Mohali, May 28
Kings XI Punjab unleashed its batting might and brushed aside Rajasthan Royals in the IPL T20 match at the PCA Stadium here tonight. Batting first, Kings XI rode on a brilliant century by Shaun Marsh to put virtually too big a total on the board. This proved too much for a depleted Rajasthan, who eventually lost the match by 41 runs.

In a match, the last before the semifinal stage and which had no bearing on the rankings of both the teams, Rajasthan Royals chose to rest their key players, while Kings XI did not tinker with the winning combination.

Shane Watson was handed the mantle of captaincy, in stead of charismatic Shane Warne. Sohail Tanvir, the most successful bowler in the tournament, was given a much-deserved rest. The successful opening coimbination of Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar was also given a break to recharge their batteries for the crucial match ahead.

But, irrespective of all that, Kings XI batsmen deserve credit for the way they played. Ever since he has been blooded into the squad, Shaun Marsh batting at top of the order has proved a boon for his team. Surprisingly, he is getting better and better with each outing.

A confident Marsh holding on at one end and scoring runs at a fast pace is bound to have a calmimg influence on the batsmen at the other end.

It was no different today. He did not take much time to get his eye in. Once into his groove, there was no stopping Marsh. Munaf Patel and Shane Watson were not allowed to settle and bowl. Blessed as the young Australian is, with a right mix of technique and temperament, he played a variety of strokes all round the wicket to complete his fifty within no time.

Known for his power-packed strokes, James Hopes was not found wanting either. Treating bowlers with minimal respect, both went about the job with no fuss as runs came in a torrent. Lanky seamers Pankaj Singh and Siddharth Trivedi or leg-spinner Dinesh Salunkhe found the going tough as runs continued to flow.

Marsh clobbered Pankaj over long off for a mighty six and then ran a single to reach to the coveted three-figure mark. It was the sixth century of the IPL.

Yousuf Pathan got the first breakthrough when Hopes, just after he had completed his fifty, holed out to Salunkhe at long on.

Marsh ultimaterly fell to Watson, but not before he had comtributed 115 (69 balls, 11X4; 7X6) to the total. Any illusions of a respite due to the fall of a wickets were dissipated as Yuvraj Singh looked determined to get a decent knock under his belt before the semifinals.

On view was an imperious Yuvraj, who indulged in the sort of hitting only he can do. Striking the ball from the middle and sending the ball far, he piled on the misery of the bowlers, highlight of his innings being three mighty sixes he hit off Trivedi in the same over. When close to his second fifty of the IPL, he found himself short when he went for a tight single. Yuvraj’s 16-ball 49 knock was studded with six towering sixes and two two fours.

The total of 221 was always going to be tough, particularly in the absence of the regular opening pair of Smith and Asnodkar. If Royals were to be in the hunt, they desperately needed a rollicking start. But with makeshift openers Mohammad Kaif and Younis Khan back in the pavilion innside the first five overs with 29 runs on the board, the chase was bound to prove futile.

Neeraj Patel played a pleasing knock to emerge the highest scorer from the side. Kamran Akmal and Pathan did their bit and played some bold strokes. But it proved good enough only to bridge the gap and stopped the contest from being lop-sided.

Akmal enlivened the proceedings for a short while and hoisted Sreesanth for three sixes on the trot, while Pathan, as has been the feature of his batting in the IPL so far, played his trademark strokes to notch up a 15-ball 38 which included three fours and as many sixes.

Marsh seems to have monopolised the Player of the Match award, this being his fifth in the IPL.

Scoreboard

Kings XI Punjab:

Marsh c Younis b Watson 115

Hopes c Salunkhe b I Pathan 51

Yuvraj run out 49

Pomersbach not out 1

Extras: (lb-1, w-3, nb-1) 5

Total (3 wkts; 20 overs) 221

Fall of wickets: 1-133, 2-213, 3-221

Bowling: M Patel 4-0-37-0, Watson 4-0-40-1, Pankaj 3-0 48-0, Salunkhe 3-0-23-0, Trivedi 4-0-48-0, Y Pathan 2-0-24-1

Rajasthan Royals:

Kaif b Sreesanth 1

N Patel b Chawla 57

Younis b Pathan 3

Watson c Pathan b Chawla 22

Y Pathan c Marsh b Hopes 39

Akmal c Mota b Chawla 24

Rawat not out 23

Salunkhe c & b Hopes 6

Pankaj not out 1

Extras: (lb-3, w-1) 4

Total: (7 wkts; 20 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-29, 3-78, 4-99, 5-132, 6-171, 7-178

Bowling: I Pathan 4-0-10-1, Sreesanth 3-0-44-1, Hopes 3-0-29-2, Powar 1-0-7-0 , VRV Singh 4-0-32-0, Chawla 4-0-35-3, Yuvraj 1-0-20-0

Player of the match: Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab)

Bangalore, May 28
The semifinal door had already been slammed on them but Mumbai Indians at least had the consolation of signing off with a win as they spanked Bangalore Royal Challengers by nine wickets in an inconsequential rain-truncated match here today.

Chasing 123 to win from 18 overs, the Mumbai side cruised to 126 for one in 16 overs with Sanath Jayasuriya (54) and Sachin Tendulkar (40 not out) scoring bulk of the runs.

Earlier, Dilhara Fernando (4-18) mowed down the Bangalore top order while Dwayne Smith (3-26) wrecked the middle as Mumbai Indians restricted the hosts to a meagre 122 for nine in 18 overs.

Chasing 123, Jayasuriya and Tendulkar decided to wrap it up early and the Sri Lankan especially went berserk.

Jayasuriya smote Praveen Kumar for a massive six in the third over before tormenting R Vinay Kumar, who was hit for two successive sixes, followed by a boundary in the action-packed eighth over.

Anil Kumble could not escape Jayasuriya’s wrath either as the left-hander first hit the spinner for back-to-back fours and then hit him for his 31st six of the tournament.

Dale Steyn finally halted the rampaging Sri Lankan in the 12th over when Jayasuriya was caught at sweeper cover.

The damage, however, had already been done and Jayasuriya not only featured in a 96-run opening stand but also dominated it with his scintillating strokeplay en route to a 37-ball blitzkrieg that included fours boundaries and as many sixes.

Dilhara Fernando had used the bouncy conditions to the hilt claiming four wickets for just 18 runs as Mumbai Indians restricted Bangalore Royal Challengers to a modest 122 for nine in the DLF-Indian Premier League T20 played at M Chinnaswamy stadium here today.

But the Sri Lankan speedstar’s good effort was a match too late, after he faltered at the most crucial moment that resulted in Sachin’s men failing to make it to the semifinal stage. Despite the match being a mere formality, a big crowd came in.

The match was reduced to 18 overs a side as wet ground conditions delayed the start by 90 minutes.

The hosts who had lost five of the six home matches earlier, disappointed the crowd again as they got themselves bogged down.

This happend once the burly Sri Lankan struck telling blows in the sixth and eighth over of the match using the conditions which were helpful for medium pacers.

West Indies’ Dwayne Smith claimed three wickets for 26 to leave Bangalore in disarray.

Tail enders Vinay Kumar (23) and Praveen Kumar (8) added 39 runs for the eighth wicket in just 25 balls to give some respectability to the Bangalore innings. The two joined together with Royal Challengers struggling at 83 for seven and took the score to 122 before Vinay holed out to Uthappa at long-on giving Fernando his fourth wicket.

Royal Challengers began well with the teenage opener Sreevats Goswamy (20) and South African stumper batsman Mark Boucher (18) giving a purposeful start adding 35 runs in less than six overs. But once Fernando came to bowl, replacing Nehra, he put skids to the Bangalore innings dismissing Boucher and Misbah in his first over and sending Goswamy back to the pavilion in his second over.

This put the home team in the same position that they found themselves in earlier matches. The run rate slowed down and they never recovered.

Misbah was dismissed for a duck and disappointed again, while Dravid got out, castled by Smith, after he left his wickets wide open to guide the ball to the third man.

The disappointing stint of Under-19 World Cup winning captain Virat Kohli continued as he, too, was dismissed for a duck playing clumsily to a lifting delivery from Nehra.

Mumbai Indians’ skipper Sachin rotated his bowlers well despite young medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni disappointing him with wayward bowling conceding 34 runs in his three overs. 

Scoreboard

Bangalore Royal Challengers: (18 overs max)

Boucher c Uthappa b Fernando 18

Goswami c Nehra b Fernando 20

Misbah-ul-Haq c Tendulkar

b Fernando 0

Dravid b Smith 11

White c Fernando b Smith 26

Kohli c Takawale b Nehra 0 B Akhil lbw b Smith 5

P Kumar run out 8

Vinay Kumar c Uthappa

b Fernando 23

Kumble not out 0 Extras: (w-10, nb-1) 11 Total: (9 wckts; 18 overs) 122

Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-36, 3-39, 4-74, 5-76, 6-82, 7-83, 8-122, 9-122

Bowling: Pollock 4- 0-23-0, Nehra 3-0-21-1, Fernando 4-0-18-4, DS Kulkarni 3-0-34-0, DR Smith 4-0-26-3

Mumbai Indians:

Jayasuriya c Akhil b Steyn 54

Tendulkar not out 40 Uthappa not out 19

Extras: (lb-2, w-11) 13 Total: (1 wckt; 15.5 overs) 126 Fall of wickets: 1-96 Bowling: Kumble 3.5-0-45-0, Steyn 4-0-14-1, P Kumar 2-0-21-0, Vinay Kumar 3-0-25-0, B Akhil 3-0-19-0

Man of the Match: Fernando— PTI

Paris, May 28
Maria Sharapova came perilously close to an unwanted place in the record books on Wednesday when the sun finally shone at Roland Garros. The Russian, seeking to complete her full set of grand slams in Paris, was two points away from defeat during her first-round match against unheralded Evgeniya Rodina, but finally prevailed after a two hour 28 minute tussle on Court Philippe Chatrier.

No women's top seed has bowed out at the first hurdle in Paris since the sport turned professional in 1968, and for spells it looked like Rodina, in her first match in a slam, and the blustery conditions would catch her out.

“I just hung in there,” Sharapova said in a courtside interview after her 6-1 3-6 8-6 victory. “It was far from my best tennis today but you try to learn from your mistakes. Not many things were working for me today”.

Unfortunately for former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero one of the things not working for him was his right leg. The 2003 winner was a set up and 2-2 against Brazilian journeyman Marcos Daniel when he called it a day with the long-term injury and making it the first time in eight attempts he had failed to pass the first round on the red clay.

After the first three days were dogged by showers, Australian 25th seed Lleyton Hewitt prospered with the sun on his back, sending another home hope crashing with a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over Nicolas Mahut.

Seeds David Ferrer and Radek Stepanek also enjoyed comfortable progress. Fifth-ranked Spaniard Ferrer lost his serve just once in a 6-3 6-4 6-3 demolition of Belgium's Steve Darcis, while Czech Stepanek dispatched France’s Gilles Simon for the loss of just seven games.

Russian seventh seed Elena Dementieva, whose infamously flaky serve was tested to the full in the stiff breeze, overcame the loss of a first set tiebreak before crushing Russian compatriot Vera Dushevina 6-7 6-0 6-2.

It turned out to be third time lucky for Rafael Nadal on Wednesday as the torrential downpours finally relented at the French Open and allowed the three-times champion to complete a belated first-round win.

Nadal, however, made heavy weather of the first set before recording a 7-5 6-3 6-1 win over Brazilian qualifier Thomaz Bellucci. — Reuters

Hoshiarpur, May 28
Wolves (Premier Football Club from the U. K.) today announced a community-led partnership with Indian Premier League side, JCT Football Club (FC).

CEO, Wolves FC, Jez Moxey and first team coach, Terry Connor, toured JCT FC's new stadium site and training ground in Chohal, 8 km from here before observing a specially arranged youth team training session.

Later, President of JCT FC Samir Thapar and Jez Moxey signed an agreement followed by a press conference, said that the agreement will see exchange visits between the two club's academy staff.

The two clubs will also share best practice on a range of club matters from community involvement and development through to club administration.

Today's announcement forms an important part of the Wolverhampton-India partnership, a collaboration of business, education and public sector bodies in Wolverhampton.

The driving force behind the initiative is Wolverhampton-based MP Pat McFadden and the participants include: Wolverhampton University and College, Wolverhampton City Council, Wolverhampton Schools, the Wolverhampton Development Company.

A delegation of high-level representatives from each organisation, UK Trade and Investment and the Chambers of Commerce is in India this week to progress the project.

JCT FC was formed in 1971 by JCT Limited, a leading textile mill in India. It is one of the top teams in India and finished 3rd in the I-League season 2007-08 (concluded in February 2008). JCT FC were also the runners-up of the National Football League for the season 2006-07, claimed Samir Thapar.

Pat McFadden MP for Wolverhampton South-East said: "The Wolverhampton-India project is about trade, education and sport and strengthening the already strong ties that the city of Wolverhampton has with the Punjab.

Wolverhampton Wanderers has one of the biggest Punjabi supporters club in the UK; the 'Punjabi Wolves' and so a link to one of India's strongest football clubs, based here in the Punjab makes perfect sense and we are delighted to be here today with our friends at JCT and are tremendously excited about the potential of this exciting relationship between the two clubs."

New Delhi, May 28
India's Olympic hope Vijender shocked Athens Olympic gold medallist Bakhtiyar Artayev of Kazakhstan to storm into the semifinal of the Presidents cup boxing tournament in Taiwan.

Vijendra registered a 12-7 victory Tuesday in the 75-kg category in the quarter-final of the competition in which only Beijing qualifiers are participating.

Vijender's victory is a sweet revenge as he had lost a close bout to Artayev in the semi-finals of the Doha Asian Games in 2006.

The Indian flustered his famed opponent with deft movements and fast straight punches and jabs. The Kazakh could not read Vijender's style and a last-minute flurry and hectic trade of punches was not enough to save his day.

Vijender will now meet Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand in the semi-final Friday. Among other Indian boxers, Anthresh Lakra lost to Dmytro Bulenkov of Ukraine in the 57 kg category.

Jitender went down to Yunusov Anvar of Tajkistan in a hard hitting encounter in the 51 kg category. Dinesh Kumar will take on Uzbekistan's Abbos Atoeve, current world champion in 81 kg Wednesday.

A total of 126 boxers from 26 countries are competing across the 11 weight categories. The semi-finals and finals will be held on Friday and Saturday. — IANS

Jammu, May 28
Riding on twin strikes by C.S. Sabeeth, Tamil Nadu today notched up a 2-0 victory over Chandigarh in their cluster I match of the 62nd Santosh Trophy football tournament here. Tamil Nadu veteran player Sabeeth left the Chandigarh defenders clueless and pumped in one goal each on either side of the breather at the Maulana Azad Ground.

Though they started the game in a defensive mode, Tamil Nadu started attacking later and Sabeeth opened their account in the 37th minute with a powerful shot. He netted his team’s second goal in the 68th minute to give his side the cushion.

Chandigarh, visibly playing under pressure, displayed a sloppy performance and failed to capitalise on several scoring opportunities. — PTI

New Delhi, May 28
Setting 2018 as the realistic target for India to qualify for World Cup, national coach Bob Houghton has asked for devoting more time on development of age-group players, instead of continuing with "antiquated tournaments" like Santosh Trophy, to realise the dream.

Houghton said the country can think of World Cup qualification only 10 years later and that too by choosing a professional approach.

"The development of U-19, U-16 and U-14 teams is essential if we are to realistically make a challenge for the World Cup 2018. The qualification for 2018 World Cup will start in 2015 ... seven years from now when U-19, U-16, U-14 teams will be the right age to play," he said.

"This will also help our qualification for 2012 London Olympic Games. It is a long way to get India into the top four ranking positions (in Asia). This is the task if we are to qualify for the World Cup," he told aiff.com. — PTI

BRIEFLY

No directive on team selection: Shah
MUMBAI: The Cricket Board is not to give any directive to the national selection panel on the composition of the Indian team to be chosen for the June 8-14 triangular series in Bangladesh even though BCCI feels it's an ideal event for experiments. “There’s going to be no directive, but this tournament seems ideal to take some risk by including new players in the team," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said on Tuesday, ahead of the selection of the squads for Bangladesh and the subsequent Asia Cup late next month in Pakistan. The selectors are to meet here on Friday to pick the members of the two teams. — PTI

Moores to back Collingwood
LONDON: England coach Peter Moores is ready to fight for Paul Collingwood's place in his side ahead of the final Test against New Zealand. Moores will report to this week's selectors' meeting boosted by the six-wicket victory at Old Trafford which gave England a 1-0 lead in the three Test series. But the victory won't obscure worries over the disappointing form of several of England's batsmen, including Collingwood, which gifted New Zealand a first innings lead. England have gone 11 tests without a first innings total in excess of 400 and Collingwood - nominally in the side as an allrounder - has come under the most pressure after 22 innings without a Test century. — AFP

Sachin buys villa for Rs 35 crore
MUMBAI: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has purchased an old villa, near Carter Road in suburban Bandra here, for a reported price of around Rs 35 crore. Tendulkar purchased 'Dorab Villa' from its owners, the Satra Group, in December, sources said. “Dorab Villa” was built in the 1920s and originally occupied by a Parsi family--the Wardens. It is a one-storey structure, with property spread over 10,000 square feet. Tendulkar had spent his childhood at Sahitya Sahawas in Bandra East, before shifting to the plush La Mer building in Bandra west in 2001. — UNI

English players might play in IPL 2009
LONDON: England cricketers could feature in next year’s Indian Premier League, as the event will now not clash with their tour of the West Indies. A number of players, including star batsman Kevin Pietersen, had expressed their frustration at being held back from playing in the mega-bucks Twenty20 tournament this year, but with England’s trip to the Caribbean ending a week before the IPL’s first game on April 10, 2009, a compromise may yet be found, reports The Sun. One reason for the early conclusion to the tour could be the World Twenty20 that runs from June 5-21 in England. With no domestic Twenty20 before that tournament, England's best bet of getting players ready for the newest form of the game could be allowing short-term deals in the IPL. — ANI