Sports
Gill’s silken 86 keeps Kolkata Knight Riders winless after six games
A display straight out of Gujarat Titans‘ (GT) time-tested playbook – high-quality fast bowling to restrict the opposition, and a chase of a below-par target led by the silken Shubman Gill – ensured Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) remained winless six games into their IPL 2026 campaign.
KKR began the contest with a questionable selection – they left out Finn Allen, their highest-ceiling top-order option – and a questionable toss decision – they opted to bat when the home captain, Gill, expected dew to set in later in the evening. And for most of the 39.4 overs of the actual match, they were distinctly second-best.
There was only one brief period of KKR dominance, when they scored 52 in three overs (12th to 14th) as Cameron Green went on a boundary-hitting spree. Green’s 55-ball 79, however, was a strange and ultimately frustrating innings: he struggled for fluency early on, scoring 27 off his first 29 balls, and finished with a whimper, scoring just four off his last 11, a period in which KKR collapsed around him while starving him of strike: they went from 147 for 4 in the 15th over to 180 all out.
The conditions weren’t the flattest – Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada swung the new ball right through the powerplay, and all of GT’s quicks found a bit of seam movement – but this was, nonetheless, a below-par total.
This set up a chase made for GT’s top order. Gill picked off the boundaries surgically in the powerplay – he scored 34 off 15 in that phase – and slowed down when the field spread. He slowed down dramatically, in fact – he only scored 52 off 35 outside the powerplay – but he could afford to because GT had knocked 71 runs off their target in the first six overs, with B Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler contributing quick cameos.
The rest of the chase showed the question marks that still hang over this GT line-up – they continued to huff and puff even when the required rate was in the region of a-run-a-ball, and eventually got home with just two balls remaining – and KKR would have ended the match wishing they had scored 20 runs more.
Every ball of Siraj’s first over was an outswinger, and while Tim Seifert – playing his first IPL game since 2022 – put away one that offered a little too much width, the others all asked questions, and one of them took out Ajinkya Rahane, the KKR captain, skewing one high in the air with the swing causing his bat to twist in his hands.
The second over was similar, with Seifert pulling Rabada for a six before the bowler struck back to remove the other batter. This time, the ball swung from a hard length, with extra bounce, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi nicked off in Test-match manner.
GT stuck with their new-ball pair through the entire powerplay, and both bowlers kept asking questions with their accuracy and movement. There was one more wicket – Seifert slapping an innocuous ball from Rabada straight to point – and not many more runs. KKR’s 37 for 1 was the fifth-lowest six-over score of IPL 2026, and their second entry in the bottom five.
Green struggled to middle the ball early on, and went at less than a-run-a-ball – and at a control percentage in the mid-50s – for nearly 30 balls. Then he flicked on a switch, putting his long levers to devastating use, particularly against Rashid Khan, whom he put under pressure with decisive use of the feet. Ashok Sharma, who had dismissed Rovman Powell by changing up from mid-140s hard length to a back-of-the-hand slower one at 106kph, also travelled, and KKR found momentum out of nowhere.
At 147 for 4 in the 15th over, KKR were well on course for 200.
Then came the strangest of collapses. Green was stuck at one end, facing just two balls while KKR lost 5 for 26 at the other. When Green finally got on strike in the 19th over – via Kartik Tyagi getting run-out in the attempt to steal a bye – Prasidh Krishna tied him down expertly, nailing his yorkers even when Green presented a moving target.
And Green, having lost his rhythm, struggled spectacularly in the 20th over, against Rashid, whom he had till then dominated. He scored just one run off the bat off the five balls he faced in the over – a questionable single with No. 11 at the other end – and his most positive scorecard contribution came when he charged, missed, and collected four byes with the unsighted Buttler missing the stumping. Green nicked off to a wide legbreak off the last ball of KKR’s innings, bringing an odd and ultimately unconvincing knock to a close.
Gill stroked three buttery fours in the first two overs, and launched Anukul Roy’s left-arm spin for an effortless inside-out six in the third. Then he took a single and let Sai Sudharsan take on his favourable match-up, which he did with two leg-side sixes to close out a 20-run over.
GT were 40 for no loss in three overs, and Gill kept the momentum going with a sumptuous straight six off Vaibhav Arora in the fifth over. GT didn’t cede any control even when Sunil Narine took out Sai Sudharsan in the sixth over, with Buttler hitting him for two fours – one fortuitous, off the inside edge – and a six off the first five balls he faced. At 71 for 1 with 14 overs to go, there was only going to be one winner.
Gill’s middle-overs slowdown made perfect sense from a situation point of view. KKR needed quick wickets to win this, and they weren’t going to get them from one end as long as Gill was in the middle. But boundaries dried up at the other end too, particularly when Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Buttler in the tenth over.
Washington Sundar scored a run-a-ball 13, and Glenn Phillips struggled to time the ball, and when Gill sliced Arora to a diving Green at deep point in the 17th over, the contest began to look ever so slightly interesting.
The boundaries came in a drip, and Phillips and Rahul Tewatia entered the final over with five runs needed. All of KKR’s main bowlers had bowled out, and Roy’s left-arm fingerspin wasn’t going to be risked with the left-handed Tewatia at the crease. Green, struggling with cramps, hadn’t bowled all evening.
So the task of bowling the last over fell to the military-medium Ramandeep Singh, and he managed to get a bouncer to climb high enough to have Phillips caught on the boundary off his first legal ball, leaving GT with four to get off five balls. GT ultimately got there, but who knows what a more challenging target could have done to them.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 181 for 5 in 19.4 overs (Sai Sudarshan 22, Shubman Gill 86, Jos Buttler 25, Washington Sundar 13, Glenn Phillip 19; Vaibhav Arora 1-35, Sunil Narine 1-28, Varun Chakravarthy 2-34, Ramandeep Singh 1-05) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 180 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 19, Cameron Green 79, Rovman Powell 27, Ramandeep Singh 17; Kaiso Rabada 3-29, Mohammed Siraj 2-23, Prasidh Krishna 1-32, Ashok Sharma 2-45, Rashid Khan 1-44) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup semi-final on Friday after they secured a thumping win over Hong Kong in the final Group A contest. They finished second in their group with a 72-run win set up by a record-breaking spell of 6 for 7 from Nashra Sandhu and a resolute 35-ball 47 from Shawaal Zulfiqar.
Pakistan scored 143 for 8 after electing to bat first for the third time in as many matches, with Ayessha Zafar and captain Fatima Sana making valuable contributions of 26 off 19 and run-a-ball 24, respectively, before an excellent display of bowling saw Hong Kong fold for 71 in 19 overs.
Zulfiqar lives up to expectations
Zulfiqar made a thumping comeback to the T20I side last month in Sri Lanka and it made Pakistan persist with her at the top of the order despite the return of experienced Gull Feroza, who slid down to one-down. She could not build on a start against India with the wickets tumbling from the other end and the pressure mounting. But the right-hander fought through on Monday, despite the dismissals of experienced batters around her in Muneeba Ali (6 off 7) and Feroza (3 off 4).
Despite batting on a challenging surface that played slow and gripped, Zulfiqar timed the ball well as she struck six boundaries. She hit a few sparkling cover drives and stitched a sparkling partnership of 47 off 34 with Zafar before the latter fell in the 10th over. No Pakistan batter, barring Zafar and Fatima, was able to emulate the 21-year-old in an innings which saw only four batters post in the double digits.
Zulfqar was eventually outsmarted b Joyleen Kaur as she smashed a flighted ball outside off right back to the bowler to be caught and bowled in the 12th over. Pakistan seemed well in control until she was at the crease, but could add only 51 runs in 8.4 overs after her dismissal.
Joyleen brings joy to Hong Kong
Pakistan’s bowlers too good for Hong Kong
Nashra Sandhu makes history
Pakistan Women 143 for 8 in 20 overs (Shawaal Zulfiqar 47, Ayesha Zafar 26; Fatima Sana 14; Iqra Sathar 2-27, Kary Chan 2-33, Joyleen Kaur 4-19) beat Hong Kong Women 71/10 in 19 overs (Yasmin Daswai 13, Kary Chan 30, Joyleen Kaur 10; Fatima Sana 1-07, Sadia Iqbal 1-08, Um e Sabi1 1-21 Nashra Sandhu 6-07, ) by 72 runs
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Udaygiri arrived at the Port of Colombo on an official visit today, 8 September 2026, where it was received by the Sri Lanka Navy in accordance with time-
honoured naval traditions.
INS Udaygiri is a 149.02m long Frigate, Commanded by Captain Vikas Sood. Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer of the visiting ship is scheduled to call on Commander Western Naval
Area, Rear Admiral Harsha De Silva at the Western Naval Command Headquarters.
Captain Sood served as the Defence Adviser at the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka from July 2020 to October 2023.
During their stay in the island, the crew of INS Udaygiri will participate in several goodwill events organized by the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance camaraderie between the two forces.
The visiting personnel are also scheduled to visit prominent tourist and cultural locations across the island.
Additionally, Sri Lanka Navy personnel are expected to visit the ship for capability observation and knowledge sharing, and will conduct onboard training during its stay.
Sri Lanka’s women continue to provide compelling evidence that they could be genuine contenders for the next World Cup, while their male counterparts have, in recent years, largely been making up the numbers at global events.
The defending Asia Cup champions, who stunned formidable India in Dambulla two years ago to lift the title, marched into this year’s semi-finals with an unbeaten record.
Sri Lanka topped their group with three wins from three games and importantly, will avoid India in the semi-finals. Their opponents in Friday’s knockout clash will be either Pakistan or Thailand.
For years, Sri Lanka have leaned heavily on their talismanic captain Chamari Athapaththu, one of the greats of the women’s game. More recently, however, others have begun putting their hands up when the skipper has fallen cheaply. That growing depth has also given Chamari greater freedom to play her natural, attacking game.
Last week, Nilakshika de Silva produced a rescue act against Indonesia. On Sunday, after the captain fell to only her second ball, it was the turn of vice-captain Harshitha Samarawickrama to take charge and steer Sri Lanka home through choppy waters.
Chasing 115 to win their final group game against Bangladesh at Dubai Sports City, Sri Lanka were quickly in trouble as seamer Marufa Akter sent both openers packing cheaply. With wickets continuing to tumble at the other end, Harshitha kept her head while others were losing theirs.
At 44 for five, with half the side back in the pavilion, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel. Harshitha and Nilakshika then began the repair job, adding 38 for the sixth wicket to drag the innings back from the brink.
Marufa has been an outstanding find for Bangladesh and they rely heavily on her for breakthroughs. With one over remaining in her quota, she was summoned back to break the partnership and did precisely that, removing a well set Nilakshika as she attempted to improvise.
There was, however, no stopping Harshitha.
She found a reliable ally in wicketkeeper Kaushini Nuthyangana and the pair calmly took Sri Lanka across the line with an unbroken 33 run stand for the seventh wicket. Harshitha finished unbeaten on 38 off 47 balls, striking four fours and two sixes.
Sri Lanka got home with four balls to spare, maintaining their perfect record in the competition. Yet beneath the celebrations there will be a nagging concern: the batting has collapsed too often, leaving one or two players with far too much heavy lifting to do. That is something they will need to address before the stakes rise further.
Sri Lanka will play the second semi-final on Friday, with the final scheduled for Sunday.
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