MS Dhoni has been docked 50 per cent of his match fees for a Code of Conduct breach after Chennai Super Kings' match against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Thursday.

Dhoni admitted to the Level 2 offence under Article 2.20 of the IPL's Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction. Article 2.20 deals with "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game" and "is intended to cover all types of conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game and which is not specifically and adequately covered by the specific offences set out elsewhere" in the IPL's Code of Conduct.

Article 2.20 also states that "when assessing the seriousness of the offence, the context of the particular situation, and whether it was deliberate, reckless, negligent, avoidable and/or accidental, shall be considered. Further, the person lodging the Report shall determine where on the range of severity the conduct lays (with the range of severity starting at conduct of a minor nature (and hence a Level 1 Offence) up to conduct of an extremely serious nature (and hence a Level 4 Offence))."

ALSO READ: Sixes, (non-)no-balls, confrontations: how that dramatic final over unfolded in Jaipur

In the last over of Super Kings' chase, Dhoni had walked onto the field of play to remonstrate with the umpires over a contentious no-ball call. Super Kings had begun the over needing 18 to win, and Dhoni was bowled by a Ben Stokes yorker off the third ball. With eight needed off the last three balls and new man Mitchell Santner on strike, Stokes bowled a full toss. Umpire Ulhas Gandhe signaled a no-ball for height, only for his square-leg colleague Bruce Oxenford to overrule him.

That led to heated arguments in the middle, with batsmen Ravindra Jadeja and Santner getting involved. Dhoni also marched onto the field and got involved in an animated discussion with the umpires.

The delivery stood as a legal one, but Super Kings clinched a thrilling win, with Santner hitting a six off the last ball.

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Jon Gruden has some pointed advice for his new general manager as Mike Mayock approaches his first NFL draft as the Oakland Raiders' general manager, after years as a draft analyst for NFL Network.

Especially with the Raiders holding so much draft capital.

"Don't mess it up, dude," Gruden told Mayock. "I took a lot of slings to get you three first-round picks."

Indeed, Gruden is still taking flak for last fall's trades of All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack and Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper that netted Oakland first-round picks from the Chicago Bears (No. 24 overall) and Dallas Cowboys (No. 27) to go with their own pick at No. 4.

But consider: The Raiders are just the fourth team in the past 30 years -- the first since the 2001 Rams -- to enter draft day with three first-rounders.

Mess it up? Mayock is embracing the challenge.

"You always have to go back to trusting who you are as an evaluator," said Mayock, who also said his board will be stacked by the end of next week.

Oakland, who finished 4-12 last season and has already added 19 players this offseason, has just three defensive ends on the roster. That's despite ending the year with a league-low 13 sacks, 17 fewer than anyone else in the NFL last season. In fact, six individual players had more sacks than Oakland did as a team.

So how fine is that line between drafting for need and drafting the best player available? As Raiders two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Flores said, if you're picking in the top 10 you don't have the luxury of drafting for a specific need because you have needs all over the roster.

"I'm a son of a coach and I know how coaches think, and coaches think need," Mayock said. "And we're a coach-driven building, our coaches are highly involved. That's good. I embrace that. The flip side is, you can't reach. You've got to use some common sense. And that's what I preach."

Mayock said that if two players at different positions rank similarly, but one is at a higher position of need, "Great, let's go get him," Mayock said.

"But if there's a discount, a disparity between the two [players], let's not reach for need because the more you do that, the more you dilute your roster. And that's a conversation we've had a lot."

In his old job as a TV GM, Mayock would put together a draft board based on "league value" and would share it with general managers across the league.

Now? Raider Nation state secrets are at stake. That's why other GMs may be trying to get Mayock to slip up and let them know of the Raiders' draft plans... before he turns the tables.

"I miss just talking ball with you," Mayock recounted someone telling him recently.

"Yeah, same thing," Mayock answered. "Who are you going to take?"

Mayock laughed, even as he says he is not worried about his reputation heading into his first draft as a real GM, or Gruden's playful jab.

"The way I look at this thing from a how-do-people-perceive-me perspective is a lot of people doubted that anybody could come out of the media and go and be a GM for any team," Mayock said. "I know that. I get that.

"But at the end of the day, here's the deal -- if we win, everything will be fine. And if we lose, I'll get fired. And I'm perfectly fine with that."

Before that day possibly comes, though, there is the April 25-27 draft, in which the Raiders hold eight picks, with half of them coming in the first 35.

The flip side is that Oakland does not have a pick from 36 to 105, missing a lot of what Mayock sees as his sweet spot between 20 and 60.

"Between 24, 27 and 35 we have three awesome opportunities," Mayock said. "I happen to like 20 through 60. Always have. I think there are a lot of guys that love the game and are safer picks, sometimes, than top-10 picks.

"I'd love to get a couple more picks in there. We've got a lot of holes that need to be filled and I think that's a really good place to go fishing."

That would mean the Raiders trading to get there. And though they have the capital and flexibility with those four picks in the top 35 to make moves, Mayock was non-committal about dealing two weeks ahead of the draft.

"We have to be ready to pick at 4 and be excited about a player, right?" Mayock said. "Now, we might move up, we might move back. Who knows? We won't know until draft night. But, if we're, quote, stuck at 4, we've got to be ready to go and that's a hell of a lot easier than worrying about all the permutations at 24 and 27 and 35."

And if the Raiders simply stay put with those first four selections?

"We better get four foundation football players," Mayock said. "We define foundation as talent and football character. That's what we want. Guys that love the game. And if we don't move up or down or anywhere, man, we better get four of those guys.

"We need to be nimble."

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers are not bringing back coach Larry Drew for a second season, the team announced Thursday.

Drew led the Cavs to a 19-57 record; he took over when Tyronn Lue was fired Oct. 28 after an 0-6 start.

The team said it reached a mutual decision with Drew.

"We have great respect and appreciation for Larry and the job that he did as the head coach of the Cavaliers for nearly the entire 2018-19 campaign. He brought professionalism, class and steady leadership both this past season and prior four years," general manager Koby Altman said in a statement.

"Larry and I had a productive discussion about this past season, the future of the franchise and the search process that we will shortly launch regarding the head coaching role. Larry respectfully declined to participate in the search process and will not be returning to coach the Cavaliers. All of us in Cleveland wish Larry nothing but the best going forward."

Drew was praised by players for guiding them through an injury-filled season, the club's first since LeBron James left as a free agent. Altman will now hire the Cavs' fifth coach since 2013.

Drew, 61, had been with the Cavs since 2016, when he was brought to Cleveland by Lue. The team won the NBA title in Drew's first season on Lue's staff.

"I am very proud of what we accomplished over the last several years together and will always cherish our championship," Drew said in a statement. "I also want to commend our players this season for the bond that they established, the way they approached their jobs and the hard work and growth they had every day. I am very proud of them and wish them the best as they continue to develop for the future."

When he replaced Lue, Drew knew the Cavs might go in another direction at some point and asked the team to restructure his contract.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis' record hitless streak is now up to 53 at-bats after he went 0 for 3 in a loss to the Oakland Athletics on Thursday.

Davis, in the fourth season of a seven-year, $161 million contract, did manage to draw a walk and score a run in the loss. While he hasn't gotten a hit since Sept. 14 - his other three at-bats resulted in a lineout, groundout and strikeout - Davis maintains a positive outlook.

"I feel like I'm seeing the ball a lot better," Davis said after the game. "I mean, I lined out again and drew a walk a little bit later. Just continue to work.

"For me I can't focus on the result as much as I want to. As much as I want to see some type of return for all the work I'm putting in. I gotta stay focused on the process."

Davis is 0 for 32 with 16 strikeouts this season. Despite his struggles, some fans at Oriole Park continued to show support.

"It's awesome. I mean, I appreciate it so much," said Davis, who has also drawn boos at recent games. "Really the last few nights, just the encouraging yells, shouts throughout the game. I know they're behind me. I know the people that boo aren't the majority and I really appreciate the fans showing up and backing me."

Davis, 33, is looking to regain his All-Star form from 2013 when he drove in 138 RBIs and hit 53 home runs. He hit at least 26 home runs the four seasons after that but regressed dramatically last season, posting a career-worst .168 batting average with 49 RBIs and 16 home runs.

Thursday's loss was Baltimore's third straight and seventh in its last eight games. Baltimore could use Davis's production, but he said he's just trusting the process.

"The more I try to go out there and do or the more I try to shoulder this all by myself, the harder it gets. Like I said I have to trust the process, trust that the work I'm putting in, at some point is going to turn around," he said. "When the weather heats up I would like to think that some of those line drives are leaving. Right now they are getting caught. So I'll just continue to go out there and work and try to put good at bats together."

Whit Merrifield's team-record hitting streak ended at 31 games after he went 0-for-6 in the Kansas City Royals' 7-6 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

Merrifield had passed George Brett (1980) for the longest streak in franchise history on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Merrifield had gone 0-for-5 though eight innings when the Royals were one strike away from a 6-4 win in the ninth. But Mitch Haniger hit a two-run triple off the glove of Royals center fielder Billy Hamilton to drive in two runs and the game went to extra innings.

After Daniel Vogelbach homered to put the Mariners ahead in the 10th inning, Merrifield then struck out to end the game.

Merrifield's 31-game streak was the MLB's longest since Dan Uggla went 33 games in 2011.

Low Wee Wern scores biggest win since injury comeback and seeds tested
By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor

Malaysia’s Low Wee Wern achieved her biggest win since coming back from a 20-month injury break here today when she ousted world number 14 and tournament second seed Salma Hany in convincing fashion. The 28-year old from Penang won in straight games in just over the half hour mark to book her spot in the last eight tomorrow against another Egyptian Nadine Shahin.

Playing the last match of the evening, the Malaysian took the all-important first game that went to the tie-break, before taking the next two comfortably.

“It’s one of my first good wins ever since I started playing after the injury layoff. I’ve been struggling to find my confidence on court after being out for so long. Even yesterday, I was struggling to find my game. But today against Salma, the first game was very, very important and winning that gave me a lot of confidence and I think that also took some confidence from her. She’s a shot maker and going one-down meant it’s harder to try going for them,” Wee Wern said.

It was tough day for the top seeds In the women’s today, as Annie Au was severely tested by the Japanese youngster Satomi Watanabe. Having split the first four games between them, the experience of Au shone when it matters when she ran away with the fifth game, winning 11 points in a row after dropping the first.

“Maybe I wasn’t as match ready as her. She had a match yesterday and for me, this was my first match. Sometimes, having to play a game extra helps you condition and maybe today was the case for her. Now that I have a long match in the bag, I hope it’ll be a much better game from me tomorrow,” Annie said when asked how she think she fared.

Au’s opponent tomorrow in the last eight is Samantha Cornett, a straight games winner against Hong Kong’s Vanessa Chu. The lanky Canadian nearly blew away a big lead in the second set when she allowed Chu to pull back from 8-4 down to 10-10.

“I felt pretty good today. I feel I could get to the ball quickly, but I let things land a little short in the second, which is where she’s really good,” Cornett said afterwards.

Chu’s counterpart Liu Tsz Ling was also on the losing end as she fell in straight games to Egyptian Mayar Hany. Hany will face third seed Indian Joshna Chinappa tomorrow, after she saw off the challenge of Kiwi Amanda Landers-Murphy.

“Amanda and I train together quite a bit back in Bristol. I know how dangerous she can be on the volleys, so I had to keep that away from her. I’m just glad I got through in three, especially in the first and third, it was close.”

In the lower half of the draw, fourth seed Joey Chan won the all-Hong Kong battle against Tong Tsz-Wing, who did not have many answers to shot making skills of the left hander. Chan faces Egyptian Zeina Mickawy, who ended Rachel Arnold’s Macau campaign in four games.

In the men’s event, last year’s finalists Yip Tsz Fung and Omar Mosaad both won in contrasting fashion. Mosaad, the losing finalist from last year, certainly had the easier time between the two, winning in straight games. But huge credit should be given to his opponent Dimitri Steinmann who pushed the Egyptian into very long rallies in the third game in particular.

“Dimitri played a good long match yesterday against Mazen Gamal. I knew it was going to be a little hurting for his legs today and I knew he was going to start slow. I wanted to do well in the start and he was going to up the tempo in the second or third game. I’m really happy to win in straight games today.”

Defending champion Yip Tsz Fung was severely tested by Pakistani Shahajad Khan. Both players have tremendous racket skills and served the crowd a delight with the many low cross court shots. While there were many moments of brilliance, the match was marred by several interruptions with the referee.

The fourth game was not a pretty one with both players growing more and more frustrated by the inconsistent calls. There were many traffic issues and discussions with the referee. Then at 4-8 down, the cool and composed Yip gathered all his experience to win seven points in a row from 4-8 down to book his berth in the next round and a step closer to retaining his title.

Fellow Hong Kong player Leo Au was also tested by France’s Auguste Dussourd. The Asian Games champion took the entire first game to get used to the playing style of the Frenchman. After dropping the first, he came back strongly to take the next two comfortably. The fourth was close in the first half of the game, but it was Au who walked out victorious to earn a shot against compatriot Yip Tsz Fung.

Max Lee and Ivan Yuen played the match of the day. The pair, who are friends and know each other’s game inside out, both played their best squash and served the crowd a delightful match. Yuen was firing into nicks from all corners while Lee was ever-ready to pick them up. The fourth game in particular, Yuen was super sharp with the angles. It was perhaps because of that, it got to his head a little in the fifth where he rushed to finish off the rallies a little too quickly and was made to pay with the game and match.

“I didn’t set much expectation on myself today. I just wanted to play a good match. Ivan and I have played many times, so I know exactly how he plays and he knows my game well too. But he seriously hit a lot of winners today and I just had to keep everything tight. It was a little more comfortable in the fifth. Maybe he relaxed a little after that ridiculous fourth game.”

2016 World Junior champion Ng Eain Yow won his first competitive match against senior Nafiizwan Adnan after the pair engaged in a 73-minute battle. Expectedly, the match was a long one given that the pair train together daily. After splitting the first four games, Ng ran away with the fifth with Adnan looking a little worn.

While on paper it’s an upset over the seeding, Ng has overtaken Adnan in the latest PSA ranking despite both having dipped a few places.

“I thought I played well when I needed to today and I’m just happy to get the win. At this stage, I am not thinking too much about who I’m playing or who I’m beating. It’s just focussing on playing good squash and getting the result when the matches come. Just focussing more on myself now rather than who my opponent is. But it’s never easy playing a team mate, especially with Nafiizwan, who has been helping us as juniors. But I thought we both went in professionally and played a good game,” Ng said later.

Scotland’s Greg Lobban and top seed Diego Elias both won in straight games.

“I was a little nervous going into the match because Baptiste has won a couple of 10k events recently and I know how that feels. He’s got lots of confidence so I am glad to get through,” Lobban said afterwards, while Elias was happy with his match:

“I’m feeling good and I have been looking forward to start off this tournament. I think I played really well in my first match and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the tournament.”

The last men’s match of the evening was also the longest. The all-Indian battle between Saurav Ghosal and Mahesh Magaonkar lasted a full 77 minutes and it was rather tensed through it all. It was evident both players knew each other’s game well, judging from the times they both guessed right the next shot. It was a shame finish as a shot between the legs from Magaonkar went out of court and he did not hide his frustration as he flung his racket onto the front wall after that.

“First thing, I think Mahesh played very well. You have to give credit where credit is due – he did put up a very, very good performance. I know obviously he was very capable of a performance like that. His ranking certainly does not reflect the quality of squash in him.

“Personally, I don’t think I was hitting the ball badly, but maybe my shot selection wasn’t the best at certain times. That could’ve been slightly better in the first half of the match. But I’m happy with myself for being able to come up with solutions to win today.”
 

RESULTS (SECOND ROUND)

Annie Au (HKG) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 11-1 (46m)
Samantha Cornett (CAN) bt Vanessa Chu (HKG) 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 (26m)
Mayar Hany (EGY) bt Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 (26m)
Joshna Chinappa (IND) bt Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL) 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 (26m)
Joey Chan (HKG) bt Tong Tsz-Wing (HKG) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (30m)
Zeina Mickawy (EGY) bt Rachel Arnold (MAS) 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 11-9 (35m)
Nadine Shahin (EGY) bt Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-9 (23m)
Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt Salma Hany (EGY) 12-10, 11-7, 11-3 (33m)

Diego Elias (PER) bt Edmon Lopez (ESP) 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 (26m)
Max Lee (HKG) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-4, 7-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5 (66m)
Leo Au (HKG) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) 7-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 (56m)
Yip Tsz Fung (HKG) bt Shahjahan Khan 11-2, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8 (PAK) (49m)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (31m)
Ng Eain Yow (MAS) bt Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-5 (73m)
Greg Lobban (SCO) bt Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 11-5, 12-10, 11-8 (45m)
Saurav Ghosal (IND) bt Mahesh Magaonkar (IND) 9-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3, 11-9 (77m)

Pictures courtesy of Macau Squash Association