New Delhi, April 8: Vijender Singh (75kg) became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third successive time after reaching the semifinals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday.

The first Indian to win an Olympic and World Championships medal -- bronze in both events – Vijender outpunched Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag of Mongolia 27-17 to not just assure himself of an Olympic berth but also a medal at the ongoing tournament.

“I am back,” were Vijender’s first words while speaking from Astana after winning the crucial bout, a loss in which would have ended his hopes of making the London Games.

The 26-year-old had failed in his first attempt to book a ticket for London in last year`s World Championships.

“I have answered all my critics, who said that I was finished (after losing in the first round of World Championships),” said the former world number one, who was gasping for breath after a draining encounter.

Before the 2008 Beijing Games, Vijender had won gold at the Asian Qualifiers at that time, which incidentally were also held in Kazakhstan.

“I will now give it my all in the Olympics and prove that I am the best. It`s such a relief to have got qualified. The fact that I am the first Indian boxer to have qualified for a third successive Olympics makes it all the more special,” he said.

Vijender, a former World Championships bronze-medallist, had defeated Syria`s Ishak Waez in his pre-quarterfinal bout after getting an opening-round bye.

“His fitness and endurance were a revelation in today’s bout. He took me by surprise with the intensity with which he fought,” said national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu.

“I don’t have words to describe how well he fought. It was a fantastic display by a proven talent,” he added.

With his qualification for London, Vijender became the fifth Indian boxer to book a berth for the mega event.

India already have four Olympic berths through L Devendro Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Vikas Krishan (69kg) who grabbed their slots after reaching the quarterfinals of the World Championships last year.

Of these, Vikas went on to clinch a bronze in the biennial event -- only the second boxer after Vijender to achieve the feat. PTI

New Delhi, April 8: Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who is recuperating in London after undergoing chemotherapy for a rare germ cell cancer between his lungs, will return to the country tomorrow.“finally the day has come ! i am going home tomorrow ! cant wait , excited to see my friends and family ..see you india!! mera bharat mahan!” Yuvraj tweeted.

But the 30-year-old batsman is not expected to play for a few more months. After being diagnosed with the disease, Yuvraj underwent three sessions of chemotherapy and was discharged from his hospital in the United States last month. He is expected to announce his future plans and details about treatment that he underwent after returning to the country. Agencies

Dubai, April 8 : Off-spinner Graeme Swann’s 10-wicket haul not only helped England to a Test victory in Colombo but also lifted him six places to fourth spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test bowling rankings - just one place behind team mate James Anderson.

Swann took 10-181 in England’s eight-wicket win, which squared the series 1-1, while Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath, who took 6-133 and 1-37 in the match, moved up to fifth with a career best rating of 769. IANS

MADRID, April 8: Lionel Messi hit a double to take his season’s goal tally to 60 as Barcelona came from behind to beat 10-man Zaragoza 4-1 and move within three points of leaders Real Madrid.

Barca are on a nine-match winning streak which has put the pressure on Real who have a tough April and face third-placed Valencia on Sunday.

After that comes the Madrid derby against Atletico and the El Clasico showdown with Barca also to feature.

Relegation-haunted Zaragoza took advantage of a slow start from Barca with Carlos Aranda heading them in front in the 30th minute after earlier missing a penalty.

Carles Puyol brought Barca back on level terms six minutes later and then Messi hit a double towards the end of either half to continue his prolific run which has seen him go one ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the league with 38.

In injury time Messi set up Pedro Rodriguez for the fourth.

Zaragoza’s hopes of a comeback had been hit a minute before half time with the dismissal of Abraham Minero.

It was a new-look Barca side to that which beat AC Milan to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals in midweek with Gerard Pique missing through injury while Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets were rested.

Zaragoza, on a high after three straight wins saw them move off the bottom of the table, took the game to the champions.

Puyol and Javier Mascherano were struggling against the imposing Aranda who had his first chance after five minutes when he just failed to connect with a cross from Ruben Micael.

Again Aranda was heavily involved as Zaragoza won a penalty after 23 minutes.

He latched onto a cross from Ivan Obradovic with his effort coming back off the post, and then keeper Victor Valdes failed to get to the ball before Angel Lafita brought him down. Valdes redeemed himself though by parrying a weak spot-kick from Aranda.

Before half-time Zaragoza were reduced to 10 men following the expulsion of Abraham for a second yellow card offence on Alexis but the home side came out fighting after the break.

They pressed Barca back and Obradovic missed an excellent chance to equalise one-on-one with the keeper, but gradually the Catalan side took control again as the Zaragoza players tired.

Sanchez won a penalty five minutes from the end after a foul by Javier Peredes and Messi made no mistake from 12 yards.

In stoppage time Pedro finished off a pass from Messi to give them an emphatic scoreline they perhaps didn’t deserve.

Earlier Miguel Perez ‘Michu’ scored a hat-trick as Rayo Vallecano took a step closer to safety with a 6-0 thrashing of Osasuna.

Diego Costa, Emiliano Armenteros and Roberto Triguero ‘Tito’ were also on target and the visitors have now conceded eleven goals in two matches following their 5-1 defeat by Real Madrid last weekend.

Getafe added to bottom side Sporting Gijon’s problems with a 2-0 win thanks to goals for Nicolas Miku and Diego Castro while Espanyol came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Real Sociedad.

Espanyol struck back following a brace from Carlos Vela through an own goal by Vadim Demidov and then Vladimir Weiss. AFP

Most goals scored in a season in Europe:

Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich): 67 in 1972-73
Dixie Dean (Everton): 63 in 1927-28
Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 60 in ongoing season
Cristiano Ronaldo ( Real Madrid): 53 in 2010-11
Lionel Messi (Barcelona): 53 in 2010-11
Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich): 50 in 1971-72
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): 49 in ongoing season
Luis Suarez (Ajax): 49 in 2009-10
Josip Skoblar (Marseille): 49 in 1970-71.

CHARLESTON, April 8: Serena Williams steamrolled Samantha Stosur 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the WTA tour’s green clay Charleston tournament.

Williams needed just 59 minutes to subdue the second-seeded Australian, who beat the American in the US Open final last September but has now lost to her twice in two events. Williams, seeded fifth, improved to 6-3 overall against Stosur, including a straight-sets victory in Miami 11 days ago in which Williams fired 20 aces.

Williams had a relatively sedate seven aces on Saturday. She saved both break points she faced and broke Stosur five times as the Australian failed in a bid to become just the eighth player to beat both Williams sisters in the same tournament.

Stosur defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals to spoil the chance of an all-Williams semi.

Serena Williams awaits the winner of the second semifinal between ninth-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova and 14th-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia.

Hercog, who surprised third-seeded Marion Bartoli in the third round, advanced Friday with a victory over 2006 Charleston champ Nadia Petrova.  The victory over Bartoli, ranked seventh in the world, was number 38-ranked Hercog’s first career victory over a top-10 opponent.  The 21-year-old owns one career WTA title, but is in the semifinals of one of the WTA’s premier level events for the first time. AFP

Namangan, April 8 : India won the two dead rubbers to lose the Davis Cup Group I tie against Uzbekistan 2-3 here Sunday, when 295th ranked Yuki Bhambri upset World No. 43 Denis Istomin in the reverse singles. Bhambri defeated Istomin 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 after a two-hour-39-minute battle at the Pahlavon Sport Complex. It was Istomin’s first loss at home in six years.

Rohan Bopanna, playing the fifth match as a replacement for Sanam Singh, got the better of Sarvar Ikramov 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 for a consolation win. Sanam was ruled out for the match as he is suffering from chicken pox. The experienced doubles pair of Bopanna and Leander Paes were stunned by Istomin and Murad Inoyatov Saturday, ensuring a sixth World Group play-off for Uzbekistan in September. Uzbekistan have never made the 16-nation elite group since since they joined Davis Cup in 1994.

India, on the other hand, stay in Asia Oceania Group 1 for at least a year and play New Zealand in September. The visitors lost the tie on the second day for the first time since the World Group play-off against the Netherlands in 2003.  In the opening day on Friday, debutant Sanam lost to Istomin while Bhambri went down to Farrukh Dustov. IANS

OROPESA DEL MAR, April 8: David Ferrer handed holders Spain a place in the Davis Cup semifinals on Sunday after beating Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead over Austria in their World Group quarterfinal tie.

Spain - who prevailed despite the absence of world number two Rafael Nadal - will play the United States, who beat France, in September’s semifinals.

Ferrer, ranked five in the world, upped the ante after a fiercely contested first set and broke 21st-ranked Melzer in his first service game of the second set as he produced several sizzling returns of serve.

However, Melzer showed his mettle in breaking back to trail 4-3 but Ferrer replied brilliantly to break the Austrian’s serve immediately and then serve out for the set. The duo shared the first six games of the third set before Ferrer wore down his opponent to break him and then held serve before sealing the match on the Austrian’s serve, after Melzer had saved two match points. Agencies

Berlin, April 8 : Juergen Klopps side Borussia Dortmund wrapped the 20th win of the season at Wolfsburg while Bayern Munich carved out a 2-1 win against Augsburg in the 29th round of the German Bundesliga.

Defending champion and Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund extended their unbeaten run to 23 matches as they defeated the "Wolves" 3-1 away at Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.

Dortmund were in great form and seemed to wrap the game in the first half itself. Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Ilkay Guendogan doubled the lead although Wolfsburg shocked the guests when striker Mario Mandzukic got one back from a header, six minutes into second half, Xinhua reported.

The hosts pressurized the Dortmund defence but six minutes before the final whistle Wolfsburg defender Alexander Madlung received his second yellow of the match. Consequently Dortmund striker Lewandowski slotted home his 19th goal of the season to give the defending champions a 3-1 win.

Dortmund stay in first position with 66 points while Wolfsburg are placed ninth with 40 points. German record champion Bayern maintained pressure on front-runners Dortmund owing to a brace from Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez to seal 2-1 win over Augsburg. With only thirty-nine seconds into the match Gomez shocked the guests from with a follow up shot to give his side the lead.

Bayern retracted and were punished by the visitors as midfielder Ja Cheol Koo nutmegged Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from close distance to level the score with twenty-three minutes on the clock.With beginning of the second, half Bayern started aggressively to put things right in the 60th minute as Gomez tapped in from very close range to extend his tally to 25 goals.

Bayern, who are in second position with 63 points, wrapped their ninth consecutive win in all competitions. IANS

Rio de Janeiro, April 8 : Ronaldinho scored a 92nd-minute penalty to give Flamengo a dramatic 2-1 victory over fierce rivals Vasco da Gama in the Rio Cup. It comes three days after Flamengo's 2-3 defeat to Ecuador's Emelec, which leaves the team relying on other results to remain in the Copa Libertadores, Xinhua reports. After the match on Saturday an emotional Ronaldinho responded to reports the club was considering selling him.

Ronaldinho, who entered Saturday's match at Rio's Engenhao stadium with just two goals from open play this season, appeared determined to regain the support of disgruntled fans.

The 32-year old was eager to be involved from the outset and on several occasions tracked back to help in defence, something absent from his game in recent weeks.

Flamengo took the lead after 16 minutes through Deivid before substitute Diego Souza equalized for Vasco five minutes after the interval. The game ended in controversy when referee Vagner dos Santos Rosa pointed to the spot after Vasco goalkeeper Fernando Prass brought down Leo Moura. Flamengo remains top of group A in the Rio Cup while Vasco is now second in group B with one match remaining. IANS

BRIDGETOWN, April 8: A slow Kensington Oval pitch and a number of dropped catches helped the West Indies build a solid start against Australia on the opening day of the first Test on Saturday.

When rain curtailed the day, the home side were 179 for 3 with the backbone of the score being a century second wicket partnership between Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk Edwards.

Having won the toss, the West Indies' openers made a steady start and the initial breakthrough for Australia didn't come until the 18th over.

For his second spell, Ryan Harris had replaced Nathan Lyon at the Malcolm Marshall end and came around the wicket to Adrian Barath. His third ball was a bouncer outside off stump that Barath, who had made 22, hit high in the air for Peter Siddle to get under at fine-leg.

Edwards joined Brathwaite and he started slowly but the score was steadily building with Brathwaite being fortunate to survive three tough chances that he offered.

His first slice of luck came during the morning session.

In his third over, Siddle had him playing too early and, as his hand came off the bat, the ball looped back to the bowler who, despite getting his left hand down to the dropping ball, couldn't hold on to the chance.

Brathwaite moved on to 44 when Shane Watson induced an edge that went wide to Ricky Ponting's right at second slip.

He did well to reach the ball but he couldn't grasp it as the ball died on him.

Siddle found the edge of Brathwaite's bat and the ball flew high above Watson's head at fourth slip and, despite getting both hands to the ball, he couldn’t hang on.

Late into the second session, Edwards upped the tempo and smashed Lyon over long-on for six.

As Clarke looked for options he turned to part-time leg-break bowler David Warner.

When Edwards had reached 61 he smashed a return catch back at Warner who took it smartly. It was Warner's first international wicket and he was clearly delighted to have made a contribution with the ball breaking the 104-run second wicket partnership.

Siddle was probably the pick of a pace attack that had kept things tight all day and he was rewarded when Brathwaite played one loose shot too many.

He played at a ball slightly wide of the off stump and was caught behind for 57, an innings that had lasted over four hours and 199 balls.

It gave wicket-keeper Matthew Wade special cause for celebration as he had been presented with his baggy green before play by Ponting and it was his first Test dismissal. Agencies

Rome, April 8 : Juventus regained the top spot in the Italian Serie A after they beat Palermo 2-0 while AC Milan lost to Fiorentina 1-2 at home to slip to second place.

Leonardo Bonucci and Fabio Quagliarella found the net for Juventus in the second half of a one-sided game Saturday. The win put Juve one point clear of Milan in a two-horse race for the Scudetto which looks likely to go down to the wire.

Carvalho Amauri scored an 89th-minute winner as Fiorentina recorded a shock 2-1 win over AC Milan.

Amauri fired home from outside the box to secure three much-needed points for Delio Rossi’s side whose unexpected victory lifted them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Milan had taken the lead, going ahead through Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty, only to be pegged back by Stefan Jovetic before Amauri’s winner.

Inter Milan twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw against mid-table Cagliari which kept the Nerazzurri in the hunt to salvage Europa League qualification from a miserable campaign. IANS

BUENOS AIRES, April 8: David Nalbandian played his second five-hour, five-set match in two days when he teamed with Eduardo Schwank to hand Argentina a 2-1 lead over Croatia in their Davis Cup quarterfinal on Saturday.Nalbandian and Schwank saw off Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 8-6 after Friday’s opening singles had been shared.World number 10 Juan Martin del Potro had shrugged off a bout of nausea to cruise past Karlovic 6-2, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 after Cilic had given Croatia, the 2005 champions, a winning start when he beat Nalbandian 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.That had been another five-hour epic and featured 241 unforced errors.Argentina, last year’s runners-up to Spain, hold the unwanted record for reaching the most Davis Cup finals without winning the title, having fallen in four finals.

The last time Argentina lost a home tie on clay was against the Slovak Republic in 1998.The winners of this tie will face either the Czech Republic or Serbia in the semifinals. AFP

LONDON, April 8: Juan Mata’s last-gasp winner moved Chelsea to within two points of the top four after Branislav Ivanovic’s controversial opener set them on course for a 2-1 win over Wigan on Saturday.

Mata found himself in the right place at the right time to turn home from close range after Fernando Torres had fired a volley against the post in the third minute of stoppage-time at Stamford Bridge.

But it was Chelsea’s first goal that sparked a furious reaction from Wigan, who were convinced the Serb was well offside when his turned home a Raul Meireles cross.

Referee Mike Jones ignored the protests of the visitors and awarded the goal after consulting with his assistant, although replays supported Wigan’s claims that they had been hard done by.

Wigan’s misery didn’t end there and they left empty-handed after believing they had secured a deserved point after Mohamed Diame’s 82nd minute effort had cancelled out Ivanovic’s 62nd minute strike.

Chelsea are now up to fifth, above Newcastle on goal difference, and within two points of fourth placed Arsenal, who host Manchester City on Sunday.

The midweek Champions League quarter-final win over Benfica had kept the Blues’ recent impressive run going and set up the tantalising prospect of a semi-final meeting with Barcelona.

But interim manager Roberto Di Matteo had attempted to re-focus his players’ minds in the league ahead of this game by insisting a fourth place finish was still Chelsea’s main target.

With a trip to local rivals Fulham looming on Monday, Di Matteo took the opportunity to rotate his squad, making seven changes from the side that started against Benfica.

Captain John Terry was an enforced absentee after revealing he has been playing recently with two cracked ribs while Frank Lampard and Ashely Cole were also injured. But the wholesale changes did little to freshen up a side that looked as though it was still affected by the midweek efforts.

Wigan had already served notice they have no intention of slipping out of the Premier League without a fight and came into this clash on the back of successive wins over Liverpool and Stoke.

It took Chelsea 22 minutes before they managed to threaten Ali Al Habsi’s goal with Gary Cahill forcing a good save from the Wigan keeper with a long-range effort.

But Cahill was involved in a scare inside his own area when Wigan claimed Shaun Maloney’s cross had been blocked by the centre back’s arm in the 28th minute.

Three minutes later, Chelsea lodged their own claim for a spot-kick when Didier Drogba was held by Gary Caldwell.

Drogba should have scored in the 35th minute when his header was cleared off the line by Maynor Figueroa after Al Habsi had blocked Mata’s close range shot.

Then on the stroke of half time he connected with a far post header that drew another fine save from Al Habsi.

Di Matteo’s side took the lead thanks to a major slice of luck in the 62nd minute when referee Mike Jones decided Ivanovic was onside when he side-footed home from Meireles’s cross.

Wigan were convinced the Serb was offside and television replays appeared to support their case. But the goal stood and 60 seconds later Ivanovic made another telling contribution, this time at the other end when he cleared Franco Di Santo’s effort off the line.

Wigan found a way back into the game through substitute Diame who created space for himself on the edge of the area before lashing home a left foot drive, but Mata had the last word with his close-range winner following Torres’s volley. AFP

JAIPUR, April 8: Riding high on brilliant knocks from Brad Hodge and Ashok Menaria and a disciplined execution by the bowlers, Rajasthan Royals thrashed Kolkata Knight by 22 runs to make two in a row in the fifth edition Indian premier League.

Chasing a stiff target, Kolkata Knight Riders were bundled out for 142 to concede an easy win to Rajasthan Royals in the seventh match of the IPL at Sawai Mansingh stadium.

After Hodge and Menaira powered the hosts to 164/5, Kolkata got off to a worst start as they lost four quick wickets inside six overs with just 25 runs on the board.

Rajasthan pacer Amit Singh dealt two consecutive blows to KKR in the form of South African veteran Jacques Kallis and skipper Gautam Gambhir in the second over.

Kallis (5) was the first to depart caught by Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid at mid-off while trying to clear the region. Gambhir (0) followed suit the very next ball when Amit bowled a beauty that angled away after pitching as KKR skipper poked at it helplessly to glovesman Shreevats Goswami behind the stumps.

Spinner Ankit Chavan further compounded the misery for KKR when he dismissed New Zealander Brendon McCullum leg before for just two runs.

Debabrata Das (12) too departed early bowled by West Indian Cooper as Kolkata were left reeling at 25 for four.

Talented Tiwary and explosive Pathan tried to resurrect the innings and forged a 41-run stand for the fifth wicket before the latter was caught by Hodge off Siddharth Trivedi at deep square leg.

Earlier, sent in to bat, Royals’ Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 98 in their win over Kings XI Punjab, was run-out by a direct throw from skipper Gambhir stationed at mid-off. Even a dive couldn’t save Rahane who was found atleast a yard short.

Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid started in right earnest when he hooked Lee for a six and then hit him for a four.

Off-spinner Sunil Narine making his IPL debut was hit over fine leg for a six.

Dravid hit 24-ball 26 helped by two sixes and an equal numbers of fours before he became another run out victim.

Goswami, who looked good for his 18-ball 23, could not capitalise on the start as he was cleaned up by Bhatia while trying to drive it through the covers.

The loss of two wickets somewhat put brakes on the scoring rate of Rajasthan as both Hodge and Menaria started dealing in singles and doubles to keep scoreboard ticking.

Hodge broke the shackles in the 14th over bowled by Pathan when he hit the bowler for two huge sixes and a four to knock 17 runs from that over and took Rajasthan past the 100-run mark.

He then hit Kallis for two consecutive fours in the next over.

Lee, who was called back for his second spell, put an end to Hodge’s exploits when the Victorian was caught by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum while trying to play a pre-determined reverse scoop.

New man in Shah made his intentions clear from the outset as he first hit Kallis for three fours and then clobbered Lee for a six and a four to take Rajasthan past 150-run mark.

Menaria was bowled by Lee in the 19th over when he tried to go high over the cover region but missed the hit. PTI

SCOREBOARD

Rajasthan Royals:
Rahul Dravid run out 26, Ajinkya Rahane run out 0, Shreevats Goswami b Bhatia 23, Ashok Menaria b Lee 40, Brad Hodge c McCullum b Lee 44, Owais Shah not out 23, Kevon Cooper not out 5
Extras: (w 2, nb 1) 3; Total: (for five wickets in 20 overs) 164
Fall of wickets: 1-1,2-44, 3-61, 4-125, 5-152.
Bowling: Brett Lee 4-0-29-2, Jacques Kallis 4-0-35-0, Sunil Narine 4-0-29-0, Iqbal Abdulla 2-0-16-0, Rajat Bhatia 4-0-27-1, Yusuf Pathan 2-0-28-0

Kolkata Knight Riders :

Jacques Kallis c Dravid b Singh 5, Brendon McCullum lbw b Chavan 2, Gautam Gambhir c Goswami b Singh 0, Manoj Tiwary b Botha 59, Debabrata Das b Cooper 12, Yusuf Pathan c Hodge b Trivedi 15,Rajat Bhatia c&b Trivedi 8, Laxmi Shukla c Shah b Chavan 8, Brett Lee b Cooper 25, Sunil Narine b Cooper 0
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 5) 7 ;Total: (all out; 20 overs) 142
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-8, 4-25, 5-66, 6-77, 7-94, 8-132 , 9-132, 10-142.
Bowling: Ankit Chavan 4-0-23-2, Amit Singh 4-0-30-2, Kevon Cooper 4-0-28-3, Siddharth Trivedi 4-1-25-2, Johan Botha 4-0-34-1.

NEW DELHI, April 8: Late charge by Steven Smith (25 off 12) and Manish Pandey (12* off 4) helped Pune Warriors India post 166/6 against Kings XI Punjab in the eighth match of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League at the newly-constructed Subrata Roy Sahara stadium on Sunday.

Harmeet Singh struck thrice in three overs to halt the Pune Warriors' run charge. Harmeet sent back Robin Uthappa (40) to pavilion just before he was taken off from bowling by the umpire for protesting against a no ball.

Harmeet dismissed Callum Ferguson (3) soon after providing the visitors a crucial breakthrough when he clean bowled Samuels in the 15th over.

Pune Warriors lost Marlon Samuels (46) after he added a brilliant 81-run stand with Robin Uthappa. Samuels hit two huge sixes and four boundaries in his quick 39-ball 46 innings.

Pune Warriors lost Jesse Ryder (8) and skipper Sourav Ganguly (20) in quick succession after a steady start.

Ryder was run-out in the fifth over soon after Dimitri Mascarenhas dismissed Ganguly in the previous over as the hosts were reduced to 32/2 in 4.5 overs.

Ganguly hit three boundaries in his 18-ball 20 before Mascarenhas got better of him in the fourth over.

Earlier, Pune skipper Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat against Kings XI Punjab. Agencies

VISAKHAPATNAM, April 8: “Chennai have traditionally been slow starters and that’s why they haven’t really been disturbed by the loss to Mumbai in their earlier game,” bowling coach Andy Bichel had remarked on the eve of the clash against Hyderabad. On Saturday, his players made sure that their coach’s words didn’t go in vain as they made a rather sedate start with the bat before finishing their innings off in a blaze. The blast was so strong that the hosts, playing their first home game in a new venue at the ACA-VDCA stadium, had no chance to recover.

Replying to Chennai’s stiff 193/6, Hyderabad were bundled out for 119 in 17.1 overs to hand Chennai a morale boosting 74-run win. The Hyderabad batsmen tried to make a match of the game but they failed to mount a meaningful assault.Ravindra Jadeja, who had struck a 29-ball 48, scalped 5/16 in four overs to cap a fine day for himself and his team. It was the left-arm spinner’s maiden five-wicket haul in IPL.

With both skippers wanting to chase under the lights, it seemed to be a good toss to win for Hyderabad. Skipper White said he opted to field first because there had been some dew around in the evenings leading up to this game.But in the end it didn’t really matter as the Chennai batsmen took the game away from their rivals even before a ball was bowled in the second innings.

Hyderabad hadn’t accounted for Jadeja’s show. The India player had a poor tour Down Under but he showed he could be a handful in these conditions. The southpaw struck three fours and three sixes in his knock and towards the end Dwayne Bravo tore the rival attack to shreds. The West Indian hammered five sixes - plundering 23 off Manpreet Gony’s and the innings’ last over - in his 17-ball 43.

Brief Scores: Chennai 193/6 in 20 overs (R Jadeja 48, Dwayne Bravo 43; D Steyn 2/25, Daniel Christian 2/26) beat Hyderabad 119 in 17.1 overs (C White 23, P Patel 20; R Jadeja 5/16) by 74 runs.

Visakhapatnam, April 8: After suffering reverses in their respective previous encounters, both Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers would look to get their campaign on track when they meet in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Monday.

Despite missing Sachin Tendulkar to injury, Mumbai Indians still look the stronger side, on paper at least, but the visitors must be aware of the fact that the Chargers’ would be playing in front of their home crowd.

While The Chargers lost to defending champions Chennai Super Kings to start their campaign on a sour note on Saturday, Mumbai were done in by Ashok Dinda’s four-wicket haul when they clashed with Pune Warriors in their last match.

The last edition’s runner-up though beat Chennai in the tournament opener on April 4.

 However, in the absence of Tendulkar, there was little of note in the Mumbai innings against Pune, barring Dinesh Karthik‘s 32 off as many balls and an identical effort from James Franklin.

While the bowlers did a creditable job in both their matches so far with Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha and skipper Harbhajan Singh being the wreckers-in-chief, a much-improved performance from the batsmen is what the Mumbai oufit would be hoping for at the Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.

Richard Levi, the much sought-after South African, blazed his way to a half-century against Chennai, but the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Keiron Pollard are yet to fire.

The batting looks formidable but Mumbai will bank heavily on Levi to get them off to a flyer on Monday.

While it would be a challenge to face countryman Dale Steyn, Levi would surely fancy his chances against the likes of Manpreet Goni, Ankit Sharma, Dan Christian and TP Sudhindra.  

As far as the Chargers are concerned, true they were outclassed by Chennai in their campaign opener on Saturday, but ruling a team out in this form of the game would be a folly.

One of the least fancied sides this year with some of their key men having to sit out of the tournament, the Chargers don’t have a big name as such in batting, but one always can expect players like Shikhar Dhawan, Christian, Cameron White and Daniel Harris to come up with match-winning efforts.

Steyn is undoubtedely the spearhead of the bowling department, supported by Goni, Christian and Sudhindra. Agencies

New Delhi, April 8 : Mahela Jayawardene and explosive batsman Kevin Pietersen arrived here Sunday, a day after completing their national duty for Sri Lanka and England respectively. “I am looking forward to a good season with the team,” the Daredevils’ official website quoted Jayawardene as saying.

“It will be wonderful working with cricketers with so much collective experience. (The Team Mentor) TA Sekar had been telling me for a while before the auction that he was keen for me to turn out for Delhi. I know the Delhi Daredevils fans would have liked the Colombo Test to end in three or four days so that we could play the last night’s game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. But KP and I had other ideas,” he said, with his trademark smile.

Jayawardene, Pietersen both got hundreds in the first innings of the second Test which was won by England. Pietersen said he was eager to contribute to the team’s progress.  “I know we have a good unit and am happy that we got off to a good start in Kolkata,” he said of the win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Agencies

NEW DELHI, April 8: Mary Kom is easily India’s best bet to win a gold medal at the London Olympics but the five-time world boxing champion is not taking things for granted.

She knows that the transition from the 48-kg weight category to 51 kg has its pitfalls. A game trier, she says will certainly make a fight out of it.

A mother of two, the 29-year-old says that the Olympics will be tough as she has powerful opponents to box against in her new weight category.

After switching to her new weight category, Mary Kom won the gold at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and that she says has given her enormous confidence and that she is now more comfortable fighting in the 51 kg division.

“I am comfortable in both 48 and 51 kg categories. The Olympics does not have the 48 kg and so I had to perforce change to 51. The boxers in 51kg category are bigger, taller and stronger. At first it was a little difficult, but with time I got used to it. Fighting in the new category at the Asian Games has given me a lot of confidence and now my target is to do well at the World Championships as well,” Mary Kom said.

Nothing came for Mary Kom for the asking. She had to struggle for everything, right from taking to boxing to get India’s highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. She is a sporting icon of the country, yet she feels she still does not get the recognition she deserves despite winning five gold and a medal at each of the six world championships and winning the Asian championships four times.

Not many care to refer her by her full name Mangte Chungneijang (MC) Mary Kom, just like few may remember her idol and inspiration, fellow-Manipuri boxer Dingko Singh, who rose and went down like a meteor.

The May 9-20 World Championship in Qinhuangdao, China, offers the Indian boxers their only chance to qualify for the London Games. Mary Kom will not only spearhead the Indian challenge, but will also be chasing her record sixth world title and first in her new weight category.

“I did a lot of hard-work, I have worked on my weaknesses and tried to sort out some of the glitches over the past year. This year the World Championships will be different. I like taking up new challenges and that is my driving force,” she said.

Mary Kom attributes her success to British trainer Charles Atkinson. The 70-year-old was a guiding force behind the rise of Thai male boxers in the 1980s.

“It has been about a year since I have been training with Atkinson. He has made a huge difference to my fighting style. We concentrated on my strength, guard and combination and that reflected in my performance during the Asian Championships where opponents found it hard to get through my defence,” she said.

Mary Kom said Atkinson has helped her a lot in every aspect of boxing. “His tips have helped me to improve my attack and counter-attack tremendously. These may be subtle changes, but this is where the difference between an Indian coach and a foreign lies. He has put me through a lot of innovative movements and boxing,” she said. Agencies

LONDON, April 8: Manchester United tightened their grip on the Premier League title race as goals from Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes secured a 2-0 victory over 10-man QPR at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The visitors endured a frustrating start when Shaun Derry was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ashley Young, with the United man offside and barely touched by the QPR captain, after just 13 minutes.

Rooney thumped home the resulting penalty for his 30th goal of the season and his 12th in 12 matches. Agencies