The day in sports: 20th April

1. Super Kings beat KKR by 4 wickets:

Ravindra Jadeja came up with a fairytale allround performance in difficult times to propel Chennai Super Kings to a four-wicket win over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League game at the Eden Gardens here Saturday.

The youngster backed up enviable bowling figures of 3-20 with a heroic and unconquered 14-ball 36 as the Super Kings overhauled the Knights’ modest 119/9 with five balls to spare.

2. Gayle guides RCB to fifth win:

Chris Gayle (49 not out, 44b, 4×4, 1×6) guided Royal Challengers Bangalore through a mini-collapse as the hosts defeated Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets for their fifth win in seven outings and move to the top of the Pepsi IPL league table, here Saturday.

3. Arsenal go third, QPR, Reading on the brink:

Arsenal returned to third place in the Premier League table with a 1-0 win at 10-man Fulham on Saturday, while Reading and Queens Park Rangers slipped ever closer to relegation.

4. Nico Rosberg takes surprise pole for Mercedes in 2013 Bahrain GP:

Nico Rosberg claimed only the second pole position of his Formula One career, edging Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain on Saturday.

Despite the heat at the Sakhir circuit – track temperature was 42?C – there was cloud cover overhead and strong winds, which played a role in the track conditions.

5. Barca, Real labour to wins ahead of Euro bids:

Real Madrid and Barcelona laboured to victories over Real Betis and Levante respectively on Saturday as they warmed-up for their Champions League semi-finals in midweek.

6. Bayern warm-up for Barca with more records:

Bayern Munich warmed-up for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final, first-leg at home to Barcelona by claiming three Bundesliga records in Saturday’s 6-1 rout at Hanover 96.

Victory gave Bayern a Bundesliga-record 26th victory this season, a record ninth consecutive away win, while they also equalled Dortmund’s previous best of 81 points in a single season.

7. Djokovic through to Nadal final in Monte Carlo:

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal on Saturday set up their third final meeting at the Monte Carlo Masters, with the Serb top seed the last obstacle to more clay-court history for Spain’s Nadal.

8. Anthony shines as Knicks beat Celtics:

Carmelo Anthony carried his late-season scoring assault into the post-season, netting 36 points in the New York Knicks’ 85-78 victory over Boston in the opener of their first-round series.

9. Veteran Miller shines in Nuggets opener:

Veteran guard Andre Miller scored the game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds left to lift the Denver Nuggets to a 97-95 win over Golden State in game one of their opening round NBA playoff series.

10. China dominate Asia badminton semi-finals:

China’s Olympic champion and world number one Li Xuerui and fellow Chinese players dominated the Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals on Saturday in Taipei.

Li was locked in a tight fight with Japan’s Sayaka Takahashi (pictured) until she claimed a wider lead in the third game to win 21-18, 18-21, 21-12. Another top Chinese player Wang Yihan saw off Japanese Eriko Hirose 21-12, 21-6.

11. Pettersen downs Salas in playoff for LPGA win:

Suzann Pettersen hugs Lizette Salas after the Norway star won their playoff on April 20, 2013 in Hawaii. Pettersen, already a winner this year on the Ladies European Tour, earned $255,000 for the victory.

Pettersen two-putted for par on the first playoff hole to beat American Salas in the LPGA Lotte Championship.

12. Record-tying 91 players make RBC Heritage cut:

Jesper Parnevik of Sweden during the second round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 19, 2013 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

A record-tying 91 players made the cut at the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage tournament after 17 players had to complete their second rounds on Saturday morning.

You can check the rest of the ‘Day in Sports’ series here.And you can also have a look at the SportsKeeda calendar.

(Images courtesy: AFP, IANS and Getty)