An exhibition of clean hitting by Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal ensured Sai Sudarshan’s measured 100 off 58 balls ended in a losing cause as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar had no hesitation in putting GT in. Sudharsan laid a strong foundation on a pitch he described as “two-paced and sticky to start with”. But even when the surface became easier to bat on, GT could not get into overdrive. They scored only 35 in the last four overs and finished on 205 for 3.

In response, Kohli, who was dropped on zero, smashed 81 off 44 balls and Padikkal blasted 55 off just 27. They put on 115 in 9.5 overs for the second wicket, and despite a bit of wobble towards the end, RCB romped home with seven balls to spare.

The GT openers prefer to take as few risks as possible and it was no different on Friday. Sudharsan was circumspect at the start and was on 17 off 16 after three overs. But he found his timing after that and moved to 41 off 27 by the end of the fifth. Gill had faced just three balls till then. GT finished the powerplay on 57 for no loss.

Sudharsan went inventive after the powerplay, scooping Romario Shepherd for a six. When Krunal Pandya bowled a bouncer, he uppercut him over deep third. Later in the over, he slog-swept the spinner for another six, reaching 2000 runs in the IPL. Taking 47 innings, he was the fastest to get there, bettering Chris Gayle’s record by one.

He and Gill added 128 in 12.4 overs, with Gill contributing 32 off 24 balls. The GT captain was starved of strike throughout his stay and holed out to long-on off Suyash Sharma. Sudharsan brought up his hundred off 57 balls, the slowest of the six so far this season. There was no cutting loose after reaching the milestone either. He was out on the very next ball he faced.

GT were 170 for 2 after 16 overs but Suyash, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hazlewood gave away only 17 in the next three. At 187 for 3, Rasikh Salam ran in to bowl the final over but he stopped even before he could bowl a delivery. It looked like cramps and despite the physio working on him, he had to walk off the field. Krunal replaced him and was hit for a six by Jason Holder off the first ball. After another ball, Krunal too pulled out of his delivery stride holding his groin. But after a bit of medical attention, he completed the over, but ended up leaking 18 runs.

With Phil Salt injured, Jacob Bethell finally got a chance to play this season. Opening the innings after coming in as Impact Player, he had a close shave in the second over. He got an inside edge to a length ball from Kagiso Rabada but it missed the stumps and beat Buttler for four. In the next over, he shuffled across and hit Mohammed Siraj for a four on either side of the wicket. But when he tried the same trick later in the over, he hit it straight to the backward point. He made 14 off ten.

Kohli was dropped off the first ball he faced. It was a length delivery from Siraj that he flicked uppishly towards short midwicket but Washington Sundar grassed a regulation chance. Kohli made his intentions clear in the following over when he hit Rabada over mid-on for a four.

Padikkal was even more ruthless. He opened his account with a first-ball six, picking up a 153.6kph length ball from Rabada over square leg. The GT bowlers didn’t help themselves by bowling onto his pads, and he kept flicking them fine for boundaries.

Rashid Khan wasn’t spared either. He dropped one short to Kohli and the batter duly pulled it over deep midwicket for a six before cutting the following delivery for four. In the spinner’s second over, Padikkal hit him for two sixes, the second one taking him to his fifty off just 20 balls. It made Kohli’s 30-ball fifty look pedestrian.

Rashid bowled Padikkal with a googly from around the wicket, and Kohli played Holder on but not before hitting the allrounder for back-to-back sixes.

Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma kept the attack going. They hit a six each off Rashid but fell in quick succession. Suddenly, RCB were five down with 31 required from four overs. Krunal, though, bashed Manav Suthar for two fours and a six in the 18th over, bringing the equation down to seven needed from 12. In the penultimate over, he swatted Holder through midwicket for four before wrapping up the game with a gentle pull to fine leg.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206 for 5 in 18.5 overs (Jacob Bethell 14, Virat Kohli 81, Devdutt Padikkal 55, Jitesh Sharma 10, Tim David 10*, Krunal Pandya 23*; Mohammed Siraj 1-25, Jason Holder 1-35, Rashid Khan 2-49, Manav  Suther 1-19) beat Gujarat Titans 205 for 3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 25, Washington Sundar 19*,Jason Holder 23*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Josh Hazelwood 40, Suyash Sharma 1-36) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 24 April 2026, valid for 25 April 2026.

Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and
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The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
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Oil prices have jumped on heightened tensions between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz following Washington and Tehran’s tit-for-tat captures of commercial vessels.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, topped $106 per barrel early on Friday morning as Washington and Tehran stepped up their confrontation over the key maritime route for transporting the world’s energy.

Brent stood at $106.80 as of 01:00 GMT, up nearly 5 percent from its closing price on Wednesday, when it surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time in two weeks.

US stocks fell overnight, with the benchmark S&P 500 index dipping 0.41 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.89 percent.

Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, remains at a standstill as Iran continues to demand the right to decide which vessels may pass and the US blocks Iran’s maritime trade.

US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, shortly after the Pentagon announced that it had seized a tanker carrying sanctioned Iranian oil for the second time in less than a week.

Trump also appeared to expand the scope of the US naval blockade beyond Iranian ports, writing on Truth Social that no ship “can enter or leave” the strait without the approval of the US Navy.

“It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!” Trump said.

Trump’s threats came a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the capture of two foreign cargo ships in the waterway.

The IRGC said it had seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and Greek-owned Epaminondas after the vessels had endangered maritime security “by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems”.

The Greek Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Ministry has denied that the Epaminondas was captured and said the vessel remains under the control of its captain.

Only nine commercial vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, compared with seven on Tuesday and 15 on Monday, according to maritime intelligence platform Windward.

Before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, the waterway saw an average of 129 transits each day, according to United Nations Trade and Development.

[Aljazeera]