Jaipur, April 29
Sanju Samson smashed his way to a superb 63 and Brad Hodge conjured up a crucial 32-run cameo as Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to humble formidable Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in a thrilling domestic T20 league match.

Riding on a number of small contributions, specially R Vinay Kumar's final-over assault during which he smashed birthday boy James Faulkner for three sixes, Bangalore posted a challenging 171 for six after asked to bat.

No batsman played a big knock as Chris Gayle top-scored for RCB with a 16-ball 34 but at least four top-order batsmen score more than 20 runs for Bangalore.

Rajasthan responded to the challenge positively with wicket-keeper batsman Samson, who replaced Dishant Yagnik, taking the fight into the rival camp with a blistering knock, laced with nine boundaries, including two sixes.

After Samson's dismissal, Hodge's 18-ball 32 and Shane Watson's patient 41-run knock guided the hosts to win with one ball to spare as Rajasthan remain unbeaten at home.

Right from his arrival at the crease, upon dismissal of Ajinkya Rahane, Samson dealt in boundaries. The hosts were 45 for one in six overs but Samson brought his side back with his run-spree. At half-way mark he guided the side to 80 for two although hosts, lost skipper Rahul Dravid (22) in between.

Watson played a second fiddle and was in good touch as his drives, both grounded and uppish, were struck firmly. Samson became the youngest batsman to score a fifty in IPL at the age of 18 when he hit a crushing boundary off RP Singh in the cover area. Watson smashed the same bowler over his head as the hosts reached 115 for two in 14 overs.

Samson was dismissed by Ravi Rampaul but it only got better for the hosts as Hodge came up with a match-winning cameo. The Australian along with his compatriot Watson sent the Bangalore bowlers to leather hunt. — PTI

Mumbai, April 29
Led by captain Rohit Sharma who blasted 79 off 39 balls, Mumbai Indians beat Kings XI Punjab by four runs in a thrilling contest in Mumbai on Monday.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma in red-hot form on Monday. — PTI

Kings XI Punjab needed five runs off the last ball but Praveen Kumar holed out to Sachin Tendulkar in the covers and brought an end to the nail-biting contest.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians racked up a challenging 174/3. Rohit blasted three sixers and two fours in the last over as Mumbai Indians racked up 35 runs in the last two overs, and 72 in the last five overall. Kieron Pollard remained unbeaten on a relatively sedate 20, off 21 balls.

Earlier, Sachin Tendulkar had failed yet again when he made nine off 10 balls. Tendulkar was bowled out by Praveen Kumar in the third over when, attempting to drive, he got an inside edge to his pad and stumps.

Dwayne Smith made 33 off 32 balls, quite slow by T20 standards, as he and Dinesh Karthik put up 32 for the second wicket off 30 balls. The partnership ended when Karthik, having scored 25 off 19 balls (2x4, 1x6), was bowled by Manpreet Gony.

Rohit Sharma’s advent increased the scoring rate as he and Smith added 43 for the third wicket off just 28 balls.

Smith was removed by Piyush Chawla when the batsman, trying to attack a flighted, widish ball, could not reach it and only skied it to long-on.

Scoreboard

Mumbai Indians

Smith c Miller b Chawla 33
Tendulkar b Kumar 9
Karthik b Gony 25
Rohit not out 79
Pollard not out 20

Extras: 8
Total (3 wkts in 20 ovs) 174
Fall of wickets: 1/11 2/43 3/86

Bowling: Praveen 4-0-24-1; Azhar 4-0-32-0; Parvinder 4-0-16-0; Gony 4-0-43-1; Chawla 2-0-24-1; Hussey 2-0-32-0.

Kings XI pUNJAB

Mandeep b Malinga 9
Marsh c Pollard b Ojha 10
Vohra c Pollard b Johnson 1
Hussey c Johnson b Ojha 34
Miller c Tendulkar b Johnson 56
Gurkeerat c Smith b Harbhajan 2
Azhar c Karthik b Harbhajan 9
Gony c Karthik b Harbhajan 0
Chawla c Rayudu b Kulkarni 12
Praveen c Tendulkar b Kulkarni 24
Awana not out 0

Extras: 13
Total (all out; 20 ovs) 170
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-16, 3-55, 4-76, 5-79, 6-110, 7-111, 8-132, 9-149, 10-170

Bowling: Johnson 4-0-29-2; Malinga 4-0-39-1; Kulkarni 4-0-44-2; Ojha 3-0-22-2; Harbhajan 4-0-14-3; Pollard 1-0-15-0.

The widow of Naunidh Singh receivse his award from Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal

Chandigarh, April 29
The Punjab Government and the Sports Department, waking up after an eight-year slumber, finally rewarded 67 outstanding sportspersons from the state who excelled in sport between the years 2005 and 2010.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal launched a major initiative to provide job security to the outstanding players by setting aside 125 jobs every year exclusively for national and international Players.

Addressing the players in a glittering function organised to confer Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, Badal said that most of the players, today, were looking for job security. "Deputy CM Sukbir Badal gave me a proposal of at least 125 jobs in different categories for the players, annually and it stands passed in principal".

Advising players not to leave sports after joining service, Badal said that they should dedicate first five years of their service to promote their games and nurture talent in the villages. He also requested veteran players to adopt at least one village for promotion of sports for which State Government would provide them total support.

Earlier addressing the sportspersons, the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said Punjab would setup Institute of Sports Excellence at Mohali next month. As many as 67 outstanding sportspersons from different sports disciplines were conferred the highest state sports award.

‘I deserve award, too’

The CM said that politics also is a most difficult game. "I surely deserve the award myself particularly in context of the heightened vendetta in politics. Leaders of opposite parties are only viewed as enemies".

The winners

New Delhi, April 29
The final Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in June in England and Wales, is to be picked by the national selectors here on May 4, the BCCI announced on Monday.

The five-man selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil will prune the list of 30 probables already selected to half its size for the June 6-23 tournament. The selectors had dropped senior players Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh when they picked the probables on April 6, but have the option to choose players from outside the list, according to an ICC source.

India and South Africa are scheduled to kick off the contest on June 6 at the Sophia Gardens at Cardiff, Wales in a Group B match. India are to take on the West Indies at the Kennington Oval in London on June 11 and then conclude the four-team group engagement on June 15 against arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka form Group A. The top two teams from each group would progress to the semi-finals scheduled on June 19 and 20 at the Kennington Oval and Sophia Gardens respectively with the winners advancing to the June 23 final to be played at Edgbaston.

— PTI

London, April 29
T he County Championship's relevance in an era dominated by Twenty20 whambam is in the spotlight again. It has its problems, writes Stephen Brenkley after a trip round the grounds, but is still high on quality, much-loved and well watched.

The three young men stood out from the crowd. They could hardly have been more conspicuous had they invaded a pensioners' whist drive with an Xbox."I asked a lot of people if they wanted to come today and very few were remotely bothered," said Sam Walsh. "They're used to me by now wanting to come and watch the cricket and particularly Yorkshire but it's not something that most people have an interest in."

His pal in the seat next door, Alex Mazzon, also huddled up against the bracing wind, echoed him. “I don't think it's something you can grow into. I don't know many people who have been converted to cricket over the last couple of years.”

Sam, Alex and Luke Farrant, the third member of the triumvirate who paid £15 each for entry, are second-year students at Newcastle University.

They broke their academic shackles on Wednesday to watch Durham play Yorkshire on the first day of the County Championship First Division match at the Emirates International Cricket Ground in Chester-le-Street.

In some ways, it could have been a parody of what those who do not follow county cricket imagine it to be like. The ground was perhaps a fifth full, spectators under the age of 30 were difficult to spot, the majority of them looked over 60 and the woollen blanket took on the guise of a fashion item.The County Championship in April 2013 is facing its perennial questions: what precisely is it for, who watches it, does it have a place in the modern world? These are usually posed by those who have no proper concept of where it came from or what it still stands for, people like Sam Walsh and Alex Mazzon's university mates.

Perhaps surprisingly, Gordon Hollins is sympathetic. "It's not an unreasonable question," he said. "I can imagine especially non-cricket fans see a cocktail of cricket and ask where does that one fit because nobody appears to watch it in their eyes. I get that. Where does it fit?"Hollins is the managing director of the professional game for the England and Wales Cricket Board, charged among other things with trying to find a lasting solution to that conundrum. Some of his difficulties lie not in the fact that the Championship is moribund - attendances and passing interest demonstrate that - but in the perception of it by outsiders.

The print media has drastically reduced its coverage in the last five years partly because of the cost of covering the four days of a match in straitened times for the newspaper industry, partly because it is in thrall to football, partly because of crazy scheduling which has seen the competition split recently into distinct halves which means it is half complete by the end of May. But this tends to undermine the truth that there is still immense affection for a sporting institution which is in essence part of the fabric of English (and Welsh, let us not forget) society. It remains a breeding ground for Test cricket but it is a high-class tournament in its own right.

The idea that nobody watches it is as old as it is fanciful.There was a boom in crowds immediately after the Second World War but throughout the 1930s Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 150 years old this year, was littered with references to declining attendances.

In 1938, Gubby Allen, former England captain and one of the game's grandees for half a century until his death in 1989, wrote: "It is common knowledge that in recent years there has been a serious falling-off in the receipts of county cricket. I do not believe, as many people do, that this is due to the increase of counter-attractions." (He actually thought it was boring cricket.)Relevance is haunting the Championship now as it was then and as it did in 1963 when the first one-day knockout competition, then the Gillette Cup, was introduced to try to stem the tide. There is, however, an innate tendency to worry for the sake of it. Although affected by dreadful weather last summer, attendances in 2011 were 530,000, almost 10 per cent up on the previous season. In last year's survey of players by the Professional Cricketers' Association, 91% of 277 respondents ranked the Championship as the most important competition - and this when most of them have been brought up on the wham-bam of Twenty20.

— The Independent

New Delhi, April 29
The early exit of top seed Saina Nehwal was a great disappointment not only for the Badminton Association of India (BAI) officials, but also for the general public, who had thronged in large numbers to see her in action.

Women in veil, carrying toddlers, with children tagging, mostly from Haryana, were a common sight inside the Siri Fort stadium when Saina was playing in the third India Open Badminton Super Series. Though the interest of the fans was sustained to a large extent due to the presence of Indian players in the fray up to the semi-final stage, and also the presence of some truly world class foreign stars, the spectator response would have been bigger, had Saina lasted the distance.

Though Saina Nehwal rides on two horses, being a domicile of Hyderabad and a native of Haryana, and has accepted cash awards from both the Andhra Pradesh and Haryana Governments for her international medal hauls (like shooter Gagan Narang), leaving her loyalty to any particular State open ended, she seems to have hugely inspired folks back home in Haryana, as had been done by boxer Vijender Singh and wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt — all Olympic medallists.

Chandigarh, April 29
Smiling his way to success, SSP Chowrasia is one of the calmest and most composed professional golfers to emerge from the Indian tour. No wonder, he has been successful on the European Tour - one of the toughest to play on - with its out of the way venues and harsh climate conditions.

Last week he was amongst just three Indians that made the cut at the Ballantines Championship in Korea and finished the week tied 11th at six-under-par. "I owe a lot to this game and really enjoy myself on the golf course. I am happy with my finish last week and hope to continue playing well," said Chowrasia in true sportsman spirit. Jyoti Randhawa finished a stroke behind, at seven-under-par and tied 17th while Shiv Kupur tied 31st with a total of two-under-par.

The tournament was won by Australian Bret Rumford who eagled the first playoff hole to take home the winners cheque of 367,500 euros. His immediate plan after winning was to fly back home to celebrate wife's birthday today and what better gift than the winners cheque. The Asian and European Tour action now heads to the Volvo China Open in Tianjin. Amidst the huge star line up is the youngest golfer to qualify for this event, 12-year-old schoolboy Ye Wo-Cheng. His coach, David Watson has said,"this boy impresses me everyday," and their plan for him includes winning every amateur tournament the youngster plays by a ten stroke margin, ahead of his nearest competitor.

Chinese golfers already rule the Asian Tour and will soon be making their presence felt in large numbers, all over the world. With 14-year-old Guan Tian-Lang qualifying and making the cut at the Masters and now this 12-year-old making history by becoming the youngest player to qualify for an European Tour event, it remains to be seen where they strike next.

Amongst the Indians, Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Chowrasia will be a part of the star line up. Jeev will be looking to recreate some magic as he won this event in 2006 and then went on to win the Volvo Masters later that year. "I have wonderful associations with Volvo and am looking forward to a good week here," said Jeev.

On the PGA Tour Billy Horschel won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a total of 20-under-par. The only Indian on the PGA tour, Arjun Atwal is currently playing the Web.com Tour and finished 65th in the South Georgia Classic last week.

Closer to home, the Jaypee Greens Open on the PGTI Tour was won by Delhi's Manav Jaini. Mukesh Kumar was in the fray for the title yet again but had to be content with a second place finish this time.

Chandigarh's Harendra P Gupta finished fourth, Abhijit Singh Chadha was 18th and Ranjit Singh was tied 29th for the week. Harendra, who has been playing well so far this season said, “I am happy with my performance this week and hope to continue playing well. It is always good to be in contention.” After a free week, the professionals will be off to Nepal for the truly loved Surya Nepal Masters, a tournament that offers good golf, a scenic golf course and enough activities off the course. But more on that next week.

St Petersburg, April 29
World Champion Viswanathan Anand got off to a good start in the second leg of Alekhine Memorial Chess Tournament by holding Vladimir Kramnik for an easy draw in the sixth round that concluded here.

Ending the Paris leg on a high with a victory against Ding Liren of China, Anand has every reason to cheer with the result against Kramnik as in the remaining three rounds the Indian ace will get two white games.

Anand was aggressive with black against Kramnik and went for the Semi Slav, Russian system. Kramnik got nothing out of the opening and his attempts at complications resulted in winning the queen for a rook and minor piece. However, Anand’s position remained solid all through the game and even with the queen it was almost impossible to look for a breakthrough.

Much unlike the Paris half, there was not as much excitement and for the first time in the tournament all the five games ended in draws leaving the standings unchanged.

With three rounds to come, Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagraev leads with four points, followed by Boris Gelfand of Israel, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Laurent Fressinet of France and Michael Adams of England, who all have 3.5 points apiece. Anand is sole sixth with three points.— PTI

Madrid, April 29
As they contemplate how to overturn a 4-1 deficit to reach the Champions League final, nine-times European Cup winners Real Madrid are taking inspiration from a similar feat against Derby County four decades ago.

The Spanish giants were caught cold by Borussia Dortmund in their semi-final first leg last week, when, despite being one of the favourites to step out at Wembley on May 25, they were left on the brink of a surprise elimination.

Since their return to Spain, Real have delved into their extensive archives to dig up past examples of heroic fightbacks to convince fans and players of Tuesday's second-leg possibilities.

Real have overturned an identical scoreline once before in Europe's elite club competition, against Derby in 1975.

Charlie George scored a hat-trick for the English champions in a 4-1 second-round triumph at the Baseball Ground, and he scored again in the return leg at the Bernabeu.

However, a Real side which included current Spain boss Vicente del Bosque levelled the tie to force extra time, and striker Santillana struck a 100th-minute decider for a famous 5-1 victory, to progress 6-5 on aggregate.

Much of Real's hope of a comeback rests with Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the city derby against Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday, when a second-string side triumphed 2-1 at the Calderon.

Ronaldo is the Champions League's leading scorer with 12 goals and has netted 51 times in 50 games for his club so far this season, but picked up a muscle problem in Dortmund and trained apart from the group again on Sunday.

Real will be wary of launching a cavalry charge at a Dortmund side unbeaten on their travels in Europe this year as it would leave their shaky defence even more exposed than usual.

They have the leakiest backline of the four teams remaining with 18 goals conceded, and have kept only one clean sheet in the competition so far.

The second leg is also a challenge to Real coach Jose Mourinho's prestige as failure to progress from a third successive Champions League semi-final would test the patience of club president Florentino Perez. — Reuters

Florida, April 29
Michael Jordan got married over the weekend in front of a few hundred of his family and closest friends. The Charlotte Bobcats owner exchanged vows with 35-year-old former model Yvette Prieto on Saturday in Palm Beach, Florida, Jordan's manager Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press Sunday.

The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea with nearly 300 guests in attendance, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee and Ahmad Rashad. The ceremony was followed by a reception at the Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida, a luxurious private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus. Jordan, 50, owns a home near the course.

There were fireworks at night as part of the celebration. In lieu of wedding gifts, donations were made to the James R. Jordan Foundation. The wedding flowers were donated to the Jupiter Medical Center.

The six-time NBA champion and Prieto met five years ago and were engaged last December. Prieto wore a French silk voile corseted sheer sheath gown by J'Aton Couture, in an ecru palette with accents of flesh tones, with handmade silk lace created especially for her, and enhanced with Swarovski crystals. The gown featured French seamed crinoline borders, which cascaded into a dramatic cathedral train finished in the lace, with accents of a peacock-feathered design. The couple and their guests were entertained by DJ MC Lyte, singers K'Jon, Robin Thicke and Grammy-Award winner Usher and The Source, an 18-piece band.

Everyone enjoyed an all-white, seven-layer white rum wedding cake that was covered in white fondant and sugar crystals, and adorned with crystal brooches and the couples' monogram on the top layer. Guests sat at tables that were a continuous candle-lit landscape with a myriad of crystal candelabras. — AP

BRIEFLY

Gareth Bale named English PFA player of the year
London: Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale became only the third man to be named the English Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) player of the year and young player of the year in the same season on Sunday. The 23-year-old Wales international, who also won the main award in 2011, has scored 19 Premier League goals this season. He took the main award ahead of second-placed Suarez, last year's winner Van Persie and fellow nominees Manchester United's Michael Carrick and Chelsea pair Eden Hazard and Juan Mata. Bale joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Mark Hughes in earning the main award twice.

Bangladesh level Zimbabwe series with fourth Test win
Harare: Ziaur Rahman led the Bangladesh attack with four wickets as they completed a 143-run win over Zimbabwe on Monday to draw the two-match series 1-1 and gain revenge for their mauling in the first Test. Set a target of 401 runs to win in their second innings at the Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 257 just before tea on day five to hand Bangladesh only their fourth Test victory. Hamilton Masakadza provided the only real resistance as he finished unbeaten on 111. Brief scores: Bangladesh 391 & 291/9 decl; Zimbabwe 282 & 257 (H Masakadza 111; Rehman 4/63)

Haryana to face defending champions Railways in final
New Delhi: Defending champions Railways and last year's runners-up Haryana set-up the final clash after defeating Jharkand and Punjab respectively in the semifinals of the 3rd Hockey India Senior Women National Championship here at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadiumin Lucknow on Monday. While Haryana beat Punjab 3-1, Railways edged Jharkhand 2-1. For Haryana, Narinder, Reena Devi and Udita were the goalscorers. In the other semifinal match, Laurenua Kerketta scored two goals in the 30th and 34th minutes for Railways.