Hyderabad Deccan Chargers were struggling at 55/4 in 10 overs against Delhi Daredevils in the 21st match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

Put in to bat by Virender Sehwag, Deccan Chargers got off to a poor start as they lost captain Adam Gilchrist in the first over by Dirk Nannes. Gilchrist, who hit two fours in his 8-run knock, was late in the short delivery and edged high up in the air for Dinesh Karthik to take the catch.

Nannes struck again in his next over when he had Herschelle Gibbs (0) caught at mid-off by AB de Villiers.

Rohit Sharma and Azhar Bilakhia added 33 runs for the third wicket before Rohit (17) hit a straighter delivery by Amit Mishra over the covers for Mithun Manhas to take the catch.

In the next over, Bilakhia (22) was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by a straighter delivery from Daniel Vettori.

Tags: Ab De Villiers, Adam Gilchrist, Amit Mishra, Daniel Vettori, Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils, Delhi Daredevils, Dinesh Karthick, Gautam Gambir, Hershchelle Gibbs, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL Updates, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag

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The Indian Cricket Board on Wednesday recommended opener Gautam Gambhir and women’s team captain Jhulan Goswami for the prestigious national sports honour – the Arjuna Awards.

The decision to nominate the two players was taken at the BCCI’s Working Committee meeting here.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had been awarded the country’s highest sporting honour – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – last year.

Recently, Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh were conferred with the Padmashree this year but skipped the award-giving ceremony.

Their no-show triggered angry reactions with the Sports Ministry recommending that athletes who fail to turn up for such ceremonies without giving prior intimation and compelling reasons be stripped of the honour.

Tags: Arjuna Award, BCCI, Cricket World Cup, Gautam Gambir, Harbhajan Singh, Jhulan Goswami, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Padma Awards, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, women's world cup

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A cracking contest is on the cards on Thursday when Chennai Super Kings take on a rejuvenated Rajasthan Royals at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Fortunes have followed different routes for both last year’s finalists, who were on a roll in the inaugural edition.

Defending champions Rajasthan Royals are back in contention after ending Delhi Daredevils’ winning streak with a high-voltage performance on Tuesday.

Royals have recovered from the huge first match loss against Royal Challengers and are now in top-four in standings with five points.

Super Kings, on the other hand, badly need a win as they languish in the sixth place in the points tally after only one win in five matches. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led team would be wary of Yusuf Pathan’s blistering form. The T20 specialist has played two match-winning knocks – against Knight Riders and Daredevils.

Royals’ bowlers also looked in fine touch as they restricted a strong batting side like Daredevils to 143. Skipper Warne, who has been an inspiring figure in the team, marshalled his resources well against Daredevils.

The changes in batting order, bringing Yusuf Pathan down the order, worked perfectly while the bowling shuffle was also productive.

Munaf Patel has been their key bowler while young Kamran Khan has given a tough time to opponents with his speed. Warne has chipped win with crucial wickets.

Super Kings are still to fire as a unit. Their batting led by devastating Mathew Hayden at the top has shouldered all the workload, but the bowlers have failed to defend good totals.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has asked the bowlers to pull up their socks.

“The bowlers are letting us down. We need to come up with a few ideas. We have struggled in the middle overs. We need to pull up there,” he said.

Tags: Chennai Super kings, Chennai Super Kings Vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Jaipur Rajasthan Royals, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mathew Hayden, Munaf Patel, Raj Kundra, Shane Warne, Shilpa Shetty, Yusuf Pathan

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Delhi Daredevils will be looking to stop Deccan Chargers’ four-match winning streak and snatch the top spot when they face each other in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Centurion Park here on Thursday.

After suffering their first IPL defeat against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils will be looking to bounce back against leading Deccan Chargers.

Delhi Daredevils, after Tuesday’s loss, are second in the league behind Deccan Chargers.

When both teams face each other at the Centurion Park, Deccan Chargers will be looking to retain their top spot while Daredevils will be trying to snatch the leader’s crown.

Daredevils are one of the most balanced team in the IPL and it was only against the Rajasthan Royals that they faltered suffering their only loss in the league so far.

The loss is likely to act as a catalyst for Daredevils to bounce back. Their batting has been the major strength and it will depend on skipper Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to get a good start.

In the middle-order, AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan have been in fine form and will be looking to continue their stroke-play against the Deccan Chargers bowling attack.

Delhi Daredevils also have a good bowling attack and fast bowler Ashish Nehra and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori have been in good from.

But against the formidable Deccan Chargers, Daredevils bowlers can’t relax.

Deccan Chargers’ opening batsmen skipper Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs have torn apart all the bowling attacks in the IPL. Rohit Sharma, VVS Laxman and Dwayne Smith have given a depth to their batting while the bowlers have been in terrific form.

Fidel Edwards and R P Singh have made Deccan Chargers bowling the most potent attack in the IPL. Adding to their strength is left-arm spinners Pragyan Ojha who has been daring enough to toss the ball and the batmen have fallen to his trap.

With two top teams facing each other, Centurion Park is set for an exciting clash.

Tags: Ab De Villiers, Adam Gilchrist, Centurion Park, Daniel Vettori, Daredevils, Deccan Chargers Vs Delhi Daredevils, Delhi Daredevils, Dwayne Smith, Gautam Gambir, Hershchelle Gibbs, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman

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The Bangalore Royal Challengers secured a five-wicket win off the penultimate ball against the Kolkata Knight Riders to move off the bottom of the Indian Premier League standings on Wednesday.

The second match in the Durban between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab also went down to the last over with the bowling side, Punjab, holding on for a three-run win.

Chasing Kolkata’s total of 139 for six, Bangalore reached 143 for five after beginning the last over of their innings needing 10 runs for victory.

South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher (25 not out) duly obliged for Bangalore by scoring 12 runs off five balls with the winning runs coming courtesy of a boundary behind square-leg.

Bangalore’s winning total was built on a first-wicket stand of 69 off 72 balls between Jacques Kallis (23) and left-hander Shreevats Goswami, who contributed 43, while off spinner Brad Hodge returned figures of 3-29 for Kolkata.

After Kolkata had won the toss and chosen to bat, Bangalore made use of four spinners who between them bowled 15 overs for 99 runs, picking up five wickets. Leg spinner Anil Kumble was the most successful with 2-16 off four overs.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle contributed 40 runs to Kolkata’s score while right-hander Morne van Wyk, on his IPL debut, scored 43 not out. Kolkata are rooted to the bottom of the table with one win and one no-result from their six matches.

Mumbai began the last over of their innings, bowled by left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla, needing 12 runs to win.

But when Abdulla (2-19) had JP Duminy caught at deep midwicket for 59 with the fourth ball of the over, Mumbai’s challenge fizzled out as they reached 116 for seven.

Punjab, who won the toss and elected to bat, scored 119 for eight on a sluggish pitch that did not encourage stroke play with Sri Lanka wicketkeeper/batsman Kumar Sangakkara top-scoring with 45 not out.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers, bollywood, Brad Hodge, Chris Gayle, Duminy, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Kings XI Punjab, Kings XI Punjab Vs Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight riders, Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher, Morne, Mumbai Indians, Preity Zinta, Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Shreevats Goswami, Yusuf Abdulla, Yuvraj Singh

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Bangalore Royal Challengers restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 139/6 in 20 overs in the 19th match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.

Morne van Wyk top scored for Kolkata with an unbeaten 44 that came off 35 balls and was studded with 4 fours. West Indian captain Chris Gayle hit 6 fours in 37-ball 40.

Gayle was dismissed when he hit a KP Appanna delivery to long on where Shreevats Goswami came running from deep mid-wicket and dived to take the catch.

Anil Kumble took 2 wickets in his spell of 4 overs as Kolkata kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Kolkata were 61/3 in 10 overs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Kolkata got off to a worst start possible as captain Brendon McCullum cut the first delivery of the match by his Bangalore counterpart Kevin Pietersen to backward point for Virat Kohli to take the catch.

Bangalore are playing three frontline spinners, but Pietersen, a part-time spinner, opened the bowling and struck with his first delivery.

Kumble struck in his first over when trapped Brad Hodge (17) plumb in front of the wicket by a straighter delivery. Hodge hit a six and a four in his 17-run knock that came off 15 balls.

Former captain Sourav Ganguly pulled a Praveen Kumar delivery to deep mid-wicket for Jacuqes Kallis to take the catch in the ninth over.

Tags: Anil Kumble, Appanna, Bangalore Royal Challengers, Brad Hodge, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Kevin Pietersen, Knight Riders, Kolkata Knight riders, Morne, Praveen Kumar, Royal Challengers Vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan, Shreevats Goswami, Sourav Ganguly, Vijay Mallya, Virat Kohli

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Two buoyant sides, boasting some of the best stroke players in contemporary cricket, will clash head on when Kings XI Punjab take on Mumbai Indians in a potential humdinger in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday.

After the rain god stopped stalking them, Kings XI under Yuvraj Singh have managed to put their campaign back on track with back-to-back victories over Bangalore Royal Challengers and defending champions Rajasthan Royals.

The wins lifted the pall of gloom that had descended on the Kings XI camp following their defeats against Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders in two rain-marred ties.

In contrast, the Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians got off to a perfect start with a victory over last year’s finalist Chennai Super Kings before sharing points with Rajasthan Royals from their washed out outing.

Tendulkar and his men tasted their first defeat against the all-conquering Deccan Chargers in their third tie but shrugged off the setback with a thumping 92-run win against the Knight Riders on Monday.

Tendulkar himself has led from the front with his consistent display at the top, in company of the ageless Sanath Jayasuriya. The senior batsmen have forged a lethal pair at the top and while the Knight Riders were at the receiving end of their onslaught on Monday, it could be any other side on Wednesday.

JP Duminy didn’t convert the start on Monday but the exciting Protea youngster is unlikely to squander another chance to impress the home crowd.

Abhishek Nayar and even Harbhajan Singh have the ability to land a few lusty blows, which means Tendulkar is not short on gunpowder.

Their bowling looks equally formidable with Lasith Malinga and Zaheer Khan forging a fearsome pair.

Dwayne Bravo has also chipped in while Abhishek Nayar, Jayasuriya and Tendulkar himself can prove quite a handful with their part-time bowling.

In contrast, Kings XI batting line-up has been inconsistent with Yuvraj’s own reputation as one of the deadliest batsmen in this format in tatters.

Rather, Kumar Sangakkara’s has been a reassuring presence in the middle and it was the Lankan’s unbeaten half-century that paved way to the side’s victory against Rajasthan Royals.

Irfan Pathan has also done justice to his all-rounder’s reputation, shining both with the bat and ball.

Even though the absence of Brett Lee and S Sreesanth depleted the Mohali-based outfit’s bowling resources, their late recruit Yousuf Abdulla has been among the wickets while Pathan’s impressive form also helped their cause.

Tags: Abhishek Nayar, Brett Lee, Duminy, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Kings XI Punjab, Kings XI Punjab Vs Mumbai Indians, Kumar Sangakkara, Malinga, Mumbai Indians, Preity Zinta, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sreesanth, Yusuf Abdulla, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan

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Thirteen venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been allotted 49 matches of the ICC World Cup 2011. Eight venues will be in India, three in Sri Lanka and two in Bangladesh.

Haroon Lorgat, Chief Executive officer (CEO), ICC said after a meeting of the ICC World Cup 2011 Central organising Committee (COC) here at the Cricket Centre on Tuesday that the venues are being finalised. “The opening ceremony and the opening match will be held at Bangladesh on February 18 and February 19, 2011 and the final in Mumbai in March,” said Mr. Lorgat.

The COC decided to allot two quarterfinals to Bangladesh and one each to India and Sri Lanka, one semifinal to Sri Lanka and India. “The final will be held in the last week of March,” said Prof. Ratnakar Shetty, who has been appointed Event Managing Director of the ICC World Cup 2011.

Mr. Lorgat said the special advisor to the ICC, Mr. Inderjit Singh Bindra will play a key role in the management of the ICC’s top signature event and also that the BCCI office in Mumbai will be the central Secretariat of the World Cup.

At a meeting of the Central Organising Committee of the World Cup 2011 a few months ago, BCCI had nominated Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mohali, Ahmedabad and Nagpur as the venues. Sri Lanka Cricket had nominated Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and Premadasa Stadium at Colombo and Bangladesh had named the Banghabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka as the venues in their respective countries.

With Pakistan not anymore associated with the 49-match competition in 2011 as a host country, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have identified one additional venue each, while the BCCI has retained the same eight venues to host 29 matches including the final at the completely redeveloped Wankhede Stadium at an estimated cost of Rs. 150 crore.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was to host the 14 matches including semifinal at Lahore, with Karachi, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi being the other venues. But the decision of the ICC Development International (IDI) to remove Pakistan as a co-host country has given an opportunity for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Cricket Boards to add one more venue each.

Shashank Manohar (President, BCCI) will head the security committee. “We recognise that instilling confidence in the security arrangements has to be in place and important. We have no doubt that we would be able to put in place security systems for a safe and successful conduct of the World Cup. The security planning will be an ongoing exercise from now,” said Mr. Lorgat.

He also said he has no information officially from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that its players would not take part in the World Cup. “It’s all being speculated, I don’t they will actually do that. We will cross the bridge when such a matter arises. There’s also no proposal from the PCB that it can host the matches in Dubai. It’s all very speculative. The IDO Board has made a decision and we are moving forward.”

The three host countries will have to appoint an Event Operations Director heading the local organising committee (LOC) and they would report to the Event Managing Director.

Operational Planning: Mahbubul Anam (Bangladesh, Convenor), N. Srinivasan (India), Duleep Mendis (Sri Lanka), Prof. Ratnakar Shetty (Event Managing Director) and Haroon Lorgat (CEO, ICC).

Venue Inspection Committee: N. Srinivasan (Convenor) and one member each from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Tags: Bangladesh, BCCI, Chennai, Colombo, Cricket World Cup, Dhaka, Dubai, ICC World Cup, ICC World Cup 2011, India, Kolkata, Mohali, Mumbai, pakistan, PCB, Sri Lanka, world cup, World Cup 2011

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Shane Warne and Graeme Smith are thinking men while Yusuf Pathan is an extraordinary hitter of the cricket ball. These facts were on display in a cracker of a contest in which Team Jaipur bested Team Delhi by five wickets at the Centurion on Tuesday.

Chasing 144 to win, Jaipur were home with nine balls to spare. In the end, Warne won and Virender Sehwag lost because it was the thought put in and not just plain action that delivered the required result.

To begin with, the only thing that Delhi perhaps got right was winning the toss and electing to bat first on what seemed to be a belter. However, 143 was all they could manage because once the innings began, Warne came up with a plan so neat that his opponents, in such cracking form, began losing ground right from when it began.

Of course, there was the obvious to take note of. Munaf Patel’s highly stingy spell that fetched two wickets and Graeme Smith’s responsible, unbeaten 44 (46 balls, 5×4). But it was Pathan’s unbeaten 62 (30 balls, 3×4, 6×6) which was the decisive influence on the match.

In fact, his knock might just go down as the innings of the event. There was immense strength that he showed in his strokes, treating the speedsters and the spinners alike.

Tags: Daredevils, Delhi Daredevils, Delhi Daredevils Vs Rajasthan Royals, Graeme Smith, IPL 2, IPL 2009, IPL 2009 News, IPL Scores, IPL South Africa, IPL Updates, Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, Virender Sehwag, Yusuf Pathan

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Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan returned to India from South Africa on Wednesday morning and the visibly upset Bollywood actor said that he won’t go back to cheer his team unless they win games in the second season of the IPL.

Speaking to press Shah Rukh mentioned that he won’t go back to South Africa unless his team starts winning. He said, “If they do well I will go back. I am feeling sad for the boys because there is a lot of talent in the team. There is a lot of hard work to be done.”

On the current skipper Brendon McCullum’s run in this season King Khan said, “Brendon McCullum is fantastic. I just think he needs to get cracking with the bat. He needs to get out this bad run and come back into form. But then I think he will get back and get out of it.”

Praising Sourav Ganguly’s performance in South Africa, he added, “As always Dada is doing fantastic and very well. But the team needs to click together so as soon as they do that then they will win.”

Knight Riders are having a lacklustre tournament so far with just one victory in their hands from 5 games. There have been talks of growing frustrations among the team members apart from a series of off-field controversies.

Tags: Brendon McCullum, Dada, IPL 2010 - IPL 3, IPL South Africa, Knight Riders, Kolkata Knight riders, Shah Rukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly

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