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India quicks lead demolition of Ireland on fizzing pitch
New York’s second match as a T20I venue was a lot like its first: low-scoring and brutal. Two days after South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 77 here, India bowled Ireland out for 96. A different strip was used for this game, but the bounce was just as inconsistent, and batting just as difficult, if not outright dangerous.
India’s selection was spot-on – they picked four fast bowlers including Hardik Pandya, and two spin-bowling allrounders to lengthen their batting, which meant they left Kuldeep Yadav on the bench. They didn’t need all that batting in the end, as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant helped them cross the line with 46 balls remaining, but the packed pace attack proved extremely useful. Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik picked up 8 for 81 between them, extracting seam movement and up-and-down bounce right through an Ireland innings that lasted just 16 overs.
As good as those performances were, though, this match will be remembered for the conditions. Batters from both teams took body blows – Rohit retired hurt on 52, soon after being struck on the arm – and by the time India wrapped up their win, their thoughts may have gone ahead to June 9 at the same venue, and what kind of pitch they may have to play Pakistan on.
The first two overs gave enough of a clue of how this pitch would behave, with both Arshdeep and Siraj extracting inconsistent bounce. One ball from Arshdeep – seam-up rather than a slower ball or cutter – bounced a second time before reaching wicketkeeper Pant, but most of the inconsistency was up rather than down, with one ball forcing Pant into a leaping, overhead, goalkeeper-style save.
Extra bounce brought India their first wicket, Paul Stirling top-edging a heave across the line at the start of the third over.
By the end of that over, Arshdeep had taken out both openers. He was finding ways to mix up his stock inswinger to the right-hander with balls that kept going with the left-armer’s angle across them, and one of these away-slanters bowled Andy Balbirnie, as he stayed leg-side of the ball and tried to steer one down to third.
By the end of the powerplay, Ireland were still only two down, but Harry Tector had already been hit on the glove and the thigh pad and was batting on 1 off 10. That became 4 off 15 before a nasty short ball from Bumrah hurried him, and he ended up gloving the attempted pull into his helmet and then to the fielder at short extra-cover.
By then they had also lost Lorcan Tucker, bowled trying to drive a nip-backer from Hardik.
India kept getting the length ball to nip around and the short-of-length ball to climb, and Ireland kept losing wickets. Even the introduction of spin didn’t stem the collapse, as Barry McCarthy was caught and bowled by an Axar Patel ball that stuck in the pitch. At 50 for 8, Ireland were in danger of falling short of their lowest T20I total – 6 against West Indies during the 2010 edition of this tournament.
They eventually crossed that mark, with Gareth Delany’s risk-taking coming off – where that of his team-mates’ mostly didn’t – in a 14-ball 26 that carried Ireland to 96.
Rohit and Virat Kohli came out swinging – perhaps they reckoned that the new ball and powerplay field restrictions gave them the best chance of quick runs – and came away with contrasting outcomes.
Kohli fell early, caught on the deep-third boundary while charging at Mark Adair and looking to slap him over the covers.
Rohit enjoyed two slices of early luck – Balbirnie put down a tough chance at second slip in the first over, off Adair, and an inside-edge in the second over, off Josh Little, ran away for four past the stumps – and carried on to score his 30th T20I fifty. The pitch remained treacherous, and Rohit’s control percentage hovered in the 40s for most of his innings, before climbing to 51 by the time he retired hurt. But he hit some telling blows too, most notably two trademark pulls off successive balls from Little that brought up his 599th and 600th sixes in international cricket. Before that, he also went past 4000 runs in T20Is.
Pant looked more fluent than Rohit, indeed as fluent as anyone could have looked on this pitch, and hit three sixes and two fours while scoring an unbeaten 36 off 26. He took a hit to the elbow and one to the shoulder, and his response to the latter blow summed him up as a cricketer and character: he finished the match off the next ball, reverse-scooping McCarthy for six over the wicketkeeper.
Brief scores:
India 97 for 2 in 12.2 overs (Rohit Sharma 52, Rishabh Pant 36*; Mark Adair 1-27, Ben White 1-06) beat Ireland 96 in 16 overs (Gareth Delany 26; Hardik Pandya 3-27, Jasprit Bumrah 2-06, Arshdeep Singh 2-35, Mohammed Siraj 1-13, Axar Patel 1-03) by eight wickets
The General Manager of Railways has announced that the following special train services will operate during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period.
1. From Colombo Fort to Badulla – departing Colombo Fort at 1930 hrs on 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th April
2. From Badulla to Colombo Fort – departing Badulla at 1750 hrs on 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th April
3. From Galle to Anuradhapura – departing Galle at 0400 hrs on 12th and 13th April
4. From Anuradhapura to Galle – departing Anuradhapura at 1500 hrs on 12th and 13th April
5. From Colombo Fort to Galle – departing Colombo Fort at 120 hrs on 10th, 11th, 15th and 20th April
6. From Galle to Colombo Fort – departing Galle at 0610 hrs on 11th, 12th, 16th and 21st April
7. From Colombo Fort to Galle – departing Colombo Fort at 1330 hrs on 12th and 13th April
8. From Colombo Fort to Kankasanthurai [Intercity Express] – departing Colombo Fort at 0530 hrs on 11th and 18th April
9. From Kankasanthurai to Colombo Fort [Intercity Express] – departing Kankasanthurai at 1350 hrs on 11th and 18th April
10. From Beliatta to Colombo Fort – departing Beliatta at 0825 hrs on 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th and 20th April
Global stocks have sunk, a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that are forecast to raise prices and weigh on growth in the US and abroad.
Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell for a second day, hot on the heels of the US S&P 500, which had its worst day since Covid crashed the economy in 2020.
Nike, Apple and Target were among big consumer names worst hit, all of them sinking by more than 9%.
At the White House, Trump told reporters the US economy would “boom” thanks to the minimum 10% tariff he plans to slap on imports in the hope of boosting federal revenues and bringing American manufacturing home.
The Republican president plans to hit products from dozens of other countries with far higher levies, including trade partners such as China and the European Union. China, which is facing an aggregate 54% tariff, and the EU, which faces duties of 20%, both vowed retaliation on Thursday.
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries, and Trump’s plan that he announced on Wednesday would hike such duties to some of the highest levels in more than 100 years.
The World Trade Organization said it was “deeply concerned”, estimating trade volumes could shrink as a result by 1% this year.
Traders expressed concern that the tariffs could stoke inflation and stall growth.
In early trading on Friday, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell by 1.8%, the Kospi in South Korea was around 1% lower and Australia’s ASX 200 dipped by 1.4%.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 – which tracks 500 of the biggest American firms – plunged 4.8%, shedding roughly $2tn in value.
The Dow Jones closed about 4% lower, while the Nasdaq tumbled roughly 6%. The US shares sell-off has been going on since mid-February amid trade war fears.
Earlier, the UK’s FTSE 100 share index dropped 1.5% and other European markets also fell, echoing declines from Japan to Hong Kong.
On Thursday at the White House, Trump doubled down on a high-stakes gambit aimed at reversing decades of US-led liberalisation that shaped the global trade order.
“I think it’s going very well,” he said. “It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on, and it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is.”
He added: “The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.”
Trump also said he was open to negotiating with trade partners on the tariffs “if somebody said we’re going to give you something that’s so phenomenal”.
On Thursday, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that country would retaliate with a 25% levy on vehicles imported from the US.
Trump last month imposed tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, though he did not announce any new duties on Wednesday against the North American trade partners.
Firms now face a choice of swallowing the tariff cost, working with partners to share that burden, or passing it on to consumers – and risking a drop in sales.
That could have a major impact as US consumer spending amounts to about 10% – 15% of the world economy, according to some estimates.
While stocks fell on Thursday, the price of gold, which is seen as a safer asset in times of turbulence, touched a record high of $3,167.57 an ounce at one point on Thursday, before falling back.
The dollar also weakened against many other currencies.
In Europe, the tariffs could drag down growth by nearly a percentage point, with a further hit if the bloc retaliates, according to analysts at Principal Asset Management.
In the US, a recession is likely to materialise without other changes, such as big tax cuts, which Trump has also promised, warned Seema Shah, chief global strategist at the firm.
She said Trump’s goals of boosting manufacturing would be a years-long process “if it happens at all”.
“In the meantime, the steep tariffs on imports are likely to be an immediate drag on the economy, with limited short-term benefit,” she said.
On Thursday, Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Fiat and other brands, said it was temporarily halting production at a factory in Toluca, Mexico and Windsor, Canada.
It said the move, a response to Trump’s 25% tax on car imports, would also lead to temporary layoffs of 900 people at five plants in the US that supply those factories.
On the stock market, Nike, which makes much of its sportswear in Asia, was among the hardest hit on the S&P, with shares down 14%.
Shares in Apple, which relies heavily on China and Taiwan, tumbled 9%.
Other retailers also fell, with Target down roughly 10%.
Motorbike maker Harley-Davidson – which was subject of retaliatory tariffs by the EU during Trump’s first term as president – fell 10%.
In Europe, shares in sportswear firm Adidas fell more than 10%, while stocks in rival Puma tumbled more than 9%.
Among luxury goods firms, jewellery maker Pandora fell more than 10%, and LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) dropped more than 3% after tariffs were imposed on the European Union and Switzerland.
“You’re seeing retailers get destroyed right now because tariffs extended to countries we did not expect,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategy at Freedom Capital Markets, adding that he expected more turbulence ahead.
[BBC]
While Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) regained the dazzling batting form they had lost somewhere on their trip to Mumbai, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting continued to be lackluster as they slumped to their third loss in a row after starting IPL 2025 with a mammoth 286. Four days after being skittled for 116 by Mumbai Indians, KKR posted a stiff 200 for 6, led by a 29-ball 60 from vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer and an unbeaten 17-ball 32 from Rinku Singh. Venkatesh and Rinku enabled KKR to finish with a bang – they scored 78 runs in their last five overs – after Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi set things up with a third-wicket stand of 81.
SRH were punished for being sloppy in the field more than a few times, and managed just 120 in reply after the KKR quicks took their mighty top three down in just 13 balls. Last year’s runners-up slumped to the bottom of the table while the defending champions jumped five places from last to fifth.
Travis Head fell cheaply for the second time in a row against Vaibhay Arora as in the IPL final last year, while Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan managed just 2 each. The eight runs scored by SRH’s top three was their second worst start in the IPL. In last year’s final, their top three – though Kishan wasn’t part of it – had managed just 11.
SRH barely recovered from 9 for 3 and slipped to 66 for 5 and eventually suffered their biggest defeat by a runs margin in the IPL.
There was no venom in the pitch, no unplayable bounce or movement either, but the SRH top order had no answers for the KKR pace attack, even though Mitchell Starc is no longer part of it. Head skied the second ball to mid-off, Abhishek edged a slower one from Harshit Rana in the second over to slip, and Kishan smashed one to cover where Rahane pouched a sharp catch on the tumble to delight the home fans. Nine for 3 could have become 9 for 4 had Andre Russell held on to an on-drive from Kamindu Mendis at mid-on and made it a double-wicket maiden for Arora. Russell, however, redeemed himself when he got the next wicket as soon as the powerplay ended, having Nitish Reddy caught at long-on. Arora picked up his third eventually, getting the big scalp of Henrich Klaasen for 33 when he returned for his second spell.
In between, Reddy showed glimpses of his ball-striking talent, Mendis heaved a couple of sixes on the leg side off Russell, and Klaasen tried to take the game deep even as the asking rate climbed past 15 an over. Rahane stifled SRH with five overs in a row from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakarvarthy, from the eighth to the 12th, which went for just 33 and brought two more wickets, before Arora removed Klaasen and Varun nearly scalped a hat-trick in the 16th over. SRH were eventually bowled out for 120, again raising question marks over their batting approach.
Even though the Eden pitch didn’t have the spice that was offered by the Wankhede’s in KKR’s last game, they lost their openers cheaply again. Narine fell to another yorker, edging one behind this time, for 7, and Quinton de Kock pulled a short ball to deep square leg for 1 off 6 as KKR crawled their way to 17 for 2 after three overs. They got a lift thanks to the Mumbai duo of Rahane and Raghuvanshi, who between them struck four sixes in 14 balls to help KKR end the powerplay on 53 for 2. Rahane smashed three of them, even before hitting his first four, peppering the leg-side boundary with two pulls and a majestic flick behind square.
Cummins brought on spin as soon as the field spread out and rookie legspinner Zeeshan Ansari rewarded his captain by stifling the set batters with turn, flight and different lengths to concede just 25 runs in three overs on the trot while the quicks continued to leak boundaries from the other end. Ansari conceded just one boundary off his first 14 deliveries, that too off a misfield from Reddy, before Raghuvanshi carted him for a six and four when he erred too full. Ansari, however, fought back with Rahane’s wicket for 38.
SRH could have had two in two had Reddy not put down Raghuvanshi at the rope on 43. Raghuvanshi made them pay with a cover drive for four later in the over and brought up his second IPL fifty in the next. His luck finally ran out against the ambidextrous Sri Lanka spinner Kamindu Mendis, and when Harshal Patel held onto an excellent catch that he dived for after running in from deep point.
KKR were going at just over eight an over after 13 overs, with two new batters in the middle. Harshal and Simranjeet Singh slowed them down further by taking the pace off the ball, but the trick didn’t work for too long. Rinku and Venkatesh took off once they got their eyes in and powered KKR to their first 200 total of this campaign. Rinku started the carnage with three consecutive fours off Harshal in the 17th while Venkatesh reeled off two in the next over, which Rinku finished with a towering six over long-on. Venkatesh then turned his purr into a roar in the penultimate over. Even though Cummins tried his cutter, a slower bouncer and a yorker among other things, Venkatesh went 4, 6, 4, 4 and brought up a 25-ball fifty before blasting Harshal for a six and a four at the start of the final over. He holed out next ball, and Harshal conceded just three off the last three, but the damage had already been done.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 200 for 6 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 60, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 50, Ajinkya Rahane 38, Rinku Singh 32*; Mohammed Shami 1-29, Pat Cummins 1-44, Zeeshan Ansari 1-25, Harshal Ptel 1-43, Kamindu Mendis 1-04) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 120 in 16.4 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 19, Kamindu Mendis 27, Heinrich Klaasen 33,Pat Cummins 14; Vaibhav Arora 3-29, Varun Chakravarthy 3-22, Harshit Rana 1-15,Andre Russel 2-21, Sunil Narine 1-30 ) by 80 runs
[Cricinfo]
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