Sports

Two teams which have only recently recovered from poor form will square off when Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad clash here tomorrow in a Pepsi IPL match with both sides aiming to continue the winning run and stay alive in the event.

The match is crucial for both the teams are in the lower half of the points table with Delhi being second last right now.

DD have six points from 10 matches, while SH have bagged 12 from the same number of matches.

The Sunrisers have enjoyed a dream run at home, winning all the matches played here so far.

The 15-member India squad for next month’s ICC Champions Trophy will be picked here tomorrow and it would be interesting to see whether the selectors give a chance to axed senior players such as Virender Sehwag, who does not figure in the 30-member list of probables chosen earlier.

When the selection panel, headed by Sandeep Patil, named the list of probables on April 6, two prominent names — Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh — were missing from it.

Since then, the two senior cricketers’ form in the ongoing Indian Premier League would have been monitored by the selectors.

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Pune Warriors by 17 runs in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match here today.

Brief Scores:

Royal Challangers Bangalore: 187 for three in 20 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 52, A B de Villiers 50 not out; Ashok Dinda 2/52).

Pune Warriors: 170 for nine in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 75, Angelo Mathews 32; R Vinay Kumar 3/31).

Pune, May 2 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bangalore smashed 187 for three against Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League here Thursday.

A.B. de Villiers hammered 50 off 27 balls while Saurabh Tiwary scored 52 off 45 balls.

Guwahati, May 2 (ANI): Around 342 players from different parts of the country, Bangladesh and Nepal participated in the Fifth edition of Jugal the Kishore Newatia Memorial International Chess Championship in Guwahati. Held under the aegis of Lions Club, Guwahati, the aim of the event was to provide an opportunity to local chess players to compete with national and international players. The event was open to players with a FIDE rating of 2200 and below, and also to all unrated players.

Karachi, May 2 (ANI): Former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Mohammed has supported the exclusion of all-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Umar Akmal from the ICC Champions Trophy squad, saying that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is completely justified in its action. The decision to not select the previously talismanic figure of Shahid Afridi was a real point of contention, with discussions continuing for a long time between PCB Chairman Mohammad Zaka Ashraf and Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, www.PakPassion.net reports.

London, May 2 (ANI): Russia’s world discus champion Darya Pishchalnikova will reportedly be facing losing her London 2012 Olympic silver medal and a ban for 10 years from the sport for failing a drug test.

Pishchalnikova has tested positive for banned anabolic steroid Oxandrolone in samples taken in a second test after the test results of an earlier sample showed negative results, The Independent reports.

Suresh Raina’s splendid century enabled title favourites Chennai Super Kings to post a commendable total of 186 for four against Kings XI Punjab in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match here today.

Raina batted magnificently to strike exactly 100 off only 53 balls with the help of seven fours and half a dozen sixes.

The UP left-hander became the third batsman after Chris Gayle and Shane Watson to score a century in the current edition.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid Thursday said the mantra for a team’s success is to “play your part well”, “be adaptable” and “do things not in your comfort zone”.

“When you are a part of the team or any organisation, it’s very important to ensure that you play your part well. When you play in the team, it’s not only about yourself, it’s also what success you can give to your team and how well the team does,” said Dravid, during a felicitation ceremony organised by Rupa and Company Ltd. here Thursday.

Confirming this, BCCI sources said that today was the last date for recommending the awards to the sports ministry.
Virat Kohli

The Cricket Board (BCCI) has recommended the names of young batsman Virat Kohli for the prestigious Arjuna award and former captain Sunil Gavaskar for the Dhyanchand lifetime achievement honour to the sports ministry.

Confirming this, BCCI sources said that today was the last date for recommending the awards to the sports ministry.

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Ishant Sharma says that bowling with a relaxed mindset has worked for him in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“I have been going in with a relaxed mindset these days which is something that has worked for me in the IPL. I have been consistent throughout the tournament. My economy rate has been close to seven which I feel is fair enough to have in this format. I am pretty happy the way I am bowling,” Sharma told IPLT20.com.

Terming the Padma Bhushan award “an honour and privilege”, former India cricket captain Rahul Dravid Thursday said he felt lucky to have represented the country for 16 years.

“It is a great honour. When you start playing you don’t think about the awards. You just play because you just love it and there is no reason why you start playing this game.

“But along the way when you get awards and recognitions from the government of India, from the people of this country … it is a great privilege and honour,” said Dravid during a felicitation ceremony organised by Rupa and Company Ltd. here.

Shahid Afridi has blamed Pakistan’s one-day cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq for his exclusion from the Champions Trophy squad, and has vowed to return to the national team.

“It’s the captain’s decision to drop me,” Afridi told the Urdu language Daily Jang on Wednesday. “It’s no big deal for me if a captain doesn’t want a certain player in the team.”

In announcing the squad earlier this week, selectors said Afridi, who has scored 7,201 and taken 348 wickets in ODIs, was left out due to recent poor form in one-day internationals.

Shikhar Dhawan guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to a seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here Wednesday.

Dhawan was the hero of the match with his unbeaten 74, helping Sunrisers achieve the 130-run target in 18 overs.

It was the fourth consecutive win for Sunrisers on their home surface. They now have 12 points from 10 matches.

Former president of the international football governing body FIFA, Joao Havelange, had resigned as the honorary president following a World Cup bribery case that has tarnished the organization for more than a decade. Stating that Havelange had resigned on April 18, a FIFA ethics court ruling said that the former president and his former son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira were guilty of ”morally and ethically reproachable conduct”, CBS News reports.

West Indian left-hander Chesney Hughes narrowly missed out on a 117-year-old record when he stroked a monumental unbeaten double hundred for Derbyshire here at Headingley.

The 22-year-old, resuming the second day of the Division One County Championship match on 171, carried his bat for a splendid 270 as the visitors converted their overnight 302 for four into 475 all out against Yorkshire Tuesday.

All told, Hughes counted 40 fours and three sixes in an innings that lasted a shade over nine hours and consumed 415 balls.

Concerned with the team`s bowling in the death overs, Pune Warriors spinner Rahul Sharma said that his side gave away 20 runs extra in their game against Chennai Super Kings, which they lost by 37 runs to slump to their eighth defeat in the ongoing Pepsi Indian Premier League.

“We have been bowling well, but things are going a bit wrong in the death since the last three-four games. And the batting is also not clicking. The wicket was good for batting on Tuesday and we got a decent start but loss of three-four quick wickets pulled us back,” Rahul said after Tuesday night`s game.

India will open their campaign in the the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy with their Group B match against South Africa at Cardiff on June 6. The biennial tournament is being would wound up as the ICC is unable to slot it in the crowded cricket calendar.

Indian play their second group game against the West Indies at the Oval on June 11 before running into neighbours Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 15.

There are only two day-night games and curiously, Sri Lanka figure in both, to be played at The Oval – against England on June 13 and against Australia on June 17.

Games and Sports should be included in the syllabus so that the youngsters get interested in games. Justice Shubhashan Reddy, Loyakayukta of AP set this while distributing 22nd Yudhveer Foundation Award yesterday. This award was given to Ms. Saina Nehwal for her excellent contribution in sports. The function was held under the chairmanship of Mr. Narendra Uther, Chairman of Yudhveer Foundation.

Mr. Zahid Ali Khan, Editor of The Siasat Urdu Daily, Mr. Vinay Veer, Editor of Hindi Milap, Dr. Bajrang Lal Gupta, Ms. Vipuma Veer and others were present on this occasion.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has nominated middle-order batsman Virat Kohli for the Arjuna Award for 2012.

Former legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar’s name has also been proposed for Dhyanchand Award for his lifetime achievement.

None of India’s top international cricketers was nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award for their performance during the last season, apparently due to a major communication gap between the sports ministry and the BCCI.

Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi and batsman Umar Akmal were the prominent names to be axed from the 15-member Pakistan cricket squad announced for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim announced the squad yesterday in Lahore after lengthy deliberations although the selectors had finalised it last week and submitted it to the board Chairman for approval.

The following is the scoreboard of the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium here Monday.

Mumbai Indians:

Dwayne Smith c Miller b Chawla 33
Sachin Tendulkar b Kumar 9
Dinesh Karthik b Gony 25
Rohit Sharma not out 79
Kieron Pollard not out 20

Extras (lb 3, w 4, nb 1) 8
Total (for three wickets in 20 overs) 174

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Tendulkar, 2.4 overs), 2-43 (Karthik, 7.4), 3-86 (Smith, 12.2)

Bowling:
Praveen Kumar 4-0-24-1
Azhar Mahmood 4-0-32-0
Parvinder Awana 4-0-16-0
Manpreet Gony 4-0-43-1

After his eye-catching performance in the IPL here today, 18-year-old Sanju Samson said the fall of Rahul Dravid’s wicket did not affect his batting, but made him “more determined” to play a part in helping Rajasthan Royals get over the line against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“I was not nervous when Dravid fell but was more determined to carry on with my plans. We had a strong batting line-up for this match so the confidence was there,” Samson said.

Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) here today.

Invited to bat, Bangalore scored 171 for six against Rajasthan Royals, but Rajasthan chased down the target with a ball to spare.
Brief Scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 171 for six in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 34, Virat Kohli 32, Vinay Kumar 22 not out; Shane Watson 3/22).

Rajasthan Royals: 173 for six in 19.5 overs (Sanju Samson 63, Shane Watson 41, Brad Hodge 32; Ravi Rampaul 2/28).
Vinay Kumar’s final-over assault takes RCB to 171/6

P Vinay Kumar’s final-over assault during which he smashed birthday boy James Faulkner for three sixes propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to a challenging 171 for six in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match against Rajasthan Royals here today.

Bangalore, who were 149 for six after the end of the 19th over, scored 22 runs in the innings’ last over with Vinay Kumar hitting Faulkner over deep mid-wicket, long on and over the bowler’s head for three sixes.