Chelsea get first win under new boss
london: Chelsea displayed some of the swagger from last season’s title-winning campaign in beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Premier league to continue its resurgence under caretaker manager Guus Hiddink on Sunday. In a late kick-off on Saturday Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero scored two minutes apart as Manchester City came from behind late to beat Watford 2-1 in the English Premier league. The win, City’s first away from home in the league since September, was scrappy but the three points were vital for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
It was only a point behind second-place leicester and three behind leader Arsenal in the standings. In another game between Everton and Tottenham Hotspurs, Everton were held to 1-1 draw. For Everton, Aaron lenon scored in the 22nd minute and for Spurs Dele Alli equalized just before half-time.
Rana sizzles as Delhi hammer AP by 111 runs
Vadodara: Youngster Nitish Rana played a brillant counter-attacking innings of 97 from 40 balls as Delhi cantered home by 111 runs against Andhra in a group C match of the Syed Mushtaq T20 tournament, here on Sunday. left-hander Rana, known to be one of the hardest hitters in the Delhi circuit, certainly would have attracted attention of a few franchises after smashing 34 off 15 balls against Railways on Saturday. Having chased a massive target of 211 on Saturday against Railways, it was Delhi’s turn to put an imposing total on the board as they plundered 236 for 9 in 20 overs. In reply, Andhra were bowled out for 125 in 19.2 overs.
Brief Scores: Delhi: 236/9 (Nitish Rana 97, Milind Kumar 58, Pawan Negi 22 no, CV Stephen 5/52) beat Andhra: 125 (SK Ramesh 37, Subodh Bhati 2/13, Ashish Nehra 1/13). Delhi won by 111 runs.
McCullum backs Amir’s Pak return
Wellington: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum says convicted spot-fixer Mohammad Amir should be given “the benefit of the doubt” and allowed to play for Pakistan in limited-overs matches in New Zealand this month. Amir has been named in the Pakistan squad which will play three T20 and three one-day games against New Zealand over the next three weeks but his participation depends on NZ immigration officials allowing him visa. His ban, imposed by the International Cricket Council, has now ended.
ONGC win Shastri hockey tournament
New Delhi: ONGC conceded their advantage twice but eventually came back to win the 26th lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament 5-2 on penalties over Indian Railways at the Shivaji Stadium on Sunday. ONGC took the lead first in the 12th minute through Sumit before Railways equalised four minutes later courtesy Simrandeep Singh. ONGC regained their lead in the 29th minute with a field goal by Diwakar Ram. But Railways didn’t let them have an easy outing as they brought things level in the 38th minute with Kush JP converting a penalty corner. The score stayed the same forcing a penalty shootout. On penalties, ONGC converted their three chances while Railways miserably missed all theirs. Simrandeep bagged the player of the tournament award and cash prize of Rs 11,000.