1. Late Assault from Pollard, Buttler Take MI to Victory Over RCB
Mumbai Indians relied on a late assault from Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Chasing 152 for a win, Pollard and Buttler smashed unbeaten cameos of 35 and 29 respectively to share 55 runs from just 3.3 overs for the unbroken fifth wicket to take Mumbai home with eight balls to spare.
Pollard smashed three fours and two sixes in his 19-ball unbeaten innings while Buttler hit one four and three sixes in his 11-ball unconquered knock as the duo struck a flurry of fours and sixes towards the end.
Ambati Rayudu contributed a 47-ball 44 to keep Mumbai in the chase early on after captain Rohit Sharma (25) and Parthiv Patel (1) were out.
Earlier, Lokesh Rahul struck a superb unbeaten half-century as Bangalore made a late recovery after a struggling start to post a decent 151 for four.
The Bangalore top order batsmen, except for Rahul (68 not out), failed to click after being put into bat but a late flurry of lusty blows from the wicketkeeper-batsman saw the home side reach to a fighting total.
2. Michael Clarke to Star in Hong Kong T20
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke will headline Hong Kong’s Twenty20 Blitz this month as he pursues a comeback in cricket’s shortest format.
Clarke, one of the top batsmen of his generation, will star at the four-team tournament from May 28-29 in a rare appearance since his retirement last year.
While I have never been to Hong Kong before, I have heard so much about what a great place it is for sport. I can’t wait to meet my team-mates and experience the city, while also hopefully contributing to the game of cricket in Hong Kong which I know has been coming on leaps and bounds in recent years.Michael Clarke
3. Khatri, Babita Bag Olympic Berths; Take Wrestlers Count to 8
Wrestlers Ravinder Khatri and Babita Kumari secured spots at the upcoming Rio Olympics after their rivals failed a dope test, taking the total number of quota places from India to eight.
Khatri was awarded the berth in the Greco-Roman 85 kg after Kenzheev Zhanarbek of Kyrgyzstan tested positive at the Asian Olympic qualifier.
Babita gets a shot at competing in Rio with Mongolian wrestler Sumiya Erdenechimeg failing the dope test in 53 kg freestyle, also at the Asian qualifier.
4. West Indies Commentator Tony Cozier Passes Away
West Indies cricket writer and commentator Tony Cozier on Wednesday passed away at the age of 75 following a long illness.
Cozier covered almost every West Indies series since 1962 and is one of the most respected cricket writers, broadcasters and historians to have come out of the Caribbean.
He had been hospitalised on 3 May for tests related to infections in the neck and legs.
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5. Sunderland Win Relegates Newcastle and Norwich
Sunderland secured their Premier League survival on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory over Everton that condemned bitter local rivals Newcastle United and Norwich City to relegation and sparked wild scenes of celebration at the Stadium of Light.
It was the fourth season in a row that Sunderland’s fans had to endure a gruelling relegation battle before popping the champagne corks, and their victory was a crushing blow for Newcastle and Norwich, whose 4-2 win over Watford on Wednesday proved in vain.
6. Welbeck’s England Euro Dream Over, Ruled Out For Nine Months
Arsenal’s England striker Danny Welbeck will miss Euro 2016 after being sidelined for nine months following surgery on his right knee, leaving the national team boss Roy Hodgson with a selection dilemma.
Welbeck went off in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Manchester City after sustaining “significant cartilage damage”, the London club said on their website (www.arsenal.com) on Wednesday.
Since returning in February after a knee injury suffered in May last year, Welbeck has been in good form, scoring five times including winners against Leicester City and Norwich City.
7. Sri Lanka’s Perera Cleared to Play After Doping Charges Dropped
Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kusal Perera has had all anti-doping charges brought against him dropped by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the Qatar-based laboratory that conducted the test withdrew its initial finding.
Perera was sent home from Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in December after it was announced he had failed a test during the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last July.
He had faced a four-year ban from cricket.
We wish to make it clear that there is no evidence that Mr Perera has ever used performance-enhancing substances and we wish him well in his future cricketing endeavours.Dave Richardson, ICC Chief Executive
Sri Lanka are currently in England preparing for the first match of their three-match Test series in Leeds next week.
Richardson said the cricket’s governing body would talk to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had accredited the laboratory, about the case.
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