|
|
|
|
|
Sunrisers prevail in rain-hit
game
|
|
|
CSK breach Mumbai fortress with 4-wkt win
For Patiala lad Sandeep, swing is the king
Sachin, Navjeet shatter national records
Sammy quits Tests after
Ramdin is made captain
Maria, Halep in Madrid Open final
Good day for Akhil, Vijender at trials
Use of headgear during trials raises questions
Hamilton on pole for Spanish Grand Prix
|
|
Sunrisers prevail in rain-hit
game
New Delhi, May 10 Inclement weather played spoilsport throughout the weekend tie as Delhi Daredevils were virtually knocked out of the IPL play-off race after suffering their fourth successive defeat at home and seventh overall from nine games. They lost to Hyderabad by eight wickets via Duckworth-Lewis method to remain at the bottom of the points table. Hyderabad, on the other hand, leapfrogged Kolkata Knight Riders into fourth position with their fifth victory from same number of games and eight points to remain in contention for a knock-out berth. Rain stopped the proceedings at least four times, making life difficult for Hyderabad batsmen on a slower outfield. Set 144 for victory, the target was revised four times — first 117 from 15 overs, then 97 from 12 overs, 43 from five overs and finally 26 off 18 balls. Hyderabad wicketkeeper Naman Ojha brought an end to this infuriating match with a massive six over the midwicket boundary off Laxmi Ratna Shukla to remain unbeaten on 13. Delhi were themselves to blame for their misery as they should have put another 30 runs on the board when they batted first. They were 102 for three in 13.1 overs when rain first stopped play, with Dinesh Karthik (31) and Laxmi Ratna Shukla (21) in the middle. But, after an hour and 13 minute delay, Delhi found the going tough on resumption. The hosts could only get 40 runs from the remaining 6.5 overs as Hyderabad pacers put on a fine death bowling performance to restrict
them to 143 for seven. They managed just 22 runs in the last five overs, losing
four wickets. One good part about their batting was the return of skipper Kevin Pietersen's form as he struck a whirlwind 35 runs off 19 balls. Karthik too scored 39 runs from 30 balls. Dale Steyn, Moises Henriques and Amit Mishra chipped in with two wickets each.
|
|
CSK breach Mumbai fortress with 4-wkt win
Mumbai, May 10
Chasing 158, Chennai rode on in-form opener Smith’s 51-ball 57 and significant contributions from Faf de Plessis (31) and Dhoni (22; 12b) to make 160/6 in 19.3 overs to end Mumbai's superb winning streak which went back to the beginning of last season. Chennai skipper Dhoni struck a six and a four in the last over bowled by Kieron Pollard to guide the visitors home after they needed 17 off the last two overs and 11 in final over. This was Chennai's seventh victory from ninth games and they caught up with KXIP on 14 points but with one less game in hand. After today's defeat, Mumbai went a step closer to elimination from the play-offs and they now need to win all their remaining games to stay in the hunt for the title. — PTI
|
|
For Patiala lad Sandeep, swing is the king
New Delhi, May 10 KXIP look well on course to reach the knock-out stage of IPL-7 and the credit for their success must be shared between the unstoppable duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller with the bat and Sandeep's uncanny knack of swinging the new ball both ways. It would be rather unfair to attribute all the success of the Punjab team to “Killer Miller” and “SuperMax". In a format, which is heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen, the unheralded 20-year-old has made the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir sit up and take notice of his bowling. He did not get to play the first two games for Punjab, but when he did get a chance to showcase his ability, he ended up taking three-wicket hauls on three separate occasions, twice against the same opponent — Royal Challengers Bangalore. Friday was no different for Sandeep, who swung the ball with precision to scalp the key wickets of Gayle and Kohli in his team's 32-run win over the RCB. But, Sandeep, who is already showing signs of being the leader of the KXIP bowling attack ahead of his more famous teammate Mitchell Johnson, does not, want to restrict himself as just a swing bowler. He wants to bowl fast too. “I am consistently hitting the 130 mark. I have increased my pace and I will continue to work in this direction. My coaches (Bharat Arun, Mohnish Bali and national trainer VP Sudarshan) have told me that no matter how good the batsman is, he will struggle against the swinging ball," Sandeep told The Tribune. “I have observed Dale Steyn. When he bowls with the new ball, he operates at around 135-137 and as the ball gets older, he picks up speed. It is with the old ball that I am trying to work out variations because it doesn't swing and one has to get those yorkers and slower deliveries at that stage. I am looking at increasing my pace, but at the same time, not compromising with the swing," he said. Sandeep credited Virender Sehwag for helping him in planning for the opposition batsmen. |
|
Sachin, Navjeet shatter national records
Chennai, May 10 Eighteen-year-old Haryana thrower Sachin grabbed, Sachin grabbed the top spot on his very first attempt by hurling the 1.75 kg disc to a superb 58.11m, bettering Punjab thrower Kripal Singh's earlier record by 1 cm. His mark placed him on top spot on the current Asian junior rankings and 11th in world junior list. This makes him a hot favourite for a podium finish in the Asian Junior Championships in Chinese Taipei next month. Rajasthan's Praveen Kumar finished second with 54.76m while another Haryana’s Nirbhay Singh settled for the bronze in 52.69m. Punjab girl Navjeet, who had finished ninth in the Senior Asian Championships in Pune last year, improved upon her state-mate Manpreet Kaur's six year old national junior record with a throw of 15.89m which came on the very first round. Decathlete Ankit Saini became the second athlete from Haryana to qualify for the Asian Junior Championships as he garnered 6600 points to achieve it.
— PTI |
|
Seniors have to take responsibility: Kashyap
Tribune news service
New Delhi, May 10 “I would love to have that kind of responsibility. Senior players will have to take the responsibility because there are players playing for the first time. It's a different platform from what they usually play. All throughout the year, they play individual events but this is a different kind of event. In a team event like this, I believe team spirit and helping each other out and senior players taking responsibility is very important. And then surely you get a better result,” Kashyap told reporters. India are bracketed with Malaysia, South Korea and Germany in a tough Group C in the Thomas Cup. A Thomas Cup tie comprises three singles and two doubles matches. Kashyap said India have an outside chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, if they win all their three singles. “It’s a very tough draw. Talking about the Germany team, there are two singles players I know who are very good and their doubles team is also equally good. Korea also have good singles players. Malaysia, obviously, they have Lee Chong Wei and the other two players are also decent. So, the contest is evenly-matched and we have good chance in the singles to reach the next round which is the quarters. We are always banking on our singles and I think we have to win all three singles to get to the next stage. If you are able to pull out a doubles game, it will be a bonus for us. But, we would surely look at all three singles against Germany and Korea and both the singles against Malaysia. We are capable of doing it,” said the Hyderabadi shuttler. India will be hosting the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals for the first time and Kashyap is banking on home conditions to do well in the tournament. “It really gives a push. For me, it does. If you are coming early and training and getting acclimatised to the conditions, you feel at home,” he signed off.
|
|
Sammy quits Tests after
Ramdin is made captain
Bridgetown, May 10 “Darren Sammy has formally notified the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) of his decision to retire from Test cricket,” the WICB said in a statement. “Sammy has also informed the board of his decision to continue to make himself available for selection for the other formats of the game. “Sammy, in his communication to the board thanked the directors, the selectors and team management for the confidence shown in him as a player and captain which he served as from October 2010 to May 2014.” While he is well-liked and a respected figure, Sammy often batted low down the order in Test cricket and his medium-pace bowling was much less effective than in shorter forms of the game. That raised some critics to question whether the St Lucian merited a place in the team despite generally positive views of his influence as captain. Ramdin, 29, will take charge for June's three-Test home series against New Zealand. “It is something very special to represent the people of the West Indies and to be named to the lead the test team and chart the course forward is humbling and extra special,” said the Trinidadian.
— Reuters |
|
Maria, Halep in Madrid Open final
Madrid, May 10 Earlier, Halep rallied in the hot conditions to dispatch former champion Petra Kvitova 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2. “She's having a great year so it's going to be an extremely difficult match,” Sharapova said of Halep. Despite a few blips, Sharapova has been steady all week and has lost just three times on clay since the 2011 French Open. All three of those losses came against Serena Williams, the two-time defending champion in Madrid who withdrew with a left thigh injury on Friday. Kvitova, the 2011 winner, looked on course for victory before unforced errors and the rising temperatures took their toll. The Czech was 2-0 up in the second set and cruising against Halep, who was visibly frustrated after a late call went against her during the first-set tiebreaker.
Rafael Nadal gave further evidence that he is finding his best form with a straight-sets win (6-4, 6-3) over Roberto Bautista Agut in the Madrid Masters semifinals. — Agencies
|
||
|
Good day for Akhil, Vijender at trials
Patiala, May 10 Returning to the boxing ring after fighting against various injuries which kept him away from the international arena, Akhil did not have a very good start yesterday and lost his first bout. But he did not lose his confidence and made a new start by winning the very first bout of the day, which certainly put speculations about his form to rest. Though he is confident of making a comeback, the pugilist is not jumping the gun, considering the fact that lot of changes have been made in the system. He knows that the body takes time in getting back to shape and though his body has adapted to the new system, he has to work harder to be at his best and find a place in the squad. On the other hand, living up to expectations, Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh displayed some super skills to beat his opponent Jagat Singh. Exuding confidence, the experienced boxer continued to dominate Jagat with each passing minute. The other interesting bout of the day was fought between Vikas Krishnan and Sukhdeep Singh in the 75 kg category wherein both the players exchanged a good number of punches but the bout finally went to Krishnan. Another close bout was fought between Manjit and Dilbag Singh in which Manjit pipped
Dilbag. |
||
|
Use of headgear during trials raises questions
Patiala, May 10 “We have only about 10 days left till the final trials and we didn’t want any of the players to get injured. We are just going to select the core group, which will include about 40 boxers, four each from every weight category. However, the final trials would be without headgear,” he told The Tribune. Sandhu recalled a bout during the selection trials ahead of the World Boxing Championship in August last year, wherein Olympian Devendro took to the ring without headgear but had to retire within seconds after suffering a gash below his eye. “Devendro was world no. 2 then and was in his best form when we had to drop him because of an injury. So the decision to allow headgear in these trials was made after thorough discussions with the association and the selection panel to avoid a similar incident since the final trials are very close. This is in the larger interest of the boxers,” he added. There were, however, a few coaches and senior players who felt that if the Indian boxers continued wearing headgear, they would never get rid of the fear of fighting without headgear and might have to suffer the consequences. “You have to make a few changes in your style if you do away with the headgear. And the sooner you do it, the better,” said one of the coaches. |
|
Hamilton on pole for Spanish Grand Prix
Hamilton, celebrating his fourth pole of the season and 35th of his career with a time 0.168 seconds quicker than the German, will wrest the overall lead from Rosberg if he wins for the first time at the Circuit de Catalunya. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, winner in front of his home fans last year, qualified seventh and behind team mate Kimi Raikkonen in sixth. Finland’s Valtteri Bottas starts fourth for Williams, with Frenchman Romain Grosjean fifth for Lotus. Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel will line up in 10th place on the grid after stopping on track in the final phase of the session. Vettel has switched to a different chassis for the start of the European season after a difficult opening four races in Asia and the Middle East.
— Reuters |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Patiala, May 10
But Kvitova hit 66 unforced errors and that inconsistency caught up with her as Halep recovered, with the now composed Romanian hitting 22 winners and breaking Kvitova four times over the last two sets. Kvitova struggled in the final set, looking sapped of energy by the end of a match that lasted more than 2 ½ hours. “It's been an amazing week for me, I feel very well here in Madrid,” said the fifth-ranked Halep, who reached her first Masters series final. “I played really well, I was striking the ball really well.” Sharapova hit 28 winners to four for Radwanska, who netted a forehand on match point to be broken for a seventh time. 
Barcelona, May 10
Virat Kohli during an event of FIFA Flag Bearers 2014 in Bengaluru on Saturday. PTI