Dubai, April 25
Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in his first match for Delhi Daredevils as Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a brilliant batting show by Aaron Finch and David Warner to notch up a narrow four-run win in Dubai on Friday.

Electing to bat, Hyderabad scored a formidable 184 for one with Aaron (88) and Warner (58) stitching a 128-run stand for the unconquered second wicket and then restricted Delhi to 180 for four to record their first win of the season at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Chasing a stiff target of 185 for a win, Delhi were on course at 86 for no loss at the end of first 10 overs but ran out of steam once openers Quinton de Kock (48) and Murali Vijay (52) were out in successive overs, 12th and 13th, respectively.

J.P. Duminy (20 off 7 balls) and Manoj Tiwary (23 off 13 balls) made a last-ditch effort but in vain. Their valiant effort took the game down to the wire but the asking rate had gone too high for the duo to take their side to victory.

Daredevils captain Pietersen, who made it to the playing eleven after recovering from a finger injury, struggled in his first match this season as he looked rusty and tentative, before falling for 16 in the 17th over.

Coming out to bat at number three in the 12th over at the fall of de Kock, Pietersen, who was bought by Delhi for a whopping Rs 9 crores, took four balls to open his account and then could not hit a boundary for 13 deliveries when the team needed them to bring down the asking rate.

By the time, he opened up with a six off Darren Sammy in the penultimate ball of the 16th over, the asking rate has shot up to over 14 runs.

In fact, Delhi lost momentum in the five overs between 12th and 16th when Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik (15) were batting. Both fell in successive balls in the 17th over off the bowling of fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Delhi needed 49 from the last three overs and Tiwary and Duminy hit a flurry of fours and sixes to give themselves a chance. Delhi needed 20 runs from the final over but Duminy and Tiwary could score only 15 to lose the match by four runs.

For Hyderabad, Steyn took two wickets for 33 runs while Karn Sharma and Darren Sammy got one apiece.

Earlier, Finch and Warner broke through the shackles with facile unbeaten fifties as Hyderabad posted an impressive 184 for one.

Hyderabad were stifled in the first half of the match before Finch and Warner put up an 128-run partnership to infuse life into their team's effort which looked ordinary to start with.

Delhi, boosted by the return of their regular captain Kevin Pietersen, put up a decent performance with the ball in the first 10 overs with spinner Shahbaz Nadeem producing economical figures of 4-0-24-1.

However, Finch and Warner broke through following the dismissal of Hyderabad skipper Shikhar Dawan (33) to steer the team to a formidable total.

The Australian pair put together an unbroken second wicket stand, which came off 82 deliveries.

Finch was the more destructive of the two, smacking Jaydev Unadkat for 18 runs in just four deliveries of the 18th over, which yielded 21 in all. Unadkat was, in fact, the most expensive Delhi bowler, conceding 43 runs in his four barren overs.

In fact, barring Nadeem, all of Delhi's bowlers came in for severe thrashing with strike pacer Mohammed Shami ending up with figures of 0/36 in his four overs.

Dhawan and Finch gave Hyderabad a steady start by collecting 56 runs for the first wicket. Even though the pace of scoring was not too high but it set the platform for Finch and Warner to go on a rampage. While Finch struck eight fours and four sixes, Warner smashed three boundaries and an equal number of hits over the fence. — PTI

Scoreboard
Sunrisers Hyderabad

Dhawan c Pietersen b Nadeem 33 (22)

A Finch not out 88(53)

D Warner not out 58 (45)

Extras: ((lb 3, w 2) 5

Total: (1 wicket; 20 overs) 184

Fall of wickets: 1-56

Bowling

M Shami 4-0-36-0

W Parnell 4-0-38-0

J Unadkat 4-0-43-0

J Duminy 2-0-19-0

R Shukla 2-0-21-0

Delhi Daredevils

Q de Kock c Finch b Sharma 48 (30)

M Vijay c Steyn b Sammy 52 (40)

K Pietersen c Sammy b Steyn 16 (17)

D Karthik c Rahul b Steyn 15 (14)

J Duminy not out 20 (7)

M Tiwary not out 23 (13)

Extras (lb 3, w 2, nb 1) 6

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 180

Fall of wickets: 1-99, 2-103, 3-135, 4-135

Bowling

B Kumar 4-0-40-0

D Steyn 4-0-33-2

V Rao 1-0-9-0

K Sharma 4-0-23-1

D Sammy 3-0-34-1

A Mishra 4-0-38-0

MoM: Aaron Finch

Gimcheon, April 25
Teen sensation PV Sindhu and the pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were today assured of bronze medals after reaching their respective semifinals in the singles and doubles events of the prestigious Asian Badminton Championship on Friday.

World number 10 Sindhu took close to an hour to outwit Ongbumrungpan Busanan 14-21 21-13 21-10 to stretch her head-to-head record against the Thailand girl to 3-0, at the Gimcheon Indoor Stadium.

The 18-year-old, who had won the bronze medal at the World Championship last year, will next look to avenge her India Super Series loss to China’s Shixian Wang, the two-time reigning All England Champion.

In the women’s doubles competition, Commonwealth Games gold medallist combo of Jwala and Ashwini, who had won the bronze at the 2011 London World Championship and also represented India at the 2012 Olympics, today notched up a 21-12 21-12 win over Malaysian pair of Anscelly Amelia Alicia and Soong Fie Cho in a 40-minute match.

In the men’s singles, R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, however, suffered a heartbreak. The rising Indian shuttler played his heart out before losing 24-22 9-21 13-21 to Liu Kai of China in a match that lasted an hour.

Sindhu faltered with her smashes in the first game and made a few errors as Busanan took the game away to put the Indian on the backfoot.

Down 8-10 in the second game, Sindhu produced cross court smashes and played well at the nets too, even as Busanan made a lot of errors. In the third game, Sindhu dominated right from start and comfortably closed the door on her rival.

“Overall, it was a good match. Sindhu played very well apart from the first game. From the second game onwards, she was up and her smashes also improved and she dominated the third game,” said national coach Pullela Gopichand.

Sindhu’s father Ramana was confident that Sindhu would be able to avenge her loss to Shixian on Saturday.

“I am sure she will play well tomorrow and beat Shixian. She is world No 2 but I think Sindhu knows what she has to do,” he said.

India’s top shuttler Saina Nehwal had won the bronze in the 2010 Asian Badminton Championship at Siri Fort Stadium in New Delhi. Jwala and Ashwini, who had snapped their partnership after the London Olympics only to join hands late last year, assured themselves of another medal.

The duo will next take on China’s Luo Ying and Luo Yu. Ashwini Ponnappa said the win was a big boost for her and her partner Jwala Gutta.

“It is a great win and a big boost for us. We played very well today. We just hang in there and dominated the match, leading all through. We knew it was a matter of time before we get results. We knew we just have to practice. And more we play we will get better,” said Ponnappa.

Asked about their next round rival, Ashwini said: “They are a good pair. We played against them in Singapore and we lost. Let’s see. We will give our best.”— PTI

Dubai, April 25
In awe of Jacques Kallis with whom he shared a match-winning partnership, Kolkata Knight Riders' Australian batsman Chris Lynn said it was an unbelievable experience to bat alongside the South African legend.

Lynn starred with a 31-ball 45 before taking a blinder of a catch to help KKR win by two runs in a thrilling contest against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday night.

“It is an unbelievable experience to bat with Jacques Kallis. He is so relaxed at the crease and so unaffected by pressure. He was calm and composed throughout the partnership. He is one of the greatest players and it is pretty cool to see how he goes about his batting,” the 24-year-old Lynn told IPL's official website.

“To get to bat with Kallis and to get to face Muralitharan is an experience I won't forget. You look back at these moments, not now, but when you retire, and you realise how fun it is,” he added.

Asked about the stunning catch he took to dismiss AB de Villiers and seal the win for KKR, Lynn said he managed to grab a difficult chance.

“I felt it was a well connected shot and it was a tough catch to take at that moment. I would have taken it comfortably had I stayed on my feet, I slipped a bit, but I clutched on to it at the last moment. I tried my best not to touch the boundary ropes and I am happy I could catch that one,” he said.

On whether KKR were confident of defending a rather modest total of 150, Lynn said the team was edgy to start with. “We were not so confident with 150 and we were thinking along the lines of 180. But the ball got softer and the wicket slowed up, which worked in our favour. Sunil Narine and Vinay Kumar took the pace off the ball. I think the boys did a marvellous job to defend that total,” he said.

Today’s matches

Royals v Bangalore (4pm)

Punjab v Kolkata (8pm)

Live on Sony Six 

Mumbai, April 25
Former India coach Greg Chappell feels the cricket phenomenon called Sachin Tendulkar the world saw could have turned out a bit different had he grown up in the current scenario influenced by the advent of Twenty20 cricket.

“The big difference I guess from when Sachin was growing up is that back then he would have largely been watching Test cricket, and even one-day cricket as it was played had similarities to Test cricket in a lot of ways,” Chappell has been quoted of saying by cricket.com.au.

The former Australia captain, who was the coach of the Indian team from 2005-07, said Tendulkar's heroes would have been different had he been growing up in India currently as a cricketer instead of the mid-1980s.

“His heroes, and the heroes of the guys he was playing against as a teenager, would have been the players who had established themselves primarily as Test cricketers. But as a young cricket fan today, particularly in India, you would be watching a lot of 20-over cricket. And that in itself promotes the glamour and excitement of batsmen clearing the fence, and playing those sorts of innovative, higher-risk shots,” said Chappell, who is currently Cricket Australia's National Talent Manager.

“I have no doubt Sachin could cope with whatever form of the game he set himself for because of his incredible talent, but I guess the bigger question would be 'whose game would he choose to model himself on?',” asked Chappell.

Tendulkar, who celebrated his 41st birthday on Thursday, retired from all forms of cricket after turning out for a record 200th time in the second and final Test against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium last November.. — PTI

Chandigarh, April 25
London Games bronze medallist Gagan Narang has missed out on a place in the 10 metre Air Rifle event as the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) selection committee picked the rifle and pistol teams for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3.

Narang, who won four gold medals in the 2010 Delhi CWG, will, however, be competing in two other categories - 50-metre 3-Position Rifle and 50-metre Prone alongside Sanjeev Rajput and Joydeep Karmakar, respectively.

“The selection was based on merit. Narang's scores including those in World Cups and National Championships were not good enough,” NRAI secretary Rajiv Bhatia told The Tribune. Narang had bagged the bronze at the 2012 London Olympics in 10-m air rifle event.

Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will be taking part in his pet 10-m air rifle event, while 2012 London Games silver winner Vijay Kumar will compete in 25-metre rapid fire pistol.

World No 1 Heena Sidhu will spearhead the Indian women's challenge in the pistol event. She will be seen competing in the 10-metre Air Pistol after she failed to qualify in the 25-metre Sports Pistol event during the recent selection trials held at Karni Singh Shooting Range.

The promising duo of Rahi Sarnobat and Anisa Sayyed will lead the Indian charge in the 25-metre Sports Pistol event. 

New Delhi, April 25
Sardar Singh has seen many ups and downs that Indian hockey has gone through in the last few years. On the field, Sardar has spent nearly a decade taking on the fiercest rivals with unwavering grit and tenacity while guiding the team to many famous victories.

The Punjab midfielder has become the fulcrum of the team. His exemplary all-round skills made him the youngest player to captain the Indian team when he led the side at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

A vital cog in Indian hockey’s rebuilding process, Sardar would be up against another major challenge as captain at the World Cup, to be held at The Hague from May 31 to June 15. The challenge would be to guide a relatively young team to a “top-6 finish”.

Apart from the pressure to perform, Sardar would also have the added responsibility of inspiring the boys to take on the world’s best teams in the absence of out-of-favour seniors like drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, defender Amit Rohidas, forwards Tushar Khandker and Shivendra Singh.

Experienced right-half Gurbaj Singh, midfielder Danish Mujtaba, forwards Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh have returned to provide solidity to the side. But it still would a tall order for the past masters of the game to better their eighth-place finish at the last edition of the World Cup played at home.

“We have improved a lot under our new coach Terry Walsh but still there are some areas where we need to work on before the World Cup,” Sardar told The Tribune.

“I am focusing at the start, our first game against Belgium. India have done well whenever they have started the tournament with a win,” said the 27-year-old from Rania in Moga district.

“The target is to better our previous record and finish among the top-6 nations. We could play in the semifinals too if we perform to our potential. Look, you learn so many things at training sessions but ultimately everything boils down to how you perform on match day,” he said.

India had a disappointing preparatory tour to Europe where they defeated Leiden Hockey Club 7-0 and drew 3-3 with HGC Hockey Club before losing 1-2 to Belgium, 2-4 and 1-2 to The Netherlands in their remaining build-up games.

The blue shirts would definitely be feeling the pressure when they launch their World Cup campaign on May 31. But, before that, there are several key areas which they need to address quickly at the conditioning camp beginning at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here tomorrow. “We will continue working on our aerial-ball deflection, trapping, ball release and finishing inside the striking circle and off-the-ball positioning,” said the Indian captain.

“You should see a lot of improvement in these areas. Another key area which we have identified is the lack of communication between players. Our fitness level has improved but still there is room for improvement,” said Sardar, who is closing on 200 international caps for India.

India are placed in a tough Pool A and will face Belgium on May 31, followed by matches against England (June 2), Spain (June 5), Malaysia (June 7) and reigning world champions Australia (June 9).

Mohali, April 25
Shooting has given him an identity but Abhinav Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist, on Friday revealed that he thought of “quitting” the sport many times in the past.

“There were times when my life was full of frustrations and nervousness and I even thought of giving up the sport many times. But moral support of my parents, will power and determination helped me to pull out from the heat of those moments,” Bindra said.

He said the government should lay special emphasis on “restructuring the legislatory framework” if they are to bring about a change in the country's sporting scene. “The situation of sports management in India is improving, but we still need to cover a lot of ground in this regard. The new government should lay special emphasis on restructuring the legislatory framework in order to bring about the desired substantial change in Indian sports system,” he said. “Only then, various sports associations across the country will inculcate professionalism in the manner they conduct and govern sports,” he added.

Recalling his days of toil, Bindra said, “Life is full of ups and downs, so one should lay focus on hard work and enjoy the journey rather than the final outcome or the medal.”

“I remember undergoing rigorous practice at the age of 13. It is a never-ending hunger for achieving more and more every time that makes you a winner.”

Calling failure a stepping stone towards success, he said, “Failure is always overrated in our lives, hiding the fact that it is the key to move ahead with learning. I am sure every successful athlete would have failed more than he won.” “If one doesn't stop working hard, even after failures, he/she ultimately strikes the bulls' eye. Luck is also important but it also favours the brave.”

Speaking about his selection for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he said, “Although this is my fifth Commonwealth Games, for me every game is my first game and the desire to win increases with every match I play.” — PTI

London, April 25
Ryan Giggs described managing Manchester United as the proudest moment of his extraordinary career and said he wants the team to play with passion, tempo and imagination.

Giggs was put in temporary charge of United after the club sacked David Moyes on Tuesday, ending his dismal 10 months at Old Trafford.

“I want the players to play with passion, speed, tempo, be brave, imagination,” Giggs told his first news conference as manager on Friday. “All the things I expect of a Manchester United player. “Work hard but most of all enjoy it,” he added. “As a player, if I know I am enjoying the game I can express myself a lot more. That's what I will be doing with the team tomorrow.” Giggs, 40, thanked Moyes for giving him the chance to coach. — Agencies

I’ve never slept better: Liverpool manager Rodgerser

Liverpool are feeling no pressure despite being three games away from the club's first English league championship in 24 years, manager Brendan Rodgers said. Five points ahead of Chelsea and six clear of Man City, who have played one game fewer, Liverpool are hot favourites to win the League for the first time, after finishing only seventh last season. “People talk about pressure but it's absolutely wonderful,” Rodgers told reporters. “I haven't slept better. It's why we work, and whatever happens we'll have had a brilliant season.” Liverpool have now been helped by Chelsea having to contend with two CL semifinal matches and threatening to field a weakened side.

Mesa, USA, April 25
Michael Phelps suffered a narrow loss to old rival Ryan Lochte in his comeback to competitive swimming on Thursday, but still showed enough to suggest he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Racing for the first time since he retired in a blaze of glory after the 2012 London Olympics with a staggering career total of 18 gold medals, Phelps won his morning heat in the 100 metres butterfly then finished runner-up to Lochte in a close final.

Lochte, a five-time Olympic gold medallist who beat Phelps to win the 400m individual medley at London, touched the wall first in 51.93 seconds with Phelps just behind in 52.13. Phelps' time was well outside the world record of 49.82 he set at the 2009 world championships but still safely under the qualifying standard for the U.S. national championships in August, which double as the selection event for next year’s world titles in Russia.

Although the 28-year-old still holds the world record in three individual events, none of his past times count for future competitions because they were recorded before the qualifying period began in June 2013. — Reuters

Jalandhar, April 25
As many as 79 amateur golfers teed off in the 14th Punjab State Golf Championship 2014 at Ranjitgarh Golf Club Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur.

Viren Ghumman, Captain, Ranjitgarh Golf Club, PPA Phillaur inaugurated the Tournament. The best three scores of the day were Ratan Bajwa (71) from RCF Kapurthala, Rajinder Kumar (71) from Army Golf Club, Amritsar and MBS Bajwa (72) from RCF Kapurthala. 

New Delhi, April 25
A deadly bowling by left-arm spinner Bhupender Singh (7.3-0-29-4) and a fabulous third wicket partnership of 149 runs between Sandeep Raj Kaushik 75* (6x4s and Nitin Tanwar (73) enabled LB Shastri Cricket Club to beat Delhi Blues and register berth in the semifinal of the 24th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial at RSKP grounds .

Brief Scores: Delhi Blues: 203 in 39.3 overs (Amandeep 81, Bhupender 4/29) bt LB Shastri Club: 205/3 3 in 36.3 overs (Sandeep 75*, Nitin 73). — TNS

BRIEFLY

BCCI nominates Ashwin for Arjuna Award
Mumbai: Off-spinner Ashwin Ravichandran, who won the Cricket Board’s Polly Umrigar Trophy best player award in 2012-13 season, has been recommended by the BCCI for the Arjuna Award this year. “Yes, Ashwin has been recommended for the Arjuna Award before the April 30 deadline. No other cricketer has been recommended (for the awards),” said Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI General Manager (Game Development). Virat Kohli was the only cricketer to get the Award last year. A total of 46 cricketers, including women, have been conferred the sporting honour. Ashwin became the fastest bowler in 80 years to complete 100 wickets in his 19th Test last November against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium here, the farewell game of Sachin Tendulkar.

Bopanna-Qureshi bow out of Barcelona Open
Barcelona: Indian challenge ended at the Barcelona Open with the defeat of Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi in the quarterfinals, on Friday. The unseeded Indo-Pak pair put up a stiff resistance before losing 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-10 against the top seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor. Earlier, Somdev Devvarman had also lost in the doubles quarterfinals with Croatian partner Ante Pavic. Somdev had also made a first-round exit in the singles event, his fifth straight opening-round loss in singles.

Indian archers’ flop show continues
Kolkata: Continuing their flop show, Indian archers on Friday exited from the team events of both recurve and compound sections of the Archery World Cup Stage I in Shanghai. The Indians will return empty-handed from the season-opener if the compound mixed pair of Abhishek Verma and Jyoti Surekha Vennam lose the bronze play-off against their French opponents on Saturday. According to information received, the Indian men's recurve team of Viswash, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee failed to make use of their top billing as the trio lost to the Japanese 0-6 in the quarters. The archers suffered the same fate in the compound section where the men's team went down to the US 226-229, while the women's side lost to Chinese Taipei 220-225 to cap a forgettable outing.

Morne reprimanded for using ‘insulting language’
Dubai: Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Morne Morkel has been reprimanded for breaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) code of conduct by using “insulting language” during his team’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). “Morkel admitted to the level 1 offence (Article 2.1.4) of using insulting language during the match,” said a statement from the organisers on Friday.

Haryana’s Pooja shines with two medals on Day 1
Haridwar: The 12th National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet began today with the finals of three events out of a total of 30 being decided on day one. Pooja of Kaithal district in Haryana stole the show by winning a gold and a silver in Under-14 girls 600m and in girls under-16 javelin throw events, respectively. In the boys under-14 600m event finals, Delhi's Akshay Nain took the top honour. In the girls under-16 javelin throw event, Carmela Barla of Sundergarh district of Odisha finished first with a throw of 30.79 metres. — Agencies