A half-century from stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir led Delhi Daredevils to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table with a nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday.
Gambhir’s measured innings of 71 not out eased Delhi to their target of 155 with one over to spare, although he did enjoy some luck after being dropped by Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum on 21 and was given not out after being caught behind just short of his half-century.
David Warner’s quickfire innings of 36 from 23 deliveries got the Daredevils off to a flying start and eased the pressure on his team-mates, allowing Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan (42 not out) to ride home.
PHOTO: AP
It was Kolkata’s seventh loss from nine matches. The defeat leaves Kolkata rooted to the bottom of the table with just three points.
■ENGLAND V WINDIES
REUTERS, LONDON
Jerome Taylor struck an early blow for the West Indies on the opening day of the first test against England yesterday by dismissing captain Andrew Strauss for 16.
The fast bowler, who destroyed the England batting in the first test in his native Jamaica this year, caught the outside edge and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdan gathered the catch expertly low to his left.
Otherwise, England successfully negotiated some testing overs from the West Indies’ pace attack to reach 88 for one at lunch after Chris Gayle had won the toss and opted to field on a sunny, warm morning.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but