Two teams that have shown the promise but failed to deliver on big occasions come face to face when Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore clash in their opening match of the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

The Mumbai Indians are the big-spending side and have the Champions League Twenty20 Trophy to show for all the money shelled out on acquiring star players. Besides, Mumbai have also been runners-up once and semifinalists twice in the previous IPL seasons.

With Ricky Ponting as captain this time, Mumbai would be hoping to lay their hands on the IPL trophy for the first time.

In the batting department, Ambati Rayudu and Rohit Sharma would be looking to continue from where he left in the previous IPL where they amassed 333 and 433 runs respectively.

Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar would open with either Dwayne Smith or James Franklin, both of whom can contribute to the team with their bowling as well.


Also Ponting, who has had a good outing in Australia`s Big Bash and Shield Cricket tournaments since retiring from Test cricket, would be an asset at number three.

Dinesh Karthik would give solidity to the middle-order.

Boasting of three prolific wicket-takers in the IPL so far -- Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha and Munaf Patel -- Mumbai Indians look a well-balanced side.

However, spinners were a tad disappointing for them in IPL-5 with Harbhajan Singh hardly making any impact. He scalped six wickets in 17 matches, while Ojha claimed nine wickets in as many matches.

Mumbai, in fact, are rocked by a problem of plenty as only four international cricketers are allowed to play in a match. There is lot to choose from the international basket given the presence of "million -dollar buy" Glen Maxwell, Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, Jacob Oram, James Franklin and Malinga.

RCB, on the other hand, will take the field with the young and feisty Virat Kohli leading the team.

Known for being diffident in the initial stages of the IPL, RCB have, in their arsenal, swashbuckling characters like Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan and A B de Villiers, who can turn the game on its head in a jiffy.

Kohli is not too far behind having been RCB`s leading run-getter (1639), but their over-dependence on Gayle has been a nightmare for the team.

The West Indian, with 1341 runs, has won countless games single-handedly, but still has to come up good in big matches.

RCB`s main worry is their bowling with Zaheer Khan making a comeback from a calf injury which he sustained in a Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat last year.

Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay will be waiting to give better performance.
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Yu Darvish saw the ball skip between his shins, dashing his chance at perfection. Immediately, several Texas Rangers came to the mound to console him.

"I think my teammates were more disappointed than I was," he said through a translator.

Darvish was one out from a perfect game when Marwin Gonzalez grounded a clean single through the pitcher's legs, and Texas beat the Houston Astros 7-0 on Tuesday night.



The celebrated right-hander from Japan struck out a career-high 14 and was in complete control before Gonzalez smacked the first pitch up the middle. Darvish was unable to get his glove down in time, and the ball skittered into center field well beyond a desperate dive by shortstop Elvis Andrus.

At that moment, one thought went through Darvish's mind.

"I can now go back to the dugout," he deadpanned. "Even if I got the complete game today, it's not going to translate to three or five wins. It's a win. A win's a win."

After the hit, Darvish smiled and put up his hands -- almost like, "Oh well, it happens." Texas' infielders quickly went to the mound, and manager Ron Washington joined them.

"I didn't want to be the last out," Gonzalez said. "I was trying to look for a good pitch to hit and put it in play. That's all I was thinking."

Washington patted Darvish on the chest and then signaled for a reliever. A crowd of 22,673 that included plenty of Rangers fans cheered Darvish as he walked off after 111 pitches. He stopped and tipped his cap before getting high-fives from teammates in the dugout.

He sat on the bench to watch the rest of the game, then joined the handshake line after the final out.

And if Darvish was upset about coming oh-so-close, he didn't show it.

"I went that far," he said. "I'm really satisfied."

Working from the stretch throughout -- even though he never needed to -- Darvish became the first pitcher to lose a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning since Armando Galarraga on June 2, 2010. Of course, the Detroit pitcher was denied only because of an infamous missed call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce, who later admitted he blew the play.



Yu Darvish came within one out of making history, losing his bid for a perfect game against the Astros with two outs in the 9th inning.

On the second full day of the major league season, Darvish nearly picked up right where baseball left off last year, when there were a record three perfect games, thrown by Philip Humber, Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez.

Darvish's 14 strikeouts matched a Minute Maid Park record, and were the most by a Rangers pitcher since Hall of Famer and current team CEO Nolan Ryan had 14 in July 1991 against the Angels.

Darvish arrived in the majors last year with much fanfare, having already been a five-time all-star and two-time MVP in Japan. The Rangers paid more than $107 million to get him for five seasons.

The 6-foot-5 righty quickly settled in with Texas, becoming an All-Star last year on the way to going 16-9 with 221 strikeouts. He also once flirted with perfection, retiring the first 17 batters at Kansas City on Sept. 3.

"I think I got lucky today. I felt I pitched better against the Royals last year," Darvish said. "I had better command in that outing."

If he had been able to finish the job Tuesday, it would have been the earliest perfecto in history.

Darvish didn't really need a dazzling play from his defense as he shut down the Astros and chased the 24th perfect game in big league history -- including the one Don Larsen tossed in the 1956 World Series, and two in 1880.

It was almost the second time in 10 months the overmatched Astros failed to put a runner on base. Cain's perfect game for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants came against Houston on June 13 last year.

Many expect the Astros to be the worst team in the majors this year, after two straight 100-loss seasons and a major league-low payroll of less than $22 million. But they cruised to an 8-2 win over Texas in the major league opener and their American League debut Sunday night.

Darvish, 26, carried over a strong showing in spring training this year into near perfection in his first regular-season start. The Astros looked totally lost against him, often taking wild swings at breaking balls that bounced.



With the crowd on its feet and a mixture of cheers and "Yuuus" filling Minute Maid Park, Chris Carter took Darvish to a full count before striking out on the ninth pitch of the at-bat for the first out of the eighth inning.

Rick Ankiel followed by striking out, and Justin Maxwell hit an easy grounder to second baseman Ian Kinsler.

Darvish looked toward the sky for a couple of seconds before retreating to the dugout.

He began the ninth by getting two easy groundouts before Gonzalez ruined his bid for perfection with a sharp grounder.

"That was impossible to catch," Darvish said.

Gonzalez, 24, made his big league debut last year, hitting .234 in 80 games for Houston.

Darvish, who played seven professional seasons in Japan before joining the Rangers, set rookie franchise records for wins (16) and strikeouts (221) last season. He finished third in AL rookie of the year voting behind winner Mike Trout and Oakland outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

The win gives Darvish five straight regular-season victories dating to last season. He took the loss in the Rangers' 5-1 defeat to Baltimore in the AL wild-card game.

Using his dizzying array of pitches, including a fastball that topped out at 97 mph, a slider and 95 mph cutters, Darvish bedeviled the mostly inexperienced Houston hitters.

"When I tell you we threw everything, we threw everything," said Rangers catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who caught Humber's perfect game for the White Sox last season. "We threw the kitchen sink tonight, but Yu has the ability to do that and he's special."

Darvish (1-0) sailed through the first four innings, striking out nine, including the side in the second and fourth.

Carter hit a long fly that looked as though it could be gone before David Murphy caught it just in front of the left-center wall for the first out of the fifth. First baseman Mitch Moreland made a nice catch on a liner by Ankiel for the second out.

Michael Kirkman relieved Darvish after Gonzalez's hit. Jose Altuve followed with a single before Kirkman fanned pinch hitter J.D. Martinez to end it.

Darvish has never thrown a complete game in the majors.

Lucas Harrell (0-1), who was Houston's most successful starter a year ago with 11 wins, allowed six hits and one run with four strikeouts in six innings.

Lance Berkman had a run-scoring single in the third against his former team. He finished with three hits and two RBIs.

Kinsler hit a two-run homer off Rhiner Cruz in the seventh to make it 3-0. Texas added two runs in the eighth and two in the ninth.

Game notes

The last no-hitter by a Rangers pitcher was Kenny Rogers' perfect game against the Angels on July 28, 1994. ... Berkman extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 14 games dating to July 26, 2010. That includes his last three home games with the Astros, and 11 appearances as an opposing player with St. Louis and Texas. ... These teams wrap up the series Wednesday when Humber makes his Astros debut against Texas RHP Alexi Ogando.
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The Chicago White Sox were absolutely outstanding Monday against the Kansas City Royals. Are there any takeaways from the Opening Day victory for the White Sox, though?

Matter of fact, there are.

Three things stood out after digesting the White Sox' 1-0 victory over the Royals.

Chris Sale is Worth Every Penny

Chris Sale, who recently signed a five-year/$32.5 million contract extension, was lights out on Monday for the White Sox.

He limited the vaunted Royals offense to seven hits and no earned runs over 7.2 innings. And make no mistake about it, the Royals can hit—especially Sox pitching.

Last year, they finished with a mighty .279/.336/.410 slash line against the South Siders. Addison Reed had an ERA over 13.00 and Sale lost three of his eight games against the Royals in 2012. Ouch.

Monday was different. White Sox manager Robin Ventura noted during his post-game presser that Sale has matured as a pitcher (via ESPN.com). He is right.

Sure, he got into a jam when he loaded the bases with one out in the third inning, but overall, Sale delivered exactly what Ventura and the sell-out crowd hoped for.

His Opening Day performance is not a fluke. Sale has the goods.


There is No Middle Ground for Tyler Flowers

Tyler Flowers is going to have an interesting year, and Monday may be a microcosm.

He struck out with runners on first and second in the bottom of the second inning, smoked the game-winning home run in the fifth and hit a towering pop up in the sixth. He also caught a shutout and played some exceptional defense behind the dish.

Expect it to be this way for the remainder of the season. Flowers will hit his share of home runs, but challenge Adam Dunn for the team lead in strikeouts.

He will also do wonders for a relatively young pitching staff.

Flowers will demand a lot of patience from White Sox fans this season.

Pitching and Defense is the Name of the Game

The White Sox collected eight hits, scored one run and struck out nine times Monday. They also went 0-6 with RISP. It was a rather unimpressive offensive showing at U.S. Cellular Field.

It will, most likely, be like that for a majority of the season.

The good news is that the White Sox are not built around offense. The more important stat line against the Royals was the defensive one.

They turned two double plays, Gordon Beckham made an outstanding catch on a rocket off the bat of Lorenzo Cain and White Sox pitching held the Royals to one hit—a rather unimpressive infield single by Alcides Escobar—in six at-bats with men in scoring position.

Matt Thornton and Addison Reed looked great in relief and—while the Royals stole two bases—Flowers handled some tailing breaking balls quite nicely.

The White Sox were crisp and efficient all game.

To be sure, it is only one game.

This one game said a lot though.
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The 2013 MLB season is set to kick off tonight with a Texas-sized showdown between the Rangers and Houston Astros. The Rangers will be welcoming Houston to the AL West and it will be our first chance to see how the Astros young talent will stack up in the division. Houston has continuously found themselves at the bottom of their division standings in the past, so they will be looking to get the season off on the right foot.

While the season gets started with a single game tonight, there is an action-packed schedule tomorrow that features twelve games beginning at 1:00 pm ET. You can look over the complete Opening Day schedule here.

Here is the information you need to make sure you can catch tonight’s action:

Start Time: Sunday, March 31, at 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Minute Maid Park, Houston

TV Infor: ESPN
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Two of the biggest heavyweights in world football will clash this week in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals as Juventus take on Bayern Munich in Germany.

The German giants have been one of the most dominant teams this season—running away with the Bundesliga title courtesy of their explosive attack and phenomenal defense—and playing at home, will seemingly be a very tough team to beat.

However, Juventus are the reigning Italian champions and appear likely to repeat that feat in 2013 courtesy of their strength in midfield and consistency.

They'll be a tough opponent for any team to beat, and will certainly push the German powerhouse here. Whether they'll have the cohesion and discipline required to break down Bayern Munich still remains to be seen, but it will certainly be a thrilling matchup nonetheless.

Read on for a full preview of this key quarterfinal including all the need-to-know details, live viewing information, analysis and predictions.



Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Start time: 2:45 p.m. ET (Eastern time)

Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
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The Red Warriors are going into the match with good form as they recently beat Malaysian Super League leaders ATM 3-2 in Paroi.

Bojan Hodak has already informed the public that both Dimitri Petratos and Dickson Nwakaemi will play in this match as they require their services to stop the V-League Champions. Kelantan will once again rely on their influential skipper Badhri Radzi to contain the visitor's midfield.

Khairul Fahmi Che Mat is set to continue in goal, he was one of the best players in the first half against ATM, while Norfarhan may also be rewarded with a start after scoring the winning goal against ATM.

For SHB Da Nang FC, their two important players Huynh Quoc Anh and Pham Nguyen will not be travelling to Malaysia as both of them will be rested after playing through a congested fixture list.

Other than that, all their other senior players will travel to Malaysia. Their team consists of several Vietnam international players and they will look to seal their place at the top of their group with two wins out of two.

      DID YOU KNOW?


    Kelantan, treble winners in 2012, are currently struggling in the league and lie in mid-table.

    The Red Warriors' Badhri Radzi was recently called up for his first appearance in the Malaysian national squad.

    SHB Da Nang FC are currently the champions of the V-League.

    Their Argentinian striker, Sebastian Gaston Merlo, has won three golden boots out of the last four V-League seasons and is set to be the main threat for Kelantan in this game.
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Most soccer fans have made Barcelona the clear favorites to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain over the two legs.

However, the current La Liga leaders may not have it all their own way when they meet for the first time at Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.

Team News

Paris Saint-Germain

PSG have not lost a European game at home for six years. They also have a coach in Carlo Ancelotti who has won the competition both as a player and a manager.

They will also have talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic available for selection after the Swedish international's two-match suspension was reduced upon appeal.

FC Barcelona



Barcelona have been given a boost ahead of the trip to the French capital as Jordi Alba and Xavi are available.

The pair, who had been struggling with hamstring strains suffered on international duty with Spain, missed Saturday's 2-2 draw away to Celta Vigo.

Alba had been injured against Finland on March 22nd, while Xavi was hurt in Spain's game with France on March 26th.

Goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who was suspended against Celta Vigo, is also available for the Catalans, who are set to have coach Tito Vilanova on the touchline in Paris.

Probable Lineups

PSG: Sirigu (GK); Alex, Maxwell, Thiago Silva, Van der Wiel; Matuidi, Chantome, Pastore, Lucas; Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi

FC Barcelona: Valdes (GK); Alba, Puyol, Pique, Alves; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Fabregas, Pedro; Messi

Recent Form

PSG: W/D/W/L/W/L

FC Barcelona:D/W/W/L/W/W
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Saigon Xuan Thanh decide lower Selangor to go forward in the AFC CupTran Tien Dai said coach Saigon Xuan Thanh goal is victory over Selangor (Malaysia) in the first leg match AFC Cup third-way 3/4 on the Unified field.
After two legs round AFC Cup Saigon Xuan Thanh top of Group H with a victory, a draw. Master coach Tran Tien University have the opportunity to reinforce the top and widen the gap with the second team East Bengal win the last team Selangor table on the field the dimensional Unified 3/4.
"Selangor is a strong team, many times won the championship in Malaysia. During their squad is very dangerous striker Francis Doe., Though, with home advantage Our goal is nothing more than 3 point. Xuan Thanh wins to reinforce the target to the next round, and peace of mind in the V-League, ", Coach Tran Tien Dai said.
According to coach Tran Tien Dai, in match-way 3/4, Sai Gon Xuan Thanh will lack five key positions as Finance I, Viet Cuong Nguyen Rogerio, Hai Anh and Moses. However, the team will be determined to beat the Malaysia team.
Selangor H is ranked bottom of the table with just one point from two games. If it continues to fail, the opportunity to go to the Malaysian team would be very narrow. Vietnamese team to have five players in Malaysia. Coach Irfan Abusalim said will take two foreign players to play in the game in Vietnam. After three-day match against Saigon Xuan Thanh this team to play Malaysia FA Cup quarter-finals.
According to the manager Irfan Abusalim, Saigon Xuan Thanh is a strong team. Tampines Rovers wins right away proved that. However, any arena Selangor also targets the deep. "To go forward in the playground AFC, we aim to win all three points before Saigon Xuan Thanh,", Selangor coach said.
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