IPL Matches clash with Election dates

The Indian Premier League tournament committee said it will reschedule the matches that coincides with the Lok Sabha elections.
The dates for the general elections were announced on Monday and it was observed that the Kolkata Knight Riders' home match against Bangalore Royal Challengers on May 13 falls on the same day the city goes to polls.

This means that the match has to be rescheduled.

"There's no other way out. We have to reschedule the matches that are clashing with the LS polls," said IPL tournament director Dheeraj Malhotra.

While Indian voters will pick a new government over five phases between 16 April and 13 May, the second edition of the IPL kicks off on 10 April. The inaugural day of the IPL will, thus, remain unchanged.

“We have always maintained that the tournament schedule was tentative as it was likely to clash with the polls. But more importantly, the IPL Season II window from 10 April to 24 May will remain unchanged,” IPL CEO Sundar Raman said .

INDIA VS NEWZELAND 1st ODI :TENDULKARS INCLUSION WILL GIVE INDIA A MORAL BOOST

India are set to recall record-breaking batsman Sachin Tendulkar as they head into a one-day series against New Zealand today looking to bounce back from two Twenty20 defeats.
India have won the toss and elected to bat first.

The Indian team
SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, captainwicketkeeperMS Dhoni, YK Pathan, P Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, MM Patel

The New Zealand Team
JD Ryder, wicketkeeperBB McCullum, MJ Guptill, LRPL Taylor, GD Elliott, NT Broom, JDP Oram, captainDL Vettori, IG Butler, IE O'Brien, KD Mills

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident that master blaster Sachin will boost the tourists."When you're playing against him, it plays on your mind," he said of Tendulkar, who has amassed a record 16,440 runs in 422 ODIs."It's not just his batting and bowling, you see the amount of contributions he makes with his experience," he added.But the home side will be be hoping they can repeat their successes against the master batsman during India's 2002-03 tour of New Zealand, when Tendulkar had a dismal run with innings of a duck, one and one.Skipper Daniel Vettori said New Zealand had strategies in place to deal with Tendulkar but they would have to be precise."You can have plans for him but it has to be inch-perfect," he said.

Pacers help Australia take 1-0 lead

Australia claimed three wickets before lunch as they moved within sight of victory on the fifth and final day of the first Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Monday.Mitchell Johnson picked up 4 for 112 as Australia beat South Africa by 162 runs in the first Test at Johannesburg .

South Africa survived until after tea on the final day before being bowled out for 291.

Their resistance was worn down by accurate, disciplined Australian bowling. Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson sealed the win when he bowled Dale Steyn eight balls after tea.

Man of the match Johnson finished with four for 112. He took four for 25 in the first innings and also made 96 not out with the bat.

Maradona - A legend player

Diego Armando Maradona (born 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine football player, and current coach of the Argentine national side. For the FIFA Player of the Century award, he finished first in the internet voting portion, sharing the overall award with Pelé .Diego Armando Maradona became Argentina's youngest ever international in 1977, transferred to Boca Juniors for ₤1 million as a teenager, and in 1982 became the world's most expensive footballer when he joined Barcelona for 5 million. He broke the record again in 1984 when the Italian club Napoli paid ₤6-9 million for him. He captained Argentina to their second FIFA World Cup win in 1986, having eliminated England in the quarter-finals when he scored a highly controversial goal. For various reasons, Maradona is considered one of the sport's most controversial and newsworthy figures. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991 after failing a doping test for cocaine in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the USA for using ephedrine. He signed for Santos in 1995 and announced his retirement in 1997. In 2000, he developed a severe heart condition following cocaine use, subsequently moving to Cuba for two years treatment for drug abuse. In 2003, he was reunited with the son he had previously refused to recognize as his own.Started in 21 consecutive matches for Argentina in four World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994),Appeared a World Cup-record 16 times as captain of the national team,Scored 8 goals and made 8 assists in 21 World Cup appearances, including 5 goals and 5 assists in 1986,Tied for second-highest goal-scorer from Argentina in World Cup finals are his international achievements.

Sania Mirza enters Pattaya Open final

Sania Mirza entered the finals of Pattaya Open downing world number 51 Magdalena Rybarikova in the semifinals of the USD 220,000 Pattaya Open held in Thailand. If Sania manages to win this title, this would be her second WTA single’s title. The last time when Sania won a WTA title was in 2005 when she lifted the Hyderabad Open.The unseeded Indian, ranked 126th in WTA charts, defeated her eighth seeded Slovakian opponent 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in a two-hour long contest.It's a tough match up in the final tomorrow . Now Sania Mirza will face Russia's Zvonareva in Sunday's deciding match in the final of WTA Pattaya Open 2009 .

Zvonareva, ranked world number 5th, holds seven WTA career titles and reached the Australian Open semifinal last month. Sania and Zvonareva have only clashed once before, with Sania winning in three sets on hardcourt in the 2005 Japan Open.

“I’m not going to think about who I’m playing. I just want to play my game,” Sania said.

Jayawardene to step down

In a surprise move, Mahela Jayawardene has announced that he will resign as Sri Lanka captain after the upcoming two-Test series against Pakistan. The decision, announced on Wednesday, comes three days after Sri Lanka lost 4-1 to India in their home ODI series. Ever since leading the team to the World Cup finals in 2007, Jayawardene became the first Sri Lankan captain to lose a home series to EnglanSince the 2007 World Cup, Jayawardene had captained the team in 49 ODIs winning 25 games, but of those wins 13 came against minnows Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.

However, the team had done well under Jayawardene’s captaincy with series wins against England and India at home and squared a two match series in the West Indies.

Jayawardene also had struggled for form in ODIs having managed just one half-century in his last 17 ODI innings.d in 2007 October and followed that up with a first ever series defeat to India in August 2008.

Pathan Brothers made India won in T20

On a high after demolishing Sri Lanka 4-1 in the just-concluded ODI series, world champions India will have a distinct edge over the depleted hosts when the sides lock horn in the first Twenty20 international cricket match on Lankan soil.Yusuf Pathan is the Man of the Match. The 15 wides was the turning point of the match .India pulled it off amazingly with a partnership of 59 from 25 by the Pathan brothers. Everyone thought it was match over when Jadeja departed, but India had depth in their batting which was illustrated by the terrific hitting from the Pathan brothers. The Lankan team will be shell shocked at the moment.Hats off to Indian team .