Cameron White produced a robust knock of 78 from 46 balls as the Deccan Chargers defeated the Pune Warriors by 18 runs to record its maiden win in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
The Australian allrounder helped Deccan score a challenging 177-4, after which Pune was restricted to 159-7 at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium.
White, sent in at No. 3 in a bid to inflate the total after a fluent opening partnership of 39 between left-handers Parthiv Patel (24) and Shikhar Dhawan (16), struck five sixes and six fours.
Photo: AFP
White was particularly severe on the spinners, once hitting legspinner Rahul Sharma for consecutive sixes over the cover boundary and straight down the ground. He was finally out in the 18th over, caught at the cover boundary off spinner Marlon Samuels.
White added 75 for the fourth wicket with South African J.P. Duminy, who chipped in with a 24-ball 26.
“It’s a good feeling to get a win, as we’ve been under pressure as a team,” White said. “Hopefully it’s the start of a few wins in a row. I had a few cramps in the calves during the innings, but I’m OK now.”
The Sourav Ganguly-led Pune failed to get runs at a fast pace, even as Robin Uthappa held together the mid-innings with a 27-ball 29. Australia player Steven Smith gave a glimmer of hope with a quick-fire 13-ball 26, but Pune could not keep up with the increasing asking rate.
Pune has four wins and five losses, while Deccan remains at the bottom after seven games with one win, five losses and an abandoned game.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two