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Gujarat Titans keep their cool in nerve-wracking win
A masterclass in death bowling ensured that Gujarat Titans came from behind to pouch a six-run victory over Mumbai Indians – their third against the opposition at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Needing 42 off the last six overs with 7 wickets in hand, Mumbai Indians lost their way completely as Gujarat stuck to their plans.
Nearly all of Shubman Gill’s death bowlers packed a punch with the tone set by veteran Mohit Sharma. With his back-of-the hand slower ones gripping well on a sticky pitch, Mohit proved hard to hit. He first had Dewald Brevis caught and bowled and then bounced Tim David out to have him caught in the deep splendidly by an athletic David Miller. With 39 needed off the last three overs, Tilak Varma proceeded to deny singles off Rashid Khan’s final over with David for company. The spinner did not give away any boundaries in the over adding to the pressure building. Spencer Johnson, bowling the penultimate over, gave away a six off his first ball but came back in style. He had Varma caught at fine leg and then had Gerald Coetzee caught and bowled.
The last-man standing between the Titans and victory turned out to be their former skipper Hardik Pandya, who had delayed his entry. Pandya smacked a six and a four off the first two balls bowled by Umesh Yadav to bring the equation down to 9 off four. But he then fell trying to pull a short ball to be caught at long on, signaling the final nail in the coffin and sealing Mumbai’s rapid downward slide after a breezy start.
After a four-ball duck for Ishan Kishan, MI’s chase was first put on course by a breezy 10-ball 20 from Naman Dhir coming in at No. 3. Thereafter Rohit Sharma and Brevis found the going easy in dewy conditions as they added a quickfire 77-run stand. Gujarat’s standout bowler in this period turned out to be left-arm spinner Sai Kishore who finished with 1/24 in his four overs. He also picked up the wicket of Rohit, out LBW on the sweep, to kickstart a stunning turnaround.
The bowlers ensured that they made a middling total look far more than it was.
The pitch did not hold too many demons, albeit gripping slightly for the spinners. Plenty of Gujarat batters got off to starts but could not convert them into bigger ones. Sai Sudharsan knocked his way to 45 while Shubman Gill hit three fours and a six in his 31. Gujarat depended on one of their top order batters to carry through after getting their eye in.
Because of the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah, mainly, the pacer finished with figures of 3-14 and applied the brakes with crucial strikes. Showcasing a full range of his skills, Bumrah first had Wriddhiman Saha bowled for 19 with a booming yorker. He then proceeded to outfox David Miller with a slower one and a ball later had the well-set Sudharsan caught in the deep. With that he ensured that Gujarat’s momentum was constantly nipped in the bud. It continued so in the death overs.
MI’s newest recruit, pacer Gerald Coetzee, was saved up for the second half of the innings fully. It worked well as Coetzee first had an attacking Azmatullah Omarzai caught while trying to hit off a hard length. At the back-end, Gujarat threatened to get more than they eventually would when Rahul Tewatia tore into Luke Wood. The 18th over of the innings went for 19 runs with Tewatia hitting the straps. But Bumrah and Coetzee gave away only 12 in the last two overs with Coetzee snapping up Tewatia as well.
The plans that new captain Hardik Pandya brought in worked pretty much to a tee but that was not enough to win over the crowd.
The former Gujarat Titans title-winning captain moved to Mumbai Indians on a transfer and it seemingly hasn’t gone down well with at least a part of the fans in the stadium. Hardik was welcomed with boos at the toss and at various points during the match. Returning to bowling in the tournament, he ended up giving away 30 runs in his three overs. He came close to turning it around with the bat but to no avail.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat Titans 168/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 31, Sai Sudharsan 45, Rahul Tewatia 22; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, Piyush Chawala 1-31, Gerald Coetzee 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 162/9 in 20 overs (Nahman Dhir 20, Dewald Brevis 46, Rohit Sharma 43, Tilak Varma 25; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-27, Umesh Yadav 2-31, Spencer Johnson 2-25, Mohit Sharma 2-32, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 1-24) by 6 runs
What next for the teams?
GT have just a day’s gap to go from their home city to Chennai where they face Ruturaj Gaikwad’s CSK on Tuesday (March 26). MI also head south – to Hyderabad -where they face SRH a day later (March 27).
(Cricbuzz)
India and Pakistan agree to a full and immediate ceasefire the pause began at 17:00 local time (12:30 BST)
India is adhering to the agreement, but its army remains “vigilant”, officialssay, – Pakistan says it has always strived for peace and security in the region.
The ceasefire is the result of “a long night of talks mediated by the United States,” Donald Trump says.
The US president is likely going to portray himself as a global peacemaker as all-out conflict has been averted.
(BBC)
A diver has died during preliminary operations to recover British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht from the waters off the coast of northern Sicily, local police said.
The accident happened on Friday while the diver was underwater in Porticello, police said, adding the precise cause of death was still unknown.
According to local Italian media, the diver was a 39-year-old Dutch national who worked for a specialist salvage company.
It comes as salvage ships arrived earlier this month to waters off the small port of Porticello, near Palermo, where the Bayesian vessel sank during freak weather last August.
Seven of the 22 people onboard the Bayesian last summer were killed, including Lynch 59, and his 18 year old daughter Hannah..
Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer, 70, and his wife, Judy, 71, US lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda Morvillo and the yacht’s chef Recaldo Thomas who was originally from Antigua, also died in the sinking on 19 August.
Fifteen people managed to escape on a lifeboat including a one-year-old and Mike Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares.
The cause of the sinking is still under investigation with naval experts saying a yacht of Bayesian’s calibre should have been able to withstand the storm and certainly should not have sunk as rapidly as it did.
The salvage operation is being overseen by British marine consultancy TMC Marine and led by Dutch-based companies Hebo, a maritime services company from Rotterdam, and SMIT Salvage, with support from Italian specialists.
About 70 specialist personnel have been deployed to Sicily from across Europe to work on the recovery operation
On Thursday, the team said on-site preparations were on schedule and “significant progress” had been made over the past five days.
Analysis of the yacht and the surrounding seabed confirmed there had been no change to its condition since the last inspection, meaning plans to raise the vessel can now go ahead.
Work to move the Bayesian into an upright position and lift it to the surface was scheduled to begin later this month – subject to suitable weather and sea conditions.
Before the vessel is transported to port, sea water will be pumped out of it.
Before the Bayesian is raised it will be held in position by steel slings, as salvage workers detach the vessel’s extensive rigging and 72m (236ft) mast, thought to be one of the tallest in the world.
These will then be stored on the seabed and recovered after the team has recovered the ship’s hull, which investigators say is a primary source of evidence.
There has not been any pollution from the yacht reported, with conditions being monitored and efforts made to secure its tank vents and openings.
Lynch and his daughter were said to have lived in the vicinity of London, and the Bloomers lived in Sevenoaks in Kent.
The tycoon founded software giant Autonomy in 1996 and was cleared in June last year of carrying out a massive fraud over the sale of the firm to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal in the case in the US.
[BBC]
The Sri Lanka Coast Guard launched an operation to clear the oil spill caused by the crash of a Sri Lanka Air Force Bell 212 helicopter into the Maduru Oya Reservoir, during a training flight on 09 May 2025.
The efforts to clear the oil spill are ongoing and will continue today, 10 May.
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