Dharamsala, April 16
Deccan Charger batsmen kept their cool in the final moments to maintain their winning streak, beating Kings XI Punjab by five wickets at the picturesque stadium here tonight. Batting first, a late surge by Mahela Jayawaredene, who remained unconquered on 93, saw Kings XI post a competitive 174 for the loss of three wickets. Man of the Match Rohit Sharma played true to his potential as Chargers overhauled the target for the loss of five wickets with five balls to spare.

The victory, fourth on the trot for the Chargers, keeps them firmly in race for the semifinals. As for Kings XI, the match was only of academic interest, they having aleady been left out of reckoning for the semifinals.

Batting first, Punjab owed their total to the Sri Lanka duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene. After the early loss of Shaun Marsh, both the batsmen consolidated the innings. Initially, it was Sangakkara who delighted the enthusiastic crowd with his crisp strokplay. He was particularly severe on the leg side, playing certain glorious strokes.

When he was back in the pavilion after completing his half century, Jayawardene took charge. As he grew in confidence he played some bold strokes. Towards the final overs, he threw his bat around with telling effect. In the 17 th over of the innings, he toyed with seamer R P Singh, clobbering the bowlers for four successive fours.

In the last three overs, Kings XI scored 41 runs as Ryan Harris also bowled an expensive 19 th over. It was this surge by Jayawardene that gave Kings XI a chance to upset the applecart of the Chargers.

When the chase by Chargers started, Kings XI bowlers provided initial breakthroughs. Irfan Pathan got the scalp of an out-of-form Adam Gilchrist before the batsman could get his eye in. The batsman grew extravagant a bit too early and ended up ballooning the ball to be taken at the mid-off area.

Vikramjeet Malik then sent back Mohnish Mishra. T Suman and Rohit Sharma steadied the ship. In good nick, both complimented each other remarkably well. Rohit showed why he was deemed among the most talented upcoming batsmen, when he effortlessly struck left-arm seamer S Srivatsava for a lusty six and a four. Not to be left behind, Suman greeted Yuvraj with a six over the deep mid-wicket fence.

A six he unleashed over the cover-point fence, again off Srivastava, spoke eloquently about the class of Rohit.

Scoreboard

Kings XI:

Jayawardene not out 93 (62)

Marsh c Gilchrist b Harris 0 (1)

S’kkara c Ojha b Rohit 52 (37)

Yuvraj c Symonds b RP 20 (20)

Irfan not out 1 (1)

Extras (lb 3, w 4, nb 1) 8

Total (3 wickets; 20 overs) 174

Bowling: Harris 4-0-27-1, RP 4-0-51-1, M Marsh 4-0-32-0, Symonds 2-0-16-0, Rohit 1-0-8-0, Ojha 2-0-19-0, Rohit 3-0-18-1.

Deccan Chargers:

Gilchrist c Theron b Irfan 9 (5)

Mishra lbw b Malik 20 (21)

Suman c S’kkara b Chawla 43 (31)

Rohit not out 68 (38)

Symonds b Theron 4 (6)

M Marsh c J’rdene b Yuvraj 15 (11)

Sumanth not out 6 (3)

Extras (lb 6, w 7) 13

Total (5 wickets; 19.1 overs) 178

Bowling: Malik 2.1-0-23-1, Irfan 3-0-35-1, Srivastava 4-0-36-0, Theron 4-0-32-1, Chawla 4-0-24-1, Yuvraj 2-0-22-1.

Bangalore, April 16
Riding high on the crest of Sachin Tendulkar's rollicking form, Mumbai Indians would look to score another victory when they take on the Anil Kumble-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here tomorrow.

While Mumbai Indians have already qualified for the semifinals with 18 points from 12 matches, Bangalore, with 14 points under their belt from 13 games, would have to ensure that they don't slip up at the doorstep of what would be their second straight semifinals in the cash-awash league. They had finished runner-up in the second edition in South Africa.

Though they have virtually made the semifinals alongside table-toppers Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils (14 for 13), Bangalore would have to ensure that their net run-rate doesn't nose dive even in the eventuality of losing tomorrow's match to Tendulkar's all-conquering gladiators. If they do, they will be providing a life line to Chennai Super Kings (12 from 13 games), Rajasthan Royals (12 from 13) and Deccan Chargers to claw their way back to be contention for a place in the semi-finals.

So, the focus would be on the crucial run-rate, though a victory against Mumbai, whom they had vanquished at the start of their campaign in the third edition, would boost their confidence. Unlike Mumbai Indians, RCB have been inconsistent. Beginning their campaign with four successive wins in five matches, RCB's slate has been peppered with high-profile wins and demoralising defeats.

They have won matches they shouldn't have and lost games which they should have won hands down. If bowling had been their concern at the start, their batting has been wobbly of late. These are aspects that Kumble would want to mend in this game before the semifinals.

Pankaj Singh has lent zip to the attack. The tall pacer, who has impressed the national selectors with his consistent line and length, came away with two wickets in RCB's victory against Rajasthan Royals.

If R Vinay Kumar (16 wickets), Dale Steyn (12 wickets), Jacques Kallis (528 runs in 13 games), Robin Uthappa (344 in 12 innings) and Kevin Pietersen do what is expected of them, RCB could have possibly come up trumps tomorrow. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have a powerful, if not lethal, attack with the likes of Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh in their ranks. If the fearsome threesome, who have accounted for 13 wickets each, fail to deliver, there is a certain Tendulkar who could make up for their failure his willow which has been oozing with runs (542 in 12 games). — PTI 

New Delhi, April 16
The IPL auctions were thought to be above board till the Shashi Taroor-Lalit Modi spat brought out many unsavoury facts to light. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who gave out the details of Rendezvous Sports consortium on Twitter, the franchisees of the Kochi team, has now opened a can of worms as he would be forced to give out details of all the earlier eight franchisees as well, particularly those owned by individuals, which had been kept in a wrap so far.

Modi, who conceived and executed the IPL with imagination and foresight, did not envisage that the event will be such a smash hit within three years, which is evident from the fact that the base price for auction for the eight franchisees of the first lot in January, 2008 was $400 million, and the auction fetched $723.59 million.

In rupee terms, the eight franchisees paid a total of Rs 2293 crores with Reliance Industries shelling out the maximum of Rs 441 crore to own the Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals went for the lowest price of Rs 264 crore.

But the second franchisee auction conducted on March 21, 2010 for the two new teams, Pune and Kochi, went beyond all calculations as they fetched $703 million. The IPL management decided to add two more teams from Pune and Kochi from the next season, which will increase the number of teams from eight to 10 and the number of matches from 60 to 94.

Though base price for the auction of the Pune and Kochi teams was pegged at $225 million, the teams were snapped by Sahara Adventure Sports and Rendezvous Sports Ltd for staggering sums. Sahara picked up the Pune franchisee for $370 million while Kochi were sold for $333.3 million to a consortium formed by Rendezvous Sports with Shashi Taroor as their "mentor".

Sahara, like the earlier franchisees Reliance (Mumbai Indians), Vijaya Mallaya's UB Group (Royal Challengers Bangalore), India Cements (Chennai Super Kings), GMR (Delhi Daredevils) and to some extent, the Deccan Chronicle group (Deccan Chargers Hyderabad), are corporate entities and their funding can be traced to a single source.

But after doubts were expressed about some of the stake holders of Rendezvous, questions marks are being put on all the stake holders of Kolkata Knight Riders (front: Sharukh Khan and Juhi Chawla), Rajasthan Royals (Shilpa Shetty, her husband and others) and Kings XI Punjab (Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Mohit and Gaurav Burman and others).

The DLF Group has paid $50 million for the title sponsorship of the IPL for five years from 2008 to 2013 and the IPL is valued at Rs 18,000 crore now. The IPL is expected to generate an income of around $1.6 billion over a period of five to 10 years, which will go to a central pool to be shared by the stake holders.

Rendezvous Sports say they have nothing to hide as they had given out the details of all the stake holders while submitting their bid, though Modi had kicked up a hue and cry about Shashi Taroor’s lady friend Sunanda Pushkar being given 19 per cent of the stakes in Rendezvous though the team management had clarified that she holds only 4.5 per cent and that too on paper. She had not received any cash profit, though in the long run she may.

But some interesting details of the stake holders of Rendezvous are that Sunanda Pushkar is not just a friend of Shashi Taroor, but is also associated with a consortium called Teacom, which were to construct a Smart City at Kochi.

They were allotted land when Omman Chandi of Congress was the Chief Minister but when the Marxist Party-led coalition came to power in Kerala, Chief Minister Achuthanandan put his foot down, and asked for specific details of the present and future use of the prime land allotted to the Dubai consortium at virtually throw-away price.

So, Sunanda’s interest in the IPL team must have been a little more than cricket and Shashi Taroor. Another major stake holders of Rendezvous, Parni Developers, owned by Vipul Shaw, Dharawal Shah and Mukesh Pal of Gujarat, also seem to look beyond cricket as they have an eye on the lucrative real estate and tourism market of Kerala. Now, Modi will have to give out the details of all the franchisees, and according to sources, some of the prominent faces are just fronts as the real investors, who have much to hide, are lurking behind a veil, as most of them have used the IPL to park unaccounted money, and the sources of much IPL money is shrouded in mystery.

New Delhi, April 16
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was the lone bright spot for the hosts, entering the semifinals of the Asian Badminton Championships here even as all other Indians crashed out in the quarterfinals here today.

Saina unleashed her repertoire of strokes and engaged in long rallies to outclass seventh seed Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia 21-5 21-13 to set up a semifinal clash with Chinese qualifier Xuerui Li tomorrow.

Barring Sania, India had a disappointing day as Aditi Mutatkar crashed out of the women's singles competition while the men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas and top-seeded mixed doubles combo of Jwala Gutta and V Diju bowed out in the quarterfinals of their respective events.

Coming out of injury, Aditi couldn't match up to the fast paced game of Chinese qualifier Xin Liu and went down 21-14 21-11 in the quarterfinals. Rupesh and Sanave squandered a one game lead to go down fighting 21-17 16-21 15-21 against Korean pair of Sang Hoon Han and Ji Man Hwang while Jwala and Diju's campaign also ended in similar fate as they were shocked 21-15 11-21 14-21 by Chinese duo of Zihan Qiu and Qing Tian.

Among other quarterfinal matches, second seed Lin Dan beat seventh seed Yun Hu 21-11 21-10 in the men's singles, while in women's singles event second seed Mi Zhou of Hong Kong defeated fifth seed Thai Salakjit Ponsana 23-21 21-17. World number six Saina had no problems whatsoever in getting past her rival as she dominated the entire proceedings with her powerful smashes, half smashes, flicks and accurate drops which the Malaysian had no answer.

"I didn't expect it to be so easy. I still can't believe the way I took the first game. All my strokes were coming good and I played my 100 per cent today. My defence was also good," the 20-year-old Hyderabadi said after the match. — PTI 

London, April 16
English Premier League club Liverpool went up for sale on Friday after American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett appointed Barclays Capital to find a buyer. Liverpool, English champions 18 times and winners of the European Cup five times, also said British Airways BAY.L chief Martin Broughton had been appointed chairman with immediate effect and would oversee the sale.

"Following numerous expressions of interest from third parties, the Club has engaged Barclays Capital to advise on the sale process," the club said in a statement on their website (www.liverpoolfc.tv). "The Club has the full support of its existing bankers for this process and has financing in place which will fully support the Club's operations."

Hicks and Gillett said in a joint statement that being owners of Liverpool for the past three years had been a "rewarding and exciting" experience. "Having grown the Club this far we have now decided together to look to sell the Club to owners committed to take the Club through its next level of growth and development," they said.

The American businessmen have faced intense scrutiny from Liverpool fans with protests for their removal a frequent occurrence at Anfield after ladening the club with the huge debts of its parent company.

The duo are facing a demand to repay 100 million pounds ($160.4 million) of the club's 237 million pounds debt to its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland and U.S. bank Wachovia, in July.

Analysts had suggested Liverpool, who have plans for a new stadium at nearby Stanley Park, are worth 500 million pounds but Barclays is understood to believe it would fetch far more if given more time to improve its trading. Broughton, also deputy president of the Confederation of British Industry, will work alongside Liverpool's exisiting management team in the day-to-day running of the club.

"I am excited and honoured to be taking up this position," the 63-year-old Briton said. "Liverpool is one of the world's greatest clubs and my aim is to try and ensure that we find new owners who are able to build on the Club's recent improved financial performance in order to help deliver sporting success." — Reuters

BRIEFLY

I am not sure of playing in IPL next year: Warne
Kolkata: He will be 40-year-old by this September and Shane Warne describes his chance of playing in next year's IPL as fifty-fifty. "As far as next year goes, I am not sure. "I am 40, will be 41 on September 13. I will weigh that up next year. But at the moment, I am 50-50. I have made some great friends. I have had a great time," he said ahead of Rajasthan Royals' IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday. — PTI

Kicking up a storm: Henning Solberg and his co-driver Ilka Minor drive his Ford Focus WRC on the first day of the Turkey Rally during the FIA World Rally Championship near Istanbul,on Friday. — Reuters

Pbi varsity sports wing trials
Patiala: Punjabi university, Patiala, conducted the trials for both boys and girls for the summer coaching camps and sports wing for admissions in various colleges affiliated to the university during the next session at the Sports Complex of the university today. The trials were conducted under the guidance of Dr Rajkumar Sharma, director sports of the university. — TNS

T-20 Cup in J&K
Jammu: The J&K Police Martyrs? Memorial T-20 Cricket Cup is being organised from April 17-25 at Parade Ground, said Ashok Gupta, IG, Jammu Zone in a press conference here on Friday. The IG further said that the main aim of organising this tournament was to pay tributes to the police martyrs. — TNS

Milind stars for Sonnet
NEW DELHI: Delhi Under-19 player Milind Kumar slammed 82 to help Sonnet beat Opto Group by 106 runs in the 20th All India Om Nath Sood Cricket Tournament for the Sperry Cup played at the DDA Sports Complex, Pitampura here on Friday. Scores: 220 for 8 in 40 overs (Milind 82, Negi 35, Gurinder 24, Vimoh 23, Rakshit 4 for 61, Sanjay 3 for 30). Opto Group: Abhinav 37, Deepak 18, Gurinder 2 for 14, Yujvinder 2 for 14). — TNS