Mumbai, May 30
Riding on a brilliant all-round display by Shane Watson, the ruthless Rajasthan Royals crushed Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs in a lop-sided semifinal to storm into the final of the Indian Premier League here tonight. Watson powered his way to a 29-ball 52 with three sixes and four fours in his team's challenging total of 192 for nine after league table toppers Rajasthan Royals were asked to take first strike by Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag.

Later, Watson ripped out the top-order of Delhi with a triple strike to account for the top three Delhi batsmen Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply to reduce them to 24 for three. Delhi never recovered from this early body blows and lost wickets at regular intervals while the asking rate kept climbing before they were shot out for a paltry 87 in 16.2 overs.

Rajasthan Royals now await the winners of the second semifinal, to be played at the same venue tomorrow between Punjab King's XI and Chennai Super Kings, in the final to be played at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on June 1. If Watson stole the major honours of the day, teammate Yusuf Pathan also played a key role and celebrated his Team India inclusion with a whirlwind 45 in 21 balls with four sixes and three fours.

The hard-hitting Pathan, named in the Indian 15 for next month's tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan earlier in the day, creamed the hapless Delhi attack, which included Glenn McGrath, to hit four sixes and three fours in his 21-ball knock. Both Watson and Pathan took ample advantage of the good half century start provided by pint-sized opener Swapnil Asnodkar (39 in 21 balls) and Graeme Smith, who made 25 in the same number of balls despite being hampered by a pulled leg muscle which required a runner. The efforts of Watson and Pathan helped Rajasthan Royals add 109 runs in the last 10 overs after the sound beginning provided by Smith and Asnodkar who put on 65 runs in 40 balls.

Delhi began the run-chase on a poor note when Sehwag (3) pulled a ball wide of the stumps from Watson and skied to deep mid-wicket in the second over. Gambhir (11) and left-handed Dhawan (5), both in good form in the tournament, perished in close succession after enabling Delhi to make a partial recovery.

Gambhir slashed Watson off back foot and was caught at cover point while Dhawan pulled the Aussie straight to short mid-wicket to leave Delhi gasping at 24 for three. Watson's first three-over spell read a superb three for 10 and if Delhi had hopes of staging a fight-back they were thwarted by the dismissal of Manoj Tiwary (0), four runs later, off Munaf Patel.

It was a regular procession of batsmen thereafter and Rajasthan emerged victorious in comprehensive fashion. Tillakratne Dilshan top-scored with 33 in 22 balls.

Scoreboard

Rajasthan Royals:

Smith c Dhawan b Maharoof 25

Asnodkar c Tiwary b Maharoof 39

Tanvir c Karthik b Maharoof 5

Watson st Karthik b Mishra 52

Kaif b Mishra 12

Y Pathan run out 45

Jadeja c Maharoof b Mahesh 7

Warne c Sehwag b Mahesh 0

Rawat c & b Mohammad Asif 2

M Patel not out 0

Trivedi not out 1

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

Total: (9 wkts; 20 overs) 192

FOW: 1-65, 2-65, 3-76, 4-128, 5-155, 6-171, 7-172, 8-190, 9-191

Bowling: McGrath 4-0-38-0, Asif 4-0-32-1, Y Mahesh 4-0-50-2, Maharoof 4-0-34-3, Mishra 4-0-37-2

Delhi Daredevils:

Gambhir c sub b Watson 11

Sehwag c Tanvir b Watson 3

Dhawan c Jadeja b Watson 5

M Tiwary c Asnodkar b Patel 0

Dilshan cTanvir b Warne 33

Karthik c Kaif b Trivedi 10

Maharoof c Pathan b Warne 6

Mishra b Patel 2

Y Mahesh c Rawat b Patel 3

Asif run out 3

McGrath not out 4

Extras: (lb-3, w-4) 7

Total: (all out; 16.1 overs) 87

FOW: 1-10, 2-23, 3-24, 4-28, 5-55, 6-75, 7-76, 8-77, 9-82, 10-87

Bowling: Tanvir 2-0-16-0, Watson 3-0-10-3, M Patel 4-0-17-3, Trivedi 3-0-20-1, Warne 4-0-21-2, Jadeja 0.1-0-0-0 — PTI

Mumbai, May 30
Baroda all rounder Yusuf Pathan and young Hyderabad left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha were today rewarded for their impressive showing in the Indian Premier League by being named in India’s 15-member cricket squad for for next month’s tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

The national selectors also recalled talented Uttar Pradesh batsman Suresh Raina in the squad for both the tournaments, while ignoring senior pros Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, icon players in the ongoing IPL, for the second tri-series in succession. Sachin Tendulkar had already been ruled out of both the tournaments because of a groin injury.

The selectors have put a question mark on the ODI career of both former captains Dravid and Ganguly, who had earlier been dropped for the previous tri-series won by the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side in Australia for the first time ever, by leaving them out of the limited overs loop again.

The thrust of the selectors seems clearly on youth with Yusuf, elder brother of Irfan, being 25 years of age and Ojha, 21. Raina, who has played 36 ODIs, is only 21.

Yusuf Pathan, the Baroda player can also bowl flat off breaks and has come into the squad for the utility value he brings to the side. Ojha is not very experienced even at the first class-level, having played only 30 matches, but the unavailability of the more experienced Murali Kartik. — PTI

Chandigarh, May 30
Hockey administrator K.P.S. Gill is in no mood to surrender to the diktats of either the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or the Central government and is making out a case to prove the Center’s move to recognise the IOA’s decision to suspend the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was arbitrary and contrary to the very guidelines framed by it to assist the various National Sports Federations.

Gill has in a writ filed recently in the High Court at Delhi also demanded quashing the ad-hoc Selection Committee constituted by the IOA to select the national hockey team as well as manage the affairs of the IHF. The writ claims the formation of the committee was illegal and without authority of law.

Among the main arguments of the former super cop was the plea that persistent reports in the media about the poor performance of the national team without any proper evaluation of the steps taken to improve the state of Indian hockey had influenced the IOA. It said the whims and fancies of a few politicians or sensational media stories should not have formed the basis for taking decisions of national importance.

The writ claims that the sports ministry ignored its own “Revised Guidelines for Assistance to the National Sports Federations” by accepting the suspension of the recognition given to IHF without considering whether any such suspension was prima facie legal and valid. Under the revised guidelines the IOA did not have a representative in the Selection Committee or any role in the selection of national teams. It also claimed endorsement of the actions of the ad-hoc Committee by the IOA was illegal as guidelines clearly stated, “The Selection Committee will be constituted by the Federation”.

Paris, May 30
Fifth seed Serena Williams crashed out of the French Open today losing a third round tie 6-4, 6-4 to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia. The 27th seed will play the winner of the match between Emilie Loit of France and Patty Schnyder of Switzerland for a place in the quarter-finals.

Srebotnik let two match points slip by at 40-15, but clinched it on the next one as Williams hit a looping forehand wide. It was the biggest win of Dubai-based Srebotnik's career taking her into the last 16 at Roland Garros for only the second time in 10 attempts.

World number two Ana Ivanovic recovered from an error-filled first set to beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-1 and book her place in the last 16 of the French Open on Friday. The Serb, who reached the final at Roland Garros last year, will meet unseeded Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic for a quarter-final spot.

Earlier, Lleyton Hewitt had given his sore hip yet another quick workout as he motored to a 6-4 6-3 6-2 second-round win over American Mardy Fish.

Three-times champion Rafael Nadal muscled his way into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-1 6-3 6-1 demolition of Finn Jarkko Nieminen on Friday. The Spaniard, bidding to emulate Bjorn Borg by winning a fourth consecutive title at Roland Garros, will face either Russian 15th seed Mikhail Youzhny or Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, seeded 22nd, for a place in the quarterfinals. — Agencies

Wales, May 30
A blistering six under 65 by ace Indian pro Jeev Milkha Singh placed him tied third after the first round of The Celtic Manor Wales Open (European Tour) in Newport here. Winner of the Indian Masters, S.S.P. Chowrasia and Jyoti Randhawa returned scores of one over 72 were tied 91st.

Jeev’s bogey-free 65 was highlighted by six birdies. His first two birdies came on the third and ninth. He then looked unstoppable on the back nine as he sank a birdie on the 13th and followed that up with three back-to-back birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th.

However, the lead is currently held by Australian Scott Strange who shot eight under 63 in the opening round. Chowrasia had an uneven round of 72 as he strung together consecutive birdies from the fourth to the sixth and then stumbled due to bogeys on the eighth, ninth, 11th and a triple bogey on the par four 12th.

The Kolkata-based golfer then came back with consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th. Meanwhile, Jyoti Randhawa also carded 72 in the first round. His round included birdies on the fourth, eighth, 11th and 18th and bogeys on the fifth, sixth, 13th, 15th and 16th. Another Indian in the fray, Shiv Kapur carded two over 73 and was placed tied 111th. — UNI

Sydney, May 30
FIFA president Sepp Blatter walked away from world soccer’s 58th annual Congress today with a big smile plastered across his face. “Love the game -- but love life more,” the Swiss grinned after a day in which delegates gave him a mandate to pursue his controversial “6+5” rule.

“It was a sunny day this morning and inside the Congress today, we had sunshine”. Blatter’s 6+5 rule would limit the number of foreign players a club team could field at the start of a match to five and is central to his plans to create a more level playing field for soccer clubs and nations, globally.

The overwhelming 155-5 vote was a large hurdle for Blatter to clear but he remains firmly on a collision course with European lawmakers who consider the 6+5 rule would contravene its free movement of workers rules.

“It was an overwhelming majority, overwhelming support,” he smiled in a news conference. “I am sure it will be done... I am very confident about it. They are saying it is illegal. For what, for whom and when? And if there is a law... you know a law can be amended or altered”.

Earlier, FIFA reported a $49 million profit for 2007, despite settling a costly legal wrangle over sponsorship rights. FIFA paid MasterCard $90m in June 2007 as part of a settlement under which the credit card issuer dropped a legal fight to get sponsorship rights for the next two World Cups.

MasterCard had sued FIFA in April 2006, saying it had first refusal to the rights which eventually went to rival Visa International. The body gathered $882m in revenue against $833m costs. This compared with 2006 figures of $749m revenue against expenses of 500m dollar.

FIFA also formally signed the new World Anti-Doping code. Blatter jointly signed the agreement with WADA boss John Fahey. Soccer’s world governing body had previously been reluctant to sign the agreement because it was opposed to some of WADA’s rules, including uniform two-year bans for athletes caught using performance-enhancing drugs.

However, FIFA agreed to sign the accord after WADA proposed a revised set of rules that were endorsed by sporting bodies at a doping conference in Spain last year.

“The commitment of FIFA has been strong and I believe will be even stronger in the days ahead,” Fahey told the Congress. “Football is a giant in the universe of team sport and your example is of paramount importance”.

It will also define new standards relating to the 'whereabouts' rules, in which athletes have to inform anti-doping authorities of their location for potential testing. FIFA was one of the last Olympic sport federations to accept the WADA code, finally doing so at its 2004 Congress in Paris. Even then there were differences between the two bodies, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport telling FIFA in 2006 that its anti-doping regulations did not fully comply with those of WADA. FIFA has been particularly keen to maintain flexibility in the case of sanctions imposed on first time doping offenders, preferring to treat each offence on a case-by-case basis rather than implementing the mandatory two-year ban previously favoured by WADA. The new WADA code will allow for such flexibility -- enabling federations to hand down lesser punishments and even exonerations where there are mitigating circumstances.

Later, Blatter told a news conference that he wanted to fast-track the decision on where the 2022 World Cup will be played to 2011, triggering a likely frenzy of international bidding. Blatter is proposing that soccer's world governing body brings forward the 2022 announcement by four years to 2011, the same time it is due to decide the venue for 2018.

“I will be making a proposal that the (vote for the host of the) World Cup in 2018 and 2022 will be made together,” Blatter said. “We can offer two competitions, for eight years, and the economic result... for sponsors, would be better”. Blatter said he would encourage potential bidders to nominate for both events but said FIFA rules would prevent the two tournaments being staged in countries from the same continent. — Reuters 

Madrid, May 30
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has come under further pressure after a club member’s bid to force a vote of confidence in his administration looks certain to succeed. Oriol Giralt presented 12 boxes containing the signatures of 9,473 club members demanding a vote of censure, 3,591 more than the minimum required for such a measure to take place.

If the Barcelona board validates the signatures, the club will be obliged to hold a referendum which is expected to take place in early July. Laporta’s opponents would need to have the support of over two-thirds of voters with a minimum turnout of 10 per cent of members entitled to vote if they are to force a presidential election.

“Even we are surprised by how many people have signed,” Giralt told reporters. “The number is exceptional. The president should reflect on the fact that the majority of members are asking him to leave. I honestly think that getting enough signatures for the vote to go ahead is more difficult that winning the actual vote,” Giralt added. Laporta tried the same technique 10 years ago when he led the “Elefant Blau” (Blue Elephant) group opposed to the administration of then president Josep Lluis Nunez, but he was unable to garner sufficient support to unseat his rival.

The Barcelona president has been heavily criticised for the way he has run the club in the past two seasons with fans staging several protests calling for his resignation after the team failed to win any silverware for a second year in succession.

The club has responded to the failures by sacking coach Frank Rijkaard and appointing ex-captain and Nou Camp favourite Pep Guardiola as his replacement. They have also signed former youth team player Gerard Pique from Manchester United and Mali midfielder Seydou Keita from Sevilla in an attempt to revitalise the squad, while a number of leading players such as Ronaldinho, Deco and possibly Samuel Eto’o are expected to leave in the close season. — Reuters 

Srinagar, May 30
Haryana beat Assam 3-1 in a Santosh Trophy cluster match at the Polo Grounds in this summer capital of the state Friday to qualify to the pre-quarter final stage of the National Football Championship.

Despite Assam striking first in the 5th minute, they could not capitalize before the strong defence of Haryana, who equalized in the 40th minute by Abhishek. Both teams played more aggressively in the second half. Sanjeev of Haryana managed to hit the nets in 65th minute and a few minutes before the end Jatinder scored third goal for Haryana to keep his team on the winners' track.

In another match played at the Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu, Sikkim defeated Chandigarh 3-1. The match was levelled at 1-1 at half time, the scorers being Gopal Thapa of Chandigarh in the 7th minute and Dikash of Sikkim in the 19th minute of the game.

In the second half, Emphal scored for Sikkim and in the last minutes of the game, Dikash scored his second goal to end the game in favour of Sikkim.

At Kashmir University grounds, Delhi beat Tripura by 2-0 to keep its hopes alive from group-III.

Both goals came in the first half, when Parven Rawat and G. Kameh scored in the 10th and 33rd minute of the game. During the second half, Delhi played more aggressively but could not add to its tally.

Riyaz Punjabi, vice-chancellor of the Kashmir University, was the chief guest at the second match played between the Railways and Chhattisgarh at the same venue. Railways won the match 3-0 as Panraj Sura scored twice in the first half, one on the penalty in 14th minute and second in the 22nd minute. Leading 2-0 at the half time, Suresh Kumar scored a third goal for the team in 51st minute of the game.

The second match of the day at Polo Ground went in favour of Karnataka, as they outplayed Uttar Pradesh by three goals to nil. Rajendra Prasad scored in 30th minute and Pradeep in the 40th minute taking the tally to 2-0 at half time. Rajendra scored third for the team on a penalty.

The match at Science College ground in Jammu ended 2-2 draw as both the teams, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, struck in both halfs. The draw puts Tamil Nadu ahead in the group-I with by two wins and a draw. — IANS

BRIEFLY

I buckled under pressure: Afridi
LAHORE: After a series of poor performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL), all-rounder Shahid Afridi admitted that he failed to make an impact in the Twenty20 tournament even though the format suited his style of batting. “This version of cricket suits my aggressive style of batting. But I took pressure in the league. I wanted to give my best in this shorter version but unfortunately I failed,” Afridi was quoted as saying by 'Daily Times' after he ruturned home from India. Afridi could manage only 81 runs in nine matches that he played for Deccan Chargers who finished at the bottom of the IPL table. The 28-year-old lamented that his non-performance with the bat was one of the reasons for his team's poor run in the tournament. — UNI

Spin lessons for South Africans in India
DURBAN: Seven promising young South African spin bowlers would attend a two-week course on spin bowling in Mohali, Punjab from the next week. The players would leave on June 3 for the sessions, to be conducted by Devendar Arora, Narendra Hirwani and Umesh Patwal. The players will be accompanied by national selector and spinning co-ordinator Shafiek Abrahams and Yashin Ebrahim Hassan. The seven spinners are Corbyn Dolley, Keshav Maharaj, Daryn Smit, Aubrey Swanepoel, Thandi Tshabalala, Roelof van der Merwe, and Jonathan Vandiar. The trip has been sponsored by a Dubai based businessman Shyam Bhatia, who was born in India. — PTI

Indian athletes to train in UK
NEW DELHI: A 19-member Indian team of middle and long distance runners today left for London for a six-week training-cum-competition tour in the European circuit. The team comprising 11 men, four women, two coaches and a support staff will train at Newham Sports Academy, located at the London 2012 Olympics borough. The Indian team will take part in five competitions in the UK and three European Grand Prix meets during their stay in London, a press release said. This is for the first time that the Athletics Federation of India has decided to send middle and long distance runners to compete in the European circuit. — PTI

We did’nt have T20 batsmen: Crowe
NEW DELHI: After their poor showing at the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, Bangalore Royal Challengers' chief cricket officer Martin Crowe has admitted that the lack of specialist batsmen was the major reason behind their lacklustre performance in the tournament. Crowe said the side, led by Rahul Dravid, did not have the batsmen suited for the shortest version of the game. “There is no one or particular area that deserves more blame than anyone else. People speculated at the start what type of team we were (a Test side) and that's the way it has turned out. We didn't have Twenty20 batsmen,” Crowe told Cricinfo. The former Kiwi skipper also blamed the lack of facilities and time for the Vijay Mallya-owned team's debacle. — PTI