The scandal-hit IPL on Tuesday suffered yet another blow with the Sahara Group-owned Pune Warriors India withdrawing from the cash-rich event due to Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to encash the team's bank guarantee following a prolonged financial dispute. Sahara, which bought the franchise for Rs 1,700 crore in 2010, said it was "disgusted" by the BCCI's attitude towards it and will not rejoin the league even if the entire franchise fee was waved off, giving a new twist to the already troubled league which has seen a spate of controversies since its inception.

After 72 matches and close to 50 days of non-stop action, the league stage of the nine-team IPL-6 slugfest has thrown up four contenders for the title, two of whom, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have tasted triumphs earlier.

Having beaten former champions Chennai Super Kings twice in the league stage, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has said that the M.S. Dhoni-led side would be under pressure when the two clash in Qualifier 1 of IPL-6 here on Tuesday.

In a manner of speaking, the Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled out the rug from under everyone’s feet when they qualified for the playoffs of the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League by defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday night.

Reacting to the fallout of the “spot-fixing” scandal that erupted four days ago, the cricket control board has deployed officers from the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit to accompany the four teams that have qualified for the Indian Premier League playoff matches to be played here and thereafter in Kolkata.

Impressive bowling by Arun Kumar (4/14) and Samay Batra (3/21) helped PMG beat Rohtak Road Gymkhana by three wickets in the final of the 3rd Bal Bhawan Under-13 cricket tournament here. Chasing 116, PMG overhauled the target in 29 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Mahela Jayawardene could not hide his disappointment when the topic of the recent spot-fixing scandal was raised at the post match press conference here on Sunday.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad survived a late attack of nerves and negotiated a tricky chase to storm into the IPL-6 playoffs with a thrilling five-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Rajiv Gan

Pune Warriors avoided a bottom finish after defeating the Delhi Daredevils by 38 runs in their last league game at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here on Sunday.

Man-of-the-match Stuart Broad routed New Zealand on Sunday but insisted “attack leader” James Anderson was the man behind a thumping England first Test win at Lord’s.