Sports

New Delhi, April 18: He may not have bagged the coach’s job with Kolkata Knight Riders this season but former India coach John Wright remains hopeful of getting a role with an Indian Premier League side in future.

Earlier this year, speculation was rife that the former New Zealand batsman would replace John Buchanan as KKR coach.

Wright too admitted that he had serious discussions with the Kolkata team management on the matter but eventually it did not materialise.

Kolkata, April 18: Skipper Sourav Ganguly played a marvellous unconquered knock as he piloted Kolkata Knight Riders to an emphatic eight-wicket victory against the Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Saturday, overcoming initial hiccups

After restricting the Royals to a modest 132/9, the Knight Riders lost two early wickets but Ganguly (75 not out off 50 balls) scored his fourth half century of the tournament and alongside Cheteshwar Pujara (45 not out off 38 balls) first steadied the ship with some responsible batting before going full blast.

Kolkata, April 17: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens here Saturday.

With skipper Sourav Ganguly (75 off 50 balls) leading from the front, the Knight Riders scored 133/2 in 16.1 overs after restricting the Royals to 132/9.

Chetaswar Pujara remained not out with 45 off 38 balls as the Knights won with 3.5 overs to spare.

Earlier Shane Watson(44) top scored for the Royals.

Among the Knight Riders bowlers, Jaidev Unadkar finished with 3/26.

–IANS–

New Delhi, April 17: India’s Saina Nehwal failed to get the measure of her Chinese opponent Xuerui Li as she went down 17-21, 11-21 in the semi-final of women’s singles Badminton Asia Championships here Saturday.

With her loss, the Indian challenge in the championships is over. Top seeded Saina had her chances in the first game but was outplayed in the second by the unseeded Chinese in the one-sided 31-minute contest to stun the sizeable turn out at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

New Delhi, April 17: After redeeming their campaigns in a fantastic manner, Delhi Daredevils and defending champions Deccan Chargers will clash in a fate-deciding Indian Premier League match here tomorrow, the winners of which would surely earn a semifinal spot.

Both the teams have 14 points but the hosts are sitting third in the points table by virtue of their better net run-rate, which will definitely come into play when calculations are done to determine the final four.

New Delhi, April 17: IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi’s powers are likely to be curtailed as the move to clip his wings gained momentum at an informal BCCI meeting in Dharamshala where the Board’s top brass discussed the Kochi franchise ownership row.

After Modi’s public spat with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on the matter turned into a political storm and an income tax nightmare for the IPL, the Board officials held an informal conclave in the picturesque hill-town of Dharamshala.

Karachi, April 17: Mohammad Asif’s lawyer has claimed the the Pakistani pacer’s preparation for the Twenty20 World Cup is being hampered by the stress he is enduring due to the financial dispute with ex-girlfriend Veena Malik.

“Yes there is no doubt Asif’s preparations for the World Cup have been affected by this problem and he is feeling the strain,” Advocate Kamran Sheikh said.

Sheikh also served defamation notices to Veena and two private television channels for making allegations of match-fixing against Asif.

New Delhi, April 17: The Indian cricket board seems to be a divided house on the Lalit Modi-Shashi Tharoor row with board vice-president Rajiv Shukla coming out in support of the minsiter of state for external affairs here on Friday. Shukla, a Congres MP, stood by his party colleague Tharoor and said there was “no reason to disbelieve him (Tharoor)”.

New Delhi, April 17: In a startling revelation, the CCTV footage showed a mystery woman leaving the IPL commissioner Lalit K Modi’s office at 4 Seasons Hotel in Parel with papers and briefcases, minutes before the I-T team reached the target destination.

Reportedly, I-T officials have said that the woman was seen leaving Modi’s office with laptop and files.

The officials added that since the IPL bosses were forewarned, they successfully ‘sprinted away’ papers before the I-T team reached Parel.

New Delhi, April 17: In a startling revelation, the CCTV footage showed a mystery woman leaving the IPL commissioner Lalit K Modi’s office at 4 Seasons Hotel in Parel with papers and briefcases, minutes before the I-T team reached the target destination.

Reportedly, I-T officials have said that the woman was seen leaving Modi’s office with laptop and files.

The officials added that since the IPL bosses were forewarned, they successfully ‘sprinted away’ papers before the I-T team reached Parel.

Kolkata, April 17: Rajasthan Royals skipper and spin bowling legend Shane Warne Friday said there was a 50-50 chance of him returning to India as a cricketer for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“I am not sure if I will return as a cricketer next year. At the moment it’s 50-50,” Said Warne, who led the Rajasthan Royals to the title in the maiden edition of the league two years back.

Warne said he has thoroughly enjoyed his three-year stint with the Royals.

New Delhi, April 17: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram today dropped a bombshell by claiming that bowlers in the ongoing IPL III have been tampering with the ball by rubbing red soil on it.

Akram, currently the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, criticised the field umpires for not taking notice of the ball tampering practice once the floodlights are on and batsmen looking to accelerate.

“I won’t name anyone but I have seen quite a few cricketers who have been rubbing mud on the ball and that is also tampering,” Akram said.

New Delhi, April 17: “There is a difference between the two and I hope people realise it. I have never been unfit. I have been injured. As a fast bowler I am bound to incur injuries and this is something which is not in my control,” says Ashish Nehra, on the comeback from a rib-injury.

Nehra played a stellar role the other night in helping Delhi Daredevils tame Chennai Super Kings in the latter’s backyard.

New Delhi, April 16: Saina Nehwal cruised into the semi-finals of women’s singles with a facile victory over Malaysian Mew Choo Wong and is now the lone Indian survivor in the Badminton Asia Championships here Friday.

Saina, world No. 6, was in sublime touch as she dispatched Mew Choo Wong 21-5, 21-13 in just 28 minutes that brought much needed relief in the Indian camp after three disappointing defeats of its players early in the day at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

Kolkata, April 16: A miracle can only ensure his side semifinal berth in the IPL but Kolkata Knight Riders captain Sourav Ganguly said KKR would look to finish the tournament on a high by winning their remaining two matches.

“There is a lot of motivation. Still nobody is sure who is going to the last four except for Mumbai Indians. Everybody has a lot to play for. We have two more games to go. I know there is a very remote chance but we will try to finish off well,” Ganguly told reporters here ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals tomorrow.

Mohali, April 16: A team of Income Tax officials today visited the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium here this evening to seek details of the Kings XI Punjab franchise in the IPL.

Treasurer of the PCA G S Walia told PTI that the Income Tax officials had come to the stadium as part of their country wide drive to collect data relating to the IPL.

“It is not a raid by the IT officials,” he said also denying that the visit of the IT officials had anything to do with the fact that IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi was a Vice President of the PCA during 2004-08.

New Delhi, April 16: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram today dropped a bombshell by claiming that bowlers in the ongoing IPL III have been tampering with the ball by rubbing red soil on it.

Akram, currently the bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, criticised the field umpires for not taking notice of the ball tampering practice once the floodlights are on and batsmen looking to accelerate.

“I won’t name anyone but I have seen quite a few cricketers who have been rubbing mud on the ball and that is also tampering,” Akram said.

Shimla, April 16: Himachal Pradesh continued to experience hot weather on Friday with the venue of the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches – Dharamsala – recording a high of 35.2 degrees Celsius, seven notches above average.

“Temperatures across the state increased due to the prolonged dry spell. The maximum temperature remained above average by five to nine degrees,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, told reporters.

He said Una town, adjoining Punjab, was the hottest place in the state, recording the maximum temperature at 42 degrees.

Chennai, April 16: Up and coming Indian driver Aditya Patel has finished sixth in the professional category of Scirocco Cup 2010 at the Oschersleben Circuit in Germany.

The Chennai lad, who posted the second fastest timing on the first day of testing, went down the order after the second leg as he and engineer Hendry Schulze worked with different options on tyres, set up and driving techniques, a press release by Leander Sports said here today.

The season’s opening event is scheduled for April 24 and 25 at Hockenheim circuit, along with the famous German DTM and Formula 3 events.

Mumbai, April 16: After an overnight operation at the BCCI headquarters and the offices of IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, the Income Tax department may now call him for further questioning with regard to the bidding process for the hughely popular cricket league.

I-T sources said during the seven-hour operation that ended in the small hours of today they took copies of the bidding documents of all the franchisees including the Kochi consortium, over which a controversy involving union minister Shashi Tharoor has arisen.

Bangalore, April 16: Riding high on the crest of Sachin Tendulkar’s rollicking form, Mumbai Indians would look to score another victory when they take on the Anil Kumble-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here tomorrow.

While Mumbai Indians have already qualified for the semifinals with 18 points from 12 matches, Bangalore, with 14 points under their belt from 13 games, would have to ensure that they don’t slip up at the doorstep of what would be their second straight semifinals in the cash-awash league.

Soweto, April 16: The final design for 2010 World Cup tickets was unveiled Friday by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and South Africa organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan at Maponya Mall in Soweto.

The unveiling ceremony of golden-coloured tickets with the World Cup logo on it (an African map and a player doing an overhead kick) was used by organisers to promote the next stage of ticket sales.

Tickets have been made available on a first-come, first-served basis to the general public from April 15, when the fifth and final sales phase began.

New Delhi, April 16: Following is the text of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor’s statement, clarifying his position on the Kochi franchise of the Indian Premier League, in the Lok Sabha Friday:

I am grateful to you for the opportunity to set the record straight on my role in the recent issues relating to the IPL Kochi cricket team, which have raised by Honourable Members of the Opposition.

Mumbai, April 16: The verbal war between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor intensified today with the IPL Commissioner accusing the Minister of State for External Affairs of having an “hidden agenda” in the Kochi consortium’s franchise bid.

“They are trying to put dispute into this. But we are here to stay. We have a robust league and we will continue doing a good job irrespective of hidden agendas.

“We will not allow Mr Tharoor to try and shadow this up.

Tharoor has a different agenda and it will be shut down, believe me,” Modi said.

Mumbai, April 16: IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi faced queries from Income Tax officials till early this morning on the ownership of franchises, but he claimed that everything was found in order and IT team had gone back “satisfied”.

IT teams reached IPL premises at BCCI and offices of Modi, who was involved in a public spat with Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor for divulging the names of Kochi team, last evening and were looking at record till this morning.