'Chennai kings conform berth to be in semis'

'Chennai kings conform berth to be in semis'

CSK captain MS Dhoni on Wednesday said being the IPL Champions, his side was expected to qualify for the semifinals of the ACLT20.

"It is an important tournament and being the IPL champions, we are expected to do well. I am glad that we have done decently well in the last four games we have played," Dhoni said after Chennai defeated Warriors by 10 runs in the last Group-A match and qualified for the semifinals.

Chennai will now take on fellow IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first semifinal in Durban on Saturday and Dhoni said his side will have to tighten up some loose ends before the crucial encounter.

"There have been ups and downs. We have got quite a few weak links but at the end of the day, we have done well."

"We did not want them to get off to a great start and the important point was the middle overs. The next game will be in Durban and our fast bowlers will have to pull their socks up because I don't think the spinners will get much turn or purchase there," he said.

"But there is plenty to improve before the next game but as far as this game is concerned, the combination really worked for us," Dhoni added.

Dhoni's counterpart Davey Jacobs said batting did them in Wednesday's match but he was happy to have qualified for the last-four stage in spite of the defeat.

"I think we bowled great tonight and did a good job in the field too but our batting was not up to the mark. But we are happy to qualify for the semis. Now we have to prepare hard for the semis," he said.

Man-of-the-match Mike Hussey, who scored a match-winning 50 apart from taking two crucial catches on Wednesday, credited Chennai bowlers for the victory.

"It was a great game. Both teams fought really hard. We were exactly not sure what a good score would be. Initially I was thinking about 160-170 but as it turned out, 136 was enough in the end.

"Our bowlers did a great job, particularly the spinners," Hussey said.

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Manchester United wants to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United wants to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United reported today that they were exploring the possibility of bringing Real Madrid’s star winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, back to Old Trafford.

The Portuguese superstar left the English Premier League giants to try his luck in Spain last summer for a world-record fee of £80m.

According to Goal.com, sources at Madrid believe that the United boss is keen to bring back a player he helped nurture into becoming one of the finest footballers in the world, if even for the enormous fee of 100 million euros. But such an action seems unlikely, especially since United has been saddled with huge debts under the ownership of the Glazer family.

Madrid is also unlikely to want to sell the former FIFA World Player of the Year and, with the buy-out clause in Ronaldo’s contract with Madrid standing at one billion Euros, it would be impossible for the Red Devils to strong-arm Los Blancos into allowing the 25-year-old to return to Manchester.

Despite the facts, it seems like the Portugal international has been struggling for form so far this season, and some pundits have attributed it to him not being happy at the Bernebau.

Since Jose Mourinho took over as Madrid coach in the summer, Ronaldo has only found the back of the net once, and has not quite hit his top form yet. Should he continue to struggle to hit the heights of his best play, the rumours linking him with an exit from Madrid will likely continue.

Should he return to United, Ronaldo will be rejoining a club with whom he won almost every trophy available, including the UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, FA Community Shield and several EPL titles. He also had a strong scoring record, having netted 118 times in 292 appearances.

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Shoaib Akhtar declared fit for the final at Rose Bowl

Shoaib Akhtar declared fit for the final at Rose Bowl

In what could be termed good news for the controversy ridden Pakistani side, Shoaib Akhtar has been declared fit for the last match of the NatWest Series against England. Shoaib Akhtar rose to the occasion on Pakistan’s last match against England, as the team squared the series, 2-2 following what could be termed as a breathtaking match.

Pakistan, have therefore fought 2-0 down to force a winner takes all clash under the floodlights in Southampton for the last ODI of the series. Shoaib Akhtar has been bowling excellent line and length and even though the 35 year old might have gained a few pounds and lost some of his pace, he did take some very important wickets in the last ODI to ensure a thrilling win for Pakistan.

Despite injury scares, Akhtar completed his bowling spell and did not look his best especially during the last over’s of his bowling spell, yet he still managed to curtail the English side with some excellent bowling. The experienced bowler has been involved in many controversies during his multiple stints playing for Pakistan however, he seems to have matured over the years and his experience is now evident in the way he has been bowling.

Mondays match at Lords however was overshadowed by the controversial statements made by the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, who alleged that the English team had taken large amount of money to give away the match at oval casting doubts over his team’s performance. Senior officials in Pakistan and the ICC have distanced themselves from the statement of the chairman of the PCB.

The ECB has decided that it will pay for the English players to file charges for defamation against Ijaz Butt following his statement and have threatened to take legal action against the chairman if he does not make a public apology for alleging that English players accepted a bribe to lose the match at Oval.

Meanwhile Pakistan would be seeking to win the final match in order to win the series and end the tour of England on a positive note and the news of Shoaib Akhtar’s fitness is good news for all the fans of Pakistan cricket. Shoaib needs to find the same rhythm that he has shown throughout the series and it could most certainly mark the difference for a win or a loss for Pakistan. An in form Shoaib would surely mean trouble for the English side.

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Rafael Nadal receives a warm reception in Thailand

Rafael Nadal receives a warm reception in Thailand

Thailand has given a grand welcome to the world number one Rafael Nadal upon his arrival on Wednesday for participation in a championship in Bangkok.

The 24-year-old Rafa will play in the Thailand Open tennis tournament that will start from Monday. After recently capturing his United States Open title in New York, Rafa was warmly welcomed with garlands at the airport and was led through a multitude of reporters and journalists by police and tennis officials.

The world number one tennis ace had been a late withdrawal from the championship the last two seasons; however he is injury-free for this year’s tournament.

The Manacor-born tennis star is regarded as one of the greatest-ever tennis player on the tour. He has so far captured a total of nine Grand Slam trophies in his professional career. The Spaniard completed his career Grand Slam recently by winning his very first U.S Open title at the Flushing Meadows. He entered the city of New York, as seeded number one to win the crown. The left-hander got the better of Denis Istomin, Teymuraz Gabashvili, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez as well as Mikhail Youzhny without even missing a single set to make his way into the final of the year’s last major event. In the title battle, the 1.85 meters tall Rafa did well to get the better of his Serbian tennis opponent, Novak Djokovic who is ranked number two in the world by the Association of tennis professionals (ATP). The Spaniard sealed victory after a total of four sets in New York. The final match score was 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Rafa’s win also clinched the season-end number one ranking for 2010, making Rafael just the third tennis contender after Ivan Lendl back in 1989 and the Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer back in 2009, to recapture the season-end top-ranking after having lost it. Nadal has played extremely well throughout this season after coming back from his injury in May, and has successfully won a total of three Grand Slam titles, the French Open, Wimbledon and the United States Open tennis tournament. The Spaniard is therefore, expected to do well at the Thailand Open as well.

After some days at beach resort, Rafa will also meet Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the Prime Minister of Thailand and is also expected to visit Parliament next week before turning to the game of tennis.

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CLT20:Royal challengers banglore v/s Highveld lions galary

CLT20:Royal challengers banglore v/s Highveld lions galary

royal clash the lions and ener into the semi finals in clt20

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RCB first IPL team enters to the clt20 semi finals

RCB first IPL team enters to the clt20 semi finals

Bangalore Royal Challengers batsman Virat Kohli said he was happy that he could take his team to the semifinals of the ACLT20.

"Really happy to be there till the end, and the team won.

I was really disappointed that I couldn't finish it off in the last game despite taking it to the last ball. Happy to do it this time," said Kohli, who scored an unbeaten 49, said.

"T20 games turn in one over. I was waiting for it, and it came in the 17th over. I messed up with Uthappa's run out and apologised to him. He is a good friend, doesn't mind that," he added.

"As long as wickets were there, and Virat was in with Whitey, we knew it was about one good over," he said.

"Virat also bowled well and his spell was critical. Virat and my spell at the middle overs was crucial. Dillon and Steyn also bowled really well in the end.

"I was disappointed with my performance in the previous game. But no better time to step up than in the next game.

Nice to go back to Durban. Hope Chennai makes it there," he said.

"We fought all the way and played as a team. Our success should not be measured by where we finished, but by the obstacles we crossed. We were about 20 runs short. Kumble tied us up a bit. The best team won - all the best to Bangalore for the semis," he said.

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Chennai Super Kings in a do-or-die battle against Warrior

Chennai Super Kings in a do-or-die battle against Warrior

Chennai Super Kings face a do-or-die battle when they take on unbeaten Warriors in the ACLT20 Group A match on Wednesday.

Chennai notched up two easy wins against Central Districts and Wayamba XI - in their first two matches before losing to Victoria Bushrangers in the Super Over and they now need nothing less than a win in their last group match on Wednesday to make it to the semifinals.

Warriors, on six points after winning all their three matches, would also want to register a win though they may sneak into the last four in case of a narrow loss on Wednesday.

With a net run rate of plus 0.975 as against plus 0.366 of Victoria, who also have six points from four matches, Warriors can make it to the semifinals in case of a narrow loss and in that case Victoria will be out of the tournament.

In terms of net run rate, Chennai, on four points now, are sitting pretty at plus 2.567 courtesy the 57-run and 97-run wins over Central Districts and Wayamba XI.

With opener Matthew Hayden struggling, Suresh raina would be the key batsman for Chennai. But captain Mahendra singh dhoni has Murali Vijay, who scored 73 in the last match, to bank on besides Subramaniam Badrinath and Anirudha Srikkant, who are also in fine touch in the tournament.

In the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin has been consistent with seven wickets in his kitty from three matches though he will have to quickly forget the 23 runs he conceded in the Super Over against Victoria Bushrangers.

Pacer doug bollinger and spin wizard Muralithran can also stepped in when the chips are down.

On the other hand, the South African champion side are high on confidence after their three victories on the trot under the able leadership of Davey jacob.

Both batting and bowling looked solid so far in the tournament. In batting, besides Jacob, Ashwell Prince and veteran Mark Bouncher have been the main contributers.

Juan Theron has been the pick of bowlers with six wickets from three games. Makhaya Ntini, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Nicky Boje and Johan Botha have also come up with some exceptional performances.

Meanwhile, Wayamba XI take on Central Districts in an inconsequential match at the same venue earlier in the day tomorrow.

With no chance of making it to the semifinals after losing all their earlier three matches, each of the two sides would look to salvage some pride and bow out of the tournament with a win.

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