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David Miller smashed Indian Premier League newcomers Gujarat Titans into the final as they beat Rajasthan Royals in the first qualifier despite a 56-ball 89 from Jos Buttler, BBC reported.

Needing 16 from the final over, Miller hit the first three balls for six to secure victory by seven wickets.

He put on an unbeaten 106 with Hardik Pandya to chase down the Royals’ 188-6.

Defeat does not eliminate Royals from the tournament, as they will compete in the second qualifier on Friday.

To decide who will join Gujarat in Sunday’s final, they will face either Lucknow Super Giants or Royal Challengers Bangalore, who play in the eliminator on Wednesday, according to BBC.

Rajasthan posted a competitive total after captain Sanju Samson’s 47 off 26 balls and England batter Buttler’s late surge of 50 from his final 18 balls.

The Titans slipped to 85-3 in reply before Miller and captain Pandya (40 not out off 27 balls) came together, and the Rajasthan bowlers and fielders started to struggle.

South Africa batter Miller took advantage, finishing with an unbeaten 68 from just 38 balls, including five sixes, BBC reported.

The Premier League has approved the £4.25bn takeover of Chelsea by a consortium led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, BBC reported.

The league says the consortium has passed its owner's and directors' test.

The Premier League club was put up for sale before owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned over his links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The purchase remains subject to the Government issuing the required sale licence. 

The final stages of the transaction will then need to be completed.

The government does not want Abramovich to make any proceeds from the sale but sources are optimistic about a deal being finalised on Tuesday night.

"We now believe everyone will be ready to issue the necessary licences" said one insider, according to BBC.

"The last remaining hurdle boils down to a number of final technical details that are being discussed with the club."

Earlier this month the deal had seemed close to collapse over concerns proceeds would not reach good causes as promised by Abramovich.

Abramovich denied that he had asked for his £1.5bn loan to Chelsea be repaid when the club was sold.

Several parties expressed an interest but Chelsea agreed to sell to the Boehly-led consortium earlier in May.

The consortium is led by Boehly but Clearlake Capital, a Californian private equity firm, would own a majority of the shares in Chelsea. Other investors include US billionaire Mark Walter, also a co-owner of the LA Dodgers, and Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss, BBC reported.

Chelsea have been allowed to continue operating under a special government licence which expires on 31 May.

The government has postponed the 9th National Games.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports said that the games will be held from October 14-20.

Earlier, the government had decided to hold the National Games from June 5-11.

Now, the games will be held in October which were postponed time and again due to Covid-19 and local level elections.

A Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday approved the proposal of the Ministry of Sports saying that there is not enough preparation time for the players.

The meeting has given a permission to conduct the games  at an estimated cost of Rs 600 million.

The National Sports Council has included 36 games in the 9th National Games.

Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by five wickets in their Indian Premier League match on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.

Sent into bat, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 97 in 16 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni top-scored with an unbeaten 36 off 33 balls.

For MI, Daniel Sams picked up three wickets for 16 runs, while there were two wickets apiece for Riley Meredith (2/27) and Kumar Kartikeya (2/22), according to The Indian Express.

In reply, MI completed the task with 31 balls to spare after struggling at 33 for four in the fifth over.