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Toss Sunrisers Hyderabad chose to bowl v Mumbai Indians

Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and chosen to bowl first at home, against Mumbai Indians. Both teams are coming off victories - Sunrisers fresh off a win against Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai having recently ended Chennai Super Kings' winning streak.

Despite that outstanding win at Chepauk on Wednesday, Mumbai have made two changes. The first is forced - Lasith Malinga having since left to play the provincial one-day domestic tournament in his native Sri Lanka (he should be back at the IPL within a week, however). West Indies seamer Alzarri Joseph replaces him.

Yuvraj Singh has been left out, meanwhile, in favour of Ishan Kishan.

Sunrisers are fielding the same XI that won at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.

Mumbai Indians: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Jason Behrendorff, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Jasprit Bumrah '

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar (capt), 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11Siddarth Kaul

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Royal Challengers Bangalore near a point of no return

Published in Cricket
Saturday, 06 April 2019 09:47

Big picture

Delhi Capitals will hope for better tidings now that they have left home and are on the road again.

Having had to play on slow and low tracks at Feroz Shah Kotla in two games, the team, which boasts of a strong fast-bowling unit and free-scoring batsmen, has had little home advantage to bank on. They will be hoping to find solace at the high-scoring M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After losing three games out of five - two of them in Delhi - they will look to turn things around on a batting-friendly surface against the home team, whose confidence is likely to be at an all-time low after five losses in as many matches.

Apart from his criticism of the home pitches, Capitals' coach Ricky Ponting has also pointed out that he expects senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan to score quicker. Dhawan has made 152 runs in five games at a strike rate of 116.92 so far. But he averages 48.2 in IPL games in Bengaluru, and must fancy his chances of getting his side off to a brisk start.

As for Royal Challengers, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Even a Virat Kohli-AB de Villiers show can't pull them out of their hole at the moment, it seems. When the batting has worked, the bowling hasn't, and, well, the bowling hasn't worked at all. Many unanswered questions follow them from the last game - their utilisation of spinners, their death-bowling picks, and, of course, their constant rejigging of the line-up.

Previous meeting

When Royal Challengers met Capitals last in May 2018, de Villiers and Kohli had combined to chase down 181 in 19 overs, knocking the team from Delhi out of contention.

In the news

De Villiers had not taken the field during Knight Riders' innings on Friday and Heinrich Klaasen had filled in as substitute. It is understood that de Villiers is fit and that he had opted to rest as a result of dehydration after his 51-ball 63 in the Royal Challengers innings.

Likely XIs

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10, Ishant Sharma, 11 Sandeep Lamichhane

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Marcus Stoinis, 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Akshdeep Nath, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Mohammed Siraj/ Washington Sundar 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Strategy punt

  • Among the very few positives for Royal Challengers on Friday was the Kohli-de Villiers partnership. But something for Capitals to remember is that in five games this season, spinners have dismissed de Villiers on four occasions, while Kohli has fallen to them thrice. They have also struck at just 110 and 121 respectively against legspinners.

  • Washington Sundar is yet to feature for Royal Challengers this season. In 2017, he finished fifth in the list of bowlers with the best economy rates in the Powerplay overs. With the bowling unit not quite clicking yet, will Kohli turn to an extra spin option in Washington?

  • Another opening for Royal Challengers, perhaps? In the 2018-19 season of the Big Bash League, Stoinis scored over 500 runs at an average of over 53.3 as an opener for Melbourne Stars. He was also dismissed only once inside the Powerplay last season.

Stats to remember

  • Capitals have the third best economy and the highest average of wickets taken in the middle phase (2.8) this season

  • Amit Mishra is just one away from 150 IPL wickets

  • Colin Ingram is 35 runs away from scoring 6000 runs in T20s

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Scott Kuggeleijn bashed a hard length and cranked it up to 140kph for Northern Districts in the Super Smash, New Zealand's domestic T20 competition. It was his hit-the-deck bustle that prompted Chennai Super Kings' coach Stephen Fleming to get him on board as the injured Lungi Ngidi's replacement.

On the eve of the game against Kings XI Punjab at Chepauk, Super Kings received another major blow, with their designated death-overs bowler Dwayne Bravo joining Ngidi on the injury list.

Three days after arriving in Chennai and after two training sessions, Kuggeleijn was asked to cut off his pace and, instead, make the batsmen manufacture it in the end overs. Kings XI Punjab needed 46 off the last three overs with eight wickets in hand. On IPL debut, Kuggeleijn was tasked with bowling two of those overs in front of a vociferous Saturday crowd. This, after he had repeatedly missed his lengths and leaked 27 runs in his first two overs.

Kuggeleijn turned the tables on Kings XI, giving away only ten runs in his last two overs while claiming the crucial wickets of the well-set KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan, who had put on 110 off 93 balls for the third wicket.

Having been punished for bowling too full in the early exchanges, Kuggeleijn dragged his length back and mixed it up with cutters that gripped on a tired Chepauk pitch. The slower balls tricked both Rahul and Sarfaraz into holing out in the outfield.

"[Kuggeleijn] interests me because he had some pace and played international cricket," Super Kings' coach Fleming said at the post-match press conference. "The thing we can't understand without working with him is his temperament. He has been here for only three days and to throw him in a big game in a home ground was a big ask and the first two overs was just that.

"It was about being firm on what we wanted: hit the middle of the wicket and bowl your cutters which is what we saw a bit during scouting. We were strong with him during that [strategic] break. It was just very instructional so that to take away any doubt from him and just do that and he did that well. Once he had confidence that it was working, he was able to get into that. He was fractionally full [early on] and that can be nerves and the whole environment. I was a bit worried we were going to be putting him in a situation which was going to be tough and he responded well.

Fleming believes that Kuggeleijn's impressive IPL introduction could help fill in the void created by the injury-enforced absences of Bravo and Ngidi, and David Willey, who has withdrawn from the tournament citing personal reasons. Fleming, however, hinted that Willey could return at the fag end of the season.

"[We] just have to back him [Kuggeleijn]. MS [Dhoni] is very supportive," Fleming said. "It is a culture where if it [the plan] hadn't worked, we are not scathing. We understand how tough it can be. When we bring someone in we look at what skills they bring and try to get the best out of them. Today was a massive step for him to be part of the group and to win a game. To be part of the last part of the game, to make a big contribution goes a long way in making you feel part of the group.

"We are a little bit thin; there's no doubt about it, so that's why the introduction of Scott was important just to see how thin we were. We have to work hard; at home we can get away with spinners. The bowlers are trying hard to make sure they can contribute and today they did. Keep that in mind that our spinners were outstanding as well. We know we have holes and we're just scrapping hard to hide them."

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Warriors get delay of game after Young gets ring

Published in Basketball
Saturday, 06 April 2019 00:59

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Nick Young smiled from ear to ear when he received his championship ring for the Golden State Warriors' 2017-18 title run in his return to Oracle Arena on Friday. But after the pregame presentation, it was his former teammates and coaches who got a chuckle.

Referee Ken Mauer assessed the Warriors a delay of game warning before tipoff for taking too long with the ceremony. Young spent extra time laughing and joking with teammates and waving to the crowd.

"Very fitting to get a delay of game giving a ring to Nick," said Warriors forward Draymond Green, who presented Young with the ring, after Friday's 120-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. "He actually caused it doing all his little waving and stuff. But it was great. I'm really close to Nick. To play with him that year was amazing. I wish he was back.

"But that was a good moment, and obviously Nick's been through a lot in his career, and for him to get that ring meant a lot to me for him. So I was thankful to be the guy presenting to him. I'm happy he was able to make it here to get the ring because that's something special that nobody can take away from him."

Before the game, Young admitted to being a little nervous that Green would try to mess with him during the presentation, but once Young received the ring, he smiled as his son, Nick Jr., stood next to him. After a short video tribute, Young waved to the crowd and accepted congratulations from players on the Warriors bench as he continued to wave and smile at fans.

Warriors star Stephen Curry said he was "surprised" the team was assessed the warning from Mauer.

"The last two years, we've had probably five or six of those celebrations, and it usually spills over," Curry said. "I wish he would have just given it to Nick Young because he was taking his sweet time, for sure, as he should have. But probably more just entertainment for everybody, [Mauer] trying to get the game started. But we did take a long time, for sure."

Young seemed to be enjoying the moment, telling reporters before the game that he was happy to be spending time with his kids in his year away from the game. He said he would be interested in coming back to the NBA if a team on the West Coast called and he could stay close to his family.

In the meantime, Young said he has a TV show coming out soon called "Swaggy's World."

Young also said he was hopeful that LeBron James would give him a call to play a role in the upcoming movie "Space Jam 2."

"You've got to have Swaggy in Space Jam," Young said. "If you want to sell tickets, you got to have me. I could give them swag once they get their powers taken. They could come to me, I could be, like, a sorcerer of swag, and I could, like, hand it out to them, give them hope"

Westbrook seals 3rd straight triple-double season

Published in Basketball
Friday, 05 April 2019 18:37

OKLAHOMA CITY -- With assists on the Thunder's first three baskets in a little more than a minute Friday against the Detroit Pistons, Russell Westbrook clinched averaging a triple-double for the third consecutive season.

Westbrook kicked ahead to Jerami Grant in transition for a dunk with 10:27 left in the first quarter giving Westbrook 730 assists on the season. Because he's able to finish the regular season with a maximum of 73 games played, Westbrook can average no fewer than 10 assists.

"Just blessed, brother. I can't even -- I do what I do every single night, regardless of what anybody says, what they call it, what they say," Westbrook said. "I'm just thankful to all the teammates in this locker room, teammates over the last couple years, they made my job easy. I just try to do what I can to impact the game in every facet. I've said that every year, and I stand by it."

Westbrook finished the night with 19 points, 15 assists and 8 rebounds in the Thunder's 123-110 win over the Pistons, bringing his season averages to 22.9 points, 10.6 assists and 11.1 rebounds per game.

"He'll go down as a Hall of Famer, one of the best," Paul George said. "Nobody I don't believe will be able to match that or beat that. You've got to be wired a certain way on a nightly basis to be able to compete at that level. He's special."

In the 2016-17 season, Westbrook became the first player since 1962 -- and the second ever -- to average a triple-double. Last season, he did it again, needing 16 rebounds on the final night of the season and pulling in 20 to secure the average.

"It'll hit me at some point," Westbrook said of his triple-double accomplishments. "Like it's gonna hit everybody else in this room, too."

Westbrook has 31 triple-doubles this season, tied for third most in a season. He holds the record of 42 triple-doubles in a season, set in 2016-17. On Tuesday, Westbrook made history by becoming the second player to post a 20-20-20 game, with 20 points, 20 rebounds and 21 assists. Earlier this season, he made NBA history by recording a triple-double in 11 consecutive games.

Averaging a triple-double was a feat seen by many as nearly impossible to achieve prior to Westbrook's doing it, and now he has done it two more times. There's a feeling around the Thunder that his historic accomplishments are being overlooked because of how normal he has made what is otherwise a massive stat line.

"I think the fact that he has done this three years in a row, people don't understand what has happened, in my opinion," coach Billy Donovan said. "And I'm shocked that they don't talk about it. And I know they're numbers, and I get all that stuff, but in terms of the historic part of the game, people are going to look back in time, and I think what he has done will be more appreciated later on than it is right now."

Westbrook punctuated his historic night with one of the best plays of his career: a spin-move, no-look, over-the-head pass to Steven Adams in transition for a dunk.

"I saw [Adams] when I got the rebound," Westbrook said. "I'm just glad he kept running."

Asked if he channeled a little Magic Johnson on it, Westbrook disagreed.

"Nah, I got a little Russell Westbrook," he said. "That's what you got."

Westphal, Fitch, 'T-Spoon' among Hall inductees

Published in Basketball
Saturday, 06 April 2019 11:05

Paul Westphal, Teresa Weatherspoon, Sidney Moncrief, Vlade Divac, Jack Sikma and Bill Fitch were among the 12 inductees named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.

Al Attles, Carl Braun, Chuck Cooper, Bobby Jones, the 1957-59 Tennessee A&I team and the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens women's program were also inducted into the Class of 2019 during the announcement made at the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis.

The class will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Sept. 6.

Westphal was a five-time All-Star and was named to the All-NBA first team in three seasons. He won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 1974 before helping the Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals in 1976. As a coach, he went 318-279 with a trip to the NBA Finals and two conference semifinals with the Suns.

Weatherspoon is a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time league defensive player of the year who won an NCAA title with Louisiana Tech in 1988. The two-time All-America selection also won a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

After her playing career, in which she was the first WNBA player to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 assists, she became head coach of her alma mater from 2009-14, compiling a 99-71 record while guiding the Lady Techsters to two NCAA tournament appearances.

One of the finest defensive guards in NBA history, Moncrief played 10 of his 11 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he was a five-time All-Star and a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. He was a four-time second-team All-NBA player and a first-team All-NBA selection in 1982-83 before chronic knee problems shortened his career.

Divac, who was selected via the International Committee, is currently the general manager of the Sacramento Kings. He had a storied FIBA career in addition to playing 16 seasons in the NBA. He is one of seven NBA players with 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocked shots.

Sikma, a three-time All-America selection at Illinois Wesleyan, helped guide the Seattle SuperSonics to their first NBA Finals during his rookie season in 1977-78. The seven-time All-Star fared even better in second season as the Sonics won their first NBA title. He is the only center in NBA history to have led the league in free-throw percentage (.922).

Fitch won 944 games in his NBA coaching career, including a title with the Celtics in 1981. The two-time NBA coach of the year took on massive rebuilding projects in all five of his NBA stops, which explains his 1,106 losses and .460 career win percentage. In addition to the Celtics, he also coached the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets and LA Clippers, and he took all five teams to the playoffs.

Cooper, the first African-American drafted in NBA history, was selected by the special direct-elect Early African-American Pioneers Committee. He averaged 6.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while playing for the Celtics, Milwaukee Hawks, St. Louis Hawks and Fort Wayne Pistons from 1950 to 1956.

Cooper, who died in 1984 at the age of 57, also played a season for the Harlem Globetrotters-like Harlem Magicians in 1956 before leaving basketball for good.

The 82-year-old Attles, the Golden State Warriors patriarch and a former coach and guard, was chosen as a contributor. He has been dealing with health issues this NBA season and recently left the hospital and returned home to his Oakland residence.

Braun, a guard, played 13 seasons in the NBA and was named to five consecutive All-Star games (1953-57) as a member of the New York Knicks. He retired as the team's career scoring leader with 10,449 points, which still ranks fifth. He died in 2010 at the age of 82.

Jones, a forward, was NBA All-Defensive first team eight times with the Philadelphia 76ers and twice was ABA All-Defensive first team. In 941 games between the NBA and ABA, he averaged 20.2 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He was a member of Philadelphia's championship team in 1983.

The Tennessee A&I teams of the 1957-59 seasons, coached by John McLendon, were the first college team at any division to win three consecutive championships -- winning the NAIA tournament the first two seasons before capping off the run with the NCAA Men's Division I tournament title.

The Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, coached by Harley Redin, won 131 consecutive games from 1953 to 1958. The program, which was the first four-year college to provide full scholarships for 13 players, also won 19 titles -- 10 AAU and nine WNIT.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Tim MacMahon, Marc J. Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Orioles agree to 1-year contract with RHP Straily

Published in Baseball
Friday, 05 April 2019 16:46

BALTIMORE -- Seeking to boost a thin starting rotation, the Baltimore Orioles agreed to a $575,000, one-year contact with Dan Straily.

The 30-year-old right-hander's deal was announced Friday. He would get a $250,000 assignment bonus if traded.

Baltimore's rotation includes Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, Dylan Bundy and David Hess. Nate Karns has been used twice as an opener. Cobb strained a groin late in spring training and was activated from the injured list on Thursday.

Straily was released March 25 by the Miami Marlins, who chose to give him $1,209,677 in termination pay rather than his $5 million salary, which was not guaranteed.

He was 15-15 in two seasons with the Marlins, who acquired him from Cincinnati in January 2017. He was limited to 23 starts last year, when he went on the injured list twice because of forearm and oblique strains.

Straily had a 5.94 ERA in 16 2/3 innings in five spring training appearances. He is 42-36 with a 4.23 ERA in seven major league seasons.

Baltimore also said right-hander Pedro Araujo cleared waivers, was returned to the Cubs and was reacquired from Chicago for international signing bonus pool allocation and assigned to Double-A Bowie.

D-backs' Lamb (quad) expected to miss 6 weeks

Published in Baseball
Friday, 05 April 2019 14:42

Jake Lamb is expected to miss six weeks after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 left quadriceps strain, the Arizona Diamondbacks said Friday.

``I'll start at six weeks and go from there,'' Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. ``It could be more. It could be less. Obviously a big blow. Another big blow for us.''

Lamb had an RBI double in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Padres, but pulled up lame heading into second base. He was tended to by athletic trainers before being replaced by a pinch runner.

The third baseman had an MRI on Thursday.

``Obviously, I'm bummed,'' Lamb said. ``It's really frustrating. I was just getting my feet wet and getting back to feeling like a part of the team.''

Lamb played in just 56 games last season due to shoulder woes that eventually led to surgery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rangers place Volquez on IL due to elbow sprain

Published in Baseball
Friday, 05 April 2019 18:53

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Texas Rangers have put pitcher Edinson Volquez on the 10-day injured list because of a sprained right elbow.

The Rangers made the move before Friday's game against the Los Angeles Angels and called up pitcher Kyle Bird from Triple-A Nashville.

Volquez missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2017. The right-hander went 3 2/3 innings in Thursday's 11-4 victory over the Angels and has allowed two runs, four hits, four walks and three strikeouts.

The 35-year-old Volquez, who pitched a no-hitter with the Miami Marlins in 2017, had no record in two starts with a 7.04 ERA. Manager Chris Woodward said Volquez told him before the game that something didn't feel right but he could pitch.

"He said nothing was painful, but he didn't feel right. The only pitch that didn't work was his curveball," Woodward said. "You could tell something wasn't right, though. His velocity was down, and he had erratic fastball command. He gave us almost four when almost anyone would have bowed out after a third of an inning."

Woodward said that Adrian Sampson was a possibility to move into the rotation. The right-hander went six innings in relief against Houston on Monday and allowed one run and four hits in a loss.

Bird was on the Rangers' Opening Day roster and made two appearances in the opening series against the Cubs. The left-hander went an inning in both games and didn't allow a run.

Jorge Polanco hits for 11th cycle in Twins history

Published in Baseball
Friday, 05 April 2019 20:24

Minnesota Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats of a 10-4 loss to the host Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

Polanco hit a triple in the first inning, a single in the third, a home run in the fifth and a double in the seventh. He added a single in the ninth for his first five-hit game.

"I feel really good at the plate, waited for my pitches in the zone and got my hits,'' Polanco said.

Polanco knew what he needed to do in the seventh inning to complete the cycle, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

"I think that the inning before, I was thinking that I needed a double," Polanco said. "But when I went to hit, I was just thinking to get a good pitch and hit it."

It was Polanco's first career cycle, the 15th in franchise history and the 11th since the franchise became the Twins upon relocating from Washington, D.C., for the 1961 season. Michael Cuddyer was the last to hit for the cycle for the Twins, doing so on May 22, 2009, against the Brewers.

It was the first cycle in the major leagues this season.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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