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]

Mumbai Indians (MI) had a hole in their bowling. They are still figuring out their combination, but injuries and illnesses have hurt them. They have done well in patches but have been inconsistent. This was head coach Mahela Jayawardene’s assessment of MI’s IPL 2026 campaign so far. With two wins in seven matches, MI are languishing in the bottom half of the points table, and now have a five-day break to regroup.

“If you analyse the seven games, yes, there was a hole in our bowling and we got some fresh faces in there,” Jayawardene said after MI’s 103-run hammering by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. “The win against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad looked good. Again, here, I thought in patches we bowled well. It is just execution-wise, consistency-wise, I think we are one of the teams that has given the highest number of big overs – 18-plus overs, if you look at the half-season.

“That number puts us in a very bad position for us to even claw back into a game when you give that 20-plus [over], it’s tough.”

MI have conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.52, the highest by any team this season. The 34 wickets they have picked up thus far are the third-lowest. Jasprit Bumrah, on whom they bank for regular wickets, has taken just the two in seven outings, even if he has been among MI’s most miserly bowlers.

The inconsistency is reflected in not just their performances but also in the use of personnel, even after leaving room for match-ups. When the season began, Trent Boult was their preferred new-ball bowler, but his lack of wickets in the powerplay coupled with a high economy meant MI had to look elsewhere. They had to use more of Bumrah in the powerplay – often two overs this season – instead of saving him for the back end. In the last two outings, Bumrah has bowled the opening over.

“Yes, we are trying a few things,” Jayawardene said. “Booms [Bumrah] we thought we needed some experience up front to take the new ball, because where we were lacking was we were not setting a tone with the first over itself. We were going for ten, 12, 13 runs. So, let’s grab that back. So, we’ve tried a few things.”

Against CSK, it was a case of MI falling short in the powerplay, both with ball and bat: 73 for 2 versus 29 for 3. MI scored their lowest powerplay total against CSK in the IPL on a day when their opponents had scored their second-highest total in that phase against them. MI couldn’t counter Akeal Hosein with the new ball in their chase of 208.

“Once you lose a match like that, it’s difficult to even analyse it,” Jayawardene said. “But probably where we lost both the powerplays with the ball and with the bat, we just couldn’t get to the game. We had a great game in Ahmedabad, I thought we found some rhythm, but again, we lost that rhythm.

“I don’t think the wicket played badly, probably it stayed the same. Once you are 7 [11] for 3, you are always going to get pulled back. They had the upper hand from that point. But overall, we have to be better. We got blown away, but we need to move on and see the good things we have done and be consistent in those areas.”

The move to allow Mitchell Santner a concussion substitute after he was seen walking off the field holding his shoulder raised a few eyebrows. He ran in from sweeper cover to pull off a diving catch to dismiss Kartik Sharma, before walking off grimacing. MI had subbed out AM Ghazanfar to bring in opener Danish Malewar as the impact player. However, with MI’s chase going nowhere, Shardul Thakur walked in to bat at No. 8 as a concussion substitute.

Jayawardene said that Santner went for a scan after he complained of dizziness, and it was then that MI approached the match referee for a concussion substitute.

“I think he hit his head first, neck, obviously the shoulder as well,” he said. “He went for a scan because once he got back, he felt dizzy. So, he was lying down. Yes, the ice was there for the shoulder. But he felt that he wasn’t stable. So, we took him for a scan in that situation. We requested for a concussion substitute. Obviously, it is at the match referee and the umpire’s discretion.

“They allowed Shardul. Mitch will be disappointed that his batting powers are matched to Shardul Thakur. But it is what it is. But hopefully, it’s not too bad.”Amid the gloom, Jayawardene had praise for Ghazanfar, who returned 2 for 25 despite CSK scoring at over ten runs per over. Ghazanfar came on in the powerplay and had Ruturaj Gaikwad caught at long-off before bowling Shivam Dube in the ninth over.

“I thought Allah bowled well, I think he’s young, he’s proven to be quite mature for his age.” Jayawardene said. “How he thinks, how he bowls, he’s bowling in the powerplay, and after that [as well]. The more games he’s playing, he will do well. Even their two spinners bowled well today as well. It was a great spell from Akeal. We just need to keep backing Allah to do what he does.”

MI next play Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium on April 29.

[Cricinfo]

Iran says that the country’s institutions are fully prepared for its national football team’s participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In a statement made to state broadcaster IRIB, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Youth and Sports ensured all necessary arrangements for the team’s effective participation in the tournament.

She also said the preparations were made under the directive of the sport minister, with a focus on providing the required facilities for a successful performance.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on April 16 that Iran is expected to participate in the upcoming World Cup, taking place from June 11 to July 19, noting that the team has qualified and expressed its willingness to compete despite the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.

“But Iran has to come, they represent their people, they have qualified, the players want to play,” he said of the Iranian team’s upcoming matches scheduled in the United States in June.

“Sports should be outside of politics,” Infantino said.

[Aljazeera]