Latest News
IPL 2025: Clinical Mumbai’s sixth straight win gives them top position and knocks out Rajasthan Royals
Mumbai Indians (MI) came into this game having never won in Jaipur since 2012. They must not have liked that very much because first, they posted the joint-highest IPL total at this ground, then trounced Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 100 runs and finally got back up on their perch on top of the points table RR, meanwhile, were knocked out of the playoffs race
The first three overs were eerily quiet. Just 16 runs came off them and Rohit Sharma survived an lbw dismissal thanks to a very late call for DRS. “Ooooooh YESSSS,” he said, throwing his head back and smiling as he saw green instead of red on ball-tracking.
A switch must have flicked because the last three overs of the powerplay went for 42. Rohit’s runs were almost secondary to the way he was batting. He figured out what Jofra Archer was trying to do with both his boundary riders on the leg side. Bowl straight. So he made room and immediately a ball on top of leg stump became cuttable. He cut it for four.
RR tried taking pace off but Maheesh Theekshana and Fazalhaq Farooqi were both too full. Once again, Rohit moved to leg and opened up unguarded parts of the off side. Clear methods. Lovely timing. Smooth progress. He went past 6000 runs for MI.
At the other end, RR tried to take away Ryan Rickelton’s arms, cramping him with their lines. But he one-upped them with his short-arm pulls. Then they tried their slower balls into the pitch, but the batter held his shape nicely and swung through. He was being asked to hit to the long leg-side boundary. He took up the challenge and cleared it. Rickelton made 34 of his first 51 runs on the leg side in just nine balls.
The opening partnership broke at a good time for MI because it still left 8.1 overs for Suryakumar Yadav to have an influence. His team had set him up – 116 runs were already on the board – so he wasted no time. Suryakumar attacked six of the first seven balls he faced. The one he didn’t was one he couldn’t. It was wide, a mistake that he invites from the bowlers as they try to keep it off his hitting arc.
Suryakumar finished with 48 not out, an IPL record considering it was his 11 consecutive score of 25 or more. In an innings full of intent – he tried to hit a boundary off every other ball he faced – 13 attempts in 23 deliveries – there was always going to be jaw-dropping moments and one of those happened in the 19th over when he nailed a full-speed Archer attempted yorker which became a full toss for four over short fine. He was rolling around on the floor, bat out of his hands, but he had done the job.
Hardik Pandya was just as destructive. His methods involve staying deep in the crease and exploiting the balls that miss the blockhole. He hit Farooqi for three fours and a six in the 18th over, over the course of a third-wicket partnership that yielded 94 runs in 44 balls. This was the first time four MI batters had made 40-plus in the same innings in the IPL.
Cricket had the chance to avoid a cliche tonight. But it didn’t even try. The last time RR had to chase down a 200-plus total, IPL history was made with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a 35-ball century. Here, the first time he goes for a big shot, he got out for a duck. This game just can’t help but be a leveller.
A measure of the lasting impact of that innings was the Jaipur crowd having their hands on their heads and the MI coach punching the air in the dugout. Men celebrating a boy’s downfall but he is no ordinary boy.
Trent Boult began his work getting hit for sixes. It didn’t faze him. He has 115 games’ worth of experience and 68 distinct moments that prove just how good he is with the new ball in the IPL. He added Yashasvi Jaiswal to his ever-growing list of powerplay wickets and enjoyed it so much he indulged in a one-handed, finger-gun send-off.
At the other end, Jasprit Bumrah came on and peppered Riyan Parag with bouncers. When the batter tried to take him on, he couldn’t get his hands high enough to control the pull shot. Even as the ball was still up in the air, Parag shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “did I even have a chance?” Bumrah bowled nine short balls and conceded just one run.
This was the third time this season that MI had picked up four or more wickets in the first six overs. (KKR home, SRH away, RR away). They had only taken five in their other eight games.
RR came out of the field restrictions with a score of 47 for 5. At the timeout, Hardik stood in the middle of an MI huddle and some amateur lip-reading was enough to see him say “finish them”. His bowlers took those words to heart. RR were bowled out for 117 in 16.1 overs. Archer was their top-scorer and their highest partnership came for the 10th wicket.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 217 for 2 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 61, Rohit Sharma 53, Suryakumar Yadav 48*, Hardik Pandya 48*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-47, Riyan Parag 1-12) beat Rajasthan Royals 117 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 13, Riyan Parag 16, Druv Jurel 11, Shubhan Dubey 15, Jofra Archer 30; Deepak Chahar 1-13, Trent Boult 3-28, Karn Sharma 3-23, Jasprit Bumrah 2-15, Hardik Pandya 1-02) by 100 runs
[Cricinfo]
Memorial services will be held today to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
On 11 September 2001, 2,977 people were killed when hijackers crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
Another hijacked plane hit the Pentagon near Washington DC. A fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back.
[BBC]
Mohammad Rizwan and Imam ul Haq were questioned by Pakistan’s National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Lahore, as the fallout from Pakistan’s disastrous Test tour of England continued.
The two, who were in the group of seven players who were dropped from the Pakistan squad and sent back home after the defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, were sent summons to appear before the NCCIA. They appeared on Thursday. At least one of the players is believed to have been there for several hours.
It is not clear yet what the questioning was about, or whether it is related to the PCB’s own inquiry, which they announced earlier this week. The board did not name any players then but said it had “initiated an internal disciplinary inquiry following media reports concerning discipline and conduct, which are currently being reviewed internally”. That process, the board said, was being “conducted under PCB regulations”.
Cricinfo understands that at least one of the players has been given a questionnaire to respond to and return to the NCCIA next week.
At the end of the Lord’s Test, which Pakistan lost by 194 runs after losing the first by an innings and 103 runs, seven players as well as the head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were removed from the squad. In their place, seven other players travelled to England, five of whom were uncapped at international level.
Rizwan’s form with the bat on this tour had been poor, with scores of 12, 41, 7 and 1, following low returns in two Tests in the Caribbean as well. His glovework, however, has been exemplary on both tours and until the West Indies series, he had been Pakistan’s leading Test run scorer since January 2024. But an ungainly hoick to be dismissed for 1 in the second innings at Lord’s attracted plenty of criticism.
Imam, meanwhile, was diagnosed with a grade-1 tear in his left calf after the conclusion of the first day’s play at Lord’s and did not appear on the field during either of Pakistan’s innings. On the final morning, during pre-game warm-ups, he came out to attempt some gentle knockdowns but struggled physically. Aaqib Javed, the PCB’s chief selector and director of high performance publicly questioned Imam’s injury and warned then of an inquiry into it.
In defending the squad changes, the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi alluded to wider factors at play, without expanding. “We have had a discussion to ascertain the reasons behind it. They include factors beyond performance and we will get to the bottom of it.”
The selection of both the players for the West Indies and England tours was also the subject of a notice sent by the PCB to selectors after the Lord’s Test. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selection and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. Misbah-ul-Haq, one of the selectors, resigned from the post following the changes to the squad.
[Cricinfo]
Soon-to-be world number one Elena Rybakina produced a gritty comeback against Coco Gauff to reach the US Open final, in which she will face Aryna Sabalenka in a blockbuster showdown between the tournament’s top two seeds.
Rybakina is guaranteed to end Sabalenka’s 99-week reign as world number one and will replace the Belarusian at the top when the rankings are updated on Monday.
But the Kazakh second seed could rub more salt in Sabalenka’s wounds if she can deny the top seed a third successive US Open title in Saturday’s showpiece.
Sabalenka sent a warning to her rivals as she overpowered home hope Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 to keep alive her bid to become the third woman in the Open era to win the New York singles title three times in a row.
Rybakina will stand in her way after she fought back to beat American fourth seed Gauff 3-6 6-4 6-4 and silence the partisan crowd.
“I took a deep breath and just told myself I needed to fight and show good tennis,” Rybakina said.
The 27-year-old is chasing her third Grand Slam title after winning Wimbledon in 2022 and beating Sabalenka in January’s Australian Open final.
It will be the first time the top two women’s seeds have contested a US Open final since Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka in the 2013 showpiece.
Aryna Sabalenka is the first player – male or female – to reach eight successive hard-court Grand Slam finals [BBC Sport]
Sabalenka has not been beaten in New York since losing the 2023 final to Gauff, but there were doubts over her title defence following a poor run-up to the tournament.
After a strong start to the season and winning the ‘Sunshine Double’ at Indian Wells and Miami in March, Sabalenka suffered a quarter-final defeat at Roland Garros and a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon.
However, she has found her form again, dropping just one set en route to the final.
“I was super desperate,” Sabalenka said after her win over Pegula.
“It feels for me, talking about Grand Slams, like a last push of the season.
“I wanted it badly to go to the finals, and of course, I want to go all the way.”
In a tense opening set, Sabalenka bristled with frustration early on as unforced errors crept into her game while Pegula settled quickly and struck the ball cleanly.
But eventually the four-time major singles winner found her rhythm and, after striking decisively at 6-5 to take the first set, she cranked up the power.
Pegula looked helpless as Sabalenka raced through the second set, with the Belarusian pounding 29 winners to her 12.
The victory meant Sabalenka broke the Open era record for the most Grand Slam hard-court finals in a row, with the 28-year-old reaching every major final on her favoured surface since the 2023 Australian Open.
For 32-year-old Pegula – the only semi-finalist without a Grand Slam title – it is yet another US Open defeat by long-time rival Sabalenka.
Sabalenka denied the third seed a maiden major in the 2024 final, while she also got the better of her in last year’s semi-finals – although Pegula had won their most recent meeting in June’s Berlin Open.
“I do think she probably would have beaten 99% of people,” Pegula said.
“Probably the best match she’s played this year.”
[BBC Sports]
Bambalapitiya Railway Station renovated under the “Dream Destination” project opened to the public
Steps being taken to reduce paper usage in parliament and the public sector through digitalisation – PM
Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ goes up for auction on 9th December
9/11 victims remembered 25 years on from attacks
Rizwan and Imam quizzed by Pakistan’s cybercrimes investigators
Rybakina sets up blockbuster Sabalenka final at US Open
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News7 days agoNamal remanded until Sept. 18 over Airbus deal investigation
-
Latest News6 days agoTharanga creates history with Diamond League crown in Brussels
-
Sports18 hours agoDDS set to lose Test captaincy
-
Features5 days agoAfter the parade: What a traffic OIC’s walk-out tells us
-
News6 days agoDispute which triggered listed company director being detained at BIA resolved
-
Editorial7 days agoPower vs Equality
-
Editorial5 days ago
Arrests as theatre
-
Latest News5 days agoHarshitha’s composed knock seals Sri Lanka’s semi-final berth