Scoreboard
Rajasthan Royals:
Lumb run out 9 (8)
Ojha c Pandey b Pankaj 7 (9)
Paunikar c Uthappa b Vinay 0 (1)
Watson c Pietersen b Kallis 22 (25)
Jhunjhunwala c Kumble b Pankaj 13 (22)
Yusuf b Steyn 11 (9)
Voges not out 28 (27)
Raut not out 32 (20)
Extras: (lb 5, w 2, nb 1) 8
Total: (6 wickets; 20 overs) 130
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-17, 3-21, 4-53, 5-58, 6-72.
Bowling: Kumble 4-0-28-0, Steyn 4-0-15-1, Vinay 4-0-36-1, Pankaj 4-1-27-2, Kallis 4-0-19-1.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Pandey c Pathan b Trivedi 14 (13)
Kallis b Kamran Khan 0 (3)
Pietersen run out 62 (29)
Uthappa st Ojha b Warne 26 (21)
Kohli c Watson b Trivedi 14 (13)
Taylor not out 10 (11)
Dravid not out 5 (4)
Extras : (lb 1) 1
Total: (5 wickets; 15.4 overs) 132
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-42, 3-102, 4-113, 5-119.
Bowling: Watson 4-0-24-0, Kamran 3-0-30-1, Trivedi 3.4-0-32-2, Voges 1-0-17-0, Warne 4-0-28-1.

Chennai, April 14
On a high after a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings would continue their quest for a semifinal berth when they take on Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match here tomorrow. Both the teams have 12 points but Chennai's better run rate has put them second behind Mumbai Indians in the points table. A win tomorrow would all but confirm their place in the semifinals.

Going by performance, there have been considerable shifts and turns in both the teams' fortunes with emphatic wins punctuated by pathetic losses but Chennai would have the home advantage in hot and humid conditions tomorrow. While both were favourites to make the semifinals, Delhi find themselves in a rather precarious position after having lost three successive matches.

The loss to bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab on home turf would have surely hurt Delhi's morale and they would be looking for a better show. They were undone by a couple of run-outs in the match against Punjab and would be hoping that the big-hitting David Warner, the usually reliable Paul Collingwood and explosive openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir strike big against Chennai.

If these batsmen perform in unison, Delhi would Chennai on the mat. On the other hand, Chennai are likely to play with the same team that beat Kolkata last night. Their batting is no less intimidating but Australians Matthew Hayden and Mike Hussey and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni have not lived up to the expectations so far. Delhi would be trying to settle the score for the loss to Chennai in their first outing at Kotla.

Mumbai, April 14
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) today welcomed Yuvraj Singh's statement that he has no intentions of leaving the team and said the stylish left-hander was an important player who had contributed a lot to the side's performance in all three seasons of the Twenty20 league. "Yuvraj is an integral part of KXIP. We are happy that he would like to stay with KXIP. He is a valuable player and has contributed immensely to the team's performances in all the three seasons of IPL," said KXIP chief executive officer Anil Srivatsa in a statement.

Srivatsa's response came in the wake of the flamboyant southpaw's clarification that he never wanted to leave KXIP and enjoyed playing for the Mohali-based team in the Indian Premier League. "At no time have I said I'll shift to another team. I've always enjoyed playing for Kings XI," Yuvraj had said.

Yuvraj's clarification came a day after KXIP co-owner Mohit Burman said that the team management could not do much if the player had already decided to part ways. "If he has given such a hint, what can I do? It's upto him," said a peeved Burman.

"After the season is over, we will speak to him. But at the end of the day, you cannot force people to stay if they don't want to," he said. — PTI

Kangra, April 14
Manager of the Kings XI Col. S.K.Mehta today denied the stories in a section of press that his team was not satisfied with the boarding and lodging facilities in the Hotel Grand Raj here and expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements and hospitality extended to the team by the hotel management. In a crowded press conference this afternoon Col Mehta said that there was no player from his team who had made complained to him or to the hotel staff in this regard and described the story a figment of imagination.

He said that the team feels privileged to be here in this hotel as it was perfectly a homely stay here with soothing environment. He told mediapersons that it was after two months they had a wonderful breakfast this morning. He denied that there was any noise pollution in the hotel which was disturbing the team members during their stay here

He clarified that there was no restriction on any media person over meeting a player and talking to him but only with his prior permission. He said due to some security reasons there was gap between media persons and the players, which would be bridged now. Col Mehta denied that his players had breached security after their arrival here. He, however, said the team had its own security every time with them and there was no risk for the players any where.

In reply to a question he said that there was some communication gap between police authorities and the team members resulting in some misunderstanding. Earlier G.S.Bali, former Tourism Minister and MLA from Nagrota Bagwan who owns the hotel vehemently denied the stories in the press regarding the allegedly attributed utterance of some player of Kings XI that their stay in the hotel was not satisfactory. He said, “In this hill state there was sparkling snow-clad and magnificent Dhauladhar mountain range over looking the lush green Kangra Valley which is impossible in Delhi - but the five star facilities which are available in Delhi would certainly not be here”. He said that despite all this the best had been provided to the team to their utmost satisfaction.

New Delhi, April 14
After three races this season, Renault enjoys a 12-point cushion but Force India chairman Vijay Mallya is optimistic that his team can bridge the gap and finish fifth in the constructors’ championship. Mallya has been harping on finishing behind the ‘Big Four’ - Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes GP - and 18 points from three races places Force India sixth in the list, behind Renault with 30.

Mallya admitted Renault would not concede an inch but still felt Force India is capable of overtaking them. “The grid is very tight as we saw in Malaysia and Australia and there’s no clear delineation between the front and the midfield,” Mallya said ahead of Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

“The most important at this stage is that we are still up there fighting. Renault look very strong right now but there’s still a lot more races to go this year and we have a clear direction about where we are going that will keep us with them, or hopefully leapfrog them,” said Mallya, also the team principal.

“The drivers are confident and the team is working well so I think fifth is still realistic,” he added. All three races have yielded points so far this season and Mallya patted the team for maintaining their focus. “At the start of the season I said we wanted to be regular points finishers and here we are, three races in, with three points' finishes,” he said.

“It’s very pleasing when you see just how far we’ve come in one year. The difference, I believe, has been keeping the focus on what we want to do. We’ve kept our heads down, got on with the job and to a certain extent kept out of what the other teams are doing - we’ve focused on our own game. The team at Brackley and Silverstone are tight-knit, efficient and the results are now coming through,” he said. — PTI

Dubai, April 14
Grandmaster Parimarjan negi succumbed to his second defeat in as many days going down to Spanish Grandmaster Lopez Martinez Josep Manuel in the ninth and final round of the 12th Dubai Open International chess tournament which concluded here today. Grandmaster Eduardo Itturizaga of Venezuela played out a quick draw with Viorel Iordachescu of Venezuela on the top board to win the title on his best tiebreak score based on the average ratings of his opponents.

It was an eight-way tie at the top as all the games amongst six pointers had a decisive result. Apart from Itturizaga and Iordachscu, Georgian duo of Tornike Sanikidze and David Arutinian, Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, Sergey Volkov of Russia, Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus and Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia tied for the top spot tallying an impressive 7 points apiece. Amongst the Indians in the fray, R R Lazman, Abhijeet Gupta, M Shyam Sundar, S Arun Prasad and Ramnesh Bhuvanesh scored 6 points each and got in to the prize list while Negi, International Master Sahaj Grover, M R Lalith Babu, D Harika, and S Satyapragyan ended with a tally of 5.5 points apiece. — PTI

London, April 14
Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods and his estranged wife Elin Nordegren are close to finalising their divorce, say reports. Correspondent Kevin Frazier, who has links with Woods, dispelled rumours that the couple might reconcile saying that the marriage is over, reported contactmusic.com.

“For weeks now there have been rumours that Tiger Woods and Elin might reconcile and save their marriage. It was believed by going to sex rehab Tiger had done just enough to keep his family together. But sources have told me that the marriage is indeed over,” the website quoted Frazier as saying.

“Evidence? Well, the fact that Elin was on a plane, in the air, headed to Arizona during the final round of the Masters. Usually, with her husband in contention at his biggest tournament, she would be there waiting for him in case he won; instead she made a plan so that she would be in the air while Tiger was playing.”

“The couple hasn’t spoken for quite some time and it is believed that all they have to do is work out a few more details on their divorce and they can sign the divorce decree and both can move on with their lives,” added Frazier. — IANS

London, April 14
Chelsea moved four points ahead of Manchester United atop the English Premier League standings with a 1-0 victory over a resilient Bolton. It took Nicolas Anelka's 43rd-minute header against his former club to clinch a fourth straight league win for Chelsea yesterday. Chelsea can afford to lose one of its four remaining matches, which includes hosting Tottenham on Saturday and a trip to Liverpool, and still win the first championship crown.

Arsenal is six adrift in third place going into today's north London derby against Tottenham. Bolton is just five points above the relegation zone but, and manager Owen Coyle thought his team should have been awarded penalties in each half at Stamford Bridge. Last month it seemed Chelsea's season was falling apart - Champions League elimination was followed by a league draw at Blackburn that put Manchester United in control of the title.

But with Wayne Rooney injured, United has faded while Chelsea has returned to the ascendancy by scoring 17 goals in its last four wins in the league and FA Cup. Bolton had lost four of its last five without scoring and even United manager Alex Ferguson had predicted that these would be three easy points for Chelsea.

It didn’t go to plan. Didier Drogba, who spearheaded the Chelsea attack, had a couple of early chances but the home side struggled to put together any flowing football. And there were a couple of early injury scares for Chelsea defenders. John Terry briefly limped off after appearing to hurt an ankle while trying to block Matthew Taylor’s shot, but the captain returned. And bandages were wrapped around Yuri Zhirkov’s head after a clash with Kevin Davies to stem the flow of blood.

Bolton proved far more formidable than the side that leaked four goals to United last month. Paulo Ferreira had to scramble the ball off the line in the 15th after Taylor pounced when goalkeeper Petr Cech dropped Lee Chung-yong’s cross. Chelsea made its breakthrough just before the break, when Drogba's left-foot cross picked out Anelka in front of goal and he headed down past former Bolton teammate Jaaskelainen to score his first goal in 14 matches. Kalou could have strengthened Chelsea's lead at the start of the second half, but he shot straight at Jaaskelainen.

Bolton appealed for a penalty when Terry appeared to handle Lee's cross, but the referee's assistant indicated that it hit the center back’s upper chest. — AP

Kolkata, April 14
India captain Bhaichung Bhutia is expected to make a comeback when a struggling East Bengal take on another lowly-placed outfit Mumbai FC in a battle for survival in I-League round 21 tie at Yuba Bharati Krirangan here tomorrow.

East Bengal coach Philippe de Ridder today named the inspirational striker in the 18-member squad, even as the Belgian was tightlipped about Bhutia's availibility in the first XI. The Sikkimese sniper last played against Mahindra United in a I-League match on March 13 after which he pulled a hamstring muscle. — PTI

New Delhi, April 14
Saina Nehwal, Aditi Mutatkar advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s singles, while P Kashyap kept the tri-colour fluttering in the men’s singles event of the Asian Badminton Championship here today. Ace Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also entered the pre-quarterfinals after beating Hong Kong duo of Wai Hong Wong and Hoi Wah Chau 21-13, 21-12.

In the women’s singles, top seed Saina crushed Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 21-10, 21-13 in 24 minutes to set up a date with Julia Pei Xian Wong of Malaysia in the pre-quarters tomorrow.

Aditi saw off Singaporean Mingtian Fu 21-11, 17-21, 21-18 in the first round to set up a clash with Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao Huan Chen. Meanwhile in men’s singles category, Kashyap won both his matches of the day to reach the last 16 stage. He defeated Wing Ki Wong 21-14, 21-15 before beating Tommy Sugiarto 21-14, 21-16. — PTI