
New Delhi: Brad Hodge showed how important a player he is in the shorter version of the game as his counter-attacking half-century helped Rajasthan Royals eke out a four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Wednesday.
When Hodge came to the wicket, Rajasthan were tottering at 57 for 5 in 10 overs chasing 133. And while rest of the batsmen from both sides were unable to adjust to the slowness of the pitch, Hodge not only played with relative ease but also translated his innings into a match-winning knock. He ended the game with two consecutive sixes off Darren Sammy, remaining unbeaten on 54 off just 29 balls. Rajasthan will now play Mumbai Indians in the second Qualifier on Friday to book their date with Chennai Super Kings for Sunday's final.
The pitch used for Wednesday's encounter was much slower than that in the first Qualifier at the same venue on Tuesday, which Parthiv Patel (1) found out when he mistimed a length delivery from Vikramjeet Malik and was caught in the offside. Malik, who was drafted into the side for Pravin Tambe, struck again when he had Hanuma Vihari (1) caught at mid-on attempting an expensive pull.
It was time to consolidate and both Shikhar Dhawan (33) and Cameron White (31) had to mould their natural game. Dhawan hit his and the team's first boundary with a simple push to the wide of mid-off; White also made a conscious effort to

11:43 PM, May 22, 2013

Live updates from the eliminator of IPL 6 between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. 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...

07:11 PM, May 22, 2013

Kozhikode: Kerala Cricket Association Wednesday said it was premature to say whether pacer Sreesanth, one of the accused in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, was guilty or not as a probe is currently going on into the whole issue. "It is too premature to tell anything about the probe on whether Sreesanth is innocent or guilty. Delhi police and BCCI's anti-corruption wing are probing the issue. Let the inquiry be over....

05:56 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: The probe into the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal is widening each day. Sources in the Mumbai Police now say that they are probing a Chennai link to the scandal. Sources say several calls made to a Chennai number are being probed. This comes a day after more drama unfolded in the scandal on Tuesday. Bollywood connections were established with actor Vindoo Dara Singh's arrest in Mumbai, while...

07:37 AM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Delhi Police claim they have evidence to prove that another attempt was made by Sreesanth to spot-fix an IPL game, sources said. Sreesanth made an attempt to spot-fix a Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab match on May 9, sources added. Sreesanth has admitted to this in a taped conversation. He admitted that he bowled a no ball on the last ball, but his attempts to spot-fix the...

11:27 PM, May 21, 2013

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...

10:11 PM, May 21, 2013

"I am innocent and have done no wrong. I have never indulged in any spot fixing," suspended pacer Sreesanth, who is an accused in the IPL spot-fixing case, said Tuesday. In a statement emailed to the media by his lawyer Rebecca John, the cricketer said I have never indulged in any spot fixing and I have always played cricket in the spirit of the game". Sreesanth, who was Tuesday remanded...

09:32 PM, May 21, 2013

New Delhi: Exposing the Bollywood connection in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, police on Tuesday arrested actor Vindoo Dara Singh for his alleged links with the betting mafia even as three players and seven bookies, accused of spot-fixing, were sent to five-day police custody. A hawala operator Aplesh Patel was also arrested along with Vindoo on a day when police recovered expensive clothes and a BlackBerry Z10 from the house of...

09:24 PM, May 21, 2013

New Delhi: Sports Minister Jitendra Singh Tuesday said they were committed to put in place a new legislation very soon to deal with the menace of fixing in sports and pushed for strong punishment for the guilty in the recent spot-fixing scandal. Jitendra had a meeting with Law Minister Kapil Sibal to discuss the proposed legislation. "I agree (with law ministry) that there should be a law. A strong punishment...

08:29 PM, May 21, 2013

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday remanded three players accused of spot-fixing in IPL to five-day police custody. Apart from the former Rajasthan Players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, seven bookies were also sent to the police custody for the same time period. Sreesanth, Chandila and Chavan were arrested on May 16 on charges that they spot-fixed certain matches in IPL 6. All three players, along with several...

07:00 PM, May 21, 2013

New Delhi: Police on Tuesday made recoveries from Rajasthan Royals player Sreesanth's friend's house in Jaipur, sources said. Sreesanth, who has been accused of spot-fixing at least three matches of Indian Premier League's sixth edition, took the police team to Jaipur and led them to the recoveries, they added. Police recovered clothes worth Rs 1.95, bought from a Diesel showroom in Mumbai, from his friend's house, according to the sources....

06:00 PM, May 21, 2013

New Delhi: More revelations continue to surface in the IPL spot-fixing scandal even as the three arrested cricketers - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - are set to be produced in court later on Tuesday. The Delhi Police has recovered Rs 20 lakh from Ajit Chandela's home while the Mumbai Police has found pictures of Sreesanth with a known bookie. They have also established links between the arrested...

07:53 AM, May 21, 2013

BCCI has failed to check the menace of fixing despite it bringing the game into disrepute repeatedly, especially in the IPL. ...

11:36 PM, May 20, 2013

Rajasthan Royals on Monday suspended the tainted trio of Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal on a day when investigations moved with a breakneck speed and resulted in the detention of one more cricketer, Baburao Yadav, a former Ranji Trophy player. ...

11:07 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals on Monday suspended the tainted trio of Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal on a day when investigations moved with a breakneck speed and resulted in the detention of one more cricketer, Baburao Yadav, a former Ranji Trophy player. Rajasthan Royals cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested on May 16 on charges that they spot-fixed certain...

09:38 PM, May 20, 2013

In latest development in the IPL spot-fixing case, Delhi Police have detained former Ranji Trophy player Baburao Yadav from Delhi as investigation moved forward frantically on the last day of the custody of three Rajasthan Royals' players. However, his family has rejected allegations that he was involved in fixing. ...

08:38 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: The Railways on Monday suspended former Ranji Trophy player Baburao Yadav from its Signal and Telecom division after his detention in New Delhi in IPL spot-fixing case. Baburao, who was an operator in the division, joined Railways via sports quota seven years ago. Delhi Police sources have told CNN-IBN that police are current interrogating Baburao, who had introduced alleged bookie Sunil Bhatia to Rajasthan Royals player Ajit Chandila....

08:30 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: As the Rajasthan Royals prepare for the play-offs this week, Ranjit Barthakur - Chairman of Rajasthan frachise - stated that contracts of all three players involved in spot-fixing - Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - have been suspended pending inquiry. "The franchise has been hit very hard across the board and we have executed the strongest possible course of action in keeping with our zero-tolerance approach to...

07:31 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: The plea of arrested Indian pacer S Sreesanth that he be provided with a copy of the FIR of the IPL spot-fixing scandal case was on Monday disposed of by a Delhi court as his lawyer did not turn up to pursue it. "No one present on behalf of the applicant (Sreesanth's advocate). The application is dismissed for non prosecution," Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao said. Sreesanth and two...

07:24 PM, May 20, 2013

New Delhi: A day after Law Minister Kapil Sibal proposed a new law to curb fixing menace in sport in the wake of IPL spot-fixing scandal, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has backed the need of a tougher legislation to control fixing, sources said on Monday. The BCCI will write to the government asking for a new law to help curb fixing, sources added. On Sunday,...

06:33 PM, May 20, 2013