2026-02-28

Published

2 months ago

2026/02/28

Thilina Walpola

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Sports

Babar Azam 71* helps Peshawar Zalmi extend lead at top

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/16

Priyan

Babar Azam led from the front with an unbeaten fifty [Cricinfo]

Peshawar Zalmi extended their lead at the top of the table and reestablished their credentials as title favourites with a trouncing eight wicket win over Quetta Gladiators that takes them to the brink of playoff qualification. Sufiyan Muqeem and Iftikhar Ahmed’s spin threat was comfortably enough to overwhelm an unimposing Gladiators’ batting line-up, restricted to 154 with few significant batting contributions. Zalmi wasted little time showing up its insufficiency as Babar Azam on his way to topscoring with an unbeaten 71 off 51 – strung together partnerships with Mohammad Haris and Kusal Mendis in a stroll that barely saw Zalmi move out of third gear, and gave them a fifth consecutive win for the first time in their history.

Gladiators sent their bowlers on a hiding to nowhere by tasking them to defend a total so far below par. Haris and Babar set the tone with a brisk start in the powerplay, which put them so far ahead of the game they could afford Babar’s customary slowdown in the next few overs. This, however, felt more of a deliberate controlling of the tempo than any Gladiators’ success in shackling him. When Gladiators captain Saud Shakeel drew Haris into holing out, Babar picked up the pace once more to ease Mendis into his innings.

There wasn’t so much as a whiff of pressure that entered the ether of the National Stadium Karachi as far as Zalmi were concerned. The last few overs were merely a stage to wrap up formalities rather than any realistic attempt to inject jeopardy into the game, and though it only officially concluded in the 19th over, the stage for the win had been set long before.

It was the Zalmi bowlers who set that stage. After Babar elected to field first, his bowlers backed him up right from the first over. Iftikhar, who is enjoying a dream of a tournament with the ball, struck in his the game’s first over. The partnership between Shakeel and Rilee Rossouw that followed was perhaps the Gladiators’ best passage of play all game, but it was all too brief. They put on 35 in 23 balls, but as the bowlers’ wavered briefly, the fielders helped them out. A pinpoint throw from Farhan Yousaf at point sent Shakeel back on his way, and Zalmi wrested control of the powerplay back.

The momentum shifted decisively with the introduction of Muqeem. He trapped Rossouw on the crease and forced him into a drag-on, before frustrating Shamyl Hussain, who ended up mistiming one ineffectually to long-on. The innings was more stop than start for the best part of what followed as Gladiators remained well out of the vicinity of what would be a competitive score, with seam bowler Mohammad Basit chipping in with middle order wickets.

Once Hasan Nawaz fell for a scratchy 35-ball 37, there wasn’t nearly enough firepower for the death. Zalmi rounded out the innings with a majestic final over from Ali Raza that conceded just two runs off the bat. It would set Zalmi with one of their more straightforward tasks, one they completed with aplomb for their sixth win in seven.

Brief scores:
Peshawar Zalmi 156 for 2 in 18.3 overs (Mohammed Haris 35, Babar Azam 71*, Kusal Mendis 21, Aaron Hardie 18*; Alzarri Joseph 1-32, Saud Shakeel 1-23) beat Quetta Gladiators 154 all out in 20 overs (Saud Shakeel 16, Rilee Rossouw 26, Hasan Nawaz 37, Shamil Hussain 12, Khawaja Nafay 20, Tom Currann15; Iftikhar Ahmed 1-20, Sufiyan Muqeem 3-25, Mohammad Basit 3-36) by 8 wickets

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Trump threatens to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell if he doesn’t leave in May

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/16

Priyan

US President Donald Trump has threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he does not step aside at the end of his term in May.

The two have been embroiled in a bitter spat over Powell’s reluctance to cut the central bank’s interest rate, despite Trump’s repeated calls.

Powell’s term expires on 15 May, but he is planning to remain in post until his successor, Kevin Warsh, is confirmed by the Senate.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump told Fox Business, when asked about Powell’s plans to stay on in the job.

“I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial,” Trump said.

Thom Tillis, an influential Republican senator on the committee which oversees nominations for the Federal Reserve chair, has threatened to block Warsh’s confirmation. If Warsh is not confirmed before Powell’s term expires, he plans to stay on temporarily in the post.

“That’s what the law calls for. That’s what we’ve done on several occasions,” Powell has said.

Tillis has warned Trump he will not let Warsh’s appointment go ahead unless a criminal investigation into Powell, linked to the renovation of the Federal Reserve building, is dropped.

[BBC]

Latest News

Royal Challengers Bengaluru top the table after bowlers help thump Lucknow Super Giants

Published

6 hours ago

2026/04/16

Priyan

Virat Kohli picked up the Orange Cap after making a match-winning 49 [Cricinfo]

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bowled Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) out for 146 and chased it down with nearly five overs to spare as they moved to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.

This win was thanks to the defensive bowling skills of Josh Hazelwood and Krunal Pandya. They took three wickets between them. Others were more successful on the night but it was very much a case of pressure created at one end resulting in mistakes at the other. Rishabh Pant had a chastening night, taking a blow to his left elbow, retiring hurt in the fifth over, coming back in the 16th with LSG in dire straits and being dismissed for 1 off 6.

With Hazlewood back in the team, and bowling three of the first seven overs, RCB gained an early stranglehold over the game. On a pitch which was dry and holding up a bit, he made life extremely hard for the batters by never giving them a chance to free their arms. When Pant tried, he suffereed a blow on the left elbow and had to retire hurt. When Nicholas Pooran tried, he dragged the ball onto his stumps. RCB’s quicks conceded runs at just over seven an over in the first 10. When they focused on keeping the ball around the off stump, runs would only come at just over three an over during this same period. Hazlewood was running so hot he merited a slip and a short leg at one point.

There are now 12 spinners with 100 wickets in the IPL. It is a list dominated by wristspinners and mystery spinners. For Krunal to end up there shows just how well he works within his limitations though lately he has been pushing against them, bowling bouncers and, on Wednesday, a crouched, low-arm delivery that did for Mitchell Marsh. The Australian had made 40 of LSG’s 71 runs at that point and thought he had a short ball he could put away, but the change in Krunal’s action made sure it didn’t bounce as much as expected.

Marsh was bowled off an inside edge. Together, Hazlewood and Krunal bowled 23 dot balls. The pressure they put resulted in wickets for Rasikh Salam (4 for 24) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3 for 27). Pant came back to bat again with his left arm strapped up but was one of five wickets that fell in the death overs (17 to 20).

Playing for the first time in his IPL career as an Impact Sub, Virat Kohli hit six fours and a six in his first 14 balls, showing once again a willingness to manufacture shots and hitting in the air. LSG helped his cause as well by bowling too full. These were not the conditions to go searching for conventional help. RCB hit the deck. Even a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar didn’t bother pitching the ball too far up.

LSG didn’t get the memo. They were a distant second in this game tactically. Kohli was 32 off 14 as RCB put on 60 in the powerplay. Once the field spread, and LSG hit better lengths, runs became harder to come by. Kohli made 17 off his last 20 balls and fell for 49 off 34.

Rajat Patidar came in and played a very sixy innings. He has cleared the boundary 21 times this season, more than anybody else. His balls-per-six ratio is under five. RCB could have knocked these runs over and taken the game. But they kept putting pressure on the LSG bowlers. They felt no need to take a backwards step. The win came in the end, at the cost of maybe one or two more wickets, which seems a reasonably price to pay to stay true to your identity.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 149 for 5 in 15.1 overs (Virat Kohli 49, Devudutt Padikkal 10, Rajat Patidar 27, Jitesh Sharma 23, Tim David 14*, Romario Shepherd 14*; Prince Yadav 3-32, Avesh Khan 2-23) beat Lucknow Super Giants 146 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 40, Aiden Markram 12, Ayush Badoni 38, Mukul Choudhary 39; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-27, Josh Hazelwood 1-20, Rasikh Salam 4-24, Krunal Pandya 2-38) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]