New Delhi, April 19
Delhi Daredevils rode on Kevin Pietersen’s cracking unbeaten century to demolish Deccan Chargers by five wickets to record their second straight home victory in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here tonight. Chasing 158, Daredevils posted 162 for 5 in 19.5 overs, with Pietersen hitting an unbeaten 103 off 64 balls with nine sixes and six fours - the second century of IPL V, following Ajinkya Rahane’s ton for Rajasthan Royals.

This was Delhi Daredevils’ fourth victory in five matches, and they join Rajasthan Royals on the top of the table with eight points, though Daredevils have played one match less than Royals.

There should have been really no pressure on Delhi Daredevils as the required run-rate was always reachable, with the kind of batting strength at their disposal. But Daredevils seemed to have shot themselves in the foot when openers Naman Ojha and captain Virender Sehwag fell in the first and fourth over inside 15 runs. And it looked like a tricky situation when Mahela Jayawardene too departed quickly, and Ross Taylor became a run-out victim when he and Kivin Pietersen were consolidating the innings.

Shikkar Dhawan’s direct throw castled the stumps before Taylor could regain his ground. Irfan Pathan had a tough time at the wicket, before making his exit with 5 runs, but Pietersen kept his end up to anchor Daredevils to a thrilling victory, and he did it in style, spanking spinner Ankit Sharma over the straight field, to race from 97 to his century, though Daredevils needed only two runs to overhaul Deccan Chargers’ total.

Pietersen got a reprieve on 6 when he was floored by Bharat Chipli, off Dale Steyen with the total on 14, though Daredevils could not cash in, as Sehwag was consumed by Steyen off the next ball. Jayawardene and Taylor also left before Daredevils could reach the comfort zone, but Pietersen made the most of the early reprieve to contribute a game-changing innings.

He got into a devastating scoring mode when runs were coming in a trickle, and the run-rate was climbing to eight plus. He carted Amit Mishra for a couple of sixes and a four and walloped J.P Duminy for three huge sixes and a four in the 13th over to put the hosts on road to victory. Duminy conceded 21 runs in the over, which sounded the death-knell of Chargers, and that was that. Yogesh Nagar’s unbeaten 26 was the icing on the cake as his 15-ball knock with three boundaries was a real value addition to Pietersen’s batting pyrotechnics.

Deccan Chargers began well, but then lost their way when pacer Morne Morkel (3-23) and spinner Shahbaaz Nadeem (3-16) got them in a spin, to be contained for 157 for 8 in 20 overs.

They might not have crossed even the 150 mark, but for a wayward penultimate over by Ajit Agarkar, who conceded 16 runs, with Bharat Chipli carting him for a six over deep cover, and two boundaries. Agarkar proved very costly, as he gave away 42 runs in three overs, and the Delhi team management erred in sitting out crafty spinner van der Merwe. Agarkar’s wayward over helped Chipli to an unbeaten cameo knock of 25 from 17 balls.

Deccan Chargers won the toss and opted to bat, and despite losing captain Kumar Sangakkara for one, with Morkel tasting first blood at the total of 10, the visitors seemed to be on the right course. Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel took the score to 81, with a 71-run second-wicket partnership, targeting Agarkar and Umesh Yadav. But Nadeem with his spin tricks removed Dhawan and Parthiv in the space of 25 runs to trigger Deccan Chargers’ collapse, as they lost the next five wickets for the addition of just 50 runs. Nadeem and Morkel struck in turn, and Umesh Yadav also chipped in with a wicket.

Deccan Chargers

S’kara c Nagar b Morne 1

Dhawan lbw b Nadeem 44

Parthiv c Mahela b Nadeem 45

Christian c Nadeem b Yadav 19

Duminy c Sehwag b Nadeem 4

Chipli not out 25

J’nwala c Ojha b Morne 4

Steyn c Sehwag b Morne 2

Mishra run out 6

Ankit not out 1

Extras: (w-5, nb-1) 6

Total: (8 wkts, 20 ovrs) 157

Fall of wickets: 1/10 2/81 3/106 4/113 5/125 6/132 7/134 8/156.

Bowling: Irfan 4-0-27-0, Pietersen 2-0-16-0, Morne 4-0-23-3, Agarkar 3-0-42-0, Yadav 3-0-33-1, Nadeem 4-0-16-3.

Delhi Daredevils

Naman c Duminy b Pratap 1

Sehwag c Christian b Steyn 7

Pietersen not out 103

Mahela c S’kara b Christian 6

Taylor run out 13

Irfan c Patel b Steyn 5

Nagar not out 23

Extras: (w-4) 4

Total: (5 wkts, 19.1 ovrs) 162

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-15, 3-23, 4-65, 5-114.

Bowling: Pratap 4-0-31-1, Steyn 4-0-19-2, Christian 4-0-35-1, Duminy 3-0-33-0, Mishra 2-0-26-0, Ankit 2.1-0-18-0.

Chennai, April 19
Defending Champions Chennai Super Kings continued their revival after a somewhat indifferent start as they won by 13 runs in their Indian Premier League match against Pune Warriors here tonight.

Setting a target of 165, the Super Kings struck early and removed Pune openers, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa early. They further cemented their grip on the game as despite putting up some vigil, Ganguly and Manish Pandey also departed without causing much of a bother to the CSK bowlers. Marlon Samuels kept chipping away some runs from the required target, but when he was dismissed by Ashwin, Pune’s hopes also went flat, despite some late fightback by Steve Smith and Angelo Matthews.

Earlier, Subramaniam Badrinath and Faf du Plessis struck a half century each as Chennai Super Kings posted a challenging 164 for five. Badrinath (57) and du Plessis (58) shared IPL five's highest opening stand of 116 runs from 15.3 overs after Chennai were put into bat at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here.

Chennai seemed to have lost the advantage of a strong start before captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (28 not out) gave the home fans something to cheer with some lusty hits towards the end.

But for the last over which yielded 18 runs, the Chennai score would have been lower as they took just 49 runs from the last five overs with all the wickets at their hands at that time.

For Pune, Marlon Samuels took three for 39 from his four overs while Ashish Nehra claiming two wickets for 23. The Chennai opening duo scored almost at the same pace, taking 48 balls each in their knocks with du Plessis hitting four fours and two sixes while Badrinath, who was promoted up the order in the absence of Murali Vijay, smashed eight fours in his innings.

After a slow start, Chennai picked up the tempo with Badrinath hitting two fours off Samuels in the fourth over and his fellow opener du Plessis joining in with a six and a four of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Two more fours by Badrinath off Angelo Mathews brought Chennai's fifty in the eighth over and the home side were heading for a big score. Most of Pune bowlers were going for runs except for Nehra whose first spell of two overs yielded just six runs as Chennai raced to 68 for no loss at the halfway stage. — Agencies

Chennai Super Kings

Plessis c Mathews b Samuels 58

Badri c Mathews b Samuels 57

Raina c Kartik b Nehra 0

Dhoni not out 28

Dwayne c Mathews b Nehra 12

Jadeja c Rahul b Samuels 7

Extras: (lb-1, nb-1) 2

Total: (5 wkts, 20 ovrs) 164

Fall of wickets: 1/116 2/116 3/119 4/142 5/164.

Bowling: Kartik 4-0-24-0, Nehra 4-0-23-2, Bhuvneshwar 3-0-37-0, Samuels 4-0-39-3, Rahul 4-0-28-0, Mathews 1-0-12-0.

Pune Warriors

Uthappa c Ashwin b K’skara 8

Ryder c Bravo b K’skara 9

Ganguly c K’skara b Jakati 24

Pandey c Badri b Bravo 13

Samuels c K’skara b Ashwin 26

Smith c Plessis b Bollinger 23

Mathews b Bravo 27

Bhuvneshwar not out 2

Kartik not out 4

Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 7, nb 1) 15

Total (7 wkts; 20 ovrs) 151

Fall of wickets 1-13, 2-26, 3-53, 4-64, 5-97, 6-141, 7-144.

Bowling: Bollinger 3-0-30-1, Kulasekara 2-0-10-2, Ashwin 4-0-35-1, Dwayne 4-0-28-2, Jakati 3-0-20-1, Jadeja 4-0-21-0.

Mohali, April 19
The practice session of Kings XI Punjab at the PCA Stadium today had a one-dimensional look. Batsmen playing expansive shots, trying to clear the boundary everytime the ball hit the bat. Shaun Marsh, batting on one of the practice wickets, threatened the long room glass panes more than a few times. One wouldn’t have to waste much thought on the reasons behind this. Two straight forward ones - they face the team with the most explosive batting lineup tomorrow; and their own batting has been way under par.

Gearing up for a clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore, crucial in terms of momentum and morale if not the ultimate outcome just yet, the Kings will have to up their game by a serious margin as they look to put the defeat to Knight Riders behind them.

To start with, and state the obvious, their batting is jeopardizing any chances they could harbour of a good fight on the ground. And to add to their woes, captain Adam Gilchrist is ruled out of the match with a hamstring injury. The severity of his injury is not completely known, but hamstrings are tricky business and at Gilchrist’s age, recovery might not be the quickest either.

But moving away from the tip of the iceberg, their domestic batsmen have been a major disappointment, and their continued dismal showing will give stand-in skipper David Hussey some food for thought. With Gilchrist out of the picture, another bother for the Kings will be who opens the innings. Paul Valthaty has been as short of runs as he has been of ideas while batting. Mandeep once again did not live upto his potential last night and Paras Dogra has not looked settled enough to contribute. It is the same set of questions as earlier that the team looks at as they head into the game.

Shaun Marsh might have to open and while he has been in relatively good touch, him moving up will weaken an already under-pressure middle-order. The bowlers are still putting up their hands and being counted, but they can’t defend under-par scores all the time.

RCB, on the other hand, will be confident coming into the game despite making a horrendous start to the IPL. Gayle decimated Pune in their last game. Saurabh Tiwary chipped in, as did AB de Villiers, and if Virat Kohli gets going as well, trouble is just a whisker away for the home team.

There is a lot riding on this game for Kings XI. With their backs to the wall, the batsmen need to realize that the only way to come out of a corner is to move forward with all that you have. Let’s hope they can push, and push really hard tomorrow.

Patiala, April 19
All the three men paddlers of India topped their groups to move a step closer and enter stage two of the Asian Olympic Qualification Table Tennis Tournament in Hong Kong this afternoon. But from among the women, Ankita Das alone has confirmed her second stage spot, having won two matches in the five-player group, as per reports received from Hong Kong.

Achanta Sharath Kamal, expectedly topped group D, beating all three rivals but what came as a pleasant surprise was the way both A. Amal Raj and Soumyajit Ghosh emulating their senior pro to attain the top perch in groups E and F.

Sharath had a bit of struggle against his North Korean opponent Kim Song Nam whom the Indian subdued 4-2 (11-6, 12-10, 10-12, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3). Later he blanked out both Alinjawi Jassem of UAE and Rodel Valle of the Philippines for a similar margin of 4-0.

Similarly, Amal Raj had a tough opening match against the higher-ranked North Korean Kim Hyok Bong which the Indian won 4-3 (11-8, 11-7, 12-14, 11-5,9-11, 6-11, 12-10). This gave the necessary confidence as Amal Raj defeated both Nikom Wongsiri of Thailand 4-0 and Isaias Seronio of the Philippines 4-0.

As for Ghosh, he was playing the top-ranked Wu Chi-Chi from Taipei and the Indian matching stroke for stroke defeated him 4-1 (11-9, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-8. He also beat Iranian Alamian Nima, who made waves recently at the Macau Asian meet, 4-0 and later UAE’s Hassan Rashed for the same score-line.

Ankita Das downed both Malaysian NG Sock Khim 4-3 (9-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9) and Vienatm’s Mai Hoang My Tarang 4-3 (10-12, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7, 14-12, 14-16, 11-6).