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Kings take charge in the hills
I am peaking at the right time: Piyush
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Saina, Aditi in quarters
A once-in-a-decade night for Spurs
Barath hospitalised, discharged
Gauti guides Delhi home
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Kings take charge in the hills
Chandigarh, April 15 The long wait will be over as Kings XI Punjab having a fair sprinkling of stars likes Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Irfan Pathan take on the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, R P Singh and Pragyan Ojha of Deccan Chargers in the first of the two matches at the picturesque stadium tomorrow. With the snow-clad Dhauladhar range of mountains forming the backdrop, venue is rated among the best in the world. Though they are out of contention for the semifinals, the back-to-back victories have infused new confidence among the Kings XI players. That the victories came against the table-toppers Mumbai Indians and dangerous Delhi Daredevils should be the reasons enough to put Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers on guard, whose campaign got a time boost with the recent string of victories. It took 55-ball century from Jayawardene against Kolkata Knight Riders to stem the rot for Kumar Sangakkara-led Kings XI. The late boost that they got is largely due to the excellent spells from leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan. Kings XI would pray for Yuvraj to finally come good and play the type of knock he is capable of. Like Yuvraj, dangerous Gilchrist has failed to fire. With the blade of Gibbs also remaining silent, Chargers’ batting has looked thin. However, the recent form shown by burly Symonds, Rohit Sharma and T Suman with the bat should be heartening for Gilchrist. Kings XI suffered a blow when their pace spearhead Brett Lee was ruled out because of thumb injury. Lee suffered the injury during the practice session yesterday.
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I am peaking at the right time: Piyush
Chandigarh, April 15 Q:How tough was it to regain your place in the Indian team? A: It is a great feeling for any player to do the Indian colours. I am making a comeback after one and half years during which I have learnt a lot. It was not as difficult as I kept myself busy playing one tournament or the other. I hope to carry on with the hard work to put in my best for the team. Q: How do you view your present form? A: I have been putting a lot of hard work in the nets which is producing results on the field. I have been among the wickets of late. I believe I am peaking at the right time with an eye on the T20 World Cup in West Indies. A tournament of this proportion is a great platform for any player as the whole world watches you. I am confident i will do well for the team. Q: Cleaning up Tendulkar twice must have been special? A: Every bowler dreams of bowling to Sachin paaji, leave alone getting him out. Claiming his wicket twice in as many matches this season has been a great feeling. Q: What are India's chances in the T20 World Cup? A: We have the greatest batting line ups in the world which can tore apart any bowling attack on a given day. In the bowling department too, with the likes of Zaheer, Nehra and Harbhajan we have quality bowlers. We certainly are strong contenders for the title. Q: How do you plan an over in a T20 game? A: Oh that is very situational. You have to contain runs as well as get wickets too. Reading a batsman’s mind certainly helps but that is not an easy thing to do. Q: Three of top five bowlers in IPL this season are spinners. Do you think fast bowlers have not adopted to the shortest format as well? A: T20 is assumed to be a batsman’s game by most. But because every batsman is looking to hit a slower bowler out of the park from the word go, it gives us a very realistic chance of getting him out. I believe if you apply your mind in that moment you will get wickets. Q: What went wrong for Kings XI this time? A: Luck was not on our side as we ended up losing some very close games this season. But it is just a phase every team goes through. We have bounced back stronger as a unit and will be looking to win the remaining two matches. |
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Saina, Aditi in quarters
New Delhi, April 15 Top seed Saina relied on long rallies to outclass Julia Pei Xian Wong of Malaysia 21-14, 21-16 and set up a clash with arch-rival seventh seed Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Earlier, 13th seed Kashyap had bounced back from a game down and was going neck and neck in the third when a decision against him derailed his campaign and he lost the battle 16-21, 21-18, 13-21 against Yun Hu. Back from injury, Aditi also made a remarkable comeback from 16-20 down to eventually win the match 23-21, 21-11 against Hsiao Huan Chen of Chinese Taipei. She will face Chinese qualifier Xin Liu in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Xin beat eighth seed Japanese Sayaka Sato in another match. However, the biggest upset of the day was scripted by Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei who sent top seed Indonesian Taufik Hidayat packing 22-20, 21-16. — PTI |
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A once-in-a-decade night for Spurs
London, April 15 A superb Danny Rose volley and a second from Gareth Bale edged Nicklas Bendtner's second half effort to hand Spurs a first league win over Arsene Wenger's side in 11 years. The defeat leaves third-placed Arsenal six points behind leaders Chelsea with four games remaining. Spurs stay fifth on 61 points, one behind Manchester City after 33 matches. Wenger conceded his team's title prospects were now remote but refused to give up the fight. "As long as it's mathematically not impossible you can not say impossible," he told Sky Sports. "Our job is to fight and we will do that." Spurs manager Harry Rednapp added: "It's about 11 years since we beat Arsenal so it was a great result for us. Sunday's (FA Cup semi-final defeat) knocked us all for six to be honest, but we showed the character we've got at the club." Elsewhere, seventh-placed Aston Villa salvaged a late 2-2 draw against Everton, who are in eighth spot. Tim Cahill headed in both Everton's goals either side of Gabriel Agbonlahor's second-half header before Phil Jagielka's injury-time own goal levelled it. At the bottom of the table, relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic were held 0-0 at home by already condemned Portsmouth to leave them five points clear of the drop zone in 16th place. — Reuters |
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Barath hospitalised, discharged
Kangra, April 15 He said that he had taken the food last night and was indisposed since this morning and was brought to DRPGMC Tanda in the afternoon. Dr. Sharma who had been treating him said that he had not shown any evidence of dehydration. He however said that Adrian had improved and was discharged from the hospital at 7.45 P.M. He hoped that Adrian would be able to play in the tomorrow’s match. |
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Gauti guides Delhi home
Chennai, April 15 Earlier, left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra took three wickets for 26 to lead a superb bowling display by Delhi Daredevils as they restrict Chennai Super Kings to a paltry 112 for nine. Needing to win the match for a semifinal berth, Chennai failed to apply themselves against a disciplined Delhi bowlers as their top six batsmen were back at the hut by the halfway mark for just 55 runs after electing to bat. S Badrinath top-scored with a 29-ball 30 while Murali Vijay (17), Suresh Raina (15) and Michael Hussey (15) got the starts but failed to convert them to big scores. —
PTI
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No warm-up matches for India ahead of T20 World Cup
CWG Baton Relay reaches Canada Rahul helps R.R.Gym win JCT to play VIVA Kerala ESS-Nadiadwala tie up
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Big-time cricket would finally make its entry into the hill state of Himachal Pradesh as the IPL extravaganza is all set to unfold at
Dharamsala.
Chandigarh, April 15
New Delhi, April 15
London, April 15
Chennai, April 15
Though the venue has already hosted matches involving overseas players, the teams have been second string. Besides, the venues has also hosted a number of first-class domestic games. But the two IPL matches, the second between Kings XI and Chennai Super Kings in April 18, are set to put Dharamsala firmly on the international cricket match.
The left-hander from Chandigarh has flattered to deceive so far. Though he has looked like getting into his groove on more than a couple of occasions, a big knock has eluded the flamboyant batsman so far. Riding high on the back of victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions Deccan Chargers would only be too keen to maintain the winning momentum.
Gambhir completed his sixth IPL fifty in 51 balls and hit five fours in his 56 balls inning, he was well supported by Mithun Manhas (25 not out) who hit two boundaries in his 32 balls stay at the crease. After early wobble, when they were reduced to 38/4 in 7 overs, Gambhir put on an unbeaten 75-run stand with Manhas to revive their run chase.
Chennai Super Kings:
Delhi Daredevils:
DUBAI