Ambati Rayudu smashed a last-ball six as the Mumbai Indians pulled off a thrilling five-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Mumbai needed 21 to win off the last over to surpass Kolkata’s 175-7, but New Zealander James Franklin (45 not out off 23 balls) hit paceman Lakshmipathy Balaji for 17 off the first five balls, before Rayudu finished the game.
South Africa’s Jacques Kallis top-scored with 59 and seamer Rajat Bhatia took three wickets for Kolkata.
In Sunday’s other match, Chris Gayle cracked an unbeaten 75 as the Royal Challengers Bangalore topped the points table with an eight-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings.
The West Indies opener hit six sixes in his 50-ball knock as Bangalore surpassed Chennai’s total of 128-8 with two overs to spare in their last league match.
Bangalore (19 points), Chennai (18), Mumbai (18) and Kolkata (16) have qualified for the playoffs.
Gayle, who added 80 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (31), finished the match when he hit spinner Suresh Raina for 11 runs off the last three balls of the 18th over.
Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit six sixes in his explosive 40-ball 70 not out, but he received little support from the other end, the highest stand of the innings being 42 for the fifth wicket.
Chennai made a poor start after being put in to bat as they lost four wickets for 22 runs in the opening six overs, with left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan dismissing Australia’s Michael Hussey and Raina.
Hussey could make just 4 before inside-edging a Zaheer delivery on to his stumps, while Raina was caught by Kohli at point.
New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori put more pressure on Chennai when he removed Subramaniam Badrinath and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo to eventually finish with 2-15 off four overs.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS