Chennai, May 4
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings broke their string of home defeats as they won by 10 runs against Deccan Chargers in their Indian Premier League match here tonight.

Set a target of 161, Deccan lost Parthiv Patel early on, but Shikhar Dhawan and Cameroon White carried on. While Dhawan threw away his good start, White went from strength to strength, as he scored a brilliant 77, before being run out. And with his wicket, the Deccan chase lost steam. Though Dan Christian tried his hand at hitting out, it was a case of too little, too late. This win brings Chennai back into the top four, albeit it may just be a temporary high, as they have played a game extra.

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings’ top-order fired in unison as they posted a challenging 160 for six.

Electing to bat, Chennai rode on the contributions of opener F du Plessis (42), Suresh Raina (32) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (34) but the hosts lost the advantage of a strong start at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here.

After scoring 100 for two in 11.5 overs, Chennai failed to maintain the momentum and could fetch only 36 runs in the last five overs.

For Deccan, V P Singh was the peak of their bowlers as he scalped two wickets for 35 runs. But speedstar Dale Steyn of South Africa and Australian Daniel Christian also bowled well in the death to keep things under control. Among others, AA Jhunjhunwala, Ashish Reddy and Amit Mishra took one wicket each.

Earlier, opener Murali Vijay (14) gave Chennai a positive start but he failed to capitalise on the start and was sent packing in the third over by VP Singh.

Newman Suresh Raina (32) and opener F du Plessis (42), however, ensured they keep the momentum going and amassed 56 runs in the first six overs en route to their first wicket stand of 64 runs off 44 balls.

Raina looked dangerous initially and was particularly harsh on VP Singh when he blasted him for a four and two consecutive sixes in the fifth over.

du Plessis, who was dropped in the same over by Amit Mishra, too played some handsome strokes, including a four off Steyn in the fourth over, a flick through fine-leg off Christian and a six off Mishra in the eighth over.

However, Mishra made up for the lost opportunity when he had Raina caught at the boundary line by Jhunjhunwala in the 10th over to break the rampaging parnership.

Skipper Dhoni and du Plessis then brought up the team hundred in 11.5 overs before the opener was sent packing by VP Singh in the 14th over.

Looking for a big hit, du Plessis danced down the pitch but he failed to connect his pull and ended up giving a catch to Shikar Dhawan at deep midwicket.

Jhunjhunwala then struck another blow when he cleaned up Albie Morkel (13) with a quicker one in the next over. The Chargers further tightened things up in the next overs with Steyn and Christian not giving any space to the Chennai batsman to open their arms. — Agencies

SCOREBOARD

Chennai Super Kings

Plessis c Dhawan b Pratap 42

Vijay c Mishra b Pratap 14

Raina c Jhunjhunwala

b Mishra 32

Dhoni b Christian 34

Albie b Jhunjhunwala 13

Jadeja c Sangakara b Reddy 4

Bravo not out 12

Badrinath not out 1

Extras: (lb-5, w-2, nb-1) 8

Total (6 wkts, 20 ovrs) 160

Fall Of Wickets: 1-15, 2-79, 3-109, 4-124, 5-142, 6-147.

Bowling: Ankit 2-0-13-0, Steyn 4-0-25-0, Pratap 3-0-35-2, Christian 4-0-35-1, Jhunjhunwala 3-0-13-1, Mishra 2-0-18-1, Reddy 2-0-16-1.

Deccan Chargers

Parthiv b Albie 1

Dhawan run out 36

White run out 77

Sangakkara c & b Raina 1

Christian not out 28

Reddy c Vijay b Hilfenhaus 3

Jhunjhunwala not out 1

Extras (lb 1, w 2) 3

Total (5 wkts, 20 ovrs) 150

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-77, 3-85, 4-135, 5-148.

Bowling: Hilfenhaus 4-0-31-1, Albie 3-0-16-1, Bravo 4-0-35-0, Ashwin 3-0-19-0, Jakati 2-0-17-0, Raina 1-0-5-1, Jadeja 3-0-26-0.

Mohali, May 4
How things can change in sport! When the Indian Premier League started about a month ago, the Rajasthan Royals were on an unmatched crescendo. There was nothing that they could do wrong, and in that zone that had thumped Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur. The Kings on the other hand, were struggling to score the runs, and stop oppositions from scoring them. So as the team’s square off tomorrow in Mohali, let’s turn our attention to what seems like the second half of the story!

Kings XI Punjab have roared back into form. Shaun Marsh, Mandeep Singh, David Hussey and Nitin Saini have all made runs. Piyush Chawla is among the highest wicket takers in the IPL, Praveen Kumar has made men like Chris Gayle hop around and about, and their fielding standards have raised the bar more than a few notches. No wonder, they are sitting pretty in the top four, with an eye on a place in the play-offs.

The Rajasthan Royals, despite Ajinkya Rahane still going strong, are struggling and their position, eighth in the table, is testimony to that. They have started well, but fumbled in the middle overs, not fired in the final few. The bowling suddenly looks like it has lost teeth and the bowlers have lost their ebb.

The buzz word, though, in both camps is a common one… momentum. For Kings XI, who will still be without captain Adam Gilchrist, the key will be to get the basics right once again. They would also want to improve upon their home record. Their current success is down to their form on the road, and they would want some of that to rub on in Mohali as well.

Gilchrist also spoke about getting the combinations right, and how that has been the key to it all. “We have been looking at various combinations, and with 10 games into the season, all sides are expected to know what works for them and how. As per any changes to this combination when I am fit, well, that has to wait till I am actually cleared to play. But yes, we will have to give it some careful consideration.”

It was Ajinkya Rahane who turned out to be the deciding factor last time around. And the Kings will be wary of his and the latest addition, Shane Watson’s threat, at home too. But even in its shortest format, cricket is still a team game. Eleven players, who give a collective output, will more often than not beat a team with a brilliant 10+1 combination. 

Patiala, May 4
Weightlifters Katulu Ravi Kumar (69 kg) and Ngangbam Soniya Chanu (48 kg) have been picked up by the Selection Committee of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to represent India in the forthcoming London Olympics. They have been selected against the two Olympic slots- one each for men and women- bagged by the Indian squad during the last Olympic Qualifier- 43rd men and 23rd Women Senior Asian Weightlifting Championship that recently concluded at South Korea on April 30.

Giving information in this regard, Secretary General of the IWF Sahdev Yadav informed that the decision is based on their world ranking as both the players enjoy the highest rank among their Indian counterparts. He informed that while Ravi Kumar is ranked 10th in the world, N Sonia Chanu also enjoys the best ranking in India.

Expressing delight over this achievement, their chief coach Jaswant Singh, who has recently quit the camp after the qualifier due to some domestic problems, said Indian players had performed remarkably during the last Qualifier as a result of which weightlifters will be able to make their presence felt at Olympics. It is all the more important for men as they have bagged an Olympic spot after a long gap of 12 years. They last participated in Sydney Olympics 2000.

He further informed that while Indian women accrued 93 points and stood 4th in the qualifier, men managed to win 5th place with 134 points. Based on their ranking, India won one slot each in men and women category. 

Kolkata, May 4
Sourav Ganguly's Pune Warriors may have lost four matches in a row but they would find themselves at 'home' as loyalties will be split when they face Kolkata Knight Riders in an emotionally-charged up IPL contest here tomorrow.

The stakes for the match are high with die-hard Ganguly fans rooting for the contest as a revenge for city's icon after being snubbed by his former franchise following a bitter association for the first three seasons.

From celebrities and experts to commoners, everybody is eagerly waiting to see the former India skipper lead the side from the visitor's dressing room at the Eden Gardens, a venue where he grew up as a cricketer. But going by the form book, all is not well for Ganguly's soldiers, while the Knight Riders are on the right track to seal the last-four berth, placed comfortably in the second spot of the IPL ladder.

Having lost six of their last seven games with their latest defeat last night to Mumbai Indians, Ganguly and Co are languishing ahead of bottom-placed Deccan Chargers. But the match at Ganguly's home, aided by the partisan crowd, could give Pune the opportunity to make a comeback.

Their defeat by the narrowest of margin — one run — at their backyard yesterday has compounded Ganguly's misery. Chasing a mere 121, Ganguly's creepy-crawly innings meant that Pune slowly made the task difficult even as a well-played Mithun Manhas remained unbeaten at the other end with a doughty 42. Ganguly looked woefully out of sorts in his 12 from 22 balls, unable to earn anything more than the difficult singles. He showed glimpses of old when he lifted Lasith Malinga up for a boundary but only to be bowled in the same over for a 24-ball 16 with the asking rate climbing to nine. — PTI