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Pollard powers MI into final
CSK take on Deccan charge
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‘IPL controversy embarrassing’
Punjab fights for boxing rights
JCT edge past Chirag Utd
Inter stun Barca in 1st leg
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Pollard struck a 13-ball 33 to help his side make a splendid recovery from early jolt in company of Saurabh Tiwary (52 not out) to post 184 for five after batting first and then snared three wickets for 17 runs as the home side restricted Bangalore to 149 for nine in the first semifinal at DY Patil Stadium. With the win today, Mumbai, who failed to reach the semifinals in the last two editions of the IPL, also became the first team to qualify for this year's Champions Twenty20 League.
Ross Taylor top-scored for Banaglore with a 30-ball 31. Jacques Kallis (11), Rahul Dravid (23), Kevin Pietersen (19), Robin Uthappa (26) could not convert the starts to big scores. Lasith Malinga bowled beautifully by taking two Bangalore wickets and conceding 24 runs from his four overs. Harbhajan Singh took two wickets but was expensive, giving away 44 runs from his four overs.
Kallis and Dravid gave a strong start in Bangalore's run chase scoring two fours each in the first two overs bowled by Zaheer Khan and Dilhara Fernando before the former fell in the third over edging Malinga to Ambati Rayudu for 11. Run rate came down after the first jolt but Bangalore were dealt another blow in the form of Kevin Pietersen who danced down the track to hoist Harbhajan Singh only to completely miss it and Rayudu making no mistake of the stumping chance. Robin Uthappa was not the one to be lie low and he hit Harbhajan for two sixes in the ninth over which cost 18 runs to take the asking rate down below 10 an over. But it was not Uthappa's day and in the next over he was caught by Shikhar Dhawan while trying to hoist Kieron Pollard for a 13-ball 26 which was studded with two fours and two sixes. More woes awaited Bangalore as Dravid, who was surprisingly sent to open with Kallis instead of Manish Pandey, was run out in the next ball due to a horrible miscommunication with new batsman Ross Taylor. Dravid did not call for a run after punching Pollard to point but Taylor came down charging in and Pollard whipped the bails to reduce Bangalore to 81 for four in 9.4 overs. From a dominating position when Uthappa was at the crease the game shifted quickly to Mumbai's favour. Pollard, who was limping a bit while batting, removed Virat Kohli in the 12th over for just nine, extracting an edge from the batsman for Raydu to do the rest. Two overs later, the West Indian put Mumbai in complete control of the match by removing Manish Pandey for just five with the batsman holing out to J P Duminy near the boundary while trying to hoist a Pollard slow ball out of the park. Harabhajan sealed the fate of the match in Mumbai's favour by cleaning up Parveen Kumar's furniture with a straight and full delivery which the batsman missed completely. — PTI Scoreboard Royal Challengers
Bangalore:
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Mumbai, April 21 The Super Kings were defeated by the Chargers at home as well as away. At home, they lost by 31 runs while chasing a formidable target of 180 while in the return clash the defeat was by six wickets after setting a modest target of 139 for Adam Gilchrist's men.
But the task of taming Chargers at the D Y Patil Stadium, one of their home venues this year, is an arduous one as the Hyderabad franchise has been on a roll leading into the semifinals. They are the only team, apart from league toppers Mumbai Indians, to emerge with more victories than defeats (8 to 7) in the preliminary stage of the competition. The two wins over the Super Kings obviously gives them the edge going into the do-or-die contest but knock-out matches call for a different mindset. As defending champions, the Chargers would be eager not to be dethroned while the Super Kings would be equally determined to make their second final in three seasons. All pointers are there for a great contest in front of a capacity 55,000 crowd in the Navi Mumbai venue. The indifferent form of two key players, Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist and Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden are a cause for deep concern. Both are retired Australian greats and have not really clicked in the tournament so far. — PTI
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‘IPL controversy embarrassing’
Ludhiana, April 21 Wright further added, “Business issues are being talked about which are not my area of interest but such things do affect the reputation of a game,” he said. “The IPL controversy should be deeply probed and guilty be aptly punished. The BCCI should take up the matter seriously,” he asserted. As for the fact about too much of cricket taking a toll on the cricketer’s health, Wright conceded that it did and added, “It might also affect their international rankings. Besides the players, the excess of a sport can possibly run down the sports enthusiasts’ love for the game,” Wright added. The former cricketer added that the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup is going to be a challenge for India. “The Indian team is going directly into the T20 tourney without playing a practice game and the other teams may have advantage on this account,” he said. “Moreover, there is very little time between the ongoing IPL and the World Cup that starts on April 30 in the West Indies," added the former Indian cricket coach. Letting out the secret to success in T20, Wright said, "Bringing in early momentum in the game is the key to win championships like Twenty20 World Cup.” He further said the Indians had attained the number one spot in Tests because of their quality bowlers and opening batsmen. “Standing at No.1 is harder than attaining it. Let us hope India manages it,” he maintained.
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Punjab fights for boxing rights
This is Petroni and Maxwell’s third visit to India. Before this, they had trained players in 2006 and 2009. They both see India as one of the top boxing nations and are happy with the way boxing has shaped up in the country. On being questioned about their plans during the camp, they said they were looking forward to ensure overall fitness of these players along with apprising them with latest trends and techniques of boxing. Boxing coach Harpreet Singh, who runs a centre at Multipurpose School, said it was all the more reason for inviting these coaches as they were aware of new techniques, as compared to local coaches and working with them would give more exposure to players as well as coaches. Talking about the scope of boxing for females, Maxwell said Indian boxers Like Mary Kom had already established their supremacy with historic performances. The inclusion of female boxing in Olympics definitely would also act as motivating force for more women to join the game.
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JCT edge past Chirag Utd
Ludhiana, April 21 In the first half, JCT missed as many as five chances of drawing blood with their strikers failing to finish off things in the desired manner. In the fifth minute, Emanuel Okoro failed to latch on to a brilliant pass from N Henry with goal lying vacant in front of him. Again in the 29th minute, skipper Penn curved the ball inside the striking distance towards Daljit Singh who did everything right to take possession of the ball and took his time to aim and shoot, but the ball hit the crossbar. The visitors looked lacklusture throughout the better part of first half and showed signs of revival in the dying minutes only. Just before the lemon break, Nandy almost managed to capitalise on the hosts’ inaction when he almost manouvered his way through four JCT players but could not dodge the alert custodian Karanjit. Nothing much changed in the second half. Though JCT scored in the 9th minute after the break, they seemed content to deny the visitors any possession. Chirag tried hard to get through the defence but in vain. JCT had beaten Viva Kerala 5-1 in their last encounter, while Chirag had lost to Dempo in their last tie. JCT now have 28 points from 22 matches and they stay put at the seventh position, while Chirag have 31 points from 22 matches to have them keep their fourth spot intact. JCT play hteir next game against East Bengal here on May 9.
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Mumbai, April 21
Even the much wanted coolness in the air failed to produce any heat on the field as the important I-League clash between local favorites JCT FC and Chirag United here today proved to be a drab affair. Though hosts JCT managed to win 1-0, both teams throughout the match seemed content with just securing the ball possession with N Henry scored the solitary, and ultimately decisive, goal in the 54 th minute.
Milan, April 20
Mumbai, April 21
Chasing a stiff 185 for a win, last year's losing finalists Bangalore were never in the game with wickets falling at regular intervals and no substantial partnership coming up, the highest being a 34-run stand between Rahul Dravid and Robin Uthappa from 20 balls for the third wicket.
At the end it was a comfortable win for Mumbai, who had topped the league tables with 20 points, the only point of concern was that captain Tendulkar, who is the top scorer in the tournament, suffered a right hand webbing split while taking a dropped catch of Dravid in the fourth over.
Super Kings would thus go into the clash hoping their batting, that has started to click only of late, would come good against the Chargers bowling attack in which left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has been the pick of the lot with 20 wickets.
Patiala, April 21
BARCELONA:
WCF postpones Anand’s game