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Super Sehwag seals big win for Daredevils
Resurgent RCB out to settle scores with Knight Riders
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Royal fight: Kings take on Super Kings in Chennai
India Open
Delhi HC upholds Geetika’s selection
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Super Sehwag seals big win for Daredevils New Delhi, April 27 Put into bat, Delhi Daredevils posted 207 for 5, which was the second highest total of IPL V (Chennai Super Kings had chased to make 208 against Royal Challengers Bangalore). Chasing 208 for victory was a tough call for Mumbai Indians, as the asking rate of 10.3 runs was too stiff. Expectedly, Mumbai Indians folded up for 170 for 9 to suffer their fourth defeat in eight matches. Daredevils thus proved that their win against Mumbai in the away match was no fluke, and their "double" was most deserving. Irfan Pathan removed Aiden Blizzard for nought, and though Rohit Sharma clouted Pathan for a six and four in the next two balls, Mumbai Indians just could not match the scorching scoring pace set by Jayawardene, Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen. When Morne Morkel got the big scalp of Sachin Tendulkar to put Mumbai Indians on 19 for 2 in 2.3 overs, the visitors seemed to be on a downward spiral, to their doom. Though Ambati Rayudu carried his good form from Mohali to crack 62 off 39 balls, spinner Shahbaz Nadeem got rid of Rayudu and Kiron Pollard in quick succession to make the contest all over bar shouting for the visitors. Daredevils have cemented their place at the top with 12 points from eight matches, and this win was their third at the Kotla, in four matches. Though Jayawardene was the dominant partner initially, Sehwag soon overtook the Sri Lankan star, and when the partnership was going great guns, left-arm spinner Robin Petersen had Jayawardene caught by Rohit Sharma for 55 (42b,8x4). And Daredevils lost the first wicket for 135 in 13.1 overs. It took Pietersen and Sehwag a while to regain the fast scoring touch, and when they were going hammer and tongs against the Mumbai bowling, Petersen struck again, forcing Sehwag to play in to the hands of R.P.Singh for 73. But Sehwag's blistering knock had done the trick, and though Irfan Pathan, Ross Taylor and Yogesh Nagar fell cheaply, with Malinga striking two successive blows, Pietersen cracked an unbeaten 50 off just 26 balls with three sixes and six fours to put the match beyond the reach of Mumbai Indians.
After the initial run-feast against Malinga and R.P.Singh, the Daredevils openers slowed down a bit only when R.Shukla was brought in, replacing Malinga. Shukla beat Jayawardene and Sehwag a couple of times, and conceded only 14 runs in his first two overs. R.P Singh was hit for 31 runs in three overs, which included the first six of the match, when Sehwag carted him over the long on fence. Sachin Tendulkar seemed to be more active than captain Harbhajan Singh, setting the fields and giving pep talks to the bowlers. But with Sehwag and Jayawardene on fire, all the game plans of the visitors came unstuck. It was not Pollard's day as the hugely-built player injured his shoulder while going for a diving save to prevent Maliga from being punished to the ropes off the third ball of the 13th over, and he was escorted out of the ground, with his left hand in slings. Though Pollard returned to the field to bat, Mumbai were hopelessly placed by then, needing 90 odd runs from 40 balls for victory, which they failed to achieve. SCOREBOARD Delhi Daredevils
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Resurgent RCB out to settle scores with Knight Riders
Kolkata, April 27 Both the teams' last fixtures at their respective home grounds were washed out and they would pray that the weather God does not play spoilsport again tomorrow, even as the local Met department has forecast rain and thundershowers in next 48 hours. The Bangalore outfit might have lost to KKR in the first leg but their campaign was back on track after three wins on the trot and both teams stay equal on league table with nine points from eight matches each at half-way stage of the tournament. One man KKR would need to watch out for would be Chris Gayle who has been in ominous form at the top of RCB batting and he would look to blow away the consistent Kolkata attack, something he had done in his last outing at the Eden, smashing a 55-ball 102 not out with seven sixes sent out of the park. After a quiet start, Gayle has hit form with a 48-ball 81 studded with eight sixes in RCB's win over Pune Warriors. He followed it up with another sizzling knock of 56-ball 87 in his side's win over Kings XI Punjab.
Against his former franchise that chose not to retain him after the third season, the explosive Caribbean opener, who has recovered from an upset stomach, would look to prove a point. With AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan in equally devastating form, the RCB batting would look to post or chase down a big total. One area of concern for RCB though was that their foreign recruits have been instrumental in the side's wins and their domestic players like Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal and Mohammad Kaif were yet to hit form. KKR, on the other hand, are yet to take full advantage of their tailormade home conditions, having won only once from three matches played here with one, the last one against Deccan Chargers, being abandoned due to heavy rains. If the bowlers like Laxmipathy Balaji, Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine have been winning matches for KKR, their batting is yet to click barring one captain's knock by Gambhir who scored a 66 not out in their win over Kings XI Punjab at Mohali. That only two batsmen-the other being Manoj Tiwary-have scored half-centuries may sound alarming especially with their roster boasting some big names, including Jacque Kallis, Brendon McCullum and Yusuf Pathan. Yusuf has aggregated 29 runs from seven matches so far this season, averaging a woeful 5.80. — PTI
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Royal fight: Kings take on Super Kings in Chennai
Punjab would be eager to forget their last match when they were thrashed by the Mumbai Indians as Ambati Rayudu and Robin Peterson creamed leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 27 runs in the penultimate over to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But it would be a difficult proposition for the low-on-confidence Punjab outfit to tame the 'Men in Yellow' in their own den. Not just their last match, as it is, Kings XI team's performance has been cause of worry. Having lost five of their eight matches so far in the tournament, they are fully aware that they would have to play out of their skins if they intend to topple the hosts. Their misery is compounded by the absence of skipper Adam Gilchrist, out with an hamstring injury, who is still a doubtful starter for tomorrow's match. But KXIP would be banking heavily on stand-in-skipper David Hussey, whose unbeaten 68-run knock in the last match helped Kings XI post a competitive total against Mumbai Indians. Besides Hussey, another Australian Shaun Marsh has also been a amongst runs but the other batsmen require to take the centre stage in order to give some boost to Kings XI's batting. They would also be hoping for the bowlers, especially Chawla, to raise their game and deliver. On the other hand, Super Kings will be riding high on confidence following back-to-back victories over Pune Warriors India and Rajasthan Royals before their last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rains. Defending champions though have had mixed fortunes so far in the league with four wins and three losses. But such a situation is not alien to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side. In the last IPL also Super Kings fought back brilliantly by winning seven out of their last nine league matches to qualify for the play offs. South African duo of opener Francois du Plessis and all-rounder Albie Morkel have been key players for the Super Kings with Dhoni himself living up to his reputation of a clinical finisher with the bat. Du Plessis has been a revelation with the bat. But the form of Suresh Raina is matter of grave concern.
The Chennai team, however, will approach the match as favourites. But Dhoni would look for a bit more discipline in the bowling department backed by some sharp fielding. — PTI
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Kashyap qualifies for Olympics after Chen Jin walkover
New Delhi, April 27 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap came into the tournament with over 1000 points behind compatriot Jayaram and needed to win at least two rounds more than Jayaram to leapfrog him for the lone Olympic berth. Jayaram had yesterday lost his second round to Lee Chong Wei. The world number 30 Kashyap had defeated Boonsak Ponsana yesterday to set up a clash with world number four Chen. Kashyap said he was happy with the walkover and was looking forward to the Olympics. "I came prepared for the match but I am happy with the walkover. I came to know about it after the first game of the Jwala-Ashwini match. After the Commonwealth Games, I wanted to play at the Olympics. It was always a dream and I am happy," he told reporters. Chen, who won the Asian Badminton Championship last week, himself was trying to edge past Peter Gade and break into the top four in world ranking to get a chance to compete in the Olympics. Interestingly, last year's runnersup Peter Gade lost today in the quarterfinal, paving the way for Chen to qualify for the Olympics. Among other Indians, rising shuttler PV Sindhu showed indomitable spirit before going down fighting 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 to world number seven Yanjiao Jiang of China in the women's singles quarterfinal. Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also fought hard before going down to third seeded Japanese pair of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-19, 13-21, 14-21. Men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also went down in the quarterfinals to Thai pair of Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit 12-21, 12-21. "In December I was ahead of him (Jayaram) and I never thought it would get so close. He has been ahead of me for the last four months. I got injured during the Syed Modi tournament last December and missed few tournaments and when I came back I played too many tournaments," Kashyap said. Kashyap said his pre-quarterfinal match against higher-ranked Boonsak Ponsana was crucial. "I think the match against Boonsak was crucial. I wouldn't have been here if I would not have won that match." The world number 30 Indian said currently he was looking forward to tomorrow's match. "When I saw Gopi sir play in the India Open in Delhi long time ago, I wanted to play in the finals of India Open and I am looking forward to tomorrow's match. It is a dream to play in the final. I have played my semifinal rival in France. I had lost in three close games," said Kashyap, who will take on World number 17 Wan Ho Shon of Korea. — PTI
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New Delhi, April 27 Sushil defeated Georgia's Otar Tushishvilli 3-0 in the final to qualify for the London Games in a thumping fashion. Sushil had already booked his ticket to London before the title clash when he defeated Andriy Kvyatkovskyy of Ukraine 3-1 in the semifinal. The grappler from Haryana, got a bye in his opening bout before making short work of Radley Umang of Palau in the second round. Sushil then went on to beat Australia's Jayden Alexander Lawrence in the next round to set a semi-final clash against Kvyatkovskyy. Sushil had qualified for the London Olympics in his third attempt. — PTI
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Delhi HC upholds Geetika’s selection
Patiala, April 27 Upholding Geetika’s selection, the HC has directed the WFI to send Geetika for the qualifiers as she was declared winner during the trials.
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Kings XI Punjab would look to put behind the disappointment of their dismal performance against Mumbai Indians in the last game and make amends when they take on Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match, here today.
Cameron White scored a quickfire half century to help Deccan Chargers register their first win in the tournament, beating Pune Warriors by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here yesterday.
New Delhi, April 27
Jayawardene had begun in style, clobbering Malinga for 15 runs in the third over with three boundaries, to set the tone tenor for the feast of runs to come. The Delhi openers found the gaps to make the ball screech to the ropes, time and again, to unsettle the Mumbai bowling. 
A cracker of a contest is on the cards when a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Kolkata Knight Riders in their return leg Indian Premier League fixture at Eden Gardens here tomorrow.
Chennai, April 27