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IPL 2025: Archer, Sandeep and batters’ fire to hand Punjab Kings first loss

Published

1 year ago

2025/04/6

Priyan

Jofra Archer bowled a fiery opening spell [Cricinfo]

Yashaswi Jaiswal scoring runs. Jofra Archer continuing the rhythm he seemed to rediscover against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Maheesh Theekshana and Wanidu Hasaranga coming into their own.

All these things may have been on Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) wishlist coming into Saturday night’s match against Punjab Kings (PBKS). All three wishes were fulfilled, as RR consigned PBKS, playing their first home game of IPL 2025, to their first defeat of the season.

Jaiswal and Riyan Parag provided the sparks at the start and finish for RR to become the first team to post a 200-plus IPL total in Mullanpur. With this only being the sixth IPL game at the venue, it wasn’t yet clear if 205 was a winning total, but only until Archer made his entrance.

Six legal balls into their chase, PBKS were two down, with Archer finding movement at upwards of 145kph to take out Priyansh and Shreyas Iyer. RR struck two more blows in the first seven overs, and PBKS were always playing catch-up thereafter, even when Nehal Wadhera and Glenn Maxwell added 88 for the fifth wicket.

Theekshana and Hasaranga did their bit to stifle the partnership’s scoring rate, and then struck one after the other to remove both set batters. And that was that for PBKS; they only hit one boundary in the last 5.4 overs as RR wrapped up victory by 50 runs.

Jaiswal got off to a scratchy start, slashing and missing against the left-left new-ball pair of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, who both found early swing, miscuing a pull just beyond the reach of a backtracking mid-on, and scoring just 12 off his first 14 balls.

But perhaps all he needed, after starting his season with scores of 1, 29 and 4, was a bit of time in the middle and a bit of luck. The fourth over brought him back-to-back sixes off Jansen – a ramp over the keeper and a slog over midwicket – and he seemed to be up and running.

Sanju Samson, captaining RR for the first time this season after a finger injury had restricted him to a batting-only Impact Player role thus far, began more fluently but had less of the strike early on. When RR ended their first wicketless powerplay of the season on 53 for 0, he was on 20 off 14 and Jaiswal on 32 off 22.

From 40 for 0 after four overs, RR only scored 45 in their next six. The legspin of RR old boy Yuzvendra Chahal and the slower cutters of Lockie Ferguson and Marcus Stoinis had a lot to do with this, on a pitch that was just a touch grippy and two-paced.

Samson fell in the 11th over, trying to force the pace against Ferguson, and Jaiswal seemed to be getting stuck. But from 46 off 39, he found that elusive higher gear, crunching Chahal down the ground to bring up his fifty before slog-sweeping his next ball for six. He hit Stoinis for a six and a four in the next over – the 13th – before becoming Ferguson’s second victim, swinging too early at a well-disguised, stump-bound knuckleball.

Parag, batting at No. 3, began much like Jaiswal had done, struggling initially to get to grips with the surface. At one stage, after four successive dots against Arshdeep’s cutter, angling across the right-hander and turning further away, Parag was on 12 off 14 in the 16th over.

Then he paused for breath, and took strike transformed, a batter able to hold his shape for a split-second longer. He hit the next two balls from Arshdeep for fours, and that began a hitting spree that brought him 31 off his last 11 balls at the crease. With Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel contributing cameos as well, RR rushed past 200 in the final over. Stoinis, whose first two only went for 12, leaked 36 in his last two, which again told the tale of RR’s batters coming to grips with the conditions and finding a way to master them.

The first ball Archer bowled could not have been bettered. Perfect length, rooting Impact Sub Priyanash Arya to the crease. Movement from leg to off, at 144.6kph. The left-handed Arya defended down the wrong line and the ball slid past his outside edge to flick the top of off.

None of this seemed to make any impact on Shreyas Iyer, though. The PBKS captain began in a manner befitting someone whose head coach had likened his previous innings to a purring Rolls Royce, stroking Archer for two fours through the covers in his first four legal balls at the crease. Then he got greedy, exposing all his stumps to try and make room for another off-side hit, and Archer burst a 148.6kph ball through him.

Wickets kept falling even when Archer didn’t have the ball. Stoinis popped a return catch to Sandeep Sharma off a fairly innocuous seam-up delivery in the fourth over, and Prabhsimran Singh slog-swept Kumar Kartikeya to deep midwicket in the seventh. The required rate kept mounting too; PBKS needed 163 from 82 balls when Maxwell joined Wadhera.

PBKS’ hopes began to stir when both batters hit sixes off Kartikeya in a 19-run 10th over, but Theekshana and Hasaranga immediately got to work, conceding just five and 12 – the latter an impressive recovery after Wadhera slog-swept the first ball of the over for six – in the 11th and 12th overs.

But as Maxwell ramped and reverse-swatted Yudhvir Singh for a pair of fours in the 13th, Wadhera launched Hasaranga for a straight six to bring up a 33-ball fifty in the 14th, and then began the 15th with back-to-back fours off Theekshana, PBKS began to dream once again.

Then the two Sri Lankan spinners brought their defensive skills to the fore again, asking the batters to try and fetch balls dangled wide of their hitting arcs. Maxwell sliced a catch to long-off at the end of the 15th over, and Wadhera slog-swept to deep midwicket at the start of the 16th. PBKS were six down and needed 75 off 29. It was never going to happen as they continued to lose wickets.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 205 for 4 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 67, Riyan Parag 43*, Sanju Samson 38, Nitish Rana 12, Shimron Hetmyer 20, Dhruv Jurel 13*;Lockie Ferguson 2-37, Arshdeep Singh 1-35, Marco Jansen 1-45) beat Punjab Kings 155 for 9 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 17, Shreyas Iyer 10, Nehal Wadhera 62, Glenn Maxwell 30, Shashnak Singh 10*; Jofra Archer 3-25, Sandeep Sharma 2-21, Maheesh Theekshana 2-26, Kumar Kartikeya 1-21, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-36) by 50 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Spain seizes record amount of cocaine in Atlantic Ocean, authorities say

Published

39 mins ago

2026/05/5

Priyan

The cocaine was found by Spain's Civil Guard (file image BBC)

Spanish police have seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”.

The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya.

The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the investigation for legal reasons.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure was “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally”.

The Civil Guard shared a photograph on X showing the drugs stuffed into the hold of the intercepted vessel.

“Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard,” it wrote.

“Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter.”

While the boat was headed to Libya, AFP reported that the pattern of previous operations suggests that it was due to offload the drugs onto smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.

In January, Spanish authorities made its biggest seizure of cocaine at sea from a ship that was carrying almost 10 tonnes.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Three dead in suspected virus outbreak on Atlantic cruise ship

Published

45 mins ago

2026/05/5

Priyan

MV Hondius during a trip from Argentina to Antarctica via South Georgia in November 2021 [BBC]

Three people have died and a UK national is seriously ill in hospital after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

The operator of the MV Hondius ship, tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died but the cause has not yet been established.

However, the Dutch company said hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Hantavirus is usually passed to humans from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness. Rarely, it can be transmitted between people.

The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard.

Oceanwide Expeditions said there were also two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”.

They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. It said it had not been established that hantavirus had been confirmed in the pair. And it added that no other persons with symptoms had been identified.

Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.

Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of health, said of the British patient that he was critical and had been admitted to a private facility.

“He’s being taken care of. As you know, hantavirus, like all viruses, don’t have any specific treatment, so they are giving symptomatic treatment and support as much as they could.”

He said health workers and anyone who had contact with the patient would now be traced and tested.

Outlining a timeline, the company said a passenger had become unwell while onboard and died on 11 April.

His cause of death could not be determined, and his body was taken off the ship after it docked at St Helena on 24 April.

The passenger’s wife also disembarked on St Helena and the firm said it was told she had become unwell during the return journey and later died.

“At this time, it has not been confirmed that these two deaths are connected to the current medical situation on board,” it added.

On 27 April, the firm said, another passenger – the British national – became seriously ill and was “medically evacuated” to South Africa.

The 69-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition in Johannesburg after it was confirmed a variant of hantavirus had been identified.

The firm added that on Saturday, a third passenger onboard MV Hondius died.

The cause of death has not been established, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It confirmed the passenger was German.

Oceanwide Expeditions said the cause of the deaths were being investigated.

“The disembarkation of passengers, medical evacuation and medical screening require permission from, and co-ordination with, the local health authorities,” it said. “Local health authorities have visited the vessel and assessed the situation.

“The medical transfer of the two ill persons on board has not yet taken place.”

It added that the option of sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife was being considered “to be the gateway for disembarkation, where further medical screening and handling could take place”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “acting with urgency” to support the MV Hondius, and thanked South African authorities for taking care of the British patient.

WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, said: “I am in close contact with our teams to ensure a co-ordinated, science-based response.

“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents.

“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”

According to the South African government, MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago, before it completed its journey to Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.

It is described as a 107.6m (353ft) polar cruise ship, with space for 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.

One passenger onboard the MV Hondius, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “The latest word is that a plane is on its way and once it gets here three people will be evacuated from the ship and flown straight to Europe.

“Then the rest of us will almost certainly sail to the Canary Islands.

“The Cape Verde authorities clearly want nothing to do with us. This is what we’re hearing from the captain and staff. From what I can see the mood (on the ship) is pretty good.

“Only one person has been tested (the one now in South Africa) and he tested positive for hantavirus. So, we don’t actually know yet if the other cases are that or something unrelated.

“If they are all hantavirus then the transmission is a bit mysterious. We’ve been informed that there are no rodents on board, and person-to-person transmission is difficult/rare.

“Hopefully the other patients on board will be tested soon and then we’ll know better what’s going on.”

President of the Cape Verdean Public Health Institute, Maria Da Luz, said passengers would not be disembarking in Cape Verde in order to protect the local population, Cape Verde’s media outlet A Nacao reports.

Oceanwide Expeditions said strict precautionary measures were in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.

“All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” it said.

“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close contact with those directly involved and their families, and is providing support where possible.”

Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC the time between people being exposed to hantavirus and showing symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.

“With this incubation period are we going to see more people coming down with the disease in the next days and weeks?”

The UK Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring reports, and ready to support British nationals.

Hantavirus was in the headlines last year after the wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus in March 2025.

[BBC]

Latest News

US strikes seven Iranian boats, Trump says, as tensions spike in Strait of Hormuz

Published

59 mins ago

2026/05/5

Priyan

An MH-60 Seahawk helicopter

President Donald Trump says the US struck seven Iranian “fast boats” after vowing to help stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) says it has used helicopters to destroy Iranian small boats. “Earlier today, Sea Hawk and U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters were used to eliminate Iranian small boats threatening commercial shipping”, Centcom writes in a social media update.

Iran’s military said it fired warning shots at American warships. The US Central Command denies a claim in Iranian state media that Iranian missiles hit a US destroyer.

Meanwhile, the US says Navy destroyers and US-flagged merchant ships have sailed through the waterway, with Iran claiming this is “entirely false”.

Shipping company Maersk has told the BBC that one of its US-flagged commercial vessels has successfully exited the Strait of Hormuz under US military protection.

In a statement, Maersk says the transit was “completed without incident, and all crew members are safe and unharmed”.

The ‘Alliance Fairfax’, it says, had been unable to leave the Gulf since February 2026, when conflict between Iran and the US began. Maersk says it was contacted by the US military and offered support. After the “development of a comprehensive security plan”, the vessel was cleared to leave, according to the statement.

The shipping company says the ship then exited the Gulf “accompanied by US military assets” and thanks them for their “professionalism and effective coordination” in making the operation possible.

Elsewhere, the UAE says it is defending itself against “missile and drone attacks originating from Iran” – Tehran has yet to comment

[BBC]