Dwayne Bravo produced a couple of late strikes as Chennai Super Kings took seven wickets for just 32 runs to bowl out Kings XI Punjab for 138 in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match here today.
     Sent into bat, Punjab were fairly well placed at 106 for three at the start of 15th over, when top-scorer David Hussey's dismissal for a 36-ball 41 triggered a collapse from which the hosts could never recover.
     Some mindless batting by the hosts only made the task easier for Chennai, who showed discipline on the field.
     Punjab relied on Hussey's knock and his 56-run stand for the fourth wicket with Gurkeerat Singh after suffering three early blows at the PCA Stadium.
     Mandeep Singh launched Punjab's innings with a boundary off the first ball of the match, punching one fluently through extra cover off Dirk Nannes.
     Adam Gilchrist found the fence twice in the next over, an outside edge to the third man boundary followed by a cover drive that was a connoisseur's delight.
  

Punjab all out for 138 after batting collapse

PTI Automatic

Four bookies have been arrested for alleged large scale betting on IPL matches here and Rs 5 lakh cash was also seized from them during a raid, police said today.
     Police informed that TV, laptop and a few mobile phones were seized from those who were arrested.
     The four were involved in betting on the IPL matches between Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians.
     Police said they were on the lookout for several other bookies.

4 bookies arrested in Bangalore for IPL related betting

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir today backed out-of-form all-rounder Yusuf Pathan and expressed confidence that the Baroda cricketer would do "something special" very soon in the Indian Premier League.
     "Pathan is a match winner and is going to do something special in this tournament. I have a lot of belief in him and the entire team backs him and he backs himself as well. He is a match-winner and he will do something special very soon," he told reporters here during a pre-match press conference here.
     Gambhir said KKR do not not discuss their opponents and deliberate on team planning. "We have got a lot of courage in the dressing room. We are a very difficult side to beat," he said.
     Gambhir said he does not believe in words like momentum, but believes in playing good cricket.
     Gambhir said the playing XI has not been picked for tomorrow's match, but L Balaji is a great option for the captain for the sheer reason that he had played brilliantly in the ...

Yusuf will do something special very soon: Gambhir

Chandigarh's Gurbaaz Mann followed up his first round effort of 41 points with a brilliant 44 in round two to open up a three-point lead at the halfway stage of the PGTI Players Championship, here today.
     Mann's total stands at 85 after round two and his nearest challenger is Gurgaon-based amateur Aienesh Ahluwalia with 82 at the Classic Golf Resort.
     The stableford points scoring format is being followed in the tournament. Under this format, each par accounts for two points, each birdie for three points, each eagle for four points, each bogey for one point and each double bogey (or worse) for zero points.
     Mann's fantastic bogey-free round of eight-under-64 earned him 44 points on day two. The 30-year-old was in excellent hitting form and drove two par-4 greens - the 12th and 15th - to set up birdies.
     The strapping six-footer landed his chip within a few inches for birdie on the 18th. His other two birdies on the back nine came on the 10th and 14th.
     He then ...

Gurbaaz opens up three-point lead

Hosts Haryana routed Uttarakhand 12-0 in its opening pool A match of the 3rd Hockey India sub-junior women national championship (North Zone), played at Sonepat today.
     Navneet Kaur scored five goals for Haryana while Preeti netted three. Devika Sen, Udita, Reet and Sukhvinder scored a goal each.
     In the men's event, four goals from Harmeet Singh helped Chandigarh register an easy 5-1 win over Delhi.
     Chandigarh scored through Harmeet in the 6th, 14th, 48th and 63th minute while Maninderjeet Singh got one in the 50th minute.
     Rahul (68) scored the only goal for Delhi.
     In another match, Uttar Pradesh beat Uttarakhand 4-1.
     Manish Rajbhar, Amit Singh, Arun Kumar and Abhay scored a goal each for Uttar Pradesh while Sumit Kumar scored the only goal for Uttarakhand.
     Results
     Women's: Pool A - Haryana 12 (Devika Sen 4, Navneet Kaur 10,11, 33, 43, 69, Preeti 12, 18, 27, Udita 13, Reet 26 and Sukhvinder 46) beat Uttarakhand 0.
     Men's: Pool A - Chandigarh .

Haryana women decimate Uttarakhand in sub-junior nationals

Delhi Daredevils captain Mahela Jayawardene has been signed up by footwear giant adidas as its brand athlete.
     To kick start the partnership, Jayawardene will be part of adidas' latest digital and retail campaign for the IPL - Loose the heat, keep the fire - a campaign based on the latest cutting edge apparel technology from adidas, ClimaCool+.
     Speaking about his association with adidas, Jayawardene said, "I am excited and raring to step on the field in the three stripes. Adidas supports some the greatest athletes in the world today and have continued to develop revolutionary products to help cricketers like me outperform.
     "The ClimaCool+ technology in the new Delhi Daredevils team jersey certainly brings the cool, the minute you put it on, and I am all in to face the heat this season."
     Tushar Goculdas, Brand Director - adidas India said, "Mahela is one of the greatest cricketers of the current era- a natural leader, a fantastic batsman and an outstanding fielder. ..

Jayawardene singed up as adidas' brand athlete

Senior opener Virender Sehwag is likely to play his first game for Delhi Daredevils in the sixth edition of Indian Premier League against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Friday.
     The opener did not play the first three matches due to back spasms but he has now recovered pretty well and is expected to have a full training session tomorrow evening.
     "He had a good session in Mumbai prior to our last match and could have played. But he had some discomfort due to which we decided not to risk him. We don't want him to play one match and then miss the next few matches. I am hopeful that he will be playing our next match," Daredevils Team Mentor TA Sekar told PTI at the team hotel today.
     Sehwag's presence is very important in the larger context of Daredevils' performance in the cash-rich league as they have lost all the three matches so far.
     The Sehwag-Warner opening combination has a fear factor associated with it and is expected to perform much better than Warner-Unmukt Chand 

Sehwag likely to play against Sunrisers

The Athletics Federation of India is all set to elect its president, secretary and treasurer unopposed at its AGM on April 13 and 14 as only one candidate each was left in the fray for the top three posts after the end of deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
     The post of senior vice-president will also be elected unopposed at the two-day Annual General Body Meeting to be held at a hotel in Rajokri here.
     The elections to the posts of president, secretary and treasurer of the AFI are being held after the Sports Ministry refused to recognise the incumbents chosen in the polls in March last year.
     Early this year, following the Ministry's threat to derecognise it, the AFI amended a clause in its constitution which required that a person must be an existing member of the Executive Committee for seeking election to the post of President/Secretary.
     The Sports Ministry had asked the AFI to re-elect the president, secretary and treasurer before the end of February but it ..

AFI President, Secy set to be elected unopposed in AGM

Though I-league leaders Churchill Brothers look favourite to win this season's championship, East Bengal have not lost all of their hope to finish at the top of the table as coach Trevor Morgan is confident of his side winning the next four games.
     "We have to believe we can still clinch it. Having said that, you need to remember that Churchill are in great form and there is no reason to think that they will drop points," Morgan said.
     "But stranger things have happened in football. We have to make sure we win the four matches and hope Churchill drop points. Without hope and belief, the purpose of playing stays defeated," he said.
     With four games to go, Churchill are sitting pretty at the top with 47 points while East Bengal are five points behind them in the 22 matches played by each side so far.
     East Bengal have virtually qualified for the round of 16 of the AFC Cup - a feat they last achieved way back in 2004 - after remaining at the top their group with 10 ...

We can still win the I League title: EB Coach

Indian women rode on Harmanpreet Singh's century to defeat Bangladesh by 46 runs in the second ODI and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, here today.
     Besides scoring 103, Harmanpreet also took two wickets, as India restricted Bangladesh to 210 for nine after putting up 256 for six on the board. The Indians elected to bat after winning the toss.
     The hosts were going steady at 75 for two in the 20th over when Harmanpreet arrived at the crease.
     She shared 109 runs off 126 balls for the third wicket with opener Poonam Raut, laying the foundation for a competitive total.
     Even as Raut got out after playing an important knock of 80, Harmanpreet kept going adding another 52 runs for the fourth wicket with Anagha Deshpande.
     The ton-up batswoman was dismissed in the 48th over by Salma Khatun, soon after bringing up her second ODI hundred, which helped India set Bagladesh a competitive target.
     Harmanpreet's 103 came off 100 balls and included ..

Harmanpreet's ton guides India to series win

Piyush Sangwan shot a brilliant round of 4-under 68 to take the sole lead at the end of the second round of the IGU Haryana Junior Golf Championship played here today.
     Piyush added a 68 to his overnight 76 to be level par 144 for the tournament and was leading by a shot from overnight joint-leader Feroz Singh Garewal who shot a 1-over 73, at the Golden Greens Golf Club.
     Kartikey Vashist was tied for the third place along with Shubham Narain at 147.
     Manu Gandas occupied the fifth position at 148 while Pukhraj Singh Gill (149) was sixth, with the tournament favourite Viraj Madappa lying in the seventh spot at 152.
     In Category B, it was Karan Sharma who hit the front at 154. As many as three players - Kartik Sharma, Vignesh Thakur and Jaiveer Singh were tied for the second place at 156. Arjun Puri was fifth at 158.
     Piyush, a 10th tee starter, began in great style with an eagle on the par-5 11th. A bogey on the 12th and 16th was followed by a birdie on the 18th.
  

Piyush takes lead at IGU Haryana Juniors golf championship

Gurbani Singh shot a superb two-under 70, featuring four birdies on the back nine, as she jumped to sole lead from tied seventh after round two of the Usha Army Ladies and Junior golf championship, the season-opener on IGU Women's circuit, here today.
     The winner of the Ladies Order of Merit had a slow start on the first day when she shot 77, with just one birdie but she fought back strongly on the second day.
     She overtook the defending champion Aditi Ashok (75) and Tvesa Malik (74). Gurbani's round of 70 included one birdie and three bogeys on front nine, but she had a stunning back nine, where she carded four birdies, including three in a row from 12th to 14th and another on 17th.
     Aditi also had a two-over front nine and one-under 35 on back nine for her one-over 73 in second round.
     Gurbani leads at 147 while Aditi is one behind at 148.
     Tvesa Malik (74-77) has dropped to third while Raksha Phadke (78-84) was fourth and Sehar Atwal (78-75) was fifth with ...

Gurbani grabs sole lead after superb 2nd round

The Pakistan Cricket Board is contemplating increasing the Test match fees to discourage a growing trend of players preferring ODIs and T20 cricket over the longer version of the sport.
     A PCB source said that after the South African tour the Board had got feedback from the team management that some players were not interested in playing Test matches.
     "The reason for players preferring T20 cricket over Test matches is understandable since the difference between the fees paid out for a Test and a T20 match is not much," a source privy to discussion said.
     Pakistan were whitewashed in the three-Test series with none of the Tests going into the fifth and final day.
     "The reason for this is clear that they think that why put in so much hardwork for five days of cricket when just by playing a three hour T20 game they can earn as much," the insider said.
     He said that presently the board pays Rs 350,000 in the top bracket to players for a Test and around 30 to 35 ...

PCB may increase Test match fee for players

Kevin Pietersen has come under sharp attack in the 150th edition of Wisden Almanack, which has described the star batsman's behaviour as "arrogant" during South Africa-England series last year when the SMS saga led to his ouster from the national side.
     Lawrence Booth, in his Notes by the editor in the latest Almanack, said the big money which Pietersen had secured with his contract to play in IPL, made him courageous enough to not honour his contractual obligations.
     Interestingly, Pietersen has missed out on playing this year's IPL due to injury.
     "Cricket, some suspected, existed only as an extension of Pietersen's whims (and unlike team, cricket definitely has an "I" in it). Emboldened by a lucrative new Indian Premier League deal, he was arrogant, attempting to bulldoze over the terms of his central contract," Booth wrote.
     Further, Booth termed Pietersen's SMSes, in which it was alleged that he advised South Africans on how to get British captain Andrew Strauss ..

Wisden tears apart Pietersen behaviour during SA's Eng tour

Delhi Daredevils might not have had an ideal start to their campaign in Pepsi IPL-6, losing all three of their matches so far, but young opener Unmukt Chand said he was confident of his team bouncing back in the tournament.
     "We haven't started as well as we would have liked to. We are a capable side. It's a long tournament and I am sure we will certainly bounce back," Unmukt told reporters here.
     The Daredevils have lost both home and away matches to Rajasthan Royals after being decimated by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the season opener.
     Unmukt, who had played just two matches last season, has been opening the innings with David Warner, in absence of the star Daredevils opener Virender Sehwag but has failed to make an impression yet, getting golden ducks on two occasions.
     "These (failures) are part and parcel of the game. But, I am trying to learn from my mistakes. In the upcoming matches, I will try to get myself in and make sizeable contributions," the former ...

Daredevils will certainly bounce back: Unmukt

Indian shuttlers started their campaign in the New Zealand Badminton Open on a high, comprehensively winning their respective first round matches of the men's singles event here today.
     All the Indians in the fray -- Ajay Jayaram, R M V Gurusaidutt, Anand Pawar, Chetan Anand, Arvind Bhat and Kirtesh Dhindhwal -- advanced to the second round of the tournament with straight-game victories.
     While third seed Jayaram got the better of Winson Neo of Malaysia 21-5 22-20 in just 27 minutes, Gurusaidutt, seeded fourth, took a minute more than Jayaram to beat qualifier Chance Cheng of New Zealand 21-15 21-7.
     Fifth seeded Pawar overcame the Chinese challenge from Houwei Tian 21-15 21-19 in a match that lasted 39 minutes.
     Jayaram will next take on Marius Myhre of Norway in the second round. Gurusaidutt will face Malaysia's Beryno Jiann Tze Wong and Pawar will play Chia-Hsin Wan of Chinese Taipei.
     Meanwhile, 13th seed Bhat completely outplayed Yu Fu Lim of Malaysia 21-9 ...

Indian men shuttlers enter 2nd round of NZ Badminton Open

Leading men's and women's teams are to take part in the 28th edition of the Ramu Memorial basketball tournament at the Indian Gymkhana courts in Matunga here from April 14-21.
     The top men's teams include ONGC, Western Railway, Maharashtra, IOB, Punjab, Karnataka, Air Force and RCF, Kapurthala.
     The three-team women's category features Southern Railway, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh, said a media release here today.
     The men's teams would be divided into two groups, playing a round robin, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
     The men's competition is to feature a host of stars including T J Sahi and Jagdeep Bains from Punjab, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Riyazuddin and Yadwinder from ONGC, Mihir Pandey and Pratham Singh from IOB, Arjun Singh from RCF (Kapurthala), as well as stalwarts from the Air Force, Western Railway and Karnataka.
     Geetu Anna Jose and Anitha Pauldurai from Southern Railway, Anju Lakra from Chattisgarh, Shireen Limaye and ...

Leading teams for Ramu basketball

In view to boost Chhattisgarh's image as an international and national level cricket destination, the state government has decided to exempt the tickets of two IPL season-6 matches, which will be played here, from entertainment tax.
	 "The decision to exempt IPL tickets from entertainment tax was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh yesterday evening," a government official said today.
	"The event would help the state to emerge as an international and national level cricket destination, which would also boost the business-trade and industrial prospects of Chhattisgarh," the official said.
	The IPL T20 matches will be played on April 28 and May 1 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, situated at Parsada village in Naya Raipur.
	In another decision, the state Cabinet, in response to a proposal received from the Department of Law and Legal Affairs, sanctioned a post of Joint Chief Election Officer (JCEO) here.
	The state government ..

No entertainment tax on tickets for IPL matches in C'garh

Former PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt today said he stands by his statement that there was a rift in the Pakistan cricket team even as Muhammed Hafeez and Misbah-ul-haq have dismissed such comments publicly.
     Butt had said T20 captain Hafeez and coach Whatmore were trying to sideline Misbah, a comment which prompted the PCB to ask Misbah and Hafeez to hold an impromptu press conference and deny the allegations.
     Hafeez said that Butt's comments were damaging Pakistan's reputation.
     However, Butt said what he said was nothing but truth.
     "Both Hafeez and Whatmore support and back each other and that has put great pressure on Misbah, affecting his performance. I am doing nothing to damage Pakistan cricket. I am just saying what nearly everyone is saying since the South Africa tour," Butt said.
     Differences in the team, dressing room politics and intrigues and manipulations to force a captain to step down are nothing new in Pakistan cricket.
     In the recent past in 2009 ...

Hafeez and Whatmore have joined hands against Misbah: Butt

Struggling Pune Warriors today got a much-needed fillip with the confirmation that they will have the services of impact player Yuvraj Singh when they cross swords with high-flying Rajasthan Royals in a Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) clash here tomorrow.
     Yuvraj was fit to play tomorrow's game, according to team coach Allan Donald, but Pune will miss West Indian all-rounder Marlon Samuels, who has picked up a groin injury.
     The Warriors have lost two matches on the trot thanks to dismal batting efforts.
     On the other hand, the Royals go into their second away game after recording a clinically executed and morale-boosting 19-run victory over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders at home, their second win in as many matches.
     Therefore, the Warriors are the underdogs going into the clash and their stuttering batting line-up, which includes proven performers at the international level like Yuvraj, Ross Taylor and Marlon Samuels, needs to buck up and start firing.
  

Yuvraj fit to represent struggling Warriors against Royals

Aiming their second title of the season, Divij Sharan and Purav Raja made a confident start at the ATP Challenger event in Guadalajara, defeating Marco Chiudinelli and Yuichi Sugita in straight sets.
     The unseeded Indian pair, who were runners-up last week at Leon, won 6-4 6-2 against the Swiss-Japanese combo in the first round of the USD 100,000 hard court event.
     The Indians pocketed the first set after breaking Sugita's serve in the third game. In the second set, they further imposed themselves on the opponents with back-to-back breaks -- fifth and seventh games.
     Serving well throughout the match helped the winners' cause well as the Indian team did not face even a single break point. They won 84 percent points on first serve and 77 percent on second serves.
     In all they won 57 points to 38 of their rivals.
     However, they have a tough task at hand as they face third seeded formidable pair of  Rajeev Ram and Benjamin Becker in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

Page 5146 -