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Chennai in do-or-die battle
Strauss stars in England win
Kolkata set for Kahn farewell
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Wonder goal from 70 yards
Heyday memories come alive
Raikkonen tenders apology to Sutil
Federer, Jankovic win; Venus made to sweat
Santosh Trophy
Mumbai choke, get into hole
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Hyderabad, May 26 A loss tomorrow would all but end Super Kings' chances of making the semifinals after Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men narrowly lost the match against the Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. The Chennai team has 14 points from seven wins and six defeats in the tournament so far. The visitors start favourites against the Adam Gilchrist-led hosts, who are no longer in the race for the title after losing 11 of their 13 matches and finishing last. The hosts, however, will play for pride as they aim to post their maiden win at home. However, for the Super Kings, it is a battle to stay alive in the tournament that they dominated in the initial stages before losing steam. However, the batting line-up still looks formidable with the presence of the redoubtable Dhoni, Suresh Raina, S Badrinath and Albie Morkel. Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming have shown that they can also strike upfront when it matters. The Chennai bowlers like Manpreet Gony, Makhaya Ntini, L Balaji and Muttaiah Muralitharan have done an effective job on several occasions. Moreover, the team will have the psychological advantage over the Chargers who are a dejected lot following their successive defeats in the series.
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Manchester, May 26 Strauss, recalled to the team in March after being dropped last year, made 106 after productive partnerships with Alastair Cook (out for 19 on Sunday), captain Michael Vaughan (48) and Kevin Pietersen (42 run out). England, resuming on 76 for one after dismissing the Kiwis for only 114 in their second innings, also bettered the previous highest fourth innings winning total at Old Trafford. They had scored 231 to defeat the West Indies four years ago. England crashed to 202 all out in their first innings replying to New Zealand’s 381 and then the Kiwis collapsed when England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar claimed Test best figures of 6 for 37. Panesar was named man-of-the-match. — Reuters Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): 381 England (1st innings): 202 New Zealand (2nd innings): 114 England (2nd innings): Strauss c Taylor b O'Brien 106 Cook c Marshall b Vettori 28 Vaughan c McCullum b Martin 48 Pietersen run out 42 Bell not out 21 Collingwood not out 24 Extras (b-9 lb-10 nb-6): 25 Total: (four wickets, 88 overs): 294 Fall of wickets: 1-60 2-150 3-235 4-248 Bowling: Martin 13-1-45-1 (2nb), Mills 6-0-17-0 (2nb), Vettori 35-7-111-1 (2nb), O'Brien 20-2-62-1, How 1-0-4-0, Oram 13-1-36-0 Player of the match: Monty Panesar (England)
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Kolkata, May 26 The Bavarians have made it clear that it is social service which is high on their agenda, not football. The German champions are in India for the first time as a part of their Asian Tour and have created a lot of buzz in the city known for its football passion. The euphoria they have generated was hardly seen during the visit of any other foreign team in the recent past. Their reserve side came to play in the IFA Shield here in 2006, but the presence of former World Cupper Gerd Mueller as an assistant coach went unnoticed! Bayern are the most famous club side to visit the city after Pele's Cosmos (1977) and Dutch side PSV Eindhoven (1991), which had seven World Cuppers in their ranks. The Munich club has won a double back home this season - the Bundesliga as well as the German Cup. Kahn has reason to be excited about his farewell game. Some 120,000 spectators will give a grand send-off to the 38-year-old shot-stopper, who will be seen guarding Bayern's goal for one last time before hanging up his gloves. In an illustrious career, spanning over two decades, King Kahn may have played all over the world, but he will get the real taste of his global popularity when he experiences the cheering from the football-mad Kolkatans. Bayern have come here with 11 professionals in their side, but only three of them - Mark van Bommel and Ze Roberto and, of course, Kahn - are top grade. That clearly proves the point that they are here on an off-season sojourn not to get match-fit training. Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld admitted that it is a "social visit" and that the players won't even practice before the match. As for Kahn, he said on arrival that he would not disappoint the huge turnout, whatever that may mean. Kolkata might just get a chance to see Kahn in a different role as he expressed his desire to play as a forward. That he might do so after handing over his gloves ceremonially to his successor. "I would love to take a free-kick or a corner," he said. Team manager Uli Hoeness, who has a World Cup (1974) medal, added that if there is situation to take a penalty then Kahn might be the one to take it. All these sound bytes indicate that a script has already been prepared for Kahn.
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London, May 26 Beckham took a couple of touches before belting the ball with his incomparable right foot into an empty net to seal a 3-1 win. The goal brought back memories of Beckham's 50-yard wonderstrike for Manchester United against Wimbledon in August 1996. LA striker Landon Donovan said: "I can't imagine anyone else scoring that kind of goal." "He does it 10 or 15 times a day in training," The Sun quoted Galaxy pal Chris Klein as saying. England midfielder Becks, who is likely to face the USA at Wembley on Wednesday, loves scoring long-range goals. — ANI
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Raikkonen tenders apology to Sutil
New Delhi, May 26 Sutil's fairytale story at yesterday's Monaco Grand Prix had an unexpected villain of the piece in Raikkonen who rammed into the back of the Force India car, bringing the youngster's campaign to a premature end when he was just three laps and seven minutes away from a dream-come-true fourth place finish. Force India subsequently lodged a complaint about Raikkonen in the stewards' office in Monaco but Sutil appeared to have forgiven the Ferrari driver following an apology from him. Talking to PTI from Monaco, Sutil said, "Yes, Kimi did apologise to me. After the race he came to me and said 'I'm sorry, I'm really sorry.' He was sorry for sure. "Anyway, it's racing and incidents like this do happen. It only shows you how the sport can be," Sutil said, philosophically. Incidentally, team owner Vijay Mallya was not so sure of an apology coming from Raikkonen. "In this cut-throat world of Formula One, I'm not sure whether there is any room for things like an apology. But as a world champion, I surely expected Raikkonen to drive safe and responsibly. I'm not sure of the circumstances in which he rammed into the back of Sutil's car," a dejected Mallya told PTI. Raikkonen, however, admitted it was his mistake and he blamed it on his brakes. "I nearly lost the car and unfortunately I hit him. It's sad for them because they are not very often in the position to finish in the points. I feel a bit sorry for him, but I could not do anything," the Finnish said. Sutil also rued that a top-five finish yesterday could have raised the perfect toast to his friendship with eventual winner Lewis Hamilton. "I did not get a chance to talk to Hamilton but he was happy that I came so close to a top five finish. I'm happy that he won the race. We are close friends and it would have been a great result to have both of us in the top five," he said, almost wishfully. Sutil could not hold his tears as dream turned nightmare and the driver said he could not help it.— PTI
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Federer, Jankovic win; Venus made to sweat
Paris, May 26 Last year’s semifinalist Jankovic threw away a 3-0 lead in the opening set and almost allowed a Roland Garros debutante, ranked 86th in the world, to get the better of her. After being given the run-around in the first set, the third seed asserted her authority to seal a 7-6 6-2 win over Romania’s Monica Niculescu. “I had a little bit trouble in the first set,” Jankovic told reporters. “I was up 3-0 and then the girl played some great shots. She hit quite good dropshots and I got a little bit confused, because I didn’t know her game, I didn’t know how she plays, and I didn’t know what to expect from her. But then I got used to her and was little bit better.” Federer also needed a little time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of his big-serving 1.98 metres opponent. Querrey rattled Federer early on by breaking the Swiss in the fourth game but that was as good as it got for the American. The Swiss, winner of 12 grand slam titles but still without the French Open trophy, polished off a solid win when Querrey floated the ball long.“It’s sort of a nerve wracking first set. Once I got settled I played a little more better,” the top seed said. “I’m sort of relieved getting through the first one and I think from now on it should get a little bit easy”. Guillermo Coria and Richard Gasquet suffered heartache on Monday but for completely different reasons. While Coria’s comeback on the grand slam stage after an absence of almost two years ended with a 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-4 defeat by 12th seed Tommy Robredo, Gasquet never even made it to the court. The French number one was forced to quit with a knee injury minutes before his match against compatriot Florent Serra. American Venus Williams survived dropping the second set to book her place in the second round of the French Open with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory over Israel’s Tzipora Obziler today. Obziler (35), the oldest woman in the tournament, fought with the energy of a youngster for two hours and three minutes against Williams, who next meets Tunisian qualifier Selima Sfar. “She played very well, she was determined but I finally figured it out,” the elder Williams sister said in a courtside interview.
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Chandigarh, Himachal post wins
Srinagar, May 26 The Delhi and Gujarat match ended in a goalless draw. In the first match of the day, Himachal Pradesh overpowered Daman and Diu 4-2. Yogesh Chona drew first blood for HP when he put the ball into the net after defeating the goalkeeper. He consolidated the lead for his team when he capitalised on a long pass from Ajay Rana a minute before the breather. It was Markilino Neol who reduced the margin for Daman and Diu when he scored 15 minutes after interval. However, Gaurav Kumar and Chandan Kumar netted for the winners before Franciso scored for Daman before the final whistle. In other matches Karnataka outclassed Jharkhand 2-1, Haryana and Mahdya Pradesh played a goal-less draw and Mizoram beat Chatisgarh 2-1. Chandigarh pipped Bihar 1-0 at Maulana Azad stadium. Gopal Thappa utilised a pass to good effect and put his team in the lead with an outstanding field goal in the 24th minute of the first half. Bihar kept struggling for an equaliser but the Chandigarh lads dominated the field and denied them any chance. — UNI
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Mumbai choke, get into hole Jaipur, May 26 Today’s result ensured that Delhi Daredevils make it to the semifinals with 15 points from 14 matches while Mumbai Indians will have to wait the outcome of tomorrow’s match between Chennai Super Kings and bottom placed Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad. If Chennai lose tomorrow, Mumbai will have to win against Bangalore and in that case net run rate will be decisive. Dilahara Fernando, who bowled the last over conceded a free-hit in the second ball and Niraj took three from it before hitting a six in the third ball and two singles in next two balls. The Sri Lankan bowled a wide when Royals needed four from two balls. A single was scored from the legitimate penultimate ball and two runs were needed from the last ball. Fernando slipped the ball past him on his follow through and Jayasuriya fumbled it from a fielder’s throw to allow the batsmen two runs. The Royals started shakily on a slow pitch, scoring 32 at the end of five overs and reaching 50 in the eighth over. Opener Kamran Akmal looked to up the scoring rate by quickly smashing two fours each off Ashish Nehra and Shaun Pollock only to be run out for 18 in an unpardonable fashion, by jumping to avoid a throw. Destructive Yusuf Pathan could not do much as he holed out to Nehra while going for a big hit off Fernando who had earlier dropped opener Swapnil Asnodkar while on three. Mohd. Kaif was run out for 12 following a mix up in the 12th over after sharing 30 runs for 4th wicket with Watson. Just three balls later, Sachin Tendulkar took a stunning catch to dismiss dangerous-looking Watson for 18. With half of their batsmen gone for just 77, the home team was looking down the barrel with run rate shooting up to over 11 by 15th over before Niraj and Jadeja single-handedly turned the match in their favour.
— PTI Scoreboard Mumbai Indians: Jayasuriya c Pankaj b Trivedi 38 Tendulkar c & b Trivedi 30 Nayar lbw b Tanvir 25 Uthappa st Akmal b Warne 3 D Smith c Patel b Tanvir 8 Pollock c Akmal b Tanvir 0 M Pandey b Tanvir 3 Takawale not out 24 Raje not out 1 Extras: (LB-6, W-6, NB-1) 13 Total: (For 7 wkts in 20 overs) 145 FOW: 1-71, 2-82, 3-98, 4-107, 5-107, 6-118, 7-119 Bowling: Tanvir 4-0-14-4, Watson 3-0-30-0, Pankaj 2-0-25-0, Y Pathan 3-0-9-0, Trivedi 4-0-31-2, Warne 4-0-30-1. Rajasthan Royals: Akmal run out 18 Asnodkar c Takawale b Fernando 17 Y Pathan c Nehra b Fernando 2 Watson c Tendulkar b Raje 18 Kaif run out 12 Jadeja not out 23 Patel not out 40 Extras: (B-4, LB-6, W-5, NB-1) 16 Total: (For 5 wkts in 20 overs) 146 FOW:
1-20, 2-32, 3-47, 4-77, 5-77 Bowling: Pollock 4-0-26-0, Nehra 3-0-18-0, Fernando 4-0-27-2, D Smith 2-0-16-0, Nayar 1-0-4-0, Raje 4-0-37-1, Jayasuriya 2-0-8-0. Player of the Match: Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals)
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When Bayern Munich take on city giants Mohun Bagan in an exhibition match here on Tuesday, which would be legendary goalkeeper Oliver Kahn's farewell game, the focus will not be on class or competitive
football
London, May 26
Paris, May 26
