HARIKA POSTS THIRD WIN

Harika Dronavalli continued her good run at the Reykjavik Open chess tournament as she got past Martin P. Burrows of England in the fourth round game at the Herpa Concert Hall here. With three wins and one draw in four outings, the World No.11 Indian has amassed a total of 3.5 points. Playing in white pieces, Harika approached the game with a different strategy to catch her opponent who has a lower ranking, off-guard from the early stages and capitalised on her opponent›s errors to wrap up the three-hour long tie in 30 moves on Friday night. “I had chosen a side line from the opening stages of the game which my opponent was not aware of. This strategy baffled him and he started playing over the board,” Harika said after the game.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed an unbeaten 61 to finally come good and reassert his top-class finisher tag as he guided Rising Pune Supergiant to a six- wicket victory over defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in a thrilling IPL match here on Saturday.

After a series of flop shows, Dhoni’s reputation as a top-notch finisher was at stake, but today the former India captain was in his elements, smashing a flurry of fours and sixes as Pune overhauled the target of 177 in the final ball of the run chase.

Dhoni needed two runs from the final delivery but he hit Siddarth Kaul for a boundary as Pune reached 179 for 4 to the wild celebrations of the home supporters at the MCA Stadium. Dhoni faced 34 deliveries for his unbeaten 61 that included five fours and three