Pune, May 3
Keeping in lne with the thrilling finishes that have been witnessed, Mumbai Indians defeated Pune Warriors by 1 run in an Indian Premier League match here tonight.

Pune, who were chasing a modest target of 121 for a win, were done in by some ordinary batting and a sluggish pitch that made shot-making extremely difficult in the second innings.

For Mumbai, Lasith Malinga was at his usual best, picking important wickets and staying miserly with runs.

Even Munaf Patel, who ended up bowling the last over, was effective and it took a disciplined effort from the Mumbai outfit to restrict Pune from chasing down the required target.

Earlier, Pune Warriors produced a clinical bowling and fielding display to restrict Mumbai Indians to a modest 120 for nine.

Asked to bowl, young Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra shared four wickets between them as Pune bowlers stuck to their task from the onset, barring a few overs in the middle, to stop Mumbai from posting a challenging total at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium.

The bowlers were complemented well by Pune fielders as they inflicted as many as four run outs.

Sachin Tendulkar top-scored for Mumbai a 35-ball 34 and together with James Franklin (25) added 50 runs for the opening stand, which was the only highlight of the visitors' innings.

Electing to bat, Mumbai witnessed a sedate start as the first three overs yielded just seven runs, which included a maiden second over from Ashok Dinda (1/34) to Tendulkar. But Tendulkar settled the score with Dinda and opened the floodgates for Mumbai, hitting the pacer for three consecutive fours to pick up 13 runs of his next over.

Franklin also joined the party soon and welcomed Nehra with a six and two fours to score 14 runs of his opening over.

It took a young Kumar to put the brakes on Mumbai when Franklin top-edged a simple catch to Mithun Manhas at long-on.

New man Rohit Sharma did not trouble the scorers much as he fell victim of a run out. Tendulkar, on the other hand, went about his business in a quiet manner scoring his runs in ones and twos with occasional boundaries in between.

But after a dismal opening over, Nehra made a strong comeback in his second spell and scalped two wickets, which included that of dangerman Tendulkar.

The left-arm pacer tasted a big success in the 12th over when he accounted for a set Tendulkar, who edged one to Robin Uthappa behind the stumps. Nehra then induced a top-edge from Robin Peterson (13) in his next over which Pune skipper Sourav Ganguly gladly accepted at long-off. Ganguly was right on the money with his bowling changes as brought back into the attack in the 15th over, Kumar cleaned up Ambati Rayudu to pick up his second wicket. — Agencies

SCOREBOARD
Mumbai Indians
Franklin c Manhas b Bhuvneshwar 25
Tendulkar c Uthappa b Nehra 34
Rohit run out 3
Peterson c Ganguly b Nehra 13
Karthik not out 18
Rayudu b Bhuvneshwar 1
Perera run out 0
Harbhajan c Parnell b Dinda 0
Malinga run out 14
Ojha run out 1
Extras: (b-1, lb-3, w-5, nb-2) 11
Total: (9 wkts, 20 ovrs) 120
Fall of wickets: 1-50, 2-56, 3-81, 4-88, 5-92, 6-93, 7-93, 8-119, 9-120.
Bowling: Kartik 3-0-27-0, Dinda 4-1-34-1, Parnell 4-0-18-0, Kumar 3-0-9-2, Nehra 4-0-19-2, Clarke 2-0-9-0.

Pune Warriors
Uthappa lbw b Munaf 18
Ryder c Perera b Harbhajan 9
Clarke lbw b Harbhajan 14
Ganguly b Malinga 16
Smith b Ojha 2
Manhas not out 42
Parnell c Peterson b Malinga 2
Bhuvneshwar not out 10
Extras (w 6) 6
Total (6 wkts; 20 ovrs) 119
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-40, 3-44, 4-47, 5-94, 6-105.
Bowling: Malinga 4-0-25-2, Munaf 4-0-24-1, Harbhajan 4-0-18-2, Ojha 4-0-24-1, Franklin 3-0-20-0, Perera 1-0-8-0.

Chennai, May 3
Seeking to end their losing streak at home, Chennai Super Kings will have their task cut out when they take on an improved Deccan Chargers in an Indian Premier League match here tomorrow.

The Super Kings have lost their last two matches at the M A Chidambaram stadium, against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, whereas the Chargers are slowly finding their feet with wins over Pune Warriors at both home and away.

While CSK coach Stephen Fleming and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been insisting that they have got enough depth in both batting and bowling, that did not reflect in their performance in their last two games.

Fleming had commented that it is time his players clicked. In the initial stages of the tournament, Chennai had South African stars Frau Du Plessis, Albie Morkel and Tamil Nadu's S Badrinath contributing to the team’s cause.

But Dhoni and Suresh Raina's lack of form seem to have exposed the chinks in the middle-order. On the other hand, though placed at the bottom of the table, the Chargers' morale got a boost after wins over Pune. CSK may appear a better side on paper, but the Chargers have the wherewithal and the combination to beat the struggling hosts. — PTI

Patiala, May 3
It was a day that saw too much confusion for anyone’s good, but thankfully it ended with a smile on woman grappler Geetika Jakhar’s face.

While the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was busy filing a petition in the Delhi High Court, pleading that since Geetika was not getting her visa, they should be allowed to take Anita for the tournament, Geetika’s visa issue got resolved after the intervention of Sports Minister Ajay Maken, who according to sources took up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs.

Delighted Geeta who will board the flight tomorrow morning said it was like a dream come true. “I was in a limbo the whole day as there was no certainty about my visa. “Finally when I got the visa around 2.30 pm, I already felt like a winner. Now, I will board the flight tomorrow morning and join my fellow players in Helsinki as they have already left today morning,’ she laughed.

Thanking the Sports Minister and the External Affairs Ministry, her father Satbir Singh Jakhar said he was happy that her daughter will now be able to at least get a chance to live her dream. “We didn’t know how to react when we got to know that around 11 am, the WFI rather than taking up the issue of Geetika’s visa filed a petition in the Court seeking permission to allow the federation to take Anita for the Qualifier stating that she had not got the visa.

They argued that in that case, the chances of their winning the slot in 63-weight category would be over. The Court then directed their advocate to come at 3.30 pm. We then decided to directly meet the Sports Minister as we were not left with any option because of the callous attitude of the WFI. He assured us that the visa would be granted and within just 2 hours, Geetika was granted visa. I am really thankful to the minister for his cooperation,” he added.

Hoping that Geetika will win a berth for herself in the last qualifier, Jakhar said I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have full faith in her,” he added.

Madrid, May 3
Real Madrid claimed their first Spanish title in four years, ending the reign of bitter rivals Barcelona to boot, as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 for what is their 32nd league crown.

Gonzalo Higuain, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals to give Jose Mourinho a record-breaking four titles in four different countries and the victory required with two games remaining. Mourinho's first Spanish league title ended Barca's run of three successive league titles in his second season at the club.

Madrid needed to win after Barcelona had earlier beaten Malaga 4-1 with goals from Carles Puyol and a hat-trick from Lionel Messi that saw him break Gerd Muller's record for goals in a single European season.

Afterwards the players jubilantly celebrated on the San Mames pitch as the first visiting team to ever win a title in Athletic's stadium. "It's been a long hard season but we've finally done it and I just hope it's the first of many with this young squad, we dedicate it to the fans," said captain Iker Casillas on the final whistle.

"We're very happy," said Sergio Ramos, who last Wednesday had experienced vastly different emotions when he missed a penalty in the Champions League semi-final shootout defeat by Bayern Munich.

"It's been a tough league and Barca were an extraordinary rival, we'll enjoy it now and celebrate it with our fans." Higuain was quick to dismiss any talk for now about his future, after being linked to Paris Saint-Germain in the last week. — AFP

New Delhi, May 3
Two-time champions India will play against Sri Lanka in their opening match of the 7th Junior Men’s Asia Cup Hockey Tournament, starting at Malacca tomorrow. Eight teams have been divided into two pools and according to the draw, India have been placed in Pool B, along with Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka. Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Iran make up Pool A.

Indian Coach Baljeet Singh Saini is confident that the India team will make a strong start in the tournament. “Our initial target is to make it to the semifinals, and from there on it is a question of progressing all the way to the title”, said Baljeet.

“The team have prepared well and are raring to go. I am confident that the players have the ability to do well in this tournament.” he added.

India won the last two editions of the tournament held at Karachi and Chennai in 2004 and 2008, respectively. This tournament will be the qualifier for the FIH Junior World Cup, to be held in 2013. Striker Akashdeep Singh leads the team while defender Amit Rohidas is the vice-captain. 

Chandigarh, May 3
Pawan Kumar Tinu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sports & Youth Services visited the Head Quarters of Punjab Sports Department today. He was introduced to the officers and employees on the occasion. He said Punjab Government was giving utmost importance to sports, so that the youth of the State could be involved in this field, which would also help to wean them away from the menace of drugs. He had detailed information of the sechems of the Sports Department and assured flow of funds for them. He stressed upon the officers and employees of the department to work with full dedication.

He further said that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had given special attention to the field of sports. Diet money for residential players had been enhanced from Rs. 120 to Rs. 200 per day and for day scholars, it will be increased from Rs.60 to Rs.100 shortly.

He also directed the officers of the Department to complete the construction/ upgradation of stadiums well in time. S. L. Lotey, Deputy Director Sports introduced Tinu to all staff members. Jasvirpal Kaur, A.D.S. and Sh. Rakesh Sharma, O.S.D. were also present on the occassion.