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 his team would aim play for pride and make things tedious for Hyderabad.
Kolkata's campaign was an overall disappointment. After winning the fifth edition in 2012, a lot was expected out of them but sadly the side looked nothing like last year. Uncertainties in the batting line up and the overall composition of the team was questioned throughout. In their last encounter, KKR suffered a shock defeat to Pune who have been the weakest team in this tournament. Chasing 170, KKR fell short by seven runs which acted as a final nail in the coffin.
Gambhir's on and off form hasn't helped their cause keeping in mind the kind of run the other batsmen have had. Jacques Kallis, arguably the finest allrounder of the modern era, has shown glimpses of class but remained a disappointment with the bat overall. Yusuf Pathan was the biggest set-back, managing a solitary fifty - his first since 2010 - in the campaign. If Kolkata have to come out of the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with their heads high, the batsmen have to
12:18 AM, May 19, 2013
Pune: Pune Warriors India host Delhi Daredevils on Sunday in a match which will decide who takes the last spot in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League. Both teams have a tournament to forget, each picking up just three wins in 15 matches and it's hard to say who is the favourite going into this match. Ideally, it has to be the team with fewer shortcomings. But looking...
02:30 PM, May 18, 2013
Madrid: The Copa del Rey trophy was supposed to be coach Jose Mourinho's parting gift for Real Madrid, or at least a consolation prize after a season that will be remembered for his abrasive antics and his team's failure to win silverware. Instead, Atletico Madrid ended a 14-year winless run against their city rivals by taking the title on Friday, coming from behind for a cathartic 2-1 win in extra...
07:30 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Riding high after the arrest of three cricketer, including India fast bowler S Sreesanth, in spot-fixing in Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Police are still struggling to file a chargesheet 13 years after having exposed the murky world of match-fixing in 2000. The cricketing world was shocked in 2000, when Delhi Police named the then South African captain Hansie Cronje, who died later, his team mates Herschelle Gibbs...
09:30 PM, May 17, 2013
London: The website and Twitter feed of British newspaper the Financial Times were hacked on Friday, apparently by the "Syrian Electronic Army", a group of online activists who say they support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group posted links on the newspaper's Twitter feed to a YouTube video, uploaded on Wednesday, which purports to show members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front Syrian rebel group executing blindfolded and kneeling members...
08:29 PM, May 17, 2013
Barcelona: With a return to England looking likely, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho can go out a winner when his team plays crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid on Friday in the Copa del Rey final. Luckily for Mourinho and Madrid, Atletico have been incapable of winning a Spanish capital derby so far this millennium. Atletico's last victory over their city rivals came 14 years ago, in 1999. Since then, Madrid have...
09:37 AM, May 17, 2013
"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." So said the fictional money-loving inside trader in Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street. Watching the revelations of Thursday, it is clear that greed is anything but. Needless to say in the next five days while Rajasthan Royals cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan remain in police custody there will be much hypothesizing, pontificating and vilifying. Fingers will be pointed,...
08:20 AM, May 17, 2013
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
Mumbai Indians all-rounder Kieron Pollard's over-the-top celebration to send off Rajasthan Royals batsman Shane Watson in an IPL match here has invited strong criticism from visiting team's skipper Rahul Dravid who termed it as an "act of cowardice". "One of the things that I find when you send off batsman after you have got him out is that it is an act of cowardice. That is my opinion. Batsman can...
02:37 PM, May 16, 2013
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif, who lost their appeal at the Court of Abritration for Sport against spot-fixing bans, were the first players with team-mate Mohammad Amir to be punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Players implicated in corruption cases: Life bans May 2000: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik banned for life by a judicial inquiry conducted by judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum. Malik was...
10:49 AM, May 16, 2013
Aboard the USS George HW Bush: The US Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by launching an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, taking an important step toward expanded use of drones by the American military with an eye on possible rivals like China and Iran. The bat-winged X-47B stealth drone roared off the USS George HW Bush near the coast of Virginia and flew a...
02:46 AM, May 16, 2013
Ranchi: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders came close to making it a hat-trick of unlike victories in their attempt to stay alive in IPL 6, but up against the team most likely to be beaten they ended up losing by seven runs. Chasing 171 to keep their flickering hopes of qualifying for the play-offs alive, KKR crashed from the favorable position of 127 for 3 in the 16th over to...
07:38 PM, May 15, 2013
Sao Paulo: Ronaldinho and Kaka have been left out of Brazil's team for the Confederations Cup in June. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Tuesday also overlooked Alexandre Pato and Ramires for the World Cup warm-up tournament that Brazil will host. The team does include Santos' Neymar, Chelsea's Oscar, Real Madrid's Marcelo, and Paris Saint-Germain's Lucas and Thiago Silva. "I sincerely hope that from now on, regardless of the players...
09:59 PM, May 14, 2013
London: Britain has launched a new "super priority" same-day visa service for urgent travellers from India, the first-of-of-its-kind service to be launched by the UK anywhere in the world. The Super Priority Visa Service had been announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to the country in February, 2013. The first-of-of-its-kind service to be launched anywhere in the world by the UK Home Office is open for...
06:35 PM, May 14, 2013
Kolkata: In a breather for the Mamata Banerjee government, the division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday said that it is not mandatory to deploy central paramilitary forces for the upcoming Panchayat polls. The West Bengal government had appealed the higher bench after a single bench upheld the State Election Commission's plea for three-phase polling and deployment of central forces. The State government wanted two-phase polling and security...
01:11 PM, May 14, 2013
Cape Canaveral, Florida: A music video shot aboard the International Space Station went viral on Monday, turning an astronaut into an overnight music sensation with his zero-gravity version of David Bowie's hit "Space Oddity." As the first Canadian to command the space station, a $100 million project of 15 nations, Chris Hadfield had already earned himself a place in the history books. But as he prepared to return home on...
11:58 AM, May 14, 2013
A music video shot aboard the International Space Station by a Canadian astronaut gets over 1.5 million hits on YouTube. ...
11:12 AM, May 14, 2013
Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody lavished praise on Mumbai Indians allrounder Kieron Pollard, saying the visitors had won "80 per cent" of the IPL game before the West Indian got in their way. "Of course we are disappointed. We won 80 per cent of the game, but Mumbai are undefeated here at home. We have been criticised throughout the tournament how poorly we have batted and I think we...
11:04 AM, May 14, 2013
