New Delhi, April 10
Slingy Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga produced a devastating spell to take five wickets to star in Mumbai Indians' eight-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils in their first IPL IV match at the Ferozeshah Kotla here today.

Chasing Daredevils' poor 95 made off 17.4 overs, Mumbai Indians cruised to 99 for two with 19 balls to spare, thanks to an unbeaten 68-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma off 10.4 overs.

Tendulkar, who despatched Irfan Pathan to the cover boundary to get the winning runs, remained not out on 46 (50b, 3x4, 1x6) while Sharma was unbeaten on 27 (30b, 3x4). All Sharma’s boundaries came off Morne Morkel in the 12th over -- the first came off the first two balls, cleared past point and mid-wicket, and the third towards cover.

Tendulkar and Sharma batted with quiet confidence despite the loss of two wickets for 31 runs. Davy Jacob was bowled by Morkel for one while Ambati Rayudu was run out by a direct hit from Roelof ver der Merwe.

The wicket was slow and runs were hard to come by, but Sharma proved an effective foil for Tendulkar to anchor the innings to an expected finish after Malinga displayed terrific bowling form to claim five for 13, with a maiden over to boot.

Malinga was so unplayable that Virender Sehwag was forced to play out a maiden off his second over. Sehwag later admitted that he had played a maiden in the infancy of his innings for the first time in a decade. Malinga was aptly adjudged the man of the match.

Malinga's spell was so searing that he clipped five wickets for final figures of 3.4-1-13-5. Four of his victims were bowled while the fifth was caught by James Franklin. Malinga also took a catch to make it an outing to remember. He claimed two wickets each in his first and third overs respectively, and interestingly on both the occasions, the wickets came off the second and fourth balls, before he polished off the Daredevils tail in his fourth over, again the wicket coming off the fourth ball of the over.

Daredevils skipper Sehwag beat his counterpart Tendulkar in the battle of the toss, and opted to bat before a full house on a cloudy afternoon, soothed by slight morning rain.

Tendulkar asked off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to bowl but Sehwag carted him for two runs and a huge six, as Harbhajan conceded ten runs in his opening over.

In the second over, Malinga was brought on from the far end, and spelt trouble immediately as he yorked the dangerous David Warner for one run. Warner had no clue as the ball crashed into the stumps. Off the fourth ball of the over, Unmukt Chand, making a disastrous debut, was totally foxed by Malinga's speed.

Delhi lost two wickets in the space of one run to slump to 12 for two in 1.4 overs. They held out hope when Sehwag was at the crease, but when he became a victim of a needless run out, with Tendulkar’s direct throw catching the Delhi skipper short of the crease, the hosts slumped to 27 for three, and later 40 for four, to be in dire straits. Aaron Finch played Ali Murtaza to short fine leg, but hesitated to take a run. Sehwag had, however, already set out, and before he could reach the other end, Tendulkar’s perfect throw caught him on the wrong foot.

It seemed it was all over bar shouting when Malinga bowled Venugopal Rao and Morne Morkel in his third over. In between, Malinga had also caught Naman Ojha off Murtaza while Harbhajan dismissed Finch.

When Ojha and Rao were around, the runs flowed in a quick pace, but the partnership was broken after they put on 42 runs. Tendulkar intelligently varied his bowling options, to keep the Daredevils batsmen on their toes, and when big-hitter Irfan Pathan, returning to top-class cricket after a one-year gap, was run out for nought, it was just a matter of time before the Delhi innings folded up, which eventually happened with 2.2 overs to spare. 

Scoreboard

Delhi Daredevils

Warner b Malinga 1

Sehwag run out 19

Unmukt b Malinga 0

Finch c Rayudu b Harbhajan 8

Ojha c Malinga b Murtaza 29

Venugopal b Malinga 26

Pathan run out 0

Roelof not out 8

Morkel b Malinga 0

Yadav st Jacobs

b Harbhajan 0

Dinda c Franklin b Malinga 0

Extras: (W-4) 4

Total: (All out; 17.4 overs) 95

Bowling: Harbhajan 3-0-14-2, Malinga 3.4-1-13-5, Murtaza 4-0-21-1, Patel 3-0-20-0, Pollard 3-0-18-0, Franklin 1-0-9-0.

Mumbai Indians

Jacobs b Morkel 1

Tendulkar not out 46

Rayudu run out 14

Rohit not out 27

Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 7) 11

Total (2 wkts; 16.5 overs) 99

Bowling: Dinda 2-0-7-0, Morkel 4-0-29-1, Pathan 2.5-0-14-0, Yadav 2-0-16-0, van der Merwe 4-0-16-0, Finch 2-0-13-0.

Kolkata, April 10
Their spinners might have come a cropper in the loss to Rajasthan Royals, but that will not deter Deccan Chargers skipper Kumar Sangakkara from opening the bowling against Kolkata Knight Riders with tweakers here tomorrow.

Deccan Chargers' left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who opened the bowling, was a big let down as the left-arm spinner conceded runs at 11-plus in his 3.5 overs, while leggie Amit Mishra too disappointed by giving away 28 from four overs without any wicket between the duo.

Talking to reporters ahead of their away IPL fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders, Sangakkara said the Eden strip lacks pace and bounce and may just assist the slow bowlers.

"Looking at the wicket, spin in the first few overs may just be a great option and can be an attacking one. But you have to play it according to the situation. You cannot just plan everything and use spin in the first few overs for the sake of it," he said.

Sangakkara did not read much into their spinners performance and said, "It looks like a wicket that lacks pace and bounce and may just help the slow bowlers. We have got a couple of good spinners in (Pragyan) Ojha and (Amit) Mishra.

Also Jean-Paul Duminy can be handy with his off-spin." The former Kings XI skipper said they lost the match against Rajasthan Royals despite getting a good start.

"It was disappointing to lose that game. We had got off to a great start, it's just that we lost too many wickets too quickly. We bowled excellent, we were right in the match till the about the 18th-19th over. Just that we need to tighten up our fielding a bit."— PTI

Johannesburg, April 10
Gary Kirsten, who stepped down as India cricket coach after guiding the team to its first World Cup title in 28 years, now wants take up the top job in South Africa even though he has not submitted a formal application before dateline.A report in 'The Sunday Times' said Kirsten is interested in the Proteas coaching vacancy, but he is also weighing up several other offers.

"He's expressed interest, yes," said Andrew Hudson, the national selection convener and a man who sits on the panel to select a successor to Corrie van Zyl's who has stepped down after the Proteas' World Cup debacle.

"He's certainly been in discussions with Gerald Majola (Cricket SA's CEO)," Hudson was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Kirsten is known to be keen on working with the current crop of international players, believing them to be among the most talented on the circuit, the report said.

"He is taking time off before considering his options. He is known to be calm and prudent - as befits a former opening batsman - and not overly eager to rush into a decision," it said.

Cricket South Africa, meanwhile, have approached Professor Johann Coetzee to psychometrically test all the applicants for the coaching job.

Coetzee was approached by Boeta Dippenaar, who sits on the interview panel as the players' representative, and as a result of the approach finds himself being part of the assessment.

"I'm not involved with selection of the candidate. I'm just neutral and objective adjunct to the panel," said Coetzee, a human development consultant and psychologist who has worked as an academic at the universities of the Free State and North West. — PTI 

Sepang, April 10
World champion Sebastien Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a dominant drive today to take an early grip on the Formula One season.The 23-year-old German steered his Red Bull car from pole position to the chequered flag to win ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button, the 2009 champion, and Nick Heidfeld who finished third for Renault.

Vettel's second start-to-finish win in two outings this year came despite further problems with Red Bull's faulty Kinetic Energy Regeneration System (KERS) which gave his team-mate Mark Webber a nightmare start.

The Australian dropped from third to 10th before storming back to finish fourth ahead of the two Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and two-time champion Fernando Alonso. Alonso suffered damage to his car in a late charge for the podium when he collided with the rear of Briton Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, suffering a broken front wing that required a pit stop.

Hamilton, the 2008 champion, looked set for a podium spot but finished seventh after a slow pit stop and then a struggle with worn tyres in the closing stages. Japan's Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber was eighth ahead of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who was ninth for Mercedes. Tenth-placed British rookie Paul Di Resta who scored another point for Force India in only his second start.

Vettel has now won both of the two season-opening races in Australia and Malaysia and five of the last six to take charge of the 19-stop drivers' world title race. It was another stunning performance by Vettel as Red Bull team told him and team-mate Webber they could not use the KERS power-boost for most of the race.

"In the heat, we kept our heads cool," he told the Red Bull crew on his victory lap. "It is a pleasure every week to drive with you boys and I'm loving it." German Nick Heidfeld finished third for Renault after a dazzling start when he shot from sixth in the grid into second place behind Vettel.

On another hot day, the track temperature was 31 degrees (88 fahrenheit) at the start in 83 percent humidity, a sure sign that rain was likely as Vettel led the cars on the formation lap to the grid. — AFP

Sepang, April 10
Force India managed to finish among points for the second successive race with Paul Di Resta signing off 10th in the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix here today.Di Resta's teammate Adrian Sutil finished 11th to miss out on points in the race that was won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who had claimed the top spot in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as well.

Narain Karthikeyan, racing for Hispania, could not finish yet another race and was forced to retire after the 14th lap. Force India is now joint fifth in the Constructors' Championship with four points on the table, and Di Resta joins Sutil on two Championship points.

Both drivers made a clean race start but Sutil had to return to the pits for a new nose on lap three after a coming together with Barrichello. Di Resta battled with Nico Rosberg and the mid-fielders in the first stint and Michael Schumacher in the second. He made up four places to bring home another point for the team today.

Sutil, on the other hand, made up lost ground due to the early nose change and was charging through the field for most of the race. He ran consistently in 12th position until a retirement by Renault's Vitaly Petrov led to Sutil crossing the line in a well deserved 11th place.

"I am quite happy I must say. The team did a good job with the strategy. I just could not hold off Michael at the end, he had fresher tyres and we had to stop a bit earlier for my third stop than predicted. But I also did not want to risk the championship point as well," said di Resta.

"I think the DRS showed some good racing today, so maybe we can be confident that in China our race pace may even be a little bit better. We were battling with cars that were a little bit quicker than us today, so overall I think we had a great race," he added.

Sutil rued the poor start to the proceedings for him. "We could have been in for a much better finishing position, which is a shame. But the team did a great job with the pitstops so I'd like to thank them for that," he said. — PTI

London, April 10
Arsenal overcame a brief Blackpool fight-back to win 3-1 at Bloomfield Road and close the gap on Manchester United to seven points at the top of the Premier League on Sunday.Arsenal, who fielded 41-year-old Jens Lehmann in goal for the first time in three years as an emergency stand-in for Manuel Almunia, were 2-0 up after 21 minutes, thanks to goals from Abou Diaby and Emmanuel Eboue.

Blackpool replied after 52 minutes when Gary Taylor-Fletcher scored after the referee waved play on despite Lehmann bringing down DJ Campbell in the penalty area. Although they had other chances, the seaside strugglers failed to find the equaliser.

Instead, Arsenal wrapped up the victory with a superb goal on the counter-attack after 76 minutes when Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott combined on the break before Walcott crossed for Robin Van Persie to score in front of goal.

Lehmann, who left Arsenal three years ago and returned after coming out of retirement last month to help solve a goalkeeper crisis, was called into the game just before kickoff after Almunia was injured in the warm-up.

The result lifted Arsenal to 62 points — seven behind leaders United with a game in hand. Blackpool remained a point and a place above the relegation zone. Aston Villa were playing Newcastle United in the second match of the day at Villa Park. — Reuters

Charleston, April 10
Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina notched up a straight-set win over Ji Zheng and Peng Shuai to enter the final of the Family Circle Cup WTA event here. The unseeded Indo-Russian pair won 6-2 7-5 to make the finals and be in contention for their second WTA title together after the triumph at Indian Wells last month.

Sania and Vesnina will now take on the fourth-seeded American duo of Bethannie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy. Interestingly, the Indo-Russian combine dispatched the American pair 6-0, 7-5 in the finals of the Indian Wells event. — PTI 

Chandigarh, April 10
India's lone Olympic gold medal winning shooter, Abhinav Bindra will be awarded the 'Punjabi Rattan' award by World Punjabi Organisation (WPO) in New Delhi next week.

WPO, a non-political body of Punjabis to foster social, economic and cultural bondage among the community around the globe, would confer the award on April 16. — PTI