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Super Dhoni blow away Kings XI
Super Dan lifts singles title
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Button wins Chinese GP
Spurs down Chelsea 2-1
Mahindra NBA league to have 64 teams
Deccan tame Delhi, enter semis
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Super Dhoni blow away Kings XI
Skipper M S Dhoni shrugged off an indifferent form to give final thrust when the team needed it the most. Dhoni came good when the contest was tantalisingly poised with Chennai needing 29 runs for the much-needed win in the last two overs. The game looked slightly loaded in favour of the hosts as Dhoni was a bit patchy. But the 19th over saw Dhoni chance his arms. He got good support from Albie Morkel as both the batsmen contributed 13 runs to the total. With 16 runs needed in the last over to be bowled by Irfan Pathan, Dhoni went berserk. He clobbered Pathan’s first delivery for a scorching four and then ran a couple. Off the third delivery, he unleashed a mighty heave over the mid-wicket as the ball landed on the roof-top of the spectator stands. Off the next ball he again unleashed a fierce strike in the same direction which sailed out of the stadium to signal a Chennai Super Kings victory. Dhoni was at his best and remained unbeaten after scoring 29-ball 54. For his superb efforts Dhoni was adjudged Man of the Match. When Rain looked good for a big score, his brilliance was cut short when a diving Karan Goel took a super catch at deep cover fence off Theron. After the fall of Raina, S Badrinath chipped in with a well-paced half century. His 36-ball 53 came when Dhoni was found struggling and was largely content to rotate the strike. Ealier, Shaun Marsh was in devastating form, clobbering 57-ball 88. Marsh revived the memories of the inaugural edition in 2008, when he was in a fine nick, taking Punjab virtually single-handedly to the semifinals. Marsh’s innings included five sixes. They all were struck with the minimum of efforts and cleared fence by a long way. In fine nick, Sangakkara scored 24-ball 33, while Mahela Jayawaredene looked a man in hurry, contributing eight-ball 21, which included two towering sixes off seamer Sudip
Tyagi. Scoreboard
Jayawardene c Tyagi b Morkel 21 (8) Marsh not out 88 (57) Sangakkara b Ashwin 33 (24) Yuvraj lbw b Raina 1 (4) Irfan not out 44 (27) Extras: (lb 2, w 3) 5 Total: (3 wickets; 20 overs) 192 Bowling: Tyagi 2-0-24-0, Bollinger 4-0-39-0, Morkel 4-0-48-1, Ashwin 4-0-20-1, Raina 4-0-33-1, Kemp 1-0-12-0, Jakati 1-0-14-0.
Vijay st Sangakkara b Powar 13 (11) Hayden c Sangakkara b Powar 5 (8) Raina c Goel b Theron 46 (27) Badrinath st Sangakkara b Chawla 53 (36) Dhoni not out 54 (29) Morkel not out 14 (8) Extras: (lb 5, w 4, nb 1) 10 Total: (4 wickets; 19.4 overs) 195 Bowling: Powar 4-0-28-2, Irfan 3.4-0-44-0, VRV Singh 3-0-40-0, Chawla 4-0-28-1, Theron 4-0-43-1, Yuvraj 1-0-7-0.
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Super Dan lifts singles title
New Delhi, April 18 In another all-Chinese women's singles final, Xuerui Li edged past Xin Liu 21-13, 18-21, 21-19 in a nerve-wrecking battle that lasted for over an hour. China also stamped its authority in the women’s doubles final as sixth seed Pan Pan and Qing Tian spanked Malaysian combo of Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Khe Wei Woon 21-10, 21-6 in under half an hour. However, in the men's doubles, top seeds Hung Ling Chen and Yu Lang Lin of Chinese Taipei was stunned by fifth seeds Korean pair of Gun Woo Cho and Yeon Seong Yoo 19-21, 21-12, 17-21 in an edge-of-the-seat final that lasted 49 minutes. Earlier, seventh seeds Malaysian pair of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh saw off sixth seeds Korean pair of Yeon Seong Yoo and Min Jung Kim 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 in a thrilling mixed doubles match that last over an hour. Cheered by a motley crowd at the stands, Lin Dan showed his prowess as he engaged in long rallies and played an attacking game. His powerful smashes floored his rival more than once. Wang huffed and puffed in all corners of the court but to make things worse for him, a lot of his smashes and return flicks were caught in the net and went wayward. The 2008 World junior Champion, however, showed some sparks of brilliance, displaying his repertoire of strokes but it all faded in front of the Super Dan.—
PTI |
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Button wins Chinese GP
Shanghai, April 18 Hamilton carved his way through the field from 12th on lap four to finish 1.530 seconds behind his compatriot in the first British one-two since 1999. The 25 year-old’s aggressive drive included a clash with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel in the pit lane and a post-race stewards’ investigation resulted in reprimands for both drivers for dangerous driving. German Nico Rosberg secured his second successive third place for Mercedes with Spain’s Fernando Alonso, who earned a drive-through penalty for a jump start, finishing fourth for Ferrari. Button now has 60 points overall, 10 clear of Rosberg with Hamilton and Alonso a point further back in third. McLaren lead the constructors’ standings with 109 points to Ferrari’s 90. Sutil finishes 11th
Force India’s point-scoring streak came to an abrupt end in a chaotic Chinese Grand Prix today with Adrian Sutil finishing 11th while his teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi retired after an opening lap brake problem. On a day when changeable rainy conditions created a lottery for tyres and position, only 17 drivers brought home the car, the last being Hispania's Karun Chandhok. “It is disappointing to see our run of points end and not to have been able to make more of these conditions, but that’s sometimes what happens in this type of conditions,” Force India chairman Vijay Mallya said after the race. “We’ve got some work to do now that Renault has opened up a sizeable advantage but we have some developments in the pipeline and the season has a long way to run. We’ll regroup and come back strongly in Spain I'm sure,” said Mallya, also the team principal. Sutil reckoned strategy was crucial today and felt things could have been slightly different but for the last pit stop which cost him a couple of extra seconds. “It was a real strategy race this time. At times it was difficult to know which was the best tyre to be on, as it would rain and then dry and then rain again,” Sutil said. “I lost a couple of positions in this final stop and that was what dropped me back to 13th. Although we could close to within a second of Michael (Schumacher) I just ran out of laps to get past. But that's how it is, sometimes you win in this type of race and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” he said. —
Agencies |
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Spurs down Chelsea 2-1
London, April 18 And to make matters worse for visitors Chelsea, they finished the match against their London rivals down to 10 men after captain John Terry was sent-off for two bookable offences at White Hart Lane. But defiant Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said, “The title is still in our hands, we don’t have to be afraid, we just have to look to the next game against Stoke. We didn’t do so good but Tottenham played very well,” the Italian added. Tottenham’s victory meant Harry Redknapp's side, who last weekend lost an FA Cup semi-final to Portsmouth before bouncing back in Wednesday's north London derby against Arsenal, moved into fourth place. That left them two points clear of Manchester City in the race for the final Champions League spot on offer to English clubs. —
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Mahindra NBA league to have 64 teams
Chandigarh, April 18 While the first Mahindra NBA league for Western India got underway in Mumbai yesterday, the southern edition will be held in Bangalore from July 24 to September 18. The northern edition of the Mahindra NBA league will be held at Ludhiana from July 31 to September 25. Talking to The Tribune, Teja Singh Dhaliwal, secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, said that the league will be spread over six-weeks with matches on all weekends. Says Teja Singh Dhaliwal, “The league will run for 6 consecutive weeks and be followed by a single elimination tournament. The youth division (age group 14-17) will play on Saturdays from 2-8 PM and the adult division (age group 18+) will play on Sundays from 3:30 -10 pm. The league can have a maximum of 16 boys’ teams, 16 girls’ teams, 16 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams. He says that because of the concern for monsoons, the Ludhiana edition of the Mahindra NBA league will have most of its games played indoors. Ludhiana incidentally has one of the best indoor basketball stadium in the country. “We hope to have 64 teams registered for our league,” he said. The promoters of the league have agreed to bear all expenses on providing a coach for each of the 64 teams. Even the team scorers, game equipment, including basketballs and jerseys for the players will also be funded by the sponsors. Troy Justice, who is the Director of NBA in India, says, “We are excited about the opportunity to assist your local efforts to develop basketball players and coaches. An NBA Legend and current NBA player will be visiting Ludhiana to host coaching and player clinics.” In order for this program to be successful, the NBA has left it for the Punjab Basketball Association to use its expertise to select event venues, select coaches, recruit players, and other game management officials. |
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New Delhi, April 18 Chasing 146 for victory, Delhi Daredevils folded up for 134, despite a valiant effort by Collingwood, who remained unbeaten on 52 and Nehra who made 21. Deccan Chargers, who opted to bat, were taken to a challenging total of 145 for 7, thanks to a brilliant cameo knock by Symonds, who slammed 54 off just 30 balls with five sixes and three fours. Chargers got off to a disastrous start when captain Gilchrist was taken in the second over for 10. They lost Suman and Rohit Sharma also cheaply, but Mishra stayed with a doughty effort, and Symonds came and lashed at the bowlers, particularly Amit Mishra, to make the Chargers’ scoreboard ticking fast. Mishra lofted Nehra for a huge six in his second over to ease the pressure, and after Symonds joined him, he launched on a six-hitting spree, starting with Amit Mishra in the eighth over. Mishra was carted for two more sixes in the tenth over, while Dilshan and Collingwood too became victims of Symonds big-hitting. He glanced Collingwood to the third man fence to hoist his half century. But in the next over, Mishra eventually had the last laugh when Symonds tried another big hit off him, only to miscue the shot to offer an easy catch. After Symonds’ exit in the 15th over, Chargers could add only 28 runs in the next five overs at the cost of two wickets. Deccan Chargers, with 16 points from 14 matches, are through to the semis while Daredevils, on 14 points from as many matches, now will have to wait for the nett run-rate calculation to find out their fate. For the umpteenth time in their home matches, Delhi put up a spineless batting display to bite the dust on their favourite Kotla pitch, which yet again ditched the hosts. Scoreboard Deccan Chargers: Gilchrist c Gambhir b Nehra 10 (9) Mishra run out 25 (19) Suman b Yadav 5 (6) Rohit c Karthik b Yadav 11 (9) Symonds c Manhas b Mishra 54 (30) Marsh c Manhas b Nehra 13 (19) Sumanth not out 7 (12) Vaas c Nehra b Collingwood 3 (8) Sharma not out 14 (8) Extras: (lb 2, w 1) 3 Total: (7 wickets; 20 overs) 145 Bowling: Nannes 4-0-22-0, Nehra 4-0-32-2, Yadav 4-0-24-2, Mishra 4-0-28-1, Collingwood 3-0-23-1, Dilshan 1-0-14-0. Delhi Daredevils: Warner c Rohit b Marsh 5 (4) Sehwag c Rohit b Vaas 8 (6) Dilshan lbw b Harmeet 11 (11) Gambhir c Rohit b Ojha 4 (9) Manhas run out 23 (22) Collingwood not out 51 (42) Karthik b Ojha 1 (2) Mishra b Harmeet 4 (9) Nehra not out 22 (16) Extras: (lb 2, w 2, nb 1) 5 Total: (7 wickets; 19.6 overs) 134 Bowling: Vaas 4-0-19-1, Marsh 2-0-19-1, Harmeet 4-0-41-2, Symonds 2-0-8-0, Ojha 4-0-16-2, Rohit 4-0-29-0. |
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Anand seeks postponement of World C’ship match Women’s hockey trial begins Saina still the best: Gopichand Indian boxers to leave for Cuba Button wins Chinese GP
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Chennai Super Kings dished out a spirited performance, carving out a six-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab here tonight. Batting first, Kings XI notched up impressive 192.
Triple World Champion Lin Dan of China enthralled the audience with a superb display of stroke-play to notch up his first Asian Badminton Champion title, while compatriot Xuerui Li won the title in the women's singles at the Siri Fort stadium here today.
London, April 18
Dharamsala, April 18
Needing a win to keep themselves in the hunt for semifinals, Chennai batted extremely well, overhauling the target with just two balls to spare losing four wickets in the high-scoring contest.
It was, however, Suresh Raina, who provided the initial momentum to the innings. He played a perfect cameo and contributed 27-ball 46 after the early fall of Hayden and Murali Vijay. 
Kings XI Punjab:
Chennai Super Kings:
NEW DELHI
NEW DELHI: