Rajasthan and Hyderabad ready for swim-or-sink eliminator
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New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad will shoot it out in New Delhi for the IPL eliminator bearing in mind full well that there will not be another opportunity to make amends. A defeat at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Wednesday will end the tournament for either team.

Hyderabad are undoubtedly the surprise entry in the play-offs, but one has to say that they used their little resources to the maximum to move ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders - two sides far stronger on paper. Interestingly, Hyderabad beat Rajasthan in their penultimate league match to put one foot in the knock-outs. The first encounter between these two teams, however, went to Rajasthan. Going by that, there is no clear favourite for Wednesday's match but Rajasthan look a far more balanced side with both their batting and bowling coming good.

Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson - all of whom have scored in excess of 400 runs in IPL 6 - form the backbone of the batting. With Karnataka allrounder Stuart Binny thriving in his role in his first full-time IPL season - he has several match-winning cameos - and the presence of Twenty20 cricket's leading run-scorer in the veteran Brad Hodge, Rajasthan's batting outweighs that of Hyderabad's by some margin.

Barring Shikhar Dhawan (278 runs in nine matches), who joined the team in the latter part of tournament after recovering from injury, none of Hyderabad's batsmen inspire 
10:11 PM, May 21, 2013

Sammy ecstatic after guiding his side into play-offs
by IANS
Hyderabad: West Indies captain Darren Sammy says he was ecstatic after scoring the winning hits that propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad into the playoffs of the Indian Premier league. Hyderabad defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets to secure the final playoff spot at the expense of Chris Gayle's Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sammy hit KKR's most successful bowler on display Iqbal Abdulla for two sixes in two balls to hasten Hyderabad's entry....  
03:29 PM, May 21, 2013

Hyderabad: Youth kills self for 'cause of Telangana' Hyderabad: A 23-year-old electrician allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree on the Osmania University (OU) campus in Hyderabad on Monday for the "cause of separate state of Telangana", police said. The deceased, identified only as Bharat, was found hanging from a tree on the campus by some locals who alerted police. The deceased, a native of Huzurnagar in Nalgonda district, came here only two months ago and...  
11:20 PM, May 20, 2013

Pacers in India do not get enough encouragement: Steyn Hyderabad: The world's numerouno fast bowler, Dale Steyn feels always looking up to spinners for wickets is not the right way to go about encouraging the crop of pacers in India. "If you're always going to look at the spinners to do the job for you, what's the point of even having a fast bowler," asked Steyn. Aware of India's "rich tradition" with spinners, Steyn gave an example from the...  
10:25 PM, May 20, 2013

Making IPL 6 play-offs is like India's 1983 World Cup: Srikkanth Hyderabad: Kris Srikkanth, mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, has termed the franchise's qualifying for the play-off stage of IPL 6 as similar to when India made it to the knock-outs of the 1983 World Cup after entering the tournament as rank underdogs. Hyderabad entered the last match of the league stage needing a win to secure a spot in the final four and did so through a solid fielding performance...  
02:48 PM, May 20, 2013

RTI activist reveals amount spent on PMOs dinner

CJ Ali Hussaini from Hyderabad sent this report revealing the money spent on dinners hosted by PMO. He got this information through an RTI that he had filed in this regard. ...
12:22 PM, May 20, 2013

Reaching play-offs is rewarding, says Tom Moody
by IANS
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad chief coach Tom Moody has said reaching play-offs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was rewarding and satisfying for the team. "Lot of people at the beginning of the tournament gave us no hope whatsoever. So it is very rewarding and satisfying that we managed to work well as a team and jell well as a team and surprised few people," the Australian said after Sunrisers beat...  
12:13 PM, May 20, 2013

Hyderabad seal play-off berth with win over KKR Hyderabad: They stuttered a little at the end, but Sunrisers Hyderabad eventually defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets, thus ensuring them a play-off berth and knocking Royal Challengers Bangalore out of IPL 6. Chasing 131 could have been tricky on a slow Uppal wicket but Parthiv Patel (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (42) didn't give KKR much chance. The two left-handers kept up with the required rate. Parthiv was the...  
11:33 PM, May 19, 2013

Hyderabad: Youth held for creating obscene Facebook profile of a woman Hyderabad: A youth from Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh was arrested on Sunday for creating a fake Facebook account of a female student and posting her morphed pictures, the police said. The youth, allegedly created a Facebook account of the girl and uploaded her morphed images along with obscene as well as false information, besides her contact number, the police said. The victim lodged a complaint with police after which...  
09:46 PM, May 19, 2013

As it happened: Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata, Game 72, IPL 6 Live updates from game 72 of IPL 6 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. The race for the fourth spot still hangs in the balance, and Sunrisers Hyderabad face the last obstacle in their path. After handing Rajasthan Royals one of their more comprehensive defeats this season, Hyderabad have taken out quite a few positives. Defending champions Kolkata Knight...  
07:05 PM, May 19, 2013

Hyderabad must beat KKR for play-off confirmation Hyderabad: The race for the fourth spot still hangs in the balance, and Sunrisers Hyderabad face the last obstacle in their path. After handing Rajasthan Royals one of their more comprehensive defeats this season, Hyderabad have taken out quite a few positives. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders are already out of the tournament after their "mathematical equation" was laid to rest by party poopers Pune Warriors but Gautam Gambhir and...  
12:18 AM, May 19, 2013

Defeating KKR would not be a cakewalk: Tom Moody Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody says that beating Kolkata Knight Riders would not be a cakewalk when they clash with them to snatch the last-available play-offs berth on Sunday. Hyderabad must beat KKR to make it to the knockout stage. "We got a day to rest and recover. KKR are not going come here and lie down. We know that. They are a proud team. Obviously, running champions. They...  
01:13 PM, May 18, 2013

Boys responded to the challenge well: Rahul Dravid Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid is extremely content with the way his players performed against Sunrisers Hyderabad following the shock spot-fixing scandal that engulfed his team. Rajasthan took field a day after three of their players were arrested by Delhi police on the charges of spot-fixing. "There is no point brushing things under the carpet. Tough couple of days for everyone concerned. But, I was happy the way boys...  
01:01 PM, May 18, 2013

We are looking for constant improvement: Tom Moody
by IANS
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad chief coach Tom Moody said the team was constantly looking to improve in all three departments of the game. He feels it is continuing process and doesn't stop with the team qualifying for semi-finals or finals. "We can always improve with bat, ball or fielding. I constantly said to the team that they should look to develop skills individually and also as a team," he said after...  
11:42 AM, May 18, 2013

Adversity helps to galvanise a side: Dravid Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid said that tough situations is a test of character for top teams and he expects that his boys would also overcome the current crisis that has rocked cricket world after S Sreesanth and two other players arrests for alleged role in spot-fixing. "I think adversities helps us to galvanize a side. We have come close together as a group and hope to perform well,"...  
08:12 PM, May 17, 2013

As it happened: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, Game 68, IPL 6 Live updates from game 68 of IPL 6 between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. After losing a hard-fought contest to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals were jolted by a spot-fixing scandal the next day which involved three of its players being arrested on allegations of illegal activity. There is one thing common in these two sides. Both are coming off...  
06:52 PM, May 17, 2013

Rajasthan gear up for IPL 6 play-offs amidst spot-fixing row Hyderabad: After losing a hard-fought contest to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals were jolted by a spot-fixing scandal the next day which involved three of its players being arrested on allegations of illegal activity. To recover from something as big as this requires a lot of effort but Rajasthan is just the team that has the capability to do it and maintain the bar they have set in this...  
07:42 PM, May 16, 2013

Man arrested for trafficking minor children for bonded labour Hyderabad: Railway Police on Tuesday rescued 19 children, including seven belonging to Jharkhand, from Secunderabad railway station and caught one person on charge of trafficking. The children were to be employed as bonded labourers at a furniture manufacturing unit at Lingampally here, SP (Secunderabad Railway Police) M Kanta Rao told PTI. "During a survey on the Secunderabad railway platform, 19 children (all below the age of 14) were found abandoned...  
03:05 AM, May 15, 2013

IPL 6 play-offs: KKR, RCB, KXIP and Hyderabad chase final spot New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore's seven-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab in Bangalore on Tuesday has confirmed the progression of three teams into the IPL play-offs - Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. The three teams are tied on 20 point which leaves three teams chasing the final spot. Victory over RCB gave Punjab a total of 12 points and they are four behind RCB (16) and Sunrisers...  
08:05 PM, May 14, 2013