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Gill and Sai Sudharsan break IPL records and hurt Chennai Super King’s playoffs chances
Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan ripped up the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) attack and the record books to keep Gujarat Titans’ (GT’s) playoff hopes just alive. The result, however, punctured CSK’s chances and left them facing a tricky route to the playoffs.
Next up, CSK face a super-quick turnaround: they will meet Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday afternoon at Chepauk. They will then run into a resurgent Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their last league fixture, in Bengaluru, on May 18. The defeat to GT means their qualification for the playoffs might come down to net run-rates – CSK, though, still have the best NRR among the three teams with 12 points – and one more defeat could leave the defending champions teetering on the brink.
GT captain Gill spent some time off the field in their successful defence of 231 because of cramps. But he had already handsomely contributed with the bat in a 210-run partnership with Sai Sudharsan – the joint highest opening stand in the history of the IPL. Along the way, Gill and Sudharsan pushed the IPL century count past 100.
It was Gill who made the early running when he took left-arm fingerspinner Mitchell Santner for a four and a six in a 14-run opening over. Then, in the final over of the powerplay, Gill played what was arguably the shot of the day. When Simarjeet Singh bowled a blameless back-of-a-length delivery on off, Gill used his gifts to make it look like a bad ball and imperiously swatted it over mid-on for six.
Sudharsan, becalmed in the early exchanges, then caught fire, whacking Ravindra Jadeja for 21 off seven balls at a strike rate of 300. The presence of the spin-hitting Sudharsan meant Jadeja could not bowl more than two overs on the night.Rutraj Gaikwad turned to Daryl Mitchell’s cutters, but he was dispatched for 4-0-52-0.
Sudharsan accelerated so quickly that he and his captain had identical scores at the end of the 16th over: 96 off 48 balls. Gill was the first to bring up his hundred with a four, and four balls later, Sudharsan joined him there with a six.
In the next over, however, Thushar Deshpande had both Sudharsan and Gill holing out in the space of five balls.
Deshpande could have cut short Gill’s innings on 72 had he not dropped him at the long-off boundary – he ended up parrying it onto the rope for six. But he came back strong at the death with his defensive skills on show, with Shardul Thakur for company.
They kept hiding the ball away from the swinging arcs of the GT batters and allowed them to score only 41 runs off the last five overs. Only one boundary was scored off the last three overs, but the chase was always going to be a tall order for CSK.
It became even more difficult for CSK when they were reduced to 2 for 2 within two overs. Rachin Ravindra, who was brought back into the team to beef up the top order, was run out for 1. On the very next ball, Sandeep Warrier bested Ajinkya Rahane in the battle of the Impact Players. Rahane fell for one off five balls.
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who had slid down to No. 3, then picked out one of the only two men on the boundary, off Umesh Yadav for a duck. The early strikes prevented CSK from taking more risks and they managed only 43 for 3 in the powerplay.
Daryll Mitchell then gave the chase a leg-up by repeatedly pumping the ball over the top. He even went after GT’s ace spinner Rashid Khan, taking him for 18 off seven balls.
At the other end, Moeen struggled to pick Rashid’s variations but he lined up Noor Ahmad, the left-arm wristspinner, and walloped him for three successive sixes to start the 11th over.
At 119 for 3 in 12 overs, CSK were in with a chance until Mohit Sharma’s intervention. Mohit struck with his second ball, a well-disguised knuckle ball, which tricked Mitchell into skying a catch to long-off for 63 off 34 balls. In his next over, he dug an on-pace delivery into the surface and had Moeen holing out for 56 off 36 balls.
Mohit also snagged Shivam Dube for 21 off 13 balls and came away with 3 for 31 – the best figures on the day.
When GT and CSK last met at this venue, in a three day IPL final last season, Mohit couldn’t get the job done. On Friday, his execution was so good that CSK fell well short, despite MS Dhoni’s cameo at the end.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat Titans 231/3 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 104, Sai Sudharsan 103; Tushar Deshpande 2-33) beat Chennai Super Kings 196/8 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 63, Moeen Ali 56, Shivam Dube 21, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 26*; Umesh Yadav 1-20, Sandeep Warrior 1-28, Mohit Sharma 3-31, Rashid Khan 2-38) by 35 runs
(Cricinfo)
Pakistan withstood a middle-order counterattack from Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage to see off Sri Lanka by 37 runs. In the first match of a tri-series that also includes England, the pair appeared to have put Sri Lanka on course with a 119-run fifth wicket partnership, with the visitors well in front and requiring just 55 from the last seven overs. Liyanage’s wicket, however, saw the bottom fall out of the side, with Sri Lanka losing their last five wickets for 15 runs to allow Pakistan to breathe a sigh of relief.
The win had been set up by Salman Agha, who marked his return to the Pakistan side with his fourth ODI hundred to hold off a collapse and steer the hosts past 300. By the 22nd over, Pakistan had lost four wickets, and looked vulnerable with a relatively long tail. However, Salman’s 90-ball 107 navigated Pakistan expertly out of danger with sizeable partnerships with Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas.
Sri Lanka deprived Shaheen Afridi’s side of a big finish, though, with Eshan Malinga and Asitha Fernando striking multiple blows in the death overs to ultimately bowl Pakistan out for 305. Those runs they had left on the table looked set to cost them dear at the climax of the context. The dew had set in, and Rathnayake and Liyanage were beginning to reverse Pakistan’s early dominance that had seen them skittle Sri Lanka’s top four with few dents made to the chase.
Afridi rotated his cast of bowlers, but aside from Naseem Shah, there appeared no remedy to the free flow of runs. Haris Rauf, Minhas, Saim Ayub and Afridi himself were all worked over, particularly by Rathnayake, who was especially methodical in the way he timed his innings to dance in tune to the required rate. Afridi was sensationally blown out of the attack with a pair of pulled sixes off the hips, in stark contrast to Pakistan’s own struggles against the short ball.
A pair of tight overs from Faheem Ashraf finally induced Rathnayake into a false stroke as he spooned one to Salman at short cover, only for Dasun Shanaka to pick up the slack. But with 53 runs to go, Liyanage chipped Rauf to long-on, and Pakistan blew the house down. Afridi prised Shanaka out the following over, and though the tail limped on briefly, it was only a matter of time.
Pakistan will look back fondly at their dominance in the first 25 overs, which closely mirrored Sri Lanka’s own success in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s top order was ineffective in keeping pace with the asking rate, and Naseem bowled a tidy spell up front, which included the wicket of Avishka Fernando. Ashraf took a sharp catch after Saad Baig dropped the skier, the allrounder showing good reflexes to scoop the ball up. It was, all told, a difficult evening behind the stumps for the debutant, and, in truth, a poor day out for Pakistan’s fielders throughout the innings.
Sri Lanka’s fortune with the toss had carried over to the ODI series, and they inserted Pakistan in Rawalpindi. There was early swing on offer, but it was the extra pace from Dilshan Madushanka that accounted for both openers. Ayub and Fakhar Zaman were both undone by the short delivery, leaving Babar Azam and Baig to rebuild.
The duo put on 74 and were beginning to get the asking rate ticking upwards. However, Babar’s frustrating recent knack of giving away auspicious starts reared its familiar head once more. Malinga was Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler through the innings, and he landed one short that rushed onto Babar, who was late on the pull just five shy of a half-century. Soon after Baig, who had shown promise as well as a willingness to pull rather than back away from bouncers, miscued one himself, holing out to deep fine leg.
It was precisely the sort of situation Salman – dropped from both the Test side and T20 captaincy in the last two months – thrives in, rebuilding during the middle overs of an ODI. He did so flawlessly, halting Sri Lanka’s momentum while staying on top of the run rate, keeping the strike ticking along, and adeptly covering for Nawaz, who had made a more sluggish start. He capitalised when Sri Lanka erred by turning prematurely to Kamindu Mendis’ spin, taking 11 off the 25th over to turn momentum around.
Sri Lanka began to look more toothless with the ball through those middle overs as Salman’s comfort grew. He dominated the stand and brought up his half-century off 48 balls. Nawaz had begun to loosen his shoulders too, illustrated by a six off legspinner Sachindu Colombage, but Asitha rooted him out the following over, ending the fifth-wicket stand ay 97. Salman played a similar shepherding role with Minhas for the sixth wicket, the pair putting on 64, with Salman once again taking on the lion’s share.
Twenty-six runs came off the 44th and 45th overs, but just as Pakistan looked for a big finish, Sri Lanka’s bowlers hit back. Minhas and Salman fell trying to hit sixes, and Pakistan’s lower order soon followed, with Malinga getting rid of Ashraf and Naseem off successive balls. A pair of lusty blows from Afridi allowed Pakistan to scratch past 300.
For long stretches of Sri Lanka’s chase, it appeared as if Pakistan’s unproductiveness in those death overs would cost them. Instead, on a dewy early autumn night in Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s pace attack – which shared nine wickets between them – ensured Salman’s efforts would not be wasted.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 305 in 49.5 overs (Babar Azam 45, Salman Agha 107; Eshan Malinga 4-46, Asitha Fernando 3-59, Dilshan Madushanka 2-67) beat Sri Lanka 268 in 48.1 overs (Kamindu Mendis 44, Pavan Rathnayake 79, Janith Liyanage 60; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-55, Naseem Shah 2-43, Haris Rauf 2-48, Faheem Ashraf 2-49) by 37 runs
[Cricinfo]
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.
“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.
But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.
According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.
(BBC)
A large fire near a Canadian military base in Alberta has killed and injured some people, the defence minister said, without confirming the number of casualties.
The Canadian Armed Forces were working with local authorities to manage the fire and were looking into what caused it, David McGuinty said, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred, adding his “thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected”.
Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, where the fire broke out, is one of the country’s busiest military training bases.
The blaze “spread rapidly due to high winds” and had torn through the fences of the base, the Municipal District of Wainwright said.
McGuinty told reporters he “cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory”.
It is unclear when the fire broke out, but the district first posted about the incident at about 17:30 local time.
Local authorities have urged residents to avoid the area and give all emergency vehicles right of way.
(BBC)
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