Preity Zinta Apologizes for Kings XI Punjab’s Loss in IPL 2018

Actress Preity Zinta has apologized on behalf of her team Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) for “not being up to the mark” and losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK knocked out KXIP from the play-offs race of the IPL, after defeating them in the last league match by five wickets in Pune on last Sunday.
Reacting to the loss, Preity said in a tweet: “Who would have thought that after winning five out of six games in the beginning, Kings XI Punjab would have ended the IPL on this note.

“I am sorry to all our fans and supporters for not being up to the mark this season. Next year we won’t let you down. Disappointed,” she added.The Punjab side under new skipper Ravichandran Ashwin managed to win six out of their 14 league games to end their campaign at the penultimate spot in the IPL tally with 12 points.

Donaldson uses underhand serve vs. Dimitrov

American Jared Donaldson needed to use an underhand serve due to leg cramps in his second round match against Grigor Dimitrov at the French Open.  Dimitrov won the match 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 on court 18 at Roland-Garros in Paris. Donaldson started getting cramps in the fifth set of his matchup against his fourth-seeded opponent. The American held the ball in his left hand and dropped it down to his racket, before swatting it over the net underhand. He won a point after the service, as Dimitrov over hit the return. He tried the serve again later in the match, but it didn’t go quite as well. Donaldson’s serve went over the net, but he hit the net on his return. The match lasted four hours and 20 minutes. After match point, Dimitrov shouted and kissed his knees.

Injured Mustafizur ruled out of Afghanistan T 20s

Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has been ruled out of next month’s T20I series against Afghanistan due to a toe injury. Bangladesh Cricket Board’s senior physician Debashis Chowdhury said that a scan revealed that Mustafizur would take up to three weeks to recover from the injury.  “An x-ray followed by a CT scan has confirmed a hairline fracture on the big toe. It takes around three to four weeks to recover from such injuries and, therefore, he can’t play against Afghanistan,” Chowdhury said.

‘Corruption goes right to the top’

World Cup-winning Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga has said   corruption “goes right to the top” in Sri Lanka and accused the International Cricket Council of undermining the game by failing to tackle match-fixing. Ranatunga, now a government minister, said cricket corruption in Sri Lanka went far beyond the claims made in an Al Jazeera documentary which was aired last Sunday. Ranatunga said the allegations must be investigated, “but this must have been happening for a long time.” “This is something that goes right to the top (in Sri Lanka). What they will catch is the small fish. As usual the bigger fish will get away,” he said.

Bolt trains with Norwegian club

Multiple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt is training with Norwegian top-flight side Stromsgodset as he pursues his dream of becoming a professional footballer. The 31-year-old Jamaican, who retired from athletics after winning eight Olympic gold medals, is a soccer fanatic and trained with the club in Drammen, some 40km south-west of Oslo. He also hopes to play some part in a friendly against the club’s Under-19 side.

 ‘Tiger can beat my record’

Jack Nicklaus said he believes Tiger Woods can still overhaul his record of 18 Major Championship victories. Woods last won a major almost exactly 10 years ago, when he battled to a memorable playoff win at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines in Southern California.

Redgrave heads to China

Britain’s decorated Olympic rower Steve Redgrave is just the latest foreign name lured to China as part of a broader drive by the ambitious country to ramp up its fortunes on the sporting world stage. The five-time gold medalist said this week that he was taking up the post of high-performance director of Chinese rowing.

Badanov banned for life

Ukrainian Dmytro Badanov has been handed a life ban from tennis and fined $100,000 after being found guilty of match fixing offences, the Tennis Integrity Unit announced.