Till the 19th over of the chase, the highest Rajasthan Royals let the asking rate rise to in a 202 chase was 10.88, which was at the end of the first over. And yet, Sunrisers Hyderabad won by one run.Pat Cummins bowled a superb 19th over followed by Bhuveneshwar Kumar successfully defending 12 in the final over despite the over-rate penalty giving them one fewer boundary rider.
Even until the last ball, RR remained the favourites, needing two to win, but Roveman Powell missed a calf-high full toss to be out lbw. It was Bhuvneshwar who got their defence to a great start, removing Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson in the first over, but Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag made the chase look easy with their fifties. When Jaiswal fell, they needed 67 off 39; when Parag left, they needed 43 off 25. Shimron Hetmyer and Powell looked like cruising it, and then two hits went straight to the fielders, and Cummins swooped in.
This was SRH’s fifth score of 200 or more this IPL, but they took the scenic route to get there after choosing to bat. By all accounts, it was a decision informed by their ordinary chasing record and not the conditions. They found themselves having to start off on a sluggish track, which got better as the evening wore off. In fact they themselves scored 153 in their last 12 overs. For the 18 overs of the RR chase, it seemed those first eight overs had cost SRH the game, who now sit among the top four on the points table.
Two left-hand batters as openers was the ideal match-up for RR. Trent Boult is anyway a new-ball ace, but now they could bowl R Ashwin too. Boult was denied a wicket first ball as Parag dropped Travis Head at backward point, but the two combined to bowl four overs for just 25 runs. After CSK had shut the SRH openers down with a sweeper on the off side in the powerplay, Boult went the other way, placing two men deep on the leg side and denying them any room. Ashwin was particularly unlucky he didn’t have a wicket as he kept beating the bat.
Avesh Khan and Sandeep Sharma reaped the harvest as they got Abhishek Sharma and Anmolpreet Singh with the first ball each of them bowled, resulting in the slowest powerplay for SRH this year: 37 runs.
After the first time-out, SRH seemed to have decided the pitch had improved. The intent changed visibly. Yuzvendra Chahal was at the receiving end of it as Head pulled and drove him for sixes. He went from 27 off 27 to get to his fifty in 37 balls. Nitish Kumar Reddy followed suit, converting his 5 off 10 into a 30-ball fifty. Even he was ruthless against Chahal, resulting in the second-worst analysis for a spinner in the IPL and also Chahal’s second-worst figures in all T20 cricket: 4-0-62-0.
Head again hit a bit of a rut after reaching his fifty, which ended with him playing on while trying to ramp a wide yorker. Not before he was reprieved again, this time by the third umpire when his bat was clearly in the air when the wicket was broken.
However, the real damage to RR came from Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen. Reddy ruined Ashwin’s neat figures by taking two sixes off his final over. Then Klaasen got stuck into Chahal in the 17th over. The RR bowlers were on point with their plans and execution, and it took improvisation and exceptional hitting from Klaasen to take SRH past 200.
Bhuvneshwar got the new ball moving, drawing the outside edge from Buttler first ball and going past Samson’s inside edge in the same over. These were his 45th and 46th wickets in the first over in T20 cricket, now only one behind Shaheen Shah Afridi’s 47 and level on joint-top at the IPL with 27.
Bhuvneshwar found swing in the second over too, but it met the broad swinging bat of Parag, who hit him for two fours and a six. This was nonchalant, disdainful hitting. Jaiswal was more respectful but just as powerful. His shot at the start of the fourth over went straight into Cummins’ midriff at mid-off, but the SRH captain dropped it. Then Cummins brought himself on to be hit for two fours and monstrous six over long leg. In the next over, Abhishek Sharma dropped Parag at extra cover. It speaks to the consistency in their hitting that the highest the asking rate hovered around 10.
Like Head, Jaiswal played on a low full toss as he tried to ramp it. Parag pulled the momentum back by hitting a six two balls later. Small things happened in the 16th over that look huge in hindsight. Parag hit a full toss from Cummins straight to short fine leg. Then he got too close to a half-volley, and holed out to long-on. SRH had a wicket and a rare over without a boundary.
Powell, though, settled RR’s nerves with 15 off the 17th, bowled by Marco Jansen. Hetmyer started the 18th with a huge six. Two dot balls later, he mis-hit a full toss and the game was refusing to die. Dhruv Jurel nailed a leg-side half-volley from Cummins straight down the throat of deep square leg following which Cummins bowled three straight dots at Powell, who hit the last ball for six to tilt the balance again.
After Ashwin handed over the strike to Powell, he used the fielding penalty to take a boundary through the vacant fine-leg region. Poor throws from the outfield allowed Powell take three couples. One more, and it would be over. Perhaps Powell was expecting something close to a yorker because Bhuvneshwar had been nailing them. The full toss took him by surprise, handing RR their first defeat this IPL while chasing.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/3 in 20 overs (Nitish Reddy 76*, Travis Head 58, Heinrich Klassen 42*; Avesh Khan 2-39, Sandeep Sharma 1-31) beat Rajasthan Royals 200/7 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 77, Yashasvi Jaiswal 67, Rovman Powell 27; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-41, Pat Cummins 2-34, Thangarasu Natarajan 2-35, ) by 1 run
Rescue operations are ongoing to locate missing residents [BBC]
At least25 people have died in the south-eastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais after heavy rains on Monday evening caused floods and several landslides.
Most deaths were reported in the city of Juiz de Fora, where officials say 18people were killed, while anothersevendeaths were reported in Ubá.
Rescue operations are ongoing, with workers and residents searching for dozens of people reported missing after several homes and buildings collapsed overnight.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims and those who lost their homes. He also said that the government had declared a “state of calamity” in Juiz de Fora.
In a post on X, Lula said he had mobilised the wider government to support those in the region and said his focus was on providing humanitarian assistance and supporting reconstruction efforts.
He added that the government would act with the “speed and force this moment requires”.
Around 440 people have been left homeless or displaced in Juiz de Fora alone, with the local government providing temporary shelter and asking for donations of water, food, clothing and hygiene supplies.
Mayor Margarida Salomão said the tragedy was the “saddest” moment in her five years in local government and declared three days of official mourning in memory of all the people in Juiz de Fora who lost their lives.
She said children were among those who died in Juiz de Fora, but the city has so far not released any further official information on the victims’ identities.
Valtencir Coutinho de Miranda made a plea on live television as he searched for his six-year-old daughter who is among those missing.
Holding a shovel in his hand among the mud and debris left by a landslide, he told TV Globo: “We are here to find her, with God giving us strength and comforting our hearts, so that we may find her alive.”
Rescue and clean up efforts are under way in areas hit by landslides [BBC]
A special ceremony honoring Victor Rathnayake was organized by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation under the title “Subhawita Githaye Situvarayano…Abhinandabhishekaya of Dr. Victor Rathnayake”. The event was held on February 24 under the patronage of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya at the Kumaratunga Munidasa Auditorium of the Broadcasting Corporation.
The objective of the program was to honour the invaluable service rendered by Dr. Victor Rathnayake over more than six decades to Sri Lanka’s music sector and to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. As a mark of appreciation, a portrait of Dr. Victor Rathnayake was also unveiled within the premises of the Broadcasting Corporation.
Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:
“I am an admirer of Dr. Victor Rathnayake. Therefore this very moment is special to me. I never imagined that I would one day have the opportunity to pay tribute to you so closely. This is a deeply joyful, and historic moment for me.
For more than sixty years, you have rendered a service to Sri Lanka’s music sphere that cannot be expressed in words. The first concert I watched during my childhood was your solo concert ’Sa’, which also holds the record as the most frequently staged solo musical concert in the country.
It was your songs that nurtured my love for the Sinhala language. Songs such as ’Kurullanta Gee Gayanna Obe Kata Handa Denna’ and ’Sangava Ganu Mena Sonduriya’ presented the aspect of love with subtlety and rare beauty. It is through these music that I have understood that music and the richness of language have the power to take us into a completely different world.
The concepts of harmony embedded within these songs are something we must speak about more. Through the musical composition and rendition of songs such as ’Oba Yana Gamane Mavatha Ahura’ created for the film ’Sarungale’, you naturally introduced us to the beauty of diverse cultures.
Truly, as a nation, we are extremely fortunate to have received a priceless treasure like you”.
The Prime Minister further noted that the special moments of people’s lives in this country are closely intertwined with the creations of Victor Rathnayake.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also extended her best wishes for good health and long life to Dr. Victor Rathnayake, who celebrated his 84th birthday on February 18. She expressed her gratitude to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation for organizing such an event and stated that, despite the many challenges faced by the institution amid growing competition in the media sector, she firmly believes the Corporation possesses the strength to overcome them and move forward.
The Prime Minister also specially appreciated the Broadcasting Corporation’s efforts to honor living legends of Sri Lanka’s arts and culture.
The event was attended by the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senavi; Deputy Minister of Mass Media Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne; Dr. Rathna Sri Wijesinghe; Chairman of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Senior Professor Uditha Gayashan Gunasekara; family members of Dr. Victor Rathnayake; his fans; and many other distinguished guests.
Sri Lanka's collapse against England has left them in danger of elimination [Cricinfo]
By the time New Zealand walk out under the Khettarama lights on Wednesday, it will have been eight days since their last competitive fixture, but in the face of their disastrous outing with the bat against England, it’s Sri Lanka that might be feeling rather undercooked, and are in danger of being eliminated from a World Cup they are co-hosting.
Make no qualms about it, Sri Lanka enter this contest seeking a massive course correction. Despite a strong start to the tournament with the bat, including a dominant chase over Australia and a dismantling of Oman, their monumental failure in their opening Super Eight fixture has once more disturbed the ghosts of collapses past.
Clarity will be the key word coming into this game, with Sri Lanka’s batters caught in several minds as to how to approach a tacky surface last time out. Some, like Kusal and Kamindu Mendis, were dismissed trying to find singles – something batting coach Vikram Rathour said might not have been optimal on a sticky surface, where even such “safe” stroke play can elicit errors.
Others failed to execute while trying to show intent, instead erring on execution and timing, while those like Kamil Mishara hung around doing not much at all, before making the wrong choice nevertheless in the end.
The game will have served up more questions than answers, and New Zealand will no doubt be itching to press on those pressure points.
New Zealand of course are coming into this game as the in-form batting unit this tournament, having played all their games on the flat, batter-friendly surfaces in Chennai and Ahmedabad. In Sri Lanka, though, they will need to come out with a more measured approach, particularly against a Sri Lankan attack that will no doubt look to exploit the spin-friendly home conditions.
New Zealand also enter with the better head-to-head record, with a 16-9 win-loss record against Sri Lanka; even on Sri Lankan soil it’s 5-3 in favour of the visitors. Recent history is not much different, with two Sri Lankan wins bookending a trio of defeats.
But all that means little in the context of a major tournament, particularly in a game which is as close to a must-win as possible for both sides. For Sri Lanka a defeat means a knockout; New Zealand, meanwhile, have slightly more wiggle room – particularly if England defeat Pakistan on Monday night – though they will then need other results to go their way.
In the spotlight
Of the spinners playing in this tournament, only Adam Zampa and Adil Rashid have a better record against Sri Lanka in men’s T20Is than Mitchell Santner. Across his 11 games against them, he has gone wicketless just twice, grabbing 14 wickets at an economy rate of 6.38 – well below his career economy of 7.24. This however will be Santner’s first time playing at Sri Lanka’s most spin-friendly limited overs venue, and he will be backing himself to boost those numbers.
Dunith Wellalage has seven wickets across this tournament, only behind Maheesh Theekshana (8) for Sri Lanka. Against England he was asked to bowl in the powerplay and came through with figures of 16 for 1 in that period, before finishing up with innings best figures of 3 for 26. With the action moving to the Khettarama, conditions should suit him even more. Sri Lanka will also be relying on him with the bat as well, with him twice being promoted up the order to no.5 already.
Team news
Sri Lanka will have been distraught with their batting performance against England, but it’s unlikely they will make any drastic changes. Kamil Mishara, who came in for Kusal Perera last time out, is likely to get another outing.
New Zealand have a fully fit 15 thanks to their extra couple of days off after the Pakistan game washout. Jacob Duffy was set to make way last time out for the returning Lockie Ferguson before rain played spoiler.
New Zealand XI (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi Lockie Ferguson
