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IPL 2012 Live score: Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
May 20th
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Hyderabad: 05:25 pm 19th over: 126/5 Zaheer to continue. A dot ball. Patel takes a single. Duminy hits a full-toss to Zaheer who gets a hand to it and the batsmen run two. Duminy defends a yorker back to Duminy. Zaheer bowls a full-toss and Duminy hits that straight to long-on. JP Duminy is OUT! End of an excellent innings from Duminy. The last ball hits Parthiv on the helmet buts runs to third-man for a boundary. 7 runs from the over.
JP Duminy c sub (KP Appanna) b Khan 74 (53b)
05:21 pm 18th over: 119/4 Murali comes back into the attack. Duminy sweeps the first ball over deep midwicket for a Six! That bring Deccan’s 100! And again! Murali bowls a quciker ball and Duminy smacks that over midwicket for another Six! Back-to-back sixes for the South African! Duminy takes a single. Patel hits the ball straight down the ground for a single. A dot ball. Duminy goes straight down the ground for third six from Murali’s over! Duminy is playing a blinder here! 21 runs from that over.
05:17 pm 17th over: 98/4 Khan comes back into the attack. Duminy gets a low full-toss and he smashes that to deep midwicket for a boundary! Zaheer bowls another full-toss, a single taken. Patel hits the next ball to deep midiwicket for a single. Zaheer bowls another half-volley and Duminy goes over extra-cover for ANOTHER SIX! That also brings Duminy’s 50 of 43 balls! Duminy takes a couple. Duminy ends the over with a single.
05: pm 16th over: 84/4 Vinay Kumar comes into the attack. Duminy takes a single to third-man. Swing and a miss for Patel. Patel runs a leg bye. Kumar bowls a half-volley and Duminy smokes that over long-on for the first DLF maximum of the innings! A dot ball. Duminy takes a quick single.
05:08 pm 15th over: 74/4 Patel to continue. Parthiv Patel works the first ball to deep cover for a couple. Parthiv nudges the ball for a single. A dot ball. Duminy works a short ball to deep square leg for a boundary. Duminy takes a single to long-on. A dot ball.
Time for a strategic timeout.
05:02 pm 14th over: 67/4 Dilshan comes into the attack. A single taken off the first ball. Duminy scores a single to covers. Patel nudges one to covers for a single. Duminy takes a single to long-on.
Live Score »I Live commentary »I Points table »
04:59 pm 13th over: 61/4 Patel to continue. Duminy hist the ball to point where Kohli dives to his right to save a boundary for his side. Duminy takes a single on the leg-side. Patel takes a quick single. Patel bowls a bouncer and Duminy hits it high in the air to long-on for a single. Patel bowls another dot ball and Patel pulls it to deep square leg for a boundary.
04:55 pm 12th over: 53/4 Murali to continue. Sanga charges down the track and smashes the ball to long-off. Sanga is GONE! Parthiv Patel is the new batsman. Patel gets off the mark with a single. A dot ball. Duminy works the next ball to point for no run. Duminy takes a single towards midwicket. Murali ends the over with a dot ball.
04:51 pm 11th over: 51/3 Harshal Patel to bowl. A dot ball. Duminy takes a single to long-off. Sanga comes down the wicket, manages justa singl to wide of long-off. Duminy takes a single towards third-man. 50 up for the Chargers. Sanga nudges the next ball for a single. Patel ends the over with a dot ball.
04:47 pm 10th over: 47/3 Murali comes back into the attack. Duminy takes a single to long-off. Sanga cuts the ball to point for no run. Sanga takes a single to long-on. Duminy nudges the ball to deep backward point for a single. Sanga works the next ball to long-off for a single. Duminy ends the over with another single.
Time for a strategy break.
04:42 pm 9th over: 41/3 Parameswaran to continue. A dot ball. Sanga takes a single. Duminy moves towards the off-side and lets it go to the keeper. Another dot ball by Parameswaran. Duminy drives a low full-toss to deep covers where Mayank Agarwal dives to save two runs for his side. Duminy takes a single to long-on.
04:37 pm 8th over: 37/3 Harshal Patel comes into the attack. A dot ball. Duminy opens the face of the bat as the ball rushes past third man for a boundary. Duminy works the next ball to square leg for a single. Sanga defends the ball for no run. Sanga takes a single on the leg-side. A dot ball.
04:33 pm 7th over: 30/3 Parameswaran to continue. Sangakkara takes a single off the first ball. Duminy guides the next ball through covers for a boundary. The bowler beats Duminy with one that moved in. Duminy plays the ball through covers towards deep backward point for a couple. A dot ball.
Time for a strategic break.
04:30 pm 6th over: 23/3 Murali comes into the attack. Two runs from that over.
04:26 pm 5th over: 21/3 Parameswaran into the attack. A dot ball. Parmeswaran surprises White with a bouncer who gets a leading edge, White is OUT! Caught at square leg by Agarwal! JP Duminy is the new batsman. A dot ball. Duminy plays a ball towards point for no run. Duminy takes a single. A dot ball to end the over.
04:20 pm 4th over: 20/2 Kumar to continue. He begins with a bouncer and Wide called by the umpire. Reddy hits the next ball towards covers where a misfield produces a couple. Reddy works the next ball straight to mid-on for no run. Kumar gets one to move away from Reddy and Reddy is OUT! Caught by de Villiers! Cameron White is the new batsman.He almost guides the first ball to Gayle at slips. White works the next ball towards mid-on for no run. White gets off the mark with a single.
PA Reddy c †de Villiers b Vinay Kumar 7 (11b)
04:14 pm 3rd over: 16/1 Zaheer to continue. A single taken off the first ball. Reddy smacks a half-volley straight to mid-off for no run. Reddy drives the next ball to covers for no run. Reddy nudges the ball for a quick single. Sanga comes down the wicket and plays the ball towards point, no runs scored. Sanga comes down the wicket and he guides the ball to fine leg for a boundary!
04:10 pm 2nd over: 10/1 Vinay Kumar comes into the attack. Reddy takes a quick single. Kumar Sangakkara is the new batsman. Sanga works the ball to Kumar for no run. A dot ball. Sanga comes down the wicket and scores a single towards mid-on. Reddy gets some wdith and he cuts it towards point where the fielder gets a hand to it, two runs scored. Swing and a miss for Reddy.
04:05 pm 1st over: 6/1 Zak to bowl the first over, Dhawan and Reddy open for Deccan. He begins with a dot ball. Dhawan guides the next ball towards point for their first boundary, superb shot that! Dhawan takes a single. A dot ball. Reddy takes a single. Khan appeals for an lbw, turned down by the umpire but the RCB players notice that one of the bails have been removed, umpire looks for a replay and Dhawan is OUT, bowled by Khan! The ball moved in and hit the bails as it went to the keeper.
S Dhawan b Khan 5 (4b)
3:35 TOSS: Virat Kohli has won the toss and decided to bowl first .
Deccan Chargers squad
PA Patel†, S Dhawan, CL White, PA Reddy, KC Sangakkara*, JP Duminy, A Ashish Reddy, A Mishra, DW Steyn, MS Gony, V Pratap Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore squad
TM Dilshan, CH Gayle, V Kohli*, AB de Villiers†, SS Tiwary, MA Agarwal, R Vinay Kumar, Z Khan, HV Patel, M Muralitharan, P Parameswaran
First Published: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 15:51
DTM : Spengler quickest in warm up at Brands Hatch
May 20th
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Bruno Spengler set the quickest time in the warm up session at Brands Hatch for BMW with a lap time of 42.267s. The Lausitzring winner finished 0.068s ahead of the Audi of Edoardo Mortara.
Fellow Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller finished in third, with his fastest time within a hundredth of a second of Spengler’s. Miguel Molina was fourth fastest for Audi with polesitter Gary Paffett fifth for Mercedes.
Audi driver Timo Scheider finished in sixth ahead of the BMW of reigning champion Martin Tomczyk. After claiming his best DTM qualifying result of second in yesterday’s session, Christian Vietoris finished in eighth for BMW. Audi driver Mattias Ekström was ninth fastest with Jamie Green rounding out the top ten for Mercedes.
Roberto Merhi was the only driver who failed to set a time after an off at Clearways early in the early stages of the thirty minute session.
The 98-lap race is due to take place at 14:03 UK time.
V8SC : Will Davison wins and reclaims championship lead
May 20th
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Will Davison bounced back from yesterday’s crash and won the second V8 Supercars race at Philip Island, reclaiming the lead of the championship from Jamie Whincup who finished fifth in this race. Davison started third but quickly made his way in to the lead as pole man Craig Lowndes stalled his Holden at the start.
Lowndes dropped several positions in the start and had to fight his way back. The Triple Eight driver was fastest of the field and climbed back up to second. He closed in on leading Davison on the final couple of laps, but didn’t get close enough and finished second with a margin of 0.5 seconds.
“When I saw Lowndes get by Bright I was pretty nervous. I was down last night, I didn’t enjoy yesterday. I’m stoked with this one today,” said Davison.
“I have to stop doing those Mark Skaife starts! It was a hell of a day for us. We had such a disappointing race yesterday but had to bounce back after my bad start. If I had another 10 laps I would have had a chance with Will but he kept the gap constant,” said Lowndes.
Jason Bright made his way to third in the race, partly thanks to only doing one pitstop, with Shane van Gisbergen in fourth and Whincup in fifth.
Previous race winner Mark Winterbottom finished sixth ahead of Jonathon Webb. David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander rounded off the top ten.
The stewards decided ahead of the race that yesterday’s crash between Davison and Whincup was not to be penalized.
DTM : Paffett pleased with incredible pole result
May 20th
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Gary Paffett claimed his ninth DTM pole position at Brands Hatch yesterday for his home race. In spite of the result Paffett has told TouringCarTimes he still expects today’s race to be really tough.
The pole position was the 110th claimed by Mercedes and their 65th double pole with Christian Vietoris claiming second, his best DTM qualifying result. It was a result that Paffett wasn’t expecting: “It’s difficult to expect to be on pole, this year especially as it’s so close. You just have to do the best you can and if you qualify near the front you’ve done a good job. Coming to here, it’s a different circuit to what we’ve been on the first two races and we’re still getting used to these cars really so difficult to know what to expect. The car has been working well all weekend. We did some qualifying simulations and that was going well so I think we expected to be close to the front. Certainly our aim was to get to Q4 which we did. It’s an incredible result, it’s so very close that getting to Q4 is a great achievement”
The Mercedes driver told TouringCarTimes that claiming pole position at Brands Hatch was particularly important: “It’s very important, it’s important everywhere. Overtaking is relatively difficult, at Hockenheim it was possible and at Lausitzring it was near impossible. Here again it’s very difficult. I’ve overtaken a few cars here in the years I’ve raced here but not many. It’s only really possible to overtake if someone makes a mistake. On a circuit like this it’s very important to be starting at the front. So it certainly means a lot more than it does at other places.”
In spite of his belief that there will be limited opportunities for overtaking, Paffett still expects today’s 98-lap race to be difficult: “It’s still going to be really tough, it’s never going to be easy but if we can get a good start and get out in front at least we can run our own race and try and control things from the front. When you’re starting behind you’re having to follow people, having to see what their strategy is to try and react to try and beat them, but if you start at the front if you get a good start you can run your own race, which makes it a lot easier. We’ve shown the last two races us as a manufacturer and myself have had the fastest race pace of anyone. So I think if we can get a good start we should have good enough race pace to win.”
ETCC : Stian Paulsen leads Salzburgring warm up
May 20th
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Stian Paulsen was fastest of all in his SEAT León Supercopa ahead of class rival Andreas Pfister in the morning warm up, whilst SUNRED didn’t show their hand with neither Skuz or Monje setting a competitive lap.
Whilst Igor Skuz and Fernando Monje, the fastest two drivers in qualifying yesterday (though Monje will start 11th after a penalty from Slovakia) focused on set-ups and practice starts in the pit lane, the two Single Make Trophy class drivers Pfister and Paulsen were fighting for the fastest time, with the Norwegian driver Paulsen coming out on top 0.048 seconds ahead of Pfister.
Peter Rikli was the fastest of the Super 2000 cars, just 0.7 seconds behind in his Honda Civic FD.
It was a Chevrolet 1-2 in the Super 1600 class with Vadim Mescheryakov fastest ahead of his Argentinean team-mate Wilson Borgnino, with Paulo Necchi third fastest in the Ravenol Team SAN Ford Fiesta.
In Super Production, Aleksander Tosic was the only one of the two entrants to take part and was 10th fastest in his ASK Vitro Racing Honda Civic Type-R.
Chelsea players want Roberto to take full time charge of the club
May 20th
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Zeenews Sports Bureau
Munich: Roberto Di Matteo would have pinched himself on probably the greatest night of his life as he masterminded Chelsea’s dramatic Champions League glory on Saturday just three months after taking charge of the club.
The Blues have ended the season pocketing two titles—FA Cup defeating Liverpool in the final and the Champions League trophy for the first time defeating Bayern Munich.
The success has been possible only after the Italian took reins of the club as the interim coach after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked.
Post the ecstasy Chelsea players’ have equivocally expressed their desire to give Matteo the full-time charge of the club.
“Look at that trophy. We hope so. Robbie has been fantastic since he came in. It was a superb display from the whole squad. When our backs are against the wall we step up to the mark,” John Terry was quoted as saying by a news agency after being asked whether Matteo should be given the job.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech said, “Whatever happens to him (Matteo), he has got two fantastic cups. He has done enough to get the job but that is for the board to decide.”
One being asked the question, Roberto himself refused to comment anything preferring to revel in the glory.
“I`m enjoying this moment. I won`t talk about it now,” he was quoted as saying.
First Published: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 09:01
Chanderpaul leads West Indies rearguard
May 20th
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Lunch England 341 for 7 (Bell 38*, Broad 10*) lead West Indies 243 by 98 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Matt Prior became Shannon Gabriel’s first Test wicket © AFP
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Matches: England v West Indies at Lord’s
Series/Tournaments: West Indies tour of England
Teams: England | West Indies
It was a new day, a new ball and a new feel to the first Test. A West Indies bowling attack that had failed to swing or seam the ball the previous day suddenly proved itself a different proposition. England, after sedately building a position of strength on the second day, had to work much harder to extend their advantage as they lost four wickets for 82 runs in a lively session.
Fidel Edwards swung it most noticeably and there was a bit off seam about too. The cloud cover was the same and so, as near as made no difference, were the lengths West Indies bowled, the technique they displayed the purpose of their approach. It could only be the ball.
Such are the glorious random aspects of cricket. Weather, pitches and even cricket balls can change from day to day. In some sports, and some parts of the world, the lack of uniformity would be viewed as a weakness; in Test cricket it is rightly seen as a strength. But it must have been galling for West Indies. And it was demanding, too, for Ian Bell, who was another batsman seeking to recover from a tormented winter and who needed to be resourceful to reach lunch unscathed on 38 not out.
On the second day, West Indies laboured, England reached 259 for 3, a lead of 16, and Andrew Strauss accepted a wonderful opportunity to restate that his place as England captain was impregnable, and did so too at the ground he loves so much. Presented with more responsive conditions, and with a new ball that was only two deliveries old, West Indies’ pace attack was more of a challenge, not that it perked up their over rate which was less than 12 overs an hour.
Strauss himself added only a single to his overnight 121 before West Indies successfully turned to DRS to win a wicket for Kemar Roach. It was a successful choice by the captain, Darren Sammy, who received lukewarm support at best from his bowler and wicketkeeper after umpire Marais Erasmus had turned down the appeal. Hot Spot showed a light inside edge as well as contact with his trousers after the ball had nipped back. Strauss must have been grateful that he had played the bulk of his innings the previous day.
Hot Spot is of higher quality this year, according to the host broadcaster, and now able to pick up the light edges that too often have failed to show up. It was another reminder that the best equipment is essential worldwide if DRS is ever to achieve uniformity. That is one aspect of cricket at least where uniformity might be deemed to be a good thing.
Jonny Bairstow, seen yawning on the balcony occasionally the previous day as he watched England make guarded progress, suddenly found himself with a more onerous batting debut than he might have expected. He looked settled and stayed true to his attacking instincts. He scored his first Test run with a push to cover and produced three fine boundaries – two leg-side clips and a cover drive – before Roach brought one back to have him lbw. Bell’s advice not to review was sound.
England were anxious to push on positively with rain forecast later in the game and Matt Prior took nine runs off Sammy in his first over at the crease. But among recognised batsmen his stumps are hit more than most and, as he imagined he might whip a straight one through the leg side, they were hit once more to bring Shannon Gabriel his first Test wicket. The following over, Tim Bresnan, fell for nought, dangling his bat at a delivery from Sammy that seamed away a tad to be caught at the wicket.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Pune Warriors – As it happened…
May 19th
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Zeenews Sports Bureau
Kolkata Knight Riders completed a comfortable 34-run win against Pune Warriors in the latter`s final game in this year`s Indian Premier League.
The victory will take Kolkata to the second position in the points table. On the other hand, Pune Warriors have now lost nine consecutive matches in this year`s IPL.
Over 18.3: Parnell out! Wickets tumbled and Pune trembled. Good length ball angled across just outside off from Balaji, Parnell hit it to long off, where Shukla took a good catch. Parnell c (sub)Shukla b Balaji 3(5)
Over 17.5: Harpreet Singh out! Good length, Harpreet tried to play it leg side, but ended up giving the catch to the bowler Sunil Narine. Pune`s chase as good as over. Harpreet Singh c and b Narine 6(6)
Over 16.6: Ferguson out! Pune in a spot of bother. Lost their sixth wicket. Ferguson mistimed a good length ball and handed it to Kallis at wide long on. Ferguson c Kallis b Bhatia 12(18)
Pune need 50 runs in 24 balls
Scorecard » I Points tally »
Over 15.5: Majumdar danced down the track and looked to slog it across the line, but the ball turned away, missed completely and stumped. Anustup Majumdar st Brendon McCullum b Shakib Al Hasan 17(22)
Over 14: Sunil Narine back into the attack. As usual, he finished the over giving away just 4. Asking rate shot up above 10 runs. Pune 76/4 (14.0 Ovs)
Over 12: Pune needed 73 runs in 54 balls after 12 overs. Majumdar and Callum Ferguson on the crease. Iqbal Abdulla back in the attack. Tight over that. 4 runs. Pune need 70 runs in 49 balls. Pune 67/4 (11.5 Ovs).
Over 10.4: Ganguly out! Shakib trapped him in front of wicket. Pitched on the middle, went straight and hit his pads. Ganguly lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 5(8)
Over 9.2: Ryder out! Pathan struck again. On the middle, Ryder tried to pull it away, but turned away from the bat. Ryder missed it and lost his stumps. That brought Anustup Majumdar to the crease. Pune 61/3 (10.0 Ovs). Pune need 76 runs in 60 balls.
Ryder b Yusuf Pathan 22(24) [6s-2]
Pune 52/2 (8.0 Ovs)
Over 7.5: Clarke out! Wide delivery down the leg side, Clarke tried to push it to leg side but missed the ball. McCullum was quick enought to whip off his bails in a flash. Michael Clarke st Brendon McCullum b Yusuf Pathan 13(18)
Over 7: Balaji came in for his second spell. Ryder and Clarke rotated their strike to let the scoreboard ticking. 6 runs. Pune need 91 runs in 78 balls. Pune 46/1 (7.0 Ovs)
Over 6: Ryder handled the dangerous Sunil Narine nicely. 5 runs came off that over. Pune need 97 runs in 84 balls. Pune 40/1 (6.0 Ovs)
Over 5: Super stuff from Ryder, Iqbal bowled outside the off stump, Ryder came down the track heaved it over long off for six in the second ball. 14 runs. Pune need 102 runs in 90 balls. Pune 35/1 (5.0 Ovs)
Over 4: Shakib continued but Jesse Ryder smoked the second ball to deep mid wicket for six. Shakib bowled just outside off Ryder charged down the track smashed it to deep mid wicket. Pune need 116 runs. Pune 21/1 (4.0 Ovs)
Pune 13/1 (3.0 Ovs)
Over 2.2: Uthappa out! Bowled a tossed up delivery on the stump, Uthappa ended up chipping it tamely to cover to Tiwary. Uthappa c Manoj Tiwary b Iqbal Abdulla 8(8) [4s-1]
Over 2: Shakib Al Hasan into the attack. Good over that. 2 runs. Pune need 126 runs. Pune 11/0 (1.5 Ovs)
Over 1: Robin Uthappa sliced a full delivery to third man for a boundary to start their chase. Pune 9/0 (1.0 Ovs).
Kolkata innings
Riding on McCullum and Shakib`s efforts with the bat, Kolkata Knight Riders managed 136/4 against Pune Warriors in an IPL match on Saturday.
Over 20: Good over from Parnell to finish the innings. KKR managed just 8 runs off that over. Kolkata 136/4 (20.0 Ovs)
Over 19: Ganguly saved a couple of runs with a brilliant attempt off Nehra`s over. Tiwary tried lift over mid wicket but found Ganguly`s right hand on the way. Yusuf Pathan found a boundary in the next ball and followed it up with another in the fourth one as well. 9 runs. Kolkata 127/4 (19.0 Ovs)
Kolkata 117/4 (18.0 Ovs)
Over 17.5: Extra ordinary from Bhuvneshwar Kumar saw off Shakib Al Hasan. Yorker on the off stump finished a good innings. Shakib Al Hasan b Bhuvneshwar 42(30) [4s-3 6s-2]
Over 17: Some brilliant work on the field by Clarke and Ali Murtaza saw some runs saved in that over. 6 runs. Kolkata 113/3 (17.0 Ovs)
Over 16.1: Breakthrough for Pune. McCullum out! Parnell bowled outside off, McCullum mistimed and went straight to Ryder at extra cover. Brendon McCullum c Ryder b Parnell 41(43) [4s-5]
Over 16 : Partnership between Shakib and McCullum helping KKR in a big way. Nehra failed to make any breakthrough. 6 runs. Kolkata 107/2 (16.0 Ovs)
Over 15 : Special batting display from Shakib. Run rate shot up for KKR. McCullum off teh strike in the first ball, Shakib smashed past mid wicket for a boundary and edged past the keeper for another four to third man. 10 runs. Partnership 61(38). Kolkata 101/2 (15.0 Ovs)
Over 14 : Ganguly back in the attack, looking for breakthrough. But runs continue to leak. McCullum pulled a short delivery on the leg side towards fine leg for four. Shakib sliced one to fine leg for another four in the last ball. 11 runs. Kolkata 91/2 (14.0 Ovs)
Over 13 : Shakib Al Hasan on fire as Kolkata amassed 20 runs off Clarke`s over. Two sixes and a four came in that over. However, he was dropped by Parnell in the fourth ball. Kolkata 80/2 (13.0 Ovs)
Over 12: Kolkata batsmen trying hard to break the shackles. Much needed boundary came in the fifth ball from McCullum off Ashish Nehra when he pulled one to fine leg for four. Followed it up with another over midwicket. Expensive over that with 11 runs. Kolkata 60/2
Over 11: Another good over from Clarke, just 4 runs this time. Kolkata 49/2
Over 10: Bhuvneshwar Kumar was back in the attack. McCullum worked it to long on for single to start the over. Run out chance missed in the fourth ball, McCullum cut one to sweeper cover and looked for double, Majumdar responded quickly. But it would have been out had it been a direct hit. 5 runs. Kolkata 45/2 (10 ovs)
Shakib Al Hasan on the crease.
Over 8.4: Kallis out! Clarke continued his spell, struck in the fourth ball. Bowled it straight and cleaned him up. Two runs. Kolkata 40/2 (9.0 Ovs). Kallis b Michael Clarke 13(18) [4s-1]
Over 8: Captain Sourav Ganguly brought himself in, started with a good length ball, Kallis pushed it to extra cover. bowled a no ball in the third, Kallis worked it to long off and rotated the strike. McCullum mishit in the free hit and just managed a singe. Slow pace working in Pune`s favour. 5 runs Kolkata 38/1 (8.0 Ovs)
Over 6: Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought into the attack. After two dot balls, Kallis drove a full outside off past extra cover for four. Gave away just 5 runs. Kolkata 27/1 (6.0 Ovs)
Over 5: Parnell finished a good over for Pune, just 1 run and a big wicket. Kolkata 22/1 (5.0 Ovs)
Jacques Kallis on the crease
Over 4.3: Big wicket for Pune, Gambhir out! Parnell bowled it straight, Gambhir drove it but found Nehra at mid on as he failed to get the elevation. Gambhir c Nehra b Parnell 10(12)
Over 4: Just 6 runs off that over as Murtaza continued his good spell. A four came off that over though, when Gambhir cut a short delivery past extra cover. Kolkata 21/0 (4.0 Ovs)
Over 3: Wayne Parnell started with three dot balls, Gambhir worked it to short fine leg to get off the mark in the fourth ball. McCullum charged down again but made no difference as Parnell bowled it short, McCullum pushed it to covers. Kolkata 15/0 (3.0 Ovs)
Over 2: Ali Murtaza came into attack. Good job by Murtaza giving just 5 runs. Kolkata 13/0 (2.0 Ovs)
Over 1: Brendon McCullum and Gambhir at the crease. Brendon McCullum was on strike. Nehra opened the attack for Pune. Nehra started off well but McCullum slapped a length delivery to deep extra cover for four in the fourth ball. In the fifth, danced down the track and smashed another four with a lovely flick towards long on. Kolkata 8/0 (1.0 Ovs)
Pune: Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders Gautam Gambhir won the toss and decided to bat first against Pune Warriors on Saturday.
Steve Smith and Angelo Mathews sat out of the Pune team, while Jesse Ryder and Michael Clarke were back in the side.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (c), Brendon McCullum (w), Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Manoj Tiwary, Debabrata Das, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, Sunil Narine, Lakshmipathy Balaji.
Pune Warriors: Sourav Ganguly (c), Jesse Ryder, Michael Clarke, Robin Uthappa (w), Callum Ferguson, Anustup Majumdar, Harpreet Singh, Wayne Parnell, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Ali Murtaza.
First Published: Sunday, May 20, 2012, 00:56
Rome: Djokovic d. Federer
May 19th
http://www.shahidafridi.net
Sometimes, a match really does come down to something as simple as first-serve efficiency, even when the principals are titans on the order of ATP no. 1 Novak Djokovic and no. 2 Roger Federer.
So it was tonight in semifinals of the Rome Masters, as Djokovic battered his way to a straight sets win (6-2, 7-6 (4)) that earned him a date in the final with no. 3 Rafael Nadal.
Were it not for an unexpected late-match surge by Federer, accompanied by a momentary loss of composure by Djokovic, the final score – and my first paragraph – might have been even more convincing.
Federer started well enough, blasting an ace in the very first game. It seemed almost emblematic of the kind of aggressive, precise tennis that had carried him to the semis; little did anyone expect that he would not hit another ace until the third game of the second set, by which time he, with plenty of help from the implacable Djokovic, had dug himself into a very deep hole.
From the onset, Djokovic was the familiar, relentless terminator, punching out clockwork forehands and backhands as efficiently as a Pez dispenser doling out candies. By the third game of the match, Federer's serve had abandoned him – as had his forehand. Although he had pushed Djokovic to deuce in the second game, two forehand errors allowed the no. 1 to escape. Two forehand errors by Federer to start the next game, followed by a prodigious backhand down-the-line winner by Djokovic, brought on triple break point against Federer. He failed to get his first serve in and added another forehand error to hand Djokovic the break.
The outstanding feature of the next few games was the contrast between the firm, heavy game of Djokovic and Federer's admirable if almost frail-looking attempts to stay in the rallies. And that's the problem in this match-up, under these conditions; Dj0kovic's game is a like a mighty ship bearing down on a much smaller, lighter vessel. It takes an incredible amount of power to turn that ship, it just can't be done with a one-handed backhand – at least not on clay.
In addition to serving poorly when it really counted, costly and uncharacteristic errors like those forehands II just described continued to plague Federer. He ended up making more than twice as many unforced errors as Djokovic (42-20), without making it up for it with a load of winners (Federer had 22, just 8 more than his opponent).
Djokovic rolled through that first set on the strength of another break, and he had a break point against Federer in the first game of the second set. But once Federer escaped that, we experienced a bit of a lull, broken only in the seventh service game. Federer fell behind in that one while serving, 15-40, and failed to put another first-serve into play in the game. He wiped away the first break point with an inside-out forehand winner, but failed to defuse the second one, ending a rally with a forehand error. Break. Dj0kovic leads, 4 games to 3.
Djokovic had the match on his racquet two games later, serving at 5-4. Up to that point, he had won an astonishing 22 of the 23 first-serve points he'd played. But after adding another point behind a first serve (it boosted Nole's conversion percentage to 96 percent), Federer suddenly came to life. Although Djokovic would still blast his way to a match point, he was unable to squeeze the Swiss genie back into the bottle for good. Federer survived the match point and went on to break Djokovic.
That Djokovic failed to win the point after getting his first serve in four times in that game was a sign of how dramatically things had turned around. A replenished Federer won 13 of 15 points in the span that ended with Federer ahead, 6-5. But Djokovic re-grouped and held to force the tiebreaker.
Federer, who could not extend the match long enough to reach a first-serve conversion percentage of 50, quickly sealed his own fate in the tiebreaker. Serving first, he had to give a second ball. The ensuing rally was one of the longest of the match, lasting 25 shots. But it ended with Federer smacking the net-tape with forehand, and that mini-break was all Djokovic needed. He took care of his own serve the rest of the way and ran out the win.
– Pete Bodo
