Skipper Virender Sehwag smashed 119 off just 56 balls in a stunning counterattack, as Delhi Daredevils snatched a four-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
In another match, a fine half-century by Eoin Morgan went in vain as hosts Kochi pulled off a 17-run upset win over Kolkata Knight Riders to spice up the race for the playoffs.
Chasing 176, Delhi were reeling at 86-4, but Sehwag whacked six sixes and 13 fours on way to his maiden Twenty20 century to single-handedly fashion a thrilling win for his struggling side at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
The victory, Delhi’s fourth from 10 games, kept alive their chances of progressing to the knockouts, while Deccan slipped to eighth in the points table.
A sloppy Delhi earlier allowed Deccan to pile up 175-5 after winning the toss and electing to field.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara (44) and Shikhar Dhawan had chances dropped, while JP Duminy (55) and Daniel Christian would have been dismissed in the space of three balls had Yogesh Nagar not over-stepped twice in the 15th over.
In Kochi, Kolkata were cruising at 69-0 chasing 157, but Raiphi Gomez grabbed two wickets in two balls and Vinay Kumar sent back Morgan (66) and Yusuf Pathan in the 19th over to restrict the visitors to 139-7.
The victory moved Kochi to fifth in the points table and brought them back into contention for a place in the playoffs, while Kolkata remained in second place with 12 points.
England’s Morgan impressed the most among the Kolkata batsmen, hitting eight fours and two sixes in his 51-ball knock after Jacques Kallis made 45 opening the innings.
Kolkata paceman Jaidev Unadkat struck a double blow after skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to field, dismissing opener Brendon McCullum (one) and Parthiv Patel (21) inside the first six overs.
Coming in to bat at No. 4, skipper Mahela Jayawardene (55) rebuilt the innings in the company of Australia’s Michael Klinger (29) with a 51-run stand for the third wicket.
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
Marc Marquez continued his winning streak as he cruised to victory in the Hungarian GP sprint by two seconds on Saturday night to pad his championship lead. It was a seventh straight Sprint victory for the Spaniard, who has also won the last six longer Sunday grand prix races on his factory Ducati. Fabio Di Giannantonio, an Italian with the VR46 Ducati satellite team was a distant second at Balaton Park, followed by his team-mate and compatriot Franco Morbidelli third. Marquez, a six-time world champion, started the race from pole position. “I felt someone really close on the first corner, from there I
RSS