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IPL 2025: Patidar, bowlers lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to first win over Chennai Super Kings in Chennai since 2008
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ended their Chennai jinx in style, beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) there got the first time since the first IPL – by a whopping 50 runs, CSK’s biggest defeat at home. The contest was so dead that more than half of CSK’s chase was all about finding out if and when MS Dhoni would bat. He eventually did so at No. 9, only for the second time in his career.
The build-up was all about how RCB would tackle 12 overs of spin, but the conditions rolled out inverted the spotlight: how would CSK handle eight overs of traditional seam and swing from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood? Not very well, as their combined figures of 7-0-41-4 demonstrated.
And that after RCB’s batters dominated the CSK attack on what was not a straightforward pitch. Like Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar, Khaleel Ahmed drew seam movement and extra bounce, but CSK didn’t have any more such bowlers. Rajat Patidar led RCB’s innings, full of intent, capitalising on a dropped catch when he was on 17, and finishing with 51 off 32 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were allowed to bowl only five overs, which were taken for 59 runs.
Khaleel drew some seam movement and uneven bounce in the first over, but CSK hadn’t planned for such conditions. They don’t have quick bowlers who can hit the good length and just short. They were going to open with Ashwin, and they did. Only for the first ball to not come out right and for Phil Salt to pull him for a six. The over went for 16, forcing the early introduction of Noor.
On his way to the Purple Cap, Noor and Dhoni recreated a lightning stumping to get rid of Salt for 32 off 16 balls, but Devdutt Padikkal denied them any relief. The left-hand batter took down Jadeja in ways Jadeja is not accustomed to: a sweep and a charge down the wicket to consign him to a 15-run first over.
When Ashwin got Padikkal out for 27 off 14 deliveries, CSK would have hoped to re-establish control. But the presence of Patidar meant they were not able to bowl spin at Virat Kohli, who struggled to achieve even a run a ball. Patidar took a six off Noor the moment he overpitched. Kohli, playing Matheesha Pathirana for the first time, took 16 runs off his second over, and RCB were 109 for 2 in 11 overs.
Like Ashwin earlier, Jadeja nearly had his own back when he drew a mis-hit from the enterprising Patidar, but Deepak Hooda dropped a sitter at long-off. In the next two overs, Patidar offered three half-chances, but none of them was taken. Kohli’s offering was taken, though, and the pressure on Liam Livingstone, and eventually his wicket, reduced RCB to 145 for 4 in the 16th over.
RCB kept the intent up, though, and Jitesh Sharma hit the second ball he played for the shot of the match, an inside-out drive off a Noor wrong’un over extra cover for six. Patidar played a delectable pick-up shot off a Pathirana slower ball in the next over. This 27-run stand in 13 balls gave RCB the impetus they needed before the death overs.
In the death overs, though, both fell, even resulting in just one run off the 19th over, bowled by Pathirana. However, Tim David took them 20 past what CSK believed to be par with three sixes in the last over, bowled by Sam Curran, who has now bowled four overs for 47 runs in two matches.
Hazlewood got Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad in his first over with steep bounce, and Bhvuneshwar took his 73rd powerplay wicket when he nicked off Hooda.
Dhoni kept teasing his fans by batting after Jadeja and Ashwin. Yet there were 4.4 overs left when he walked out to bat at No. 9. Only in the last two overs did he get some hits in, but couldn’t avoid a record home defeat.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 196 for 7 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 51, Phil Salt 32, Virat Kohli 31, Devdutt Padikkal 27, Liam Livingstone 10, Jitesh Sharma 12, Tim David 22*; Khaleel Ahmed 1-28, Ravichandran Ashwin 1-22, Noor Ahmad 3-36, Maheesha Pathirana 2-36) beat Chennai Super Kings 146 for 8 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 41, Shivam Dube 19, Ravindra Jadeja 25, Ravichandran Ashwin 11, MS Dhoni 30*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-20, Josh Hazlewood 3-21, Yash Dayal 2-18, Liam Livingstone 2-28) by 50 runs
[Cricinfo]
B Sai Sudarshan strengthened his case to retain the No.3 spot for the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka, with his 168 for India A against Sri Lanka A in Galle. Sudharsan converted his overnight 104 not out into his career-best score for India A, helping his side stretch their lead to 175 by the end of the third day’s play. India A closed out the day on 541 for 8 in response to Sri Lanka A’s 366.
Devdutt Padikkal failed to add to his overnight 94 and Ruturaj Gaikwad retired hurt on 13, but India A zoomed ahead thanks to Sai Sudharsan, captain Dhruv Jurel (53), Shaik Rasheed (45) and Saransh Jain (68*).
Jurel’s innings was cut short when he was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Dilum Sudeera, who also claimed the wicket of Sai Sudharsan. Allrounder Keshara Nuwantha, meanwhile, claimed the wickets of Padikkal and Shaik Rasheed, and Gurnoor Brar late in the day. Overall, he had figures of 4 for 158 in 50 overs.
Sri Lanka A toiled away, using as many as eight bowlers, but only Sudeera and Nuwantha were among the wickets until captain Sahan Arachchige struck late in the day.
India A’s bowling allrounders Saransh and Auqib Nabi (30) combined for an 81-run stand to take the visitors past 500.
Scores:
India A 541 for 8 in 142 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 168, Devdutt Padikkal 94, Druv Jurel 53, Saransh Jain 68*, Shaik Rasheed 45; Keshara Nuwantha 4-158, Dilum Sudeera 3-101) lead Sri Lanka A 366 in 110 overs (Sahan Arachchige 127; Gurnoor Brar 4-77, Saransh Jain 4-92) by 175 runs
(Cricinfo)
Extreme heat has disrupted Fourth of July celebrations across parts of the US, including the cancellation of a parade in Washington DC.
The Great American State Fair in the nation’s capital – marking the country’s 250th birthday – was also temporarily shut after multiple people were treated for heat-related illnesses.
More than 165 million people were sweltering on Friday under record temperatures along the US East Coast and Midwest, according to the US National Weather Service.
The heatwave is disrupting the holiday weekend as US President Donald Trump hosts a celebration marking America’s 250th birthday, while multiple World Cup matches take place outdoors.
The 4 July holiday is traditionally characterised by lots of outdoors activities – barbecues, community parades and fireworks at night.
But multiple events commemorating the US holiday – and the country’s 250th birthday – were cancelled due to the blistering heat, from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland to as far west as Colorado.
Among the cancelled events on Friday was Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade, which was tipped to be one of the biggest events across the US.
“As much as this decision pains everyone inside our organisation, we simply cannot host an event of this size and scale under these dangerous heat conditions,” Michael DelBene, the CEO of parade organiser Wawa Welcome America, said in a statement to the BBC.
In Washington, an Independence Day morning was cancelled “after extensive and careful consideration of the safety of our participants, spectators and staff as the top priority”, organisers said.
The intense heat also led to the closure of the fair on the National Mall for several hours on Friday, one day before the holiday. The State Fair reopened at 17:00 local time (21:00 GMT) after conditions improved, organiser Freedom 250 said.
“The safety and wellbeing of our guests, volunteers, performers, vendors and staff is our highest priority,” it said.
The DC Fire and EMS Department treated several people for “heat-related illnesses” at the fair on Friday, a spokesperson for the department told the BBC. He said these were caused by “record-breaking temperatures” at the event.
At least 11 people were taken by ambulance from the fair, the spokesperson said, but did not elaborate on whether all had heat-related illnesses.
“It is going to be a very busy weekend,” a spokesperson for the DC Fire and EMS Department told the Washington Post.
“We know that there are going to be heat-related illnesses on and off the Mall, and we encourage our residents and visitors to take precautions if you’re going to be out in the heat.”
Robin Ardito, who attended the fair, said she saw a middle-aged woman who appeared to be suffering from a heat-related illness. The woman was being tended to by fair staff with both hands in buckets of ice, she said.
“It was too hot to be holding an event like this,” Ardito added.
Another event in Washington DC was affected when US Capitol Police delayed public entry for Friday evening’s outdoor A Capitol Fourth concert from 15:00 to 19:00 local time.
Trump is expected to speak outside at a 4 July celebration on Saturday, despite the predicted high temperatures. The president has maintained that he wanted to gather outside for the celebration.
“I’m gonna make a really long speech just to show that I can do anything,” he said.
The extreme heat was expected to continue through the weekend as the hottest spell of the year so far sends temperatures soaring to levels not seen, in some areas, in decades.
It follows an unprecedented spell of early summer heat across Europe, with record highs across the continent.
Searing heat and high humidity is not unusual across North America, but the widespread nature of this event, across central and eastern areas on Friday and then the east for the weekend, sets it apart as potentially dangerous.
Philadelphia and Washington DC are expected to reach 104F (40C) and 103F with the humidity making it feel like 112F and 111F, respectively, approaching their all-time record highs, according to the NWS.
[BBC]
Jhon Arias scored the only goal as Colombia beat Ghana 1-0 in sweltering conditions in Kansas City on Friday to reach the World Cup round of 16, continuing a quietly impressive campaign that has established them as dangerous outsiders.
Arias struck in the 14th minute, guiding home a cross from substitute Luis Suarez, and Colombia’s disciplined defence did the rest as Nestor Lorenzo’s side extended their unbeaten run and booked a meeting with Switzerland in the next round.
Colombia had largely flown under the radar at the tournament, despite going undefeated against Portugal, Uzbekistan and DR Congo to top Group K.
Their breakthrough on Friday came from two players who had not been expected to combine, as Suarez, thrust into action after Jhon Cordoba was forced off with an apparent groin injury in the eighth minute, delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post where Arias had somehow drifted unmarked.
With time and space to pick his spot, Arias calmly guided the ball into the bottom corner to hand his side a deserved lead.
The stadium felt more like Barranquilla than Kansas City as tens of thousands of Colombia supporters turned the clash with Ghana – a team ranked 60 places behind them – into a de facto home game, giving the South Americans a level of support rarely seen so far from home.
The stands were a writhing, dancing sea of yellow jerseys, twirling scarves and black-and-white sombrero vueltiao hats, that many used to fan their faces in the oppressive 30-degree Celsius (86-degree Fahrenheit) heat.
They bounced in unison, roared their team forward with every attack, and regularly broke into chants of “Vamos Colombia! Esta noche tenemos que ganar!” (Spanish for ‘Let’s go Colombia, tonight we have to win!’).
They need not have worried. Colombia were the better team by some distance.
Luis Diaz had numerous scoring chances. He fired into the side netting in the first half, then celebrated what he thought was the game’s second goal early in the second half when he slotted home Arias’s cross, but it was disallowed for offside.
Lorenzo’s men continued to push for a second goal, and Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who was excellent all night, made one terrific save after another in the dying minutes as Colombia’s fans cheered every one of their team’s touches of the ball.
Antoine Semenyo was Ghana’s biggest attacking threat, yet Colombia’s disciplined defence denied him a clear sight of goal.
Colombia became the fourth South American team to reach the last 16, joining surprise package Paraguay, who stunned Germany, along with Brazil and Argentina, both of whom survived scares of their own.
Colombia – whose best finish was reaching the quarterfinals in 2014 – play the Swiss on Tuesday in Vancouver.
[Aljazeera]
India A grow lead after Sai Sudharsan hits 168
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Brutal heat cancels Fourth of July events, from DC to Philadelphia
Arias sends Colombia into World Cup last-16 with 1-0 win over Ghana
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