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IPL 2025: Madhwal leads bowlers’ show as Rajasthan Royals end the season by beating Chennai Super Kings
Despite losing eight matches chasing out of nine, Rajasthan Royals (RR) decided to chase one last time and came out victors with 17 balls to spare. Unlike earlier games, though, their bowlers did well against fellow laggards Chennai Super Kings (CSK), leaving them just 188 to chase on a good batting pitch.Akash Madhwal reversed the ball to restrict CSK in the end to just 17 runs off the last three overs, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi then aced the chase with a measured 57 off 33 deliveries.
Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets in the 14th over to remind observers of RR’s poor chasing record, but it proved to be nothing more than a stutter. Dhruv Jurel made sure it never got close with a sparkling 31 from 12 balls. The unbeaten batters at the wicket were Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer who have been in the middle in some of the past fluffed chases.
As a result of the win, RR were momentarily off the bottom of the table, but their season was done. CSK were left needing a big win in their last match to avoid finishing at the bottom for the first time in their history.
The start of the game was action-packed, but not easily explained. CSK lost five wickets in 7.4 overs to length balls that didn’t swing or seam. They were not off-pace deliveries either. Of these, one was not even an attacking shot. It was just one of those days when the risks were not coming off, and Yudhvir Singh ended with a haul of three wickets.
For a while in between, the risks did come off for a 56-run stand between Ayush Mhatre and the new No. 4 Ravichandran Ashwin. Mhatre scored 43 off 20 balls, mostly just clearing the infield for eight fours and one six. This meant CSK were going at over 10 runs an over even though they lost five early wickets.
The second half of CSK’s season has been all about identifying a core for the next IPL. Two triumphs in that regard have been their replacement batters, Mhatre and Dewald Brevis. Both shone in Delhi. Brevis scored 42 off 25 deliveries as he and Shivam Dube added 59 runs for the sixth wicket.
In three of their five tight losses, RR have had to contend with the reversing ball. This time, though, they got the ball reversing themselves. Madhwal, who started bowling as late as the 12th over and went for ten runs in his first two balls, quickly realised that the ball was ready for reverse swing, and started going for the yorker.
In his four overs, Madhwal nailed at least eight of them to go with plenty of low full tosses that were difficult to get away. The one that got Brevis off the inside edge was a half volley, but it did tail away, thus causing the mis-hit.
Dube, meanwhile, took care of the spin threat that was reserved for MS Dhoni, thus maintaining the run rate of 10 till the 17th over. But Madhwal and Tushar Deshpande were excellent in the last three overs. For once the RR batters were not going to have to chase an above-par total.
The target this time was exactly what RR scored to tie the game against Delhi Capitals at the same venue, but this was a better batting pitch. For the 13th time in the IPL, Yashasvi Jaiswal hit the first legal delivery of the innings for a boundary – a record. This one, though, came off the glove in an over that he hardly middled the ball. By the time he started his second over, though, Khaleel Ahmed had lost the movement, and Jaiswal raced away to 36 off 19 balls.
This time, Suryavanshi and Sanju Samson had the opportunity too get a sighter or two thanks to their bowlers and the quick start provided by Jaiswal. It didn’t take Suryavanshi long, though. He hit six, four and four in Noor Ahmad’s first over, and took sixes in Ravindra Jadeja’s first.
The one spinner that Suryavanshi couldn’t hit was negotiated by Samson. He hit a six in each of former team-mate Ashwin’s overs to make sure RR stayed ahead of the asking rate.
By the time Ashwin gave CSK a glimmer of hope, getting the better of former captain Samson and Suryavanshi in the 14th over, the ask had already come down to 50 runs. Suryavanshi had again dazzled the observers, this time with his measured approach to go with his hitting prowess.
Jurel, though, didn’t let CSK consolidate their gains. He hit Jadeja for a six and a four, Noor for a four, and then Ashwin for a six. In perfect symmetry, it was an 18-run Ashwin over that ended CSK’s brief comeback.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 188 for 4 in 17.1 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 57, Sanju Samson 41, Yashasvi Jaiswal 36, Dhruv Jurel 31*, Shimron Hetmyer 12*; Anshul Kamboj 1-21, Raviichandran Ashwin 2-41, Noor Ahmad 1-42) beat Chennai Super Kings 187 for 8 in 20 overs (Ayush Mhatre 43, Devon Conway 10, Ravichandran Ashwin 13, Dewald Brevis 42, Shivam Dube 39, MS Dhoni 16; Tushar Dushpande 1-33, Akash Madhwal 3-29, Yudhvir Singh 3-47, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-37) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Half tons from Kamil Mishara [78 off 53] and Avishka Fernando [66 off 36] and three wicket hauls from Mohamed Shiraz [3/18] and Dunith Wellalage [3/21] helped Jaffna Kings crush Kandy Royals by 93 runs in the 13th match of the Lanka Premier League played at Dambulla on Sunday [26].
With this win Jaffna Kings rise to third spot with six points while Kandy Royals were pushed down to the bottom of the table.
Scores:
Jaffna Kings 199/4 in 20 overs [Kamil Mishara 78, Avishka Fernando 66, Towhid Hridoy 35*, Chamindu Wickrmasinghe 10; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-27, Dushan Hemantha 1-20]
Kandy Royals 108/10 in 18.2 overs [Lahiru Udara 54, Shaheen Shah Afridi 22; Mohamed Shiraz 3-18, Shakib Al Hassen 1-18, Dunith Wellalage 3-21, Traveen Mathew 1-21, David Weise 1-05]
Typhoon Noul has hit southern China, including Hong Kong, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the region and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in Guangdong province.
China’s national weather centre said Noul made landfall on the coast of Huidong county in Huizhou, southern Guangdong province, at approximately 3:50am local time on Sunday (19:50 GMT on Saturday).
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Noul was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in China so far this year.
Hong Kong’s Observatory said Noul, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometres per hour (68 miles per hour) near its centre, was moving Sunday into inland Guangdong and weakening progressively, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the region.
More than 715,000 people had been relocated for safety by early Sunday in Guangdong province, according to state-owned China National Radio. On Saturday, authorities said some 340,000 people were evacuated.
China’s National Meteorological Centre expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.
Many trees were seen uprooted in Huilai county, located on the coast of Guangdong province, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Hong Kong’s airport authority said about 350 flights were cancelled on Sunday. At least nine people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.
As Noul approached Hong Kong, parts of a large scaffolding on a high-rise building collapsed on Saturday afternoon, local police said, although initial reports indicated there were no injuries.
[Aljazeera]
Colombo Kaps defended 197 runs to win the 12th match of the Lanka Premier League by restricting Dambulla Sixers to 176/8 at the Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday [25] night.
SCORES:
Colombo Kaps 197/5 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 39, Sadeera Samarawickrema 16, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 12, Kamindu Mendis 88*, Ben McDermott 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Fazalhaq Farooki 1-41, Dushmantha Chameera 1-41, Ramesh Mendis 1-05, Gulabdin Naib 1-15]
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 in 20 overs [Pavan Rathnayake 50, Marques Ackerman 40, Gulabdin Naib 28, Maheesh Thhekshana 13; Shahnawaz Dahani 2-20, Wanuja Sahan 1-34, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33, Malsha Tharupathi 1-26, Milan Rathnayake 1-26]
Mishara, Avishka, Shiraz and Wellalage star in Jaffna Kings 93 run win
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