Kings
XI take on struggling Bangalore
BANGALORE, May 4: On a roll
after four back-to-back wins, Kings XI
Punjab start overwhelming favourites
against the beleaguered Royal Challengers
Bangalore in the Indian Premier League
(IPL) here tomorrow.
Going into
tomorrow’s match, Yuvraj
Singh’s Kings XI Punjab seems to be
the only team that has not been affected
by the exit of its Australian imports
— Simon Katich and Brett Lee. In
contrast, Bangalore lost their only
consistent performer in Ross Taylor when
the Kiwi opener had to leave for national
duty against England.
Much is
expected from Taylor’s replacement
Misbah-ul-Haq but the Pakistani
right-hander has played only one game and
that too without much success.
The Rahul
Dravid-led outfit has managed just two
wins in the high-profile Twenty20 tourney
so far and they have come against teams
that are not exactly in great touch
either —Mumbai Indians and Hyderabad
Deccan Chargers.
King XI,
on the other hand, lost their first two
encounters but bounced back brilliantly
to remain unbeaten thereafter, brushing
aside controversies like the slap-gate
involving its pacer S Sreesanth and
Harbhajan Singh.
Their last
win came against the more-fancied Kolkata
Knight Riders and they discovered a
match-winner in Australian Shaun Marsh,
son of Geoff Marsh, who became man of the
match on debut against Deccan Chargers.
The
bowling too has not been affected much by
Lee’s departure and Irfan Pathan has
taken over as the pace spearhead with
Elan.
The only
cause of concern remains Sreesanth’s
economy rate and aggression, none of
which has not shown any signs of coming
down.
Bangalore,
meanwhile, can take heart from Praveen
Kumar’s all-round performance. The
up player has been effective with the bat
and ball and was the man of the match of
their last win over Deccan Chargers.
However,
the hosts desperately need somebody to
strike form at the top. Although Wasim
Jaffer, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid
have been scoring consistently, their
strike rates have been too slow for the
slam-bang version. (PTI)
Kashyap
Tetragonal T20 Series
Kashyap
Greens, Kashyap Whites win inaugural ties
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 4: Kashyap Greens and
Kashyap Whites notched up convincing wins
in their opening matches today in the
Kashyap Tetragonal Twenty20 Series which
commenced at MHAC Nagbani Ground.
In the
first match, Kashyap Greens got the
better of Kashyap Blues by 4 wickets.
Batting
first, Kashyap Blues accumulated 145/6 in
the stipulated 20 overs with Amit Sharma
top scored with 72 runs.
He struck
ten delectable hits to the fence and two
sixes. Rakesh Raina (24) and Vikram Singh
(13) were the other notable contributors.
For
Kashyap Greens, Dheeraj Singh was the
pick of the bowlers with four scalps
while Lucky grabbed two wickets.
Sanjay and
Anku Chib chipped in with a wicket each.
In reply,
Kashyap Greens overhauled the target in
18.5 overs losing six wickets in the
process.
Dheeraj
Singh played a fine knock of 53 runs
studded with seven crispy boundaries.
Rocky
Raina (29), Vaneet Dhar (19) and Anku
Chib (17) also made useful contributions.
For
Kashyap Blues, Akshay Koul took two
wickets whereas Ravi Pandita, Suman Koul
and Rakesh Raina scalped a wicket apiece.
Dheeraj
Singh was adjudged man of the match. The
match officiated by Sanjay Raina and Ajay
Raina.
Kashyap
Whites trounced Kashyap Reds by 6 wickets
in another one sided affair.
Kashyap
Reds won the toss and opted to bat first.
They bowled out for 94 runs in 18.2
overs.
Vikas
Raina and Vinay Kumar were the top
scorers with 23 and 20 runs respectively
while Rakesh Raina and Srikant Bali
contributed 19 and 13 runs respectively.
For
Kashyap Whites, Rajesh Khetri was the
most successful bowler with three wickets
while Vikas snared two.
Mintu and
Vinod shared a wicket apiece.
Kashyap
Whites chased the target in 15.3 overs
for the loss of four wickets.
Vijay Dhar
and Rajesh Khetri played fine knocks of
27 and 22 runs respectively.
For
Kashyap Reds, Ajay Khetri took two
wickets followed by Srikant (1) and Vinay
(1).
Rajesh
Khetri was declared man of the match.
Mumbai
Indians stun Daredevils
MUMBAI, May 4: Skipper
Shaun Pollock led from the front as
Mumbai Indians defended a small total
with verge and vigour to stun
table-toppers Delhi Daredevils by 29 runs
for their second successive win in the
Indian Premier League at the D Y Patil
stadium here today.
After
being restricted to a none-too-tall 162
for eight, the home team, at the bottom
of the league chart going into the match,
bowled with purpose and struck blows at
timely intervals to skittle out the Delhi
team for 133 in 18.5 overs.
The
bowling heroes for the struggling home
team, who brought up the rear going into
their sixth match, was stand-in captain
Pollock (2 for 16) and discarded India
pacer Ashish Nehra, who took 3 for 25
which included two off successive balls.
The superb
display by the senior bowlers inspired
youngster Dhawal Kulkarni to grab the
last two wickets and finish with 2 for
18.
But the
most telling blow was struck by Dominic
Thornely who, after being introduced as
the sixth bowler when Delhi skipper
Virender Sehwag was on a rampage,
dismissed the flamboyant opener with a
low full toss.
Sehwag
gave the Delhi Daredevils’ chase the
early momentum with a quick-fire 40 off
only 20 balls, inclusive of three sixes
and as many fours, in his inimitable
fashion after the visitors were put on
the back foot at four for two.
He also
added a crucial 45 runs with Shoaib Malik
for the fourth wicket after A B De
Villiers was run out backing too far to a
firm drive from Sehwag which got
deflected on to the non-striker’s
end stumps by the bowler. (PTI)
India
finish last again
DARWIN, May 4: Indian ended with
the wooden spoon again in the four nation
hockey tournament, losing 3-4 to Korea in
the bronze medal playoff tie of the
second leg of the event here today.
India were
the superior side in the first half but
the usual script of their forwards
failing to finish off continued as the
two sides went for the breather at 2-2
scoreline.
The
Koreans, who were the runners-up to
Australia in the first leg in Perth, took
control of the second half and shut out
the Indians.
For India,
TYshar Khandekar (12th minute) and V
Raghunath (28th and 70th) found the
target while B Kim (16th, 68th) and Hye
Sung Hyun (19th, 49th) were the goal
scorers for the winners.
It was,
however, India who caught Korea by
surprise early in the match with captain
Khandekar latching on to a defensive
lapse to fire home in the 12th minute.
The
Koreans recovered swiftly to make up for
their lapse and, within four minutes of
India taking the lead, showed their
penalty corner conversion precision with
B Kim making no mistake for their first
goal.
Three
minutes later, Korea took the lead with
Hye Sung Hyun scoring a fine field goal
by getting past Indian goalkeeper after
collecting a long pass.
However,
India soon levelled the score from a
penalty corner conversion of their own in
the 28th minute with Raghunath sounding
the board. (PTI)
Handball
selection trials from tomorrow
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 4: The J&K
Handball Association would conduct
selection trials from May 6 to 8 at Dogra
Ground, Shastri Nagar.
The trials
would be held to select the State team
for the forthcoming 28th Sub Junior
National Handball Championship (U/15
girls) and 10th Mini National Handball
Championship for U/12 boys slated to be
held at Imphal (Manipur).
The trials
will be held in both morning and evening
sessions at 7 am and 6 pm respectively.
All the
interested players desirous to take part
in the trials should report at the said
venue alongwith age proof certificate
either passport or school certificate.
State
Selection Chess tourney from May 18
Excelsior Sports
Correspondent
JAMMU, May 4: The All J&K
Chess Association is going to organise
State Selection Chess Championship for
nationals in all age groups from May 18
to 21.
According
to Baldev Raj, general secretary of the
Association, the championship for senior
men would be held at Vishwakarma Mandir,
Gurha Morh, Bakshi Nagar while the
competitions in women and junior
categories will be held at hotel Nek from
May 20 to 21.
The entry
fee for senior men is Rs 250 whereas for
women and junior group is Rs 200.
Interested
players can submit their entry fee at
hotel Nek on or before May 17.
National
champion found over-age in Chess tourney
NEW DELHI, May 4: In an
embarrassing revelation, the Under-7
girls’ national champion —
along with five others —has been
found over-age in the ongoing Under-9
National Chess competition here.
National
Under-7 champion N Madhumita, Akhila S, H
Tejaswini, Sagarika Ilvk — all from
Andhra Pradesh — and Orissa’s
Shovna and Sonali jena were declared
over-age after the Delhi Chess
Association (DCA) conducted medical
examination of 14 players yesterday
suspecting the correctness of their
submitted birth certificates.
DCA
president and All India Chess Federation
(AICF) Treasurer Bharat Singh Chauhan
said if the organising committee has
doubts about players’ age, they can
subject them to medical examination to
verify their age.
"We
found it strange that some of the
candidates who were born in 1999 got
themselves registered only last month. As
per the rules, it is the
authorities’ responsibility to
register the child born in their hospital
within 45 days of the birth,"
Chauhan told.
"How
could they not do it in these cases was a
bit difficult to understand and raised
suspicion," he said.
Chauhan,
however, said they were still
"open" to a second opinion if
the AICF instructs.
"The
parents of the girls are putting a lot of
pressure with the help of the Andhra
Pradesh media whom they have brought to
defend the girls," Chauhan said.
Asked what
action would be taken against the girls,
he said, "we will have a meeting of
the AICF council and suitable action
would be taken."
Aicf
president D V Sunder when contacted said
the girls would be given a chance to
prove their innocence. (PTI)
Shoaib
free to play in IPL
KARACHI, May 4: Beleaguered
speedster Shoaib Akhtar heaved a huge
sigh of relief as the appellate tribunal
of the Pakistan Cricket Board today
decided to suspend the five-year ban on
him for a month, paving the way for his
participation in the Indian Premier
League (IPL).
The
appellate tribunal granted the temporary
relief after Shoaib and his lawyers moved
an urgent application yesterday that the
ban be suspended so that he can earn his
livelihood in the IPL
Shoaib
argued before the three-member panel that
it would take a long time for the
tribunal to reach a verdict on his
regular appeal against the ban and
therefore he should not be made to suffer
for that duration.
The
tribunal had refused to stay the ban
earlier this week but had allowed the
fast bowler to play anywhere outside
Pakistan.
But the
governing council of the IPL barred him
from the tournament saying he would not
be allowed until the ban is lifted.
Shoaib was
bought by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned
Kolkata Knight Riders for USD 425,000 in
the players’ auction.
Justice
(retd) Aftab Farrukh, who heads the
tribunal, told reporters that the ban
would remain suspended until the the
regular hearing starts into the appeal
filed by Shoaib from June 4.
"Even
the disciplinary committee of the board
which banned him has not stopped him from
playing abroad and not suspending the ban
to allow him to play and earn his
livelihood abroad would have been
injustice with him," Farrukh said.
"Obviously
it is going to take so time to dispose
off this case. The tribunal felt that
preventing him from playing in the league
would have been an additional penalty on
him," he added. (PTI)
|
