Practice and discipline make Tendulkar

CRICKET / Meticulous preparation has always defined the man

Practice makes perfect. Even geniuses are not exempt from that and none symbolises this more than Sachin Tendulkar. The staggering runs are there for all to see but what is not largely evident is his rigorous training. Tendulkar may have scaled new heights all these years since his international debut in 1989, but his stringent work ethic in the nets has remained the same. A fact highlighted by former India opener Lalchand Rajput, who has seen Tendulkar from his adolescent days: “He discusses with bowlers, speaks about imaginary field positions, and initially, doesn’t play his shots.

“Later, he works on his strokes, be it a square-cut or an upper-cut, and he tries his best not to get out. When he bowls, he is always trying to dismiss the batsman! He is extremely competitive, be it in the nets, or even while playing table tennis,” Rajput said.

Meticulous preparation has always defined the man as was evident when he got leg-spinner L. Sivaramakrishnan to bowl to him ahead of the 1998 Chennai Test against Australia, so that he could be ready for Shane Warne.

ScoreCard

South Africa — 1st innings: Alviro Petersen c Masood b Irfan 3, Graeme Smith c Adnan Akmal b Irfan 15, Hashim Amla c Younis b Irfan 118, Jacques Kallis c Adnan Akmal b Junaid 5, Abraham de Villiers run out 19, Jean-Paul Duminy c Shafiq b Babar 57, Faf du Plessis c Shafiq b Babar 1, Robin Peterson b Babar 5, Vernon Philander lbw b Ajmal 3, Dale Steyn st. Adnan Akmal b Ajmal 15, Morne Morkel (not out) 2, Extras (b-1, lb-4, nb-1): 6; Total (in 93.1 overs): 249.

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Petersen), 2-19 (Smith), 3-43 (Kallis), 4-104 (de Villiers), 5-199 (Duminy), 6-205 (du Plessis), 7-217 (Peterson), 8-222 (Philander), 9-245 (Amla).

Pakistan bowling: Mohammad Irfan 18.2-4-44-3, Junaid Khan 18.4-2-52-1, Zulfiqar Babar 27-2-89-3, Saeed Ajmal 29.1-6-59-2.

Pakistan — 1st innings: Khurram Manzoor (batting) 131, Shan Masood lbw b Duminy 75, Azhar Ali c de Villiers b Philander 11, Younis Khan c Petersen b Morkel 1, Misbah-ul Haq (batting) 44, Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (for three wkts. in 84 overs): 263.

Fall of wickets: 1-135 (Masood), 2-173 (Azhar Ali), 3-178 (Younis).

South Africa bowling: Dale Steyn 16-4-55-0, Vernon Philander 14-4-31-1, Morne Morkel 15-4-23-1, Jacques Kallis 9-1-28-0, Robin Peterson 18-1-79-0, J.P. Duminy 10-1-39-1, Faf du Plessis 2-0-8-0.

From THE HINDU

Bailey, Finch lead Aussies to huge total

Opener Aaron Finch struck his second successive half-century of the tour while captain George Bailey scored a fine 85 as the Australian side made mincemeat of the insipid Indian bowling attack to pile on a huge 304 for eight in the first ODI in Pune on Sunday.Finch, who helped the visitors make an imposing 200-plus total at Rajkot in the tour-opening one-off T20 International, was again in attacking form with a well-made 72 off 79 balls with eight fours and three sixes after Australia opted to bat.Finch and fellow opener Phil Hughes (47) got Australia off to a solid start with 110-run opening stand before India fought back through their left-arm spin twins Ravindra Jadeja (1 for 35) and Yuvraj Singh (2 for 34).Thereafter Bailey, who made a duck in the T20 game that Australia lost by four wickets, kept the innings together with a superbly paced 82-ball knock, studded with 10 fours before he was caught at deep mid wicket off Ravichandran Ashwin.James Faulkner (27 off 22 balls) struck breezily towards the end to help the visitors cross the 300-mark after a mid-innings stutter.The Indian bowlers, barring Jadeja and Yuvraj, looked off colour, particularly Ishant Sharma (1 for 56), who gave away lot of runs for a late wicket.

India rides on Yuvraj knock

On a perfect batting strip Yuvraj Singh scripted a grand comeback story by steering India to a six-wicket win over Australia in the one-off Twenty20 international at the Khanderi stadium near here on Friday.

The left-hander (77 not out) took charge after Virat Kohli’s fall in the 12th over.

Sania Says "I Would Love To Win another Grand Slam"

Read More At The Hindu

Kevin Pieterson - Libel Damages

England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was on Tuesday awarded undisclosed libel damages over an advertisement that suggested he had tampered with his bat during this year’s Ashes series against Australia.The advert for opticians Specsavers showed a picture of the batsman alongside the statement: “Bat tampering in the Ashes? Apparently Hot Spot should’ve gone to Specsavers.”Pietersen was accused by an Australian television channel of using silicone tape during the series to prevent the Hot Spot decision-review technology from detecting when he had hit the ball, but he denied the allegations. — AFP

From The Hindu

Mumbi Indians Lifts The Trophy...

Sachin Tendulkar ended his limited-overs career with a glittering trophy in hand as Mumbai Indians defeated Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the final to claim its second Champions League T20 crown, at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Sunday night.After Chennai Super Kings’s feat in 2010, Mumbai became the second team to win the IPL and CLT20 titles in the same year.Asked to bat first, Mumbai set an imposing target of 203 and banked on Harbhajan Singh’s four-wicket haul to stop Rajasthan at 169.Sachin Tendulkar’s last innings in coloured clothing, though short-lived, underlined the oft-repeated cliche about the permanency of class. Three well-placed boundaries from the maestro’s blade cheered up the packed stadium. He glanced and drove Shane Watson to fine leg and cover for consecutive fours before having his off-stump being uprooted spectacularly in the next delivery.Opener Dwayne Smith again took up the responsibility of setting the platform for Mumbai. He played sensibly, punishing the lose deliveries and showing respect to the good ones.

Tidy lines

Kevon Cooper and Pravin Tambe bowled tidy lines to deny Mumbai a boundary for five overs before Smith broke the shackles, hitting Watson for three fours on the trot.Pravin Tambe, who had played crucial roles in two Rajasthan wins, got rid of Smith and Ambati Rayudu in successive overs to surpass Sunil Narine as the most successful bowler of the tournament with 12 scalps.Rohit Sharma struck three fours and two huge sixes in his 14-ball 33. Glenn Maxwell provided further fillip to the Mumbai innings with 37 from just 14 balls.

Maxwell’s late thrust helped Mumbai cross the 200-mark.Faced with a mammoth task, Rajasthan batsmen took the challenge head on. The early loss of Kushal Perera, the replacement for an injured Brad Hodge, had no impact on Rajasthan’s progress.Destructive battingSanju Viswanadh had the Mumbai camp worried with some destructive batting. The youngster maintained his composure and rode his fabulous timing to blast the Mumbai bowlers all over the ground, for four fours and an equal number of sixes in his quickfire 60.

Ajinkya Rahane, who scored his fourth fifty in a row, and Sanju enjoyed their time out in the middle as Rajasthan made the most of the first six PowerPlay overs collecting 71 runs.Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma ran out of ideas, as he used six of his bowlers by the seventh over and posted five of his fielders at the ropes.Pragyan Ojha broke the second-wicket stand in the 12th over when Harbhajan caught Sanju at short third man. A little later, Harbhajan came up with a three-wicket burst — Rahane (65), Stuart Binny (10) and Cooper (4) — in the 17th over to effectively end the contest.

From THE HINDU

India - Got a "Gold" and "Bronze"

India captured one gold and one bronze medal in the doubles events at the World 6 Red snooker championship in Carlow, Ireland, on Friday.Vidya Pillai won the gold teaming up with Arantxa Sanchis while the pair of M. Chitra and Varsha Sanjeev took the bronze, according to a release from the BSFI.

From THE HINDU

Arsenal Tops the League Again...

Arsenal moved back to the top of the Premier League table after an entertaining 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, while Chelsea climbed to third place.

Bidding to follow up last weekend’s shock victory at Manchester United, West Brom took a 42nd-minute lead at The Hawthorns when Claudio Yacob converted Morgan Amalfitano’s right-wing cross with a near-post header.

Former Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka spurned two glorious opportunities to double the hosts’ lead, fluffing his lines from Saido Berahino’s low cross, and then curling wide with only Wojciech Szczesny to beat.

He was made to pay for his profligacy in the 63rd minute when Jack Wilshere met Tomas Rosicky’s lay-off with a crisp drive that took a deflection off Jonas Olsson and flashed past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Myhill prevented Olivier Giroud from claiming a late winner, but the draw was enough to take Arsene Wenger’s side above Liverpool on goals scored, while Steve Clarke’s West Brom remains 12th.

“It was breathless,” said Arsenal manager Wenger.

Tottenham Hotspur could have moved level on points with the leader, but it was dealt a stunning 3-0 home defeat by London rival West Ham United.

The results: Norwich City 1 (Pilkington 68) lost to Chelsea 3 (Oscar 4, Hazard 85, Willian 86); Southampton 2 (Lallana 19, Rodriguez 83) bt Swansea City 0; Tottenham Hotspur 0 lost to West Ham United 3 (Reid 66, Vaz Te 72, Morrison 79); West Bromwich Albion 1 (Yacob 42) drew with Arsenal 1 (Wilshere 63).

from THE HINDU

Author Tom Clancy dead

Tom Clancy in a 1998 file photo.— Photo: Reuters

Tom Clancy, whose high-tech, cold war thrillers such as The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games made him the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, has died. He was 66.

Penguin Group (USA) said on Wednesday Mr. Clancy had died on Tuesday in Baltimore. The publisher did not disclose a cause of death.

Mr. Clancy arrived on best-seller lists in 1984 with The Hunt for Red October . He sold the manuscript to the first publisher he tried, the Naval Institute Press, which had never bought original fiction. A string of other best-sellers soon followed, including Red Storm Rising , Patriot Games , The Cardinal of the Kremlin , Clear and Present Danger , and The Sum of All Fears .

Mr. Clancy had said his dream had been simply to publish a book, hopefully a good one, so that he would be in the Library of Congress catalogue. Four of his books, The Hunt for Red October , Patriot Games , Clear and Present Danger , and The Sum of All Fears were later made into movies, with a fifth based on his desk-jockey CIA hero, Jack Ryan , set for release later this year.

Born in Baltimore on April 12, 1947 to a mailman and his wife, Mr. Clancy entered Loyola College as a physics major, but switched to English as a sophomore, saying later that he wasn’t smart enough for the rigors of science. Ironically, his novels carried stiff doses of scientific data.

After graduation in 1969, he married Wanda and joined her family’s insurance business, all the while scribbling down ideas for a novel. In 1979, he began Patriot Games , in which he invented his hero, CIA agent Jack Ryan. In 1982, he put it aside and started The Hunt For Red October , basing it on a real incident in November 1979, in which a Soviet missile frigate called the Storozhevoy attempted to defect. In real life, the ship didn’t make it, but in Mr. Clancy’s book, the defection is a success.

By a stroke of luck, President Ronald Reagan got Red October as a Christmas gift and quipped at a dinner that he was losing sleep because he couldn’t put the book down — a statement Mr. Clancy later said helped put him on the New York Times best-seller list. — AP

T&T blows away Super Kings, makes it to the last four stage

Trinidad and Tobago required a win, or had to go down by a narrow margin, in its last Group ‘B’ encounter against Chennai Super Kings to enter the semifinals of the Champions League T20. The Caribbean side coasted to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday as CSK suffered an uncharacteristic batting failure.

Right from the toss, everything fell in place for T&T. It opted to field, bundled out CSK for a meagre total of 118 and overhauled the target in style to confirm its place in the last four.

In the semifinals, T&T, which replaced CSK at the top of the group, will play Mumbai Indians here on Saturday. CSK will travel to Jaipur take  on    

Rajasthan Royals on Friday.                                     

T&T fielded well and backed the bowlers who deserve credit for maintaining discipline in a high-pressure match. T&T’s fielders stopped crucial runs, took good catches and pulled off three run-outs.

However, CSK’s batting slump, which triggered the outflow of thousands of fans from the nearly-packed stadium, was unexpected. Despite Michael Hussey’s dismissal in the second over, Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina got together to gather runs at a brisk pace and set the platform for a healthy aggregate.

Best partnership

Vijay relied on his timing and placement to execute four classy boundaries in his 24-ball 27. Raina slammed three fours, and a six down the ground, for a 29-ball 38.

The pair added 55 runs for the second wicket, which turned out to be the best partnership for CSK.

Lendl Simmons, a part-time medium-pacer, was lucky as he got rid of the duo in back-to-back overs.

Vijay inside-edged a wide delivery on to his stumps while Raina played a pre-determined shotstraight to short fine-leg. At 78 for three in the 11th over, CSK still had the resources and overs to post an imposing target.

However, the team kept losing wickets as T&T happily grabbed every opportunity on offer.

CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni was the only other batsman to reach a decent score.

Chasing CSK’s modest score, T&T did not face any hurdles.

Plenty to spare

Openers Simmons (63) and Evin Lewis (38) made sure that their team reached home with plenty to spare.

Royals’ win ensures home semifinal...

“I have done a pooja”, chuckled Rahul Dravid a few days ago, when asked to explain Rajasthan Royals’ incredible winning run at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The benefits of the skipper’s invocation were revealed on Tuesday, as his side overcame a shaky period to win by four wickets.

While increasing its winning streak to 12, RR brought an end to Otago’s unbeaten run of 16 matches.

RR finishes top of group A and gets a chance to further embellish its legacy at home when it plays Friday’s semifinal here. Otago, though, will hope nervously that Perth Scorchers, even if it loses, ensures that Mumbai Indians does not sneak through at its expense.

With Ajinkya Rahane in resplendent form, RR began its chase of 140 by scoring 31 off the first three overs. Otago’s bowlers slightly pulled back their lengths afterwards to rein in the opposition batsmen. Yet, RR remained in control of proceedings, but a five-over period — from the 10th to the 14th — yielded only 18 runs for the loss of Sanju Viswanadh, Shane Watson and Stuart Binny.

The arrival of Brad Hodge lifted the pace of the innings, as he struck the first boundary for 30 balls in the 15th over. A couple of fours and sixes by the Australian followed soon to reduce the required equation to 27 off 21 balls, but Rahane’s dismissal ensured RR was still not comfortable.

However, Hodge was in no mood to relent and, thanks to a little assistance by Kevon Cooper, guided his team home with five balls remaining.

Earlier, Dravid expectedly decided to bat second and replaced Vikramjeet Malik with Rahul Shukla. It proved to be an inspired move as the 23-year-old rattled Otago with a triple strike in his first over — the innings’ fourth.

Hamish Rutherford was bowled by a full ball, Brendon McCullum was trapped lbw to an incoming delivery and Derek de Boorder looped a shorter one to be dismissed caught and bowled.

Neil Broom joined the trio in the dugout in the next over, as his attempted hook off Watson was top-edged and snapped up by ‘keeper Viswanadh.

After leading Otago to a thrilling win over Perth on Sunday, Neesham rescued his side through a 53-run partnership off 47 balls with Ryan ten Doeschate. However, the former was caught at long-on when he attempted to lift Cooper’s slower ball for a six.

ten Deoschate was trapped in front by Tambe in the next over to leave Otago reeling at 81 for six. However, Butler and Nathan McCullum played vital cameos to establish a competitive total.

Arsenal lights up Wenger’s anniversary

Arsenal did not let down Arsene Wenger on what was his 17th anniversary as manager on Tuesday, easing to a 2-0 win over Napoli and taking a huge step towards the Champions League knock-out stages.

First-half goals by record-signing Mesut Ozil and in-form Frenchman Olivier Giroud, his sixth this season and coming a day after his 27th birthday, gave the Gunners their 10th successive win.

While they took a firm grip on their group with six points from two games, Chelsea got its campaign back on track, after an embarrassing opening home defeat to Basel, with a 4-0 rout of Romanian side Steaua Bucharest.

Elsewhere Barcelona has a firm grip on its group with maximum points after a 1-0 win over a gallant Celtic, which played the last half hour with just 10 men as captain Scott Brown was sent off.

Barca has a two-point lead over AC Milan, which faces it next in a double header, after the Italian side salvaged a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam with a Mario Balotelli penalty four minutes into stoppage time.

Barca’s Spanish rival Atletico Madrid displayed the grittiness that its coach Diego Simeone displayed during his playing career to come back and beat Porto 2-1 away and top the group on six points, leaving it unbeaten on the field of play this season.

Arsenal holds a three-point lead over both Napoli and last season’s beaten finalist Borussia Dortmund, which beat Marseille 3-0 and will provide a stern test for Wenger’s men in the upcoming double header.

Wenger, though, was in raptures over his side’s performance against Napoli.

Amazing play

“The first half was amazing, absolutely fantastic. Everything was in there. All that you dream to see when you come to watch football,” Wenger said.

His Dortmund counterpart Jurgen Klopp had to watch his side win from the stands because of a UEFA ban, but he was delighted with what he saw as two goals from Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and another from Marco Reus saw the side score an easy win.

“It was a great game, Marseille is a strong team and you have to give it everything you have.”

Chelsea recovered from an early blow of Fernando Torres limping off with Brazilian Ramires playing the major role by grabbing a double, although German international Andre Schurrle was the player to take the eye.

Chelsea next faces two games in succession against Schalke, which will go into the first match top of the group thanks to impressive young German international Julian Draxler’s second-half goal that saw off Basel 1-0 in Switzerland. The game had been stopped in the first-half due to a group of environmental protestors abseiling from one of the stands.

Despite Barcelona — which was missing the injured Lionel Messi — struggling to overcome Celtic, its coach Gerardo Martino was more than satisfied with the performance which was decided by Cesc Fabregas’s excellent header 15 minutes from time.

Porto’s marksman Jackson Martinez gave Porto a first-half lead but Atletico fought back to win with second-half goals by Uruguayan international Diego Godin and Turkish international Arda Turan.

The results:

Group ‘E’: Basel 0 lost to Schalke 1 (Draxler 54); Steaua Bucharest 0 lost to Chelsea 4 (Ramires 20, 55, Georgievski 44-og, Lampard 90).

Group ‘F’: Arsenal 2 (Ozil 8, Giroud 15) bt Napoli 0; Borussia Dortmund 3 (Lewandowski 19, 80-pen, Reus 52) bt Marseille 0.

Group ‘G’: FC Porto 1 (Martinez 16) lost to Atletico Madrid 2 (Godin 58, Turan 86); Zenit Saint Petersburg 0 drew with Austria Vienna 0.

Group ‘H’: Ajax 1 (Denswil 90) drew with AC Milan 1 (Balotelli-pen 90+4); Celtic 0 lost to Barcelona 1 (Fabregas 75). — AFP

First points

for CSKA

CSKA Moscow earned its first points in Group ‘D’ with an eventful 3-2 home victory over the Czech champion Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday.

The result: CSKA Moscow 3 (Tosic 19, Honda 29, Reznik 78-og) bt Viktoria Plzen (Rajtoral 4, Bakos 90+1).

Mumbai Indians cruises into the semifinals

On a lively green turf, Mumbai Indians faced an uphill task in order to make it to the semifinals even as dark clouds hovering over the Ferozeshah Kotla had put a question mark over the crucial Champions League T20 match between the IPL champion and Perth Scorchers.

But some amazing strokeplay from skipper Rohit Sharma and Dwayne Smith brightened MI’s prospects even as the clouds dispersed from the skyline. Eventually the duo propelled Mumbai to a resounding six-wicket victory and ensured it a place in the last four.

Mumbai, which put Scorchers in and restricted the Aussie team to 149 for six, needed to reach the winning total in 14.2 overs in order to pip Otago Volts on the basis of a better net run rate.

Both Mumbai and Otago were tied on 10 points after completing their Group A engagements.

Sachin Tendulkar’s second-ball duck had little effect on Mumbai’s reply.

Smith (48 off 25 balls) showcased an extra-ordinary combination of disciplined batting and effortless brutality to clobber five fours and three sixes, all hit in the ‘V’, to take the match away from Scorchers.

Rohit Sharma stepped it up further — his equally blazing 24-ball 51 contained three fours and four sixes — as Mumbai romped home in 13.2 overs. In the semis, Mumbai will meet Trinidad and Tobago here on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Scorchers were keen to prove a point.

Ashton Agar, the left-arm spinner who had hogged the limelight with the bat during the Ashes, opened the innings with the seasoned Simon Katich and the two guided their team to a decent score.

Agar (35 off 40 balls) showed a lot of maturity with which he had won hearts in England. Katich silently supported the youngster as the duo stitched together 55 off 55.

Pragyan Ojha had the solution as he castled the dangerous looking openers in his first over and brought Mumbai back into the contest.

Twenty-one-year-old Sam Whiteman, just a season old in the Australian domestic circuit, smashed six fours and two sixes all around the park to forge 58 runs with Hilton Cartwright for the third wicket. He remained unbeaten to see Scorchers set a challenging target.

For Mumbai, paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile proved effective in his second spell as he captured three wickets at the expense of eight runs.

It really prevented the situation from going out of hand for the IPL winner.

Tendulkar Bullish on India

Iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar believes defending champion India is favourite to retain the ICC Cricket World Cup title in 2015 and exuded confidence that the trophy will remain in the subcontinent.

With exactly 500 days to go before the first ball is bowled in the World Cup 2015 on February 14, Tendulkar hoped that M.S. Dhoni’s side would successfully defend the title and make India only the third country after West Indies and Australia to win back-to-back titles.

“Along with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are also good sides. I am partial towards India and want them to do well.

“That would be really exciting. It will give so much happiness to the entire nation,” he said.

“That is something I would want, along with a billion plus people who will also be expecting the same thing to happen,” added Tendulkar, who along with Pakistan’s Javed Miandad is the only player in the history of the game to play in six World Cups.

India, which leads the ICC ODI Team Rankings table by a distance, has been drawn in Pool B and will open its campaign against Pakistan in Adelaide on February 15.

Tendulkar, who is also the highest run-getter in the history of ICC Cricket World Cup with 2,278 runs from 45 matches, hoped India players would quickly adjust to the conditions in Australia and New Zealand.

“Well I think most of our guys have been to Australia.

“They know what to expect, (as) they have played there already,” said the 40-year-old, who was part of the squad that toured Australia in 2011-12.

More than Australia, Tendulkar’s worry was about adjusting to New Zealand conditions.

Recalling India’s ICC Cricket World Cup 1992 match against New Zealand, Tendulkar said: “I remember our match in Dunedin, where it was extremely cold and windy. Whenever a batsman hit the ball with the wind, it would travel 10 yards further, but when we had to play against the wind, the ball travelled 10 yards less!

“As there is a tour to New Zealand planned in early 2014, it should give them good exposure to the conditions there,” said Tendulkar.

The 2015 event will see 49 matches played across 44 days at 14 venues across the two hosting nations.

All 14 teams will need to play in both Australia and New Zealand if they are to claim cricket’s ultimate prize. — PTI

Sania wins fourth title of the season...

Sania Mirza continued her impressive run as she captured her fourth title of the season and 18th overall with Cara Black of Zimbabwe, recording a come-from-behind 4-6 6-0 11-9 win over Liezel Huber and Hao Ching Chan to lift the Pan Pacific Open trophy, here on Saturday.PTI                                   From THE HINDU

CSK tramples past Heat..

CSK

Chennai Super Kings rolled into the semifinals of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 semifinals with an authoritative eight-wicket victory over Brisbane Heat in a group ‘B’ league match at the JSCA Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing Heat’s 137 for seven, CSK finished it off losing only two wickets and with over four overs remaining.

Man of the Match Michael Hussey remained unbeaten on 57 and skipper M.S. Dhoni hit the winning runs — a six — to be undefeated on 13 in the team’s total of 140 for two in 15.5 overs.

M. Vijay looked determined to do well and began cautiously with Hussey. The left-hander was solidity personified as Vijay found his groove before opening up.

The two brought up 50 for the opening wicket off 41 balls.

During this period of ascendancy, Vijay hit two consecutive sixes off off-spinner Nathan Hauritz’s first over to break free.

Thereafter runs begun to flow at a brisk pace before Vijay failed to keep a hook shot down and was taken brilliantly by Joe Burns for a well made 42 off 27 balls with five fours and two sixes.

The 75-run partnership provided CSK with a solid launching pad and the momentum to carry on. The in form Suresh Raina and Hussey were too good to be kept quiet.

Raina helped himself to a four and two sixes as the two brought up the team’s 100 in 12.1 overs.

Dan Christian finally had Raina leg before for 23.

Dhoni then joined Hussey and soon with four runs needed for a win, Dhoni hit a straight six to mark the end of the unequal contest.

Earlier after Dhoni invited James Hopes to bat first, debutant opener Dominic Michael lasted only two balls before he drove Mohit Sharma to S. Badrinath who dived forward to pick up the low catch.

Hopes began promisingly with a couple of fours early on and in the company of Chris Lynn punched two more before miscuing a lofted drive off Albie Morkel.

By the end of the fifth over Heat reached 46 for two when Dhoni introduced R. Ashwin into the attack. Ravindra Jadeja, woefully out of form with both bat and ball, came on from the other end to bowl the seventh over and immediately tasted success when he had Christian taken by Hussey at long on.

A faster one sent back Joe Burns, the resultant edge accepted by Suresh Raina at slips.

Heat at four down for 55 was in deep trouble. Both Ashwin and Jadeja exploited the tentative nature of the batsmen and spun a web around the bat. Runs completely dried up.

Heat batsmen failed to hit a single four or six from over No. 7 to 17 by which time six wickets had fallen for 87 runs.

It was during the seventh wicket association between Ben Cutting and wicketkeeper Chris Hartley, that the former hit the first of his five sixes of the day.

Cutting hoisted Dwayne Bravo for two sixes in that over to take his team’s total past 100 in 17.5 overs.

The two cut loose as Jason Holder and Mohit Sharma were taken to the cleaners in the final two overs. The unbroken seventh wicket partnership produced 71 runs in7.3 overs to lend respectability to Heat’s total.

From THE HINDU

Rajasthan Royals turns in a regal performance

• 
  INCISIVE SPELL:Leg-spinner Pravin Tambe (second from right) spun the match Rajasthan Royals' way
  
  , by scalping four Highveld Lions batsmen in the space of 11 deliveries, at the Sawai MansinghStadium
  
  on Wednesday.— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
• 

Ben Johnson says he was ‘nailed on the cross’

from THE HINDU

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson returned on Tuesday to Seoul’s Olympic Stadium — 25 years to the day after the steroid-assisted 100m final victory that destroyed his career and reputation.The runner revisited the site of his stunning triumph and downfall to bring an anti-doping message for a sport still struggling to rid itself of banned substance use.“It feels good to be back,” Johnson said as he stepped out onto the track where, at 1.30 p.m. on September 24, 1988, he lined up for a 100m final that would become known as the “dirtiest race in history”.“This is where history was made,” Johnson said. “Some might call it bad history, but I don’t see it that way,” he added.First out of the blocks in the final, Johnson destroyed a field that included Carl Lewis and stormed to victory in a world record time of 9.79sec.Three days later he was stripped of his medal, his time and ultimately his career after it was announced that he had tested positive for stanozolol , a banned anabolic steroid.Six of the eight finalists would eventually be implicated in doping scandals, including Lewis, who it was later revealed had tested positive for stimulants at the US Olympic trials.Johnson, 51, has admitted to years of steroid use, but still feels he was unfairly picked out for vilification at a time of widespread drug use in athletics.“I was nailed on a cross, and 25 years later I’m still being punished,” he said.“Rapists and murderers get sent to prison, but even they get out eventually.“I know what I did was wrong. Rules are rules. But the rules should be the same for all. But politics always plays in sports,” he said.Johnson’s return to Seoul was the final leg of a global tour as standard bearer of the #ChooseTheRightTrack campaign, which calls for new strategies to combat continued drug use in athletics.On Tuesday, at precisely 1.30 p.m., Johnson stood at the starting point on Lane 6 — his lane in the final — and strolled down the track he burned up in 1988.As he walked, two volunteers unrolled in his path a 100m long petition with 3,700 signatures the campaign has collected over the past month.At the finish line, he recreated the famous finger-raised pose he struck at the moment of victory 25 years ago.“Of course I fell remorse, regret, but it’s not the biggest issue in my life anymore. I’ve accepted it and I’ve moved forward,” he said.Johnson voiced some sympathy for Lance Armstrong, saying the disgraced American cyclist was being singled out, much as he was, in a sport where doping is prevalent.Asked what he would change if he could go back 25 years, Johnson said there was no point trying to live in the past.“But I still believe I could have won the Olympic Games without any drugs back then,” he added. — AFP

Cricket News

Bravo's Fiery Knock

THE WINNING MOMENT : Sunrisers 

Hyderabad batsmen Karan Sharma, who hit 

the winning runs, and man-of-the-match 

Thisara Perera celebrate a great win over 

Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday.— Photo: 

Akhilesh Kumar

from THE HINDU