Bangalore, March 25
Kedar Jadhav’s breezy unbeaten half-century and some immaculate bowling fashioned Delhi Daredevils’ 17-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, thus snapping their losing streak in the Indian Premier League here today. Put in to bat, Delhi piled up a challenging 183 for four, thanks to Jadhav’s unbeaten 29-ball 50 and AB de Villiers’ 45 off 35 ball.

Walking out to defend the total, the Daredevils restricted the Bangalore team to 166 for nine in 20 overs at the floodlit M Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was a welcome victory for the Delhi side which had lost its last three matches on the trot. Manish Pandey made a 29-ball 39 and Virat Kohli cracked an unbeaten 28-ball 33 but their efforts were not enough as the Delhi bowling order, led by Mishra brought the visitors back in the match after RCB’s flying start.

Chasing a challenging 184-run target, Royals Challengers went off to a solid start with openers Pandey and South African Jacques Kallis producing a 71-run partnership. The hosts suffered the first loss in the 10th over when Kallis, who struck three fours during his 29-ball innings, misjudged a flighted delivery of Mishra and the ball crashed on to his stumps.

Australian fast-bowler Andrew McDonald struck in the next over removing Pandey, who hit four fours and a six before being clean bowled. Bangalore, who were cruising towards the target, suddenly found them under pressure as they lost four wickets inside 19 runs. Robin Uthappa, who started well cracking one four and a six, and Dravid also failed to do much and returned to the dugout cheaply. Uthappa tried a reverse-sweep but could not connect and gloved an easy catch to wicketkeeper Karthik

Bangalore kept losing wickets in regular intervals as Morgan, Boucher and R Vinay Kumar returned to the dressing room cheaply. Despite Kohli’s fighting innings, Bangalore could reach 166 for nine with captain Anil Kumble giving company to him. Earlier, opener David Warner gave Daredevils an explosive start cracking a 14-ball 33 with the help of three fours and two sixes, after Bangalore captain Anil Kumble put them in to bat at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The home side conceded 44 runs in the first five overs before R Vinay Kumar took a brilliant catch at long off area to remove dangerous Warner in the fourth over. Vinay was again in the thick of action when he had Sehwag, who hit two fours during his 11-ball stay, caught by Kohli at backward point area. AB de Villiers again pushed the Daredevils' run rate up with a quickfire 45 off 35 balls, during which he struck three fours.

But it was plucky Jadhav who produced a quickfire innings, which was adorned with five fours and two sixes. Andrew McDonlad remained unbeaten with 18 off 12 balls after raising 49 runs for the fifth wicket with Jadhav, which came off just 23 balls. — PTI 

Scoreboard

Delhi Daredevils:

Warner c Vinay Kumar b Steyn 33 (14)

Sehwag c Kohli b Vinay 12 (11)

De Villiers run out 45 (35)

Karthik run out 17 (19)

Jadhav not out 50 (290

McDonald not out 18 (12)

Extras (lb 1, w 7) 8

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 183

Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-58, 3-101, 4-134.

Bowling: Kumar 4-0- 45-0, Steyn 4-0-42-1, Kallis 4-0-36-0, Vinay 4-0-29-1, Kumble 4-0-30-0.

Royal Challengers:

Pandey b McDonald 39 (29)

Kallis b Mishra 27 (29)

Uthappa c Karthik

b Mishra 15 (10)

Dravid run out 1 (1)

Morgan run out 17 (13)

Kohli not out 38 (23)

Boucher c Sehwag b Sangwan 2 (3)

Vinay run out 2 (2)

Kumar c de Villiers b Yadav 0 (1)

Steyn b McDonald 8 (9)

Kumble not out 1 (1)

Extras (lb 11, w 4, nb 1) 16

Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 166

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-85, 3-86, 4-90, 5-120, 6-123, 7-135, 8-137, 9-165.

Bowling: Nannes 4-0-31-0, Yadav 4-0-27-1, Sangwan 4-0-32-1, Mishra 4-0-23-2, McDonald 4-0-42-2.

Mumbai, March 25
Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s suggestion of splitting the ODIs into two equal halves of 25 overs each, is to be implemented not by the Indian cricket board but by its English counterpart ECB. The England and Wales Cricket Board today decided the format for the two-innings 40-over trial to be played in Second Xl cricket in the coming English domestic season involving 18 first class counties.

As per the playing conditions each innings of 40 overs will be split into two phases of 20 overs and each team have 10 wickets at its disposal for its entire innings, a media release from the ECB said. A team’s second phase will continue from the point at which the first phase ended. There would be 20 overs of power plays, 10 of which will be the first 10 overs with the other 10 split into two blocks of five, one taken at the fielding team's discretion, the other at the batting team’s discretion.

Pink cricket balls and white clothing will be used to understand more about the performance of pink balls in the local conditions, along with how they combine with white clothing, the release explained. Special provision has been made in the playing conditions for the re-allocation of overs in interrupted matches to take account of the two-phase nature of each innings.

Duckworth-Lewis Method would apply in matches where overs are lost after the commencement of the match, the release added. The concept of split innings in ODI was proposed by Tendulkar last year. — PTI 

Mohali, March 25
Exasperated after his side slumped to their fourth defeat in the Indian Premier League here tonight, Kings XI Punjab skipper Kumar Sangakkara blamed the 31-run loss against Rajasthan Royals on the batsmen, saying they “committed suicide” in the middle overs.

Jammu, March 25
Sportspersons of Jammu and Kashmir are a harried lot these days as all stadiums and offices of sports department have been closed due to the strike of the J&K Sports Council Employees Association, demanding the implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

All stadiums including - KK Hakhu Hockey Stadium and MA Stadium Complex - have been locked by the employees for the past 12 days and the players have not been able to undergo regular practice also.

Worst hit are those who were practicing for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi this year. A number of players have left the state and have moved to the neighbouring states to continue practice. Mitali, a gymnast, who has been selected to participate in the Commonwealth Games, has already left for Delhi.

A number of hockey players, who used to come to the hockey stadium for practice, said their practice was getting affected due to the strike. “Only the players are getting affected by the strike and it seems the strike will last for a long period, as the state government is not willing to accept the demands of employees,” said Pawan Sharma, a hockey player.

Another sportsperson Rahul, a cricketer, said, “Either the government should accept the demands of employees, or employees should suspend their strike, as we players are the ones really losing out due to the strike.”

However, Iqbal Singh, general secretary, J&K State Sports Council Employees Association said, “We are fighting for our genuine demands and will not return to work till the our demands are accepted.” He further said they had appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene into the matter otherwise the government’s problems would only increase. He added, “Our Kashmir unit has also reached here and we are planning to demonstrate or gather in a large number, to show our strength to the government.”

Meanwhile, Minister for Sports RS Chib said, “This problem is not confined to the sports department. All government employees in the state have been agitating in support of their demands. When a decision in this regard will be taken, the demands of sports council employees will also be considered.” 

Mumbai, March 25
With boxing gaining popularity, India’s ace pugilist Vijender Singh today said days were not far when there would be boxing events on the lines of cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). “Soon there would be boxing matches on the lines of IPL across the metro cities of the country for amateur boxers,” Vijender, who fetched bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympics and Gold from Fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championships recently, said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a function organised by Siyaram’s Silk Mills. The strapping boxer hoped that India would reap a rich harvest of medals at Delhi Commonwealth Games. On stiff competition from foreign boxers, he said Indian pugilists were receiving invitations even from countries known for their boxing talents.

Asked about his plans, Vijender, who has beaten some of the best boxers in the world, said he was focused on maintaining his form and avoiding injuries.

On endorsing Siyaram’s, Vijender said he was delighted at being associated with a company whose brand ambassadors include sports icons like Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. — PTI 

London, March 25
The Premier League continued to hurtle towards its closest three-way finish for years on Wednesday as Chelsea thumped Portsmouth 5-0 away to move above Arsenal and back within a point of leaders Manchester United.

The win took the Londoners to 68 points, one behind the champions and level on goal difference. The top two meet at Old Trafford on April 3. Arsenal are third on 67 and the top three all have seven games left.

Tottenham Hotspur, who reached the FA Cup semifinals with a 3-1 win over Fulham on Wednesday, remained fourth on 55 after a bad night for two of their challengers for the final Champions League slot.

Manchester City are still two points adrift after losing 2-0 at home to Everton. Goals by Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta continued Everton’s terrific run and inflicted City’s first home defeat of the season.

Liverpool and Aston Villa, held 1-1 at home by Sunderland, both have 51 with Everton hard on their heels on 48. Chelsea, knocked out of the Champions League by Inter Milan a week ago and held to a Premier League draw by Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, desperately needed to take advantage of their game in hand.

After struggling to subdue the league's bottom club for half an hour, they were gifted the opening goal when goalkeeper David James did his chances of regaining his England place for the World Cup no good at all when he missed an attempted clearance and allowed Didier Drogba a tap-in.

Florent Malouda then took centre stage as he lashed in the second after 50 minutes and added the third 10 minutes later. Drogba tucked in the fourth after 77 minutes and Frank Lampard scored the fifth in stoppage time. — Reuters