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High stakes in Pune as New Zealand take shot at history
Conditions were a much-talked-about aspect in the first Test of the series in Bengaluru. Following Rohit Sharma’s misreading of the pitch and the overheads, New Zealand made better use of what suited them. In Pune, that could still be a point of contention as New Zealand gets in with a shot at history. They could be met with a lot drier conditions in Pune, and the challenge now would be to try and beat India in different ways.
If there isn’t much assistance for the pacers, can they still find ways of breaking through and putting India under pressure? Can their spinners step up after having a lacklustre outing in not-so-favourable conditions in Bengaluru? With the three Tests coming with little turnaround time, New Zealand may have an edge as they look to carry that confidence forward. They’d managed that win despite the lack of runs from senior batters such as Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell, and would be hoping that the duo strengthen their fold by chipping in.
India were floating in a similar boat till after that dreaded first-innings in Bengaluru, but with fifties for both Rohit and Virat Kohli, some of those nerves ought to have eased. They’ve shown a keenness to embrace an aggressive batting approach, and some part of that approach contributed to their 46 all out. While they still want to stick to that philosophy largely, there is also a pushback towards doing it at the right times.
“There’s a balance that needs to be struck and it’s something we work on all the time with the players and it’s something that they’re aware of as well,” said Ryan ten Doeschate, the assistant coach. The approach from teams across the world is also influenced by the World Test Championship believed Doeschate. “I think the nature of the WTC where draws are worth nothing essentially, four points compared to 12. So always in the back of the mind, you’re trying to push the game forward and it takes a bit of bravery to do that and some teams are doing it very successfully. We want to make sure that our guys are equipped to do that when needed as well.”
If India were to lose the Pune Test, they’d need to win four of their six remaining Tests until the WTC final, to make sure they get there without relying on other results. With five of them in Australia, they’d be happier if they tried and get as many in the bank at home
Teams
India:There would be selection headaches for the Indian team after Sarfaraz Khan’s 150 in the first Test. Additionally, the injury concerns over Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant have ended and both are set to feature in the playing eleven. This could leave KL Rahul’s position in jeopardy. On the bowling front, the addition of Washington Sundar and the thought of using him against left-handers could mean Kuldeep Yadav might miss out if he comes in. Similarly, with Mohammed Siraj’s middling returns, there is a possibility of resting him and being replaced by Akash Deep.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj/Akash Deep
New Zealand:Like India, New Zealand too could suffer a few selection headaches. They were spared of one of them with Kane Williamson being ruled out, allowing Will Young to stay put. But with drier conditions at play in Pune, they could be toying with the thought of an extra spinner even though all three of their pacers played crucial parts in that win in Bengaluru. Who sits out if they are to add a spinner to the eleven will be the big question on their minds.
Probable XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel
[Cricibuzz]
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Sun directly overhead Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon. today [10]
On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05th to 14th of April in this year.
The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon.
B Sai Sudarshan and Prasidh Krishna once again stood up for Gujarat Titans (GT) as they beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 58 runs in Ahmedabad. This was GT’s fourth successive win in IPL 2025 and it took them to the top of the points table.
After RR opted to bowl on a red-soil pitch, Sai Sudharsan’s 82 off 53 balls, his third half-century of the season, steered GT to 217 for 6. With no dew in the second innings, it proved way too steep for RR to chase down. Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan struck in the powerplay before Prasidh picked up 3 for 24 in the middle overs to keep RR on the back foot. Despite Shimron Hetmyer’s fighting fifty, RR were all out for 159 in 19.2 overs.
Joffra Archer didn’t have a great start to IPL 2025. In his first two games, he conceded 109 from 6.3 wicketless overs. But he boucned back in his next two with a combined 4 for 38 from seven overs. He breathed fire tonight as well. In his first over, he rushed Sai Sudharsan with a 152.3kph bouncer. In his second, he got one to move in at 147.7kph and pegged back Shubman Gill’s off stump. His match-up against Gill in T20 cricket now reads: 15 balls, ten runs, three dismissals.
For his former captain Jos Buttler, Archer had two slips, a short leg and a catching square leg, and welcomed him with a menacing bouncer that Buttler did well to evade. Buttler inside-edged the next ball just wide of short leg, and then pushed Archer through the covers for four.
Sai Sudharsan generally takes time to get going. Here, he attacked right from the start. He ramped, scooped, drove and cut, and took his side to 50 in 5.1 overs. By the end of the powerplay, he had 39 against his name, off 22 balls. Only Wriddhiman Saha (54 vs Lucknow Super Giants in 2023) has scored more runs in an innings for GT in that phase.
Buttler was on 12 off 13 at one point but hit four fours in his next six balls to move to 31 off 19. He and Sai Sudharsan added 80 off 46 balls before Maheesh Theekshana trapped Buttler lbw. After a brief dip in the scoring rate, M Shahrukh Khan opened up and smashed 36 off 20 to re-inject momentum.
Sudharsan was dropped on 81 by Shubham Dubey off Archer in the 18th over, but he only added one more to his tally. Then Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan ransacked 30 in the last two overs to take GT past 200.
RR did not have a great start. Yashasvi Jaiswal slashed Arshad to deep third in the second over of the chase and Nitish Rana did the same against Siraj in the next. Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag counterattacked and added 48 off 26 balls for the third wicket. The stand was broken when Impact Sub Kulwant Khejroliya had Parag caught behind in the seventh over. Parag immediately reviewed the decision, confident that his bat had only hit the ground, but the third umpire thought otherwise, with Ultra Edge also bringing up a second spike when the ball passed the bat.
Coming into this game, Rashid had picked up just one wicket in four outings. Tonight, he struck in his first over. It was a shortish ball that didn’t bounce as much as Dhruv Jurel expected, and Sai Sudharsan at deep midwicket gobbled up the mistimed pull.
Rashid enjoys a favourable match-up against Hetmyer, having dismissed him six times in 63 balls for 79 runs before this game. He almost had Hetmyer lbw for a first-ball duck but the ball had pitched fractionally outside leg stump. From there on, Hetmyer dominated Rashid and hit him for 26 runs off 12 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes. However, Rashid was too good for RR’s Impact Sub Shubham Dubey and had him lbw for 1.
In his final over, the 16th over of the innings, Prasidh had Archer caught at mid-off and Hetmyer at deep-backward square leg, both off short balls. With RR 145 for 8 after 16 overs, the result was sealed. They dragged their innings into the final over but that did little to reduce the margin of their defeat.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 217 for 6 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 82, Jos Buttler 36, M Shahrukh Khan 36, Rahul Tewatia 24*, Rashid Khan 12; Joffra Archer 1-30, Tushar Deshpande 2-53, Sandeep Sharma 1-41, Maheesh Theekshana 2-54) beat Rajasthan Royals 159 (Shimron Hetmyer 52, Sanju Samson 41, Riyan Parag 26; Mohammed Siraj 1-30, Arshad Khan 1-19, Prasidh Krishna 3-24, Kulwant Khejroliya 1-29, Sai Kishore 2-20, Rashid Khan 2-37) by 58 runs
[Cricinfo]
President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs, but a trade war with China escalated.
In a dramatic change of policy, just hours after levies against roughly 60 of America’s trading partners kicked in, Trump said he was authorising a universal “lowered reciprocal tariff of 10%” as negotiations continue.
At the same time he increased tariffs on goods from China to 125%, accusing Beijing of a “lack of respect” after it had retaliated by saying it would impose tariffs of 84% on US imports.
This comes a week after Trump announced import taxes on all goods entering the US, in the biggest upheaval of international trade in decades.
His plan set a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports – which remains in place – but also higher rates on partners the White House described as the “worst offenders” for what the president considers to be unfair trade practices.
This included the European Union, Vietnam, South Africa and many more – all of which were due to be on the receiving end of US tariffs ranging from 11% to more than 100%.
Major market turmoil followed Trump’s announcement last week, with sell-offs sparking trillions in losses across the world, many Americans fearing price rises, and some analysts predicting increased odds of recession.
On Wednesday, before Trump said he would suspend the higher tariffs on goods from countries other than China, the US government saw interest rates on its debt spike to 4.5% – the highest level since February.
Hours later, when the change was announced, US shares rocketed with the S&P 500 soaring 7% in afternoon trading. It later closed the day’s trading up 9.5%, while the Dow Jones surged by 7.8%.
Announcing the latest iteration of his plan on Truth Social, Trump said he was authorising a 90-day pause on tariffs for the countries that had not retaliated against his levies.
The additional tariff on Beijing, he said, would be effective immediately. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” he wrote.
(BBC)
Sun directly overhead Hatthikuchchi, Kalankuttiya, Halmillewa, Ipalogama, Palugaswewa and Habarana at about 12:11 noon. today [10]
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