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Deccan in Charge
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Daredevils thump Rajasthan Royals
JCT hold Bagan
Commonwealth Championships
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Their batting was unimpressive as they huffed and puffed to a niggardly 135. Their bowling came apart at the seam as Manoj Tiwary tore into their attack like a hurricane. To add to their brimming on-field woes, RCB fielding was shoddy, highlighted by Sreevats Goswami's blundering glove work. If RCB want to raise the performance bar as they had belatedly done in South Africa last season, they have to get their act together quickly before their hopes of making it to the semifinals is blown away at the very start of competition. Except Jacques Kallis, who resolutely batted through the 20-over innings, the rest of the RCB batters came a cropper. Much was expected of Goswami, Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey, but the talented triumvirate fell to impetuous strokes. KKR look to maintain momentum
Kolkata: A confident Kolkata Knight Riders would look to maintain their winning momentum after victories in their first two matches and avert the heartbreak two years ago when they take on a wounded Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens here tomorrow. In the inaugural edition in 2008, KKR had beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers in their first two matches -- the same two sides they had beaten this year -- only to see suffer defeat at the hands of CSK before crashing to a string of losses and never really recover from there. The celebrations and jigs by Shah Rukh Khan then suddenly came to an end as KKR went on to finish sixth out of eight teams in IPL I, a story that still rankles principal owner Shah Rukh Khan and captain Sourav Ganguly. KKR have beaten defending champions Deccan Chargers and runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore in their first two matches and would now to look not to repeat the 2008 experience by beating Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men. Bond arrives for KKR
Kolkata Knight Riders bowling armoury got a big boost today with the arrival of their new New Zealand recruit Shane Bond. Bond will add fire to the pace department of Knight Riders, which already boasts of South African Charl Langeveldt, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Ajit Agarkar. But, the Kiwi pace spearhead's availibility for Knight Riders match against Chennai Super Kings tomorrow is still to be decided. “He just arrived from a long flight this morning. Let's see how it goes tomorrow morning,” said a KKR source. Knight Riders are still expecting the services of Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle among their overseas recruits. Fiery opener McCullum is currently busy with New Zealand's two-Test series against Australia from March 19-31. The other big hitting opener, Gayle, is expected soon, said the source. In absence of Gayle and McCullum, Knights have their makeshift openers in Manoj Tiwary and Brad Hodge who stood in a 101-run partnership to set up the issue against Royal Challengers Bangalore last night. —
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Chennai, March 15 Earlier, Andrew Symonds (50) and Hershelle Gibbs (45) weaved together a crucial 95-run partnership to lift Deccan Chargers to a competitive 190 for four. Symonds, who scored his second IPL fifty, and Gibbs joined forced after Deccan had lost two quick wickets, albeit after a fiery start at M A Chidambaram stadium. The two batsman dug in and placed the defending champions to a position from where the can push for their first points. Both Symomds and Gibbs were run out in the fag end but Rohit Sharma (19 off 10) together with T Suman (10 off 5) finished the innings splendidly, taking 22 runs from the last over bowled by Sudeep Tyagi. Symonds's 50-run knock came off 43 balls with three sixes and an equal number of boundaries while Gibbs took 36 balls for his 45 with the help of five fours and one six. Earlier, Deccan were off to a flying start on electing to bat with skipper Adam Gilchrist (38) and VVS Laxman putting on 55 for the first opening wicket within first five overs. Gilchrist was his usual destructive self and both the opening bowlers of the hosts -- Albie Morkel and Sudeep Tyagi were in for some really good punishment. Tyagi was hit for 19 runs in his first over with ball soaring twice over the ropes. Morkel was hit for two fours and a six in the next over as Deccan scored 41 runs from the first three overs. — PTI Scoreboard Deccan Chargers: Gilchrist b Ashwin 38 (17) Laxman run out 12 (11) Gibbs run out 45 (36) Symonds run out 50 (43) Rohit not out 19 (10) Suman not out 10 (5) Extras (b 2, lb 3, w 9, nb 2) 16 Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 190 Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-55, 3-150, 4-160. Bowling: A Morkel 4-0-41-0, Tyagi 1.5-0-39-0, Muralitharan 4-0-28-0, Ashwin 4-0-26-1, Balaji 4-0-36-0, Kemp 2.1-0-15-0. Super Kings: Vijay b Vaas 3 (6) Hayden c Singh b Vaas 17 (11) Raina c Gilchrist b Vaas 6 (3) Badrinath c Singh b Ojha 5 (12) Kemp st Gilchrist b Ojha 22 (16) Dhoni b Symonds 42 (29) A Morkel not out 42 (26) Ashwin c Singh b Rohit 0 (1) Balaji c Anirudh b Singh 15 (10) Muralitharan lbw b Symonds 1 (2) Tyagi not out 3 (4) Extras (w 3) 3 Total (9 wickets; 19.6 overs) 159 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-18, 3-31, 4-32, 5-70, 6-108, 7-115, 8-136, 9-137. Bowling: Vaas 4-1-21-3, Rohit 4-0-27-1, RP 2.6-0-30-1, Ojha 4-0-28-2, Jaskaran 1-0-16-0, Suman 1-0-8-0, Symonds 3-0-29-2.
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Daredevils thump Rajasthan Royals
Ahmedabad, March 15 Earlier put into bat, Rajasthan Royals found themselves in a hole before the 60-run stand between Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Paras Dogra lent some respectability to their total of 141 for six which was never enough. Chasing a modest target, the Daredevils got off to a rollicking start -- cruising to 42 for no loss in just ogver three overs - with Virender Sehwag in the thick of things. Sehwag hit Dmitri Mascarenhas for back-to-back fours, a treatment meted out to Shaun Tait as well. Munaf Patel was welcomed with a six, followed by a four and even though Mascarenhas removed Gautam Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan off successive deliveries, Sehwag was simply unstoppable. To make it worse for the Royals, Shaun Tait dropped Sehwag off Mascarenhas when the batsman was on 41 and the Delhi power-hitter celebrated the respite hitting Amit Unyal's first three deliveries for two sixes with a four sandwiched in between. Munaf Patel eventually ended Sehwag's blitzkrieg knock with Graeme Smith taking a blinder but the match was well in the Daredevils’ pocket by then. —
PTI Scoreboard Rajasthan Royals Asnodkar c Dilshan b Nannes 5 (4) Smith c Sehwag b Sangwan 18 (17) Ojha b Mishra 24 (14) Pathan c de Villiers b Maharoof 0 (5) Jhunjhunwala not out 53 (45) Dogra run out 29 (26) Mascarenhas run out 3 (3) Uniyal not out 4 (6) Extras (w 5) 5 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 141 Fall of
wickets: 1-14, 2-45, 3-46, 4-50, 5-110, 6-115. Bowling: Maharoof 4-0-32-1, Nannes 4-0-27-1, Mishra 4-0-34-1, Sangwan 4-0-20-1, Ladda 4-0-28-0. Delhi Daredevils Gambhir c Smith b Mascarenhas 9 (8) Sehwag c Smith b Patel 75 (34) Dilshan c Ojha b Mascarenhas 0 (1) De Villiers c sub b Warne 15 (24) Karthik not out 23 (26) Manhas not out 12 (10) Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 5) 8 Total (4 wickets; 17.1 overs) 142 Fall of
wickets: 1-42, 2-42, 3-99, 4-114. Bowling: Mascarenhas 4-0-31-2, Tait 4-0-27-0, Patel 3-0-32-1, Uniyal 2-0-25-0, Warne 4-0-22-1, Jhunjhunwala 0.1-0-2-0.
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JCT hold Bagan
Ludhiana, March 15 Initial thrusts by Bagan with a penetrative run by Chidi Edeh created space for Baretto but he shot wide. Another quick attack from midfield saw Chidi pave the way for Baretto again but JCT goalee and skipper Karanjit Singh positioned himself perfectly to avert danger. The visitors continued waging attacks with Ishfaq Ahmed and Rakesh Masih spurting down to storm into the striking zone but failed to break through the JCT defence. In the 30th minute, the Kolkata outfit weaved a fine move when Marcos Alexaniro, with a sudden burst of speed, and deft foot work entered the JCT territory and in a solo effort tried to put the ball into the net, but again found JCT goalee, making a superb save. The second half began on a brisk pace with Bagan again enjoying an upper hand. In the 60th minute, they forced a penalty kick following an obstruction to Chidhi near the danger area. However, they could not take advantage of this opportunity as Jose Marcio’s kick went wide of the target. Just two minutes before the long hooter, JCT had another close shave when Jose Marico’s long ranger flew over Karanjit and Harjinder headed the ball clear. JCT now play against Mumbai FC here on March 20.
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Commonwealth Championships
New Delhi, March 15 Suranjoy was equally dominating in his triumph over Welshman Andrew Selby although the 4-0 victory margin does not reflect the Manipuri's hold on the bout. World Cup bronze-medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg), competing in his first Commonwealth Championships, was the the third Indian boxer to score an easy win and enter the final. The 23-year-old Haryana pugilist was leading 8-1 against Leonard Machichi before the thrashing became too much to take for the Tanzanian, forcing the referee to stop the contest in the third round of the bout. In the last bout of the day, Paramjeet Samota entered the super heavyweight (+91kg) category final with a stunning 5-2 triumph over Scot Ross Henderson. It was a perfect start to the day's proceedings for the Indians when an aggressive Suranjoy took to the ring against an equally spunky Selby. Both the boxers were on the offensive from the start but it was the Indian, who managed to score with a couple of powerful jabs in the first round. The President's Cup gold medallist Indian added two more points in the second round, using the uppercuts to good effect to penetrate his rival's guard. Both the boxers failed to land a single scoring punch in the third round but Suranjoy kept up the aggression and even taunted his rival by lowering his guard. “I was trying to provoke him all through and he fell for the trap. He lost his cool and self-destructed. The plan was to be aggressive initially and guard the lead thereafter,” the diminutive counter-puncher said after the bout. Suranjoy will face Oliver Lavigi in the summit clash on Wednesday after the Mauritian defeated Sri Lanka's P D Suresh 3-1 in the other semifinal. Next up in the ring was Vijender, who was his usual composed self despite being up against a rather aggressive rival in Kidunda. The nimble-footed 24-year-old Indian used his long reach to good effect and scored mostly through right jabs. After racing to a 4-0 lead in the opening round, he added four more points to his tally in the next three minutes. — PTI
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Smarting from their seven-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be determined to redeem their pride in front of home fans when they take on Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here tomorrow.
After losing their opening match to the Kolkata Knight Riders, defending champions Deccan Chargers bounced back in style by defeating Chennai Super Kings by 31 runs here tonight.
Ludhiana, March 15
World number one Vijender Singh (75kg) packed a powerful punch quite literally, while Asian champion Suranjoy Singh also notched up an emphatic win as four Indian boxers sailed into the finals on an all-win day for the hosts at the fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championships here today.
Bangalore, March 15
