Bangalore, May 6
It was the ‘Chris Gayle Show’ all the way as the Royal Challengers Bangalore marched their way to a massive 85-run win in their IPL match against Kings XI Punjab here tonight.

After having taken the Punjab bowling to the cleaners with a sensational ton, Gayle was equally good with the ball as he picked up three wickets for just 21 runs, as the Kings XI batting crumbled and ended up for just 120 for 9 in their 20 overs.

For Royal Challengers, Sreenath Arvind was the star with the ball as he returned figures of 4 for 14. The Kings XI never really got going and did not find themselves in with a chance at any point in the game. Ryan McLaren was the highest scorer with 28, in a sorry looking Kings XI batting card.

Earlier, Chris Gayle played one of the most destructive innings in Twenty20 cricket as he plundered a 49-ball 107 lashed with a record nine sixes to single-handedly take Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205 for six.

During his brutal innings which took his side to the second highest total of IPL 4, Gayle went past a flurry of records as he became the first player to score two centuries in the tournament's history after his 55-ball 102 against Kolkata Knight Riders in his first match this year.

Today's sensational knock by Gayle which left the M A Chidambaram Stadium crowd spellbound was the fastest hundred in IPL 4, bettering Virender Sehwag's 48-ball ton against Deccan Chargers by two balls.

Gayle, however, was way behind Yusuf Pathan's record 37-ball hundred last year, the fastest century in the IPL history.

The nine sixes smashed by the West Indian today was the most in IPL 4, two more than his own seven during his unbeaten 102 against Kolkata. Gayle, who played for Kolkata in the last two seasons, has now struck 21 sixes in the IPL, the highest the tournament's hidtory, three more than Delhi captain Virender Sehwag's 18. — PTI 

Scoreboard
Royal Challengers
Gayle c Harris b Chawla 107
Dilshan c Praveen 
b McLaren 16
Kohli b Chawla 27
de Villiers not out 27
Asad lbw b Harris 0
Kaif b Harris 3
Mithun not out 6
Extras (lb 5, w 1) 6
Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 205
Bowling: Praveen 4-0-37-0, Harris 4-1-38-3, McLaren 4-0-40-1, Ablish 3-0-39-0, Chawla 4-0-37-2, Nayar 1-0-9-0.

Kings XI Punjab
Gilchrist run out 0
Valthaty c Mithun 
b Gayle 21
Nayar c Tiwary b Aravind 1
Marsh c & b Aravind 4
Karthik lbw b Gayle 20
Sunny c Asad b Vettori 4
McLaren b Aravind 28
Chawla b Gayle 5
Harris c Asad b Aravind 17
Praveen not out 15
Ablish not out 0
Extras (w 4, nb 1) 5
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 120
Bowling: Zaheer 4-0-35-0, Aravind 4-0-14-4, Gayle 4-0-21-3, Mithun 3-0-29-0, Vettori 4-0-14-1, Kohli 1-0-7-0.

Mohali, May 6
Pune Warriors got off to a rollicking start in IPL-IV. Captain Yuvraj Singh led the new franchise to a strong win over his erstwhile team Kings XI Punjab in Mumbai. Pune also won their next match and not many would have imagined then that after such a bright beginning things would be turn out to be utterly depressing for this team as the tournament progressed.

But that’s exactly what has happened. Seven subsequent defeats on the trot have sent the morale in the Warriors’ camp diving to the very pits of despair and the team is in dire need of a fillip. In comes Sourav Ganguly as the new signing for the franchise and most of the focus has shifted away from those pathetic losses and the spotlight (not for the first time) is on Dada.

Can he revive the sagging morale and fortunes of this team? Or has the damage already been done?

Surprisingly, Dada was around but did not play in Pune’s last match against MI and merely watched from the sidelines as the team hurtled towards another defeat. It appears almost certain now that Sourav will be making his IPL-IV debut in Mohali against Kings XI here on Sunday. And Yuvraj will be hoping that his new team can make it two-out-of-two against his old team.

For that to happen Yuvi will need all the support he can muster from all quarters concerned. From Ganguly he will need runs and advice on strategy. Dada has been hitting the nets hard and the desire to do well is only too evident. It’s only his lack of cricket that could frustrate him.

It won’t be wrong to suggest that Ganguly has been rather restless and desperate to play in IPL-IV. He has explored every avenue to get back into the thick of things and now that he has got what he wanted, he will surely love to make it count. He would like very much to announce his arrival in Chris Gayle style. But the chances of that happening seem remote.

So, Ganguly will want to chip in with crucial runs, give inputs to the captain and may be even bowl a couple of overs as well.

Ideally, Ganguly would have wanted to play for a team that was very much in the reckoning and he himself was in the leadership role (like Shane Warne for RR). He had his chance of doing that with KKR but things did not turn out the way he would have imagined. So now Ganguly finds himself in no position to pick and choose and has to make the best of whatever has been offered.

In July, Ganguly will be 39. That does not make him the oldest player in IPL-IV but he will have to beckon all the reserves of his energy to make the point that he is trying to make here.

Ganguly is trying to say to the franchise owners that perhaps they were all too premature in writing him off. And that he still has a lot to offer. On Sunday, Pune Warriors and Yuvraj Singh will love to lap up all that Dada has to offer.

The odds are stacked against him but that is not going to stop Ganguly from having a go.

Mumbai, May 6
Their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs kept alive by a magnificent Virender Sehwag, Delhi Daredevils would be keenly looking forward to an encore from their skipper when they take on table toppers Mumbai Indians in a must-win IPL match here tomorrow.

Chasing a stiff 176-run target, Sehwag single-handedly demolished the opposition attack with a blistering 56-ball 119-run knock that included 13 fours and six sixes to guide Delhi to a four-wicket win over Deccan Chargers last night.

The swashbuckler turned the match around and pulled his team from the brink after the Daredevils had slid to 25 for three at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Ipoh, May 6
Rookie drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh fired in a hat-trick as India made amends of their first match loss with a convincing 3-1 victory over Britain in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament here today. Young Rupinder, who was included in the squad due to the absence of penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh, struck in the 10th, 54th and 57th minutes to give depending champions India the upper hand against a strong Britain who had come here with a nearly full-strength side.

With the win today, India, who had come here without at least half a dozen senior players, bounced back into the tournament in style after going down to South Korea 2-3 in their campaign opener.

India junior team regular member Rupinder, who had featured in a few internationals with the senior side last year, sent three low drag-flicks to sound the board of the opposition goal. India, who dominated the midfield, converted three of the five penalty corners they earned in the match and led 3-0 before Britain pulled one goal back through James Tindall in the 62nd minute.

Britain, who are fine-tuning their team for next year's Olympic Games at home, had defeated Malaysia 3-1 yesterday. After a couple of initial forays into rival territories by both teams, Rupinder opened the scoring for India in the 10th minute with a grounder that surprised Britain goalkeeper James Fair to sound the board.

At the other end, Indian goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri padded away three penalty corner shots as the defenders rushed out to narrow the angle for the British strikers.

Just before the breather, Indian striker Roshan Minz broke into the rival circle from the left flank, but found no support from other forwards.

India increased the lead midway through the second session when Rupinder found the mark with a low push into the goal past the outstretched pads of the custodian in the 55th minute.

Two minutes later Rupinder completed his hat-trick, this time directing the drag-flick into the right side of the board as the goalkeeper moved to the other corner in anticipation of the shot.

India then went into the defensive to hold the lead, allowing Britain mid-field space. Britain had a couple of cracks at the Indian citadel. Tindall found the target in the 62nd minute off a cross from the right. He also got another chance but shot wide past the bewildered Indian goalkeeper.

In the earlier match of the day, Asian Games gold medallists Pakistan asserted their strength by scoring thrice in the final 10 minutes to edge past defending champions South Korea 4-2. — PTI 

Patiala, May 6
Indian medal hopes for the upcoming events which include top Indian core group shooters from across the country would attend the national coaching camp to be held at New Moti Bagh Gun Club (NMBGC), village Maine, from Saturday. The camp would give a perfect opportunity to numerous core group shooters to get back in form, majority of whom would pick the gun after a prolonged off season.

Known for its green cover and the new machines, the NMBGC would have over 30 top shooters from the country practicing for almost two weeks. This would include both men and women shooters who would try to impress and get in shape before their way to book berths for the 2012 London Olympics, which would be decided on the basis of their performance in the upcoming World Cups and Asian Championship.

The names include Ronjon Sodhi, national champion Manavjit Sandhu, Olympic medalist RVS Rathore, Birendeep Sodhi and many others. Earlier in April 2011, Asian Games gold medallist Ronjan Sodhi had won the double trap silver and an Olympic quota place in the shotgun World Cup in Beijing. Of these shooters Ronjon Sodhi is the only shooter who has already booked himself a quota place for London.

In 2010 Indian shooters had failed to impress in China after a prolonged season took its toll on the Indian shooters who played back to back international tournaments and had a tough outing in China following the Commonwealth Games.

To be held under the aegis of the Sports Authority of India, the national shooting camp would further give ample opportunity to all the shooters to discuss their problems with national coach Marcelo Dradi. “He is expected to reach here tomorrow and spend time with the Indian shooters”, said an NRAI official.

Speaking to The Tribune, Amarjung Singh, coordinator for the camp at NMBGC said that all preparations are complete and the shooters are expected to join the camp from Saturday. “The national coach and the foreign coach are also expected, while stay arrangements for all have been made”, he added. 

Patiala, May 6
With a view to improve India’s record in the Asian Championship, women wrestlers are leaving no stone unturned to bag a gold medal which has always been India’s dream as far as women category is concerned. They are sweating it out for the upcoming Asian Championship that would be held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan from May 18 to 22. The team consists of Geeta, Babita and Sakhshi Malik from Haryana, Priyanka Singh and Alka Tomar from UP and Navjot Kaur and Gursharanpreet Kaur from Punjab.

With wrestlers like Geeta, Babita and Alka Tomar representing the Indian squad, the coach and association members are certainly more hopeful this year. Talking to The Tribune, chief coach PR Sondhi informed that before this, the highest achievement had been silver medals won by Geetika Jakhar and Kiran Sihag during the 2003 Asian Championship that was held at New Delhi.

“Our girls have always been good but somehow they could not manage to win a gold medal. This time we have a very strong contingent and the girls are riding high on the success of 2010 Commonwealth Games. We are certainly hoping for better results. If the things go the way I am thinking, we should win at least 2 to 3 gold medals. But I am not getting over-confident because it’s a sport and anything can happen,” he added. Talking about their training schedule, he said he and his fellow coaches Monika and Kamalsen Singh were focussing on the individual strength of the girls. 

Kuala Lumpur, May 6
Star Indian shuttler Sania Nehwal survived a scare from giant-killer Lin Wang before booking herself a place in the women's singles semifinals of the Malaysia Open Grand Prix here today.

The top seed and world number four dug deep into her resources to edge past the Chinese qualifier 14-21 21-19 21-19 in the intensely fought quarter-final, lasting 57 minutes. Lin had upset Japanese sixth seed Eriko Hirose in her previous outing.

"I am happy with the way I played. I could not win the India Open at home and I was disappointed. I am happy with my recovery after that and I hope to go for the win in the tournament this time," Saina told PTI after her match. Saina will next take on the winner of the match between third seed Chinese Yanjiao Jiang and seventh seed Korean Ji Hyun Sung. Saina is the only Indian left in fray in the tournament. — PTI