Chennai juggernaut

Chennai: A superb century from opening batsman Murali Vijay in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Delhi Daredevils last night kept Chennai Super Kings on course for a hat-trick of IPL titles.

Creaming the ball to all corners of the ground, Vijay smashed a sumptuous 113 from 58 balls as Chennai beat IPL table-toppers Delhi by 86 runs to storm into tomorrow's final against Kolkata Knight Riders.

His terrific ton helped Super Kings chalk up an imposing total of 222 for 5 in their first innings, with Delhi unable to respond in kind and eventually finishing 136 all out after 16.5 overs.

Glimmer of hope

Mahela Jayawardena's fine 55 gave Daredevils a glimmer of hope in their battle to make 223 to reach the final, but three wickets from Ravichandran Ashwin left them reeling.

Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag had won the toss and opted to bowl against Super Kings. Delhi left out Morne Morkel and the injured Irfan Pathan and replaced them with Andre Russell and off-spinner Sunny Gupta. Pathan had injured his right hand during Qualifier I against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Chennai fielded an unchanged side.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court yesterday quashed US national Zohal Hamid's police complaint against IPL Australian player Luke Pomersbach that he had molested her.

Justice M.L. Mehta quashed the first information report (FIR) and dropped criminal proceedings in the case after Hamid, Pomersbach and Hamid's fiance Sahil Peerzada informed the court that they have settled the case out of court.

The court recorded Hamid's statement that she did not want to pursue the case any longer and wanted to go back home yesterday night.

"Since they resolved the dispute and wanted to go back to their homes, I quashed the FIR. They can go to their homes now," the court ordered.

Justice Mehta also rejected the argument of the state that the FIR should not be quashed keeping in view the gravity and seriousness of the offence.

Pomersbach was arrested on May 18 after Hamid alleged that she was molested in a five-star hotel here. She also alleged that Pomersbach, a Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player, had assaulted her fiance, Peerzada.

Opposing the quashing of the FIR, the advocate appearing for the state said that "any crime against women here should not be allowed to be compromised" and if the plea is allowed, it will be "misuse of our system".