he dropped seven bogeys - five of them in the back nine - against a couple of birdies during his wretched round. At the top, Japanese star Hiroyuki Fujita broke away from the chasing pack after firing an even-par 72 that took his total to 12-under 204, establishing a six-stroke
lead.— PTI |
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Anju 5th at Doha Super GP
New Delhi, May 10 Anju was way below her personal best of 6.83m which she recorded at the 2004 Athens Olympics but had the satisfaction of finishing in the top half of star-studded field at the Qatar Sports Club last evening. She also finished ahead of American Funmi Jimoh who had the season's second best jump of 6.91m. Current world champion and Athens Olympics bronze winner Tatiyana Kotova of Russia won the gold with a leap of 6.83m while Brazillian Maurren Higa Maggi (6.75m) and Jamaican Chelsea Hammond (6.69m) took silver and bronze respectively. Anju will compete in a series of events in the European circuit before heading for Beijing Olympics in August.
— PTI |
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Chennai, May 10
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Chennai, May 10
This was second successive win for the hosts over the Punjab team as they had beaten them in the away tie early in the tournament.
Jaipur, May 10