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IPL 2025: Rohit, Suryakumar fifties seal NRR-boosting win for Mumbai Indians

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Rohit Sharma goes over the off side [Cricinfo]

Mumbai Indians (MI) put together a third straight win in IPL 2025 as they outgunned a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side shorn of hitting power. The lack of batting showed in how they played a highly cagey brand of cricket, only targeting certain pockets and conceding match-ups without protest. It took them three overs to hit a boundary, then they went 27 balls in the middle overs without even attempting one, only to cap it off with no boundary in the 17th and 18th overs, bowled by MI’s best bowlers on the night: Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner.

Not only did MI manage a run-rate boost with the win that takes them to eight points in eight matches, they also welcomed Rohit Sharma back to runs. Rohit scored his first fifty this IPL – his previous highest was 26 – they put together their first half-century opening stand this IPL, and Suraykumar Yadav got the better of CSK’s spin threat with his various sweeps.

This match was played on the pitch that produced 430 runs for RCB and MI.  The toss, as usual, was a big advantage at Wankhede. Which should make it important to look for above-par scores, but CSK took the pragmatic route: don’t risk 120 all out looking for 200. Consequently, their openers tested waters for too long, timing shots straight to fielders. When Shaik Rasheed finally hit one in the air, and for a four, CSK had only 16 in three overs.

Rachin Ravindra by now felt he had to target the change bowler without a sighter. He looked to go big down the ground, and edged the first ball by Ashwani Kumar. His replacement at the wicket, CSK’s younger player of all time, the 17-year-old Aush Mhatre injected some life to the innings with flair reminiscent of Dwayne Bravo. It still meant only 48 runs in the powerplay. The unperturbed MI stayed with Deepak Chahar for a fourth straight over, eventually resulting in the legcutter that got Mhatre out for 32 off 15.

Santner produced a beauty in the eighth over at 77kmph to have Rasheed stumped on the defence, but that brought together Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. They have batting behind these two, but it’s MS Dhoni, Jamie Overton and Vijay Shankar. So these two decided not to hit anything even though their coming together meant Santner was taken off despite figures of 2-0-8-1. Put together, CSK didn’t make a boundary attempt between Mhatre’s dismissal and the return of Boult in the 12th over.

To be fair to CSK, they did well when they went after Boult and Ashwani, taking 85 in the six overs bowled by them. Dube raced away from 16 off 19 to a 30-ball fifty even as Jadeja hovered around a run a ball. However, when Bumrah got Dube with a slower ball, it allowed MI to bring back Santner for the 18th over because Dhoni and Jadeja were in the middle.

Santner bowled the 18th without a boundary, and it was only a late surge from Jadeja off Boult in the last over that took CSK to a modicum of respectability.

MI have been resurgent in recent times, but they might feel this was the final missing piece in the puzzle. A sizeable opening partnership, and Rohit carrying on from a quick start. He was severe on early errors from the quick bowlers, haring away to 32 off 18 in the powerplay, hitting three sweetly timed sixes. Only R Ashwin managed to keep him quiet. However, he went on to get the better of Ashwin when he slog-swept him for a six in the eighth over.

That six still didn’t take Rohit to a run a ball in his head-to-head against Ashwin in all these years, but it must have provided him a sense of victory against his old foe. Rohit was not the only one getting better of nemeses. Suryakumar entered this match with just 50 runs and four dismissals off 65 Jadeja deliveries. It was Jadeja that brought Suryakumar into the middle with the wicket of Ryan Rickleton in the seventh over. In the ninth over, Surya drove Jadeja over extra cover for four followed by a swept six, his first career six off Jadeja.

This was only a harbinger of what was to come. In all, Surya played nine sweeps for a whopping 35 runs. Three of them flew over the ropes, four others ended in the advertising boards. He outpaced Rohit with ease, and his flourish made sure MI got a bit net-run-rate boost, winning with 4.2 overs to spare.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians177 for 1 in 15.4 overs (Ryan Rickelton 24, Rohit Sharma 76*, Suryakumar Yadav 68*; Ravindra Jadeja 1-28, Matheesha Pathirana 0-34) beat Chennai Super Kings 176 for 5 in 20 overs (Shaik Rasheed 19, Ayush Mhatre 32, Ravindra Jadeja 53*, Shivam Dube 50; Jasprit  Bumrah 2-25, Deepak Chahar 1-32, Ashwani Kumar 1-42, Mitchell Sabtner 1-14)   by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]



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Sooryavanshi 175 makes India six-time Under-19 world champions

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi celebrates his century (Cricinfo)

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gave the latest demonstration of his prodigious talent with a record breaking innings in Harare as India completed a dominant run at the Under-19 World Cup, swatting aside England’s challenge, to lift the trophy for the sixth time.

Sooryavanshi, the 14-year-old opener, showcased his full range of scoring in an audacious knock of 175 off just 80 balls to almost single-handedly extinguish England’s hopes after India had opted to bat. When he was third out, India were 251 for 3 in the 26th over and hypothetically on track to score 500. No one could keep up with Sooryavanshi’s rate, but cameos down the order from Abhigyan Kundu and Kanishk Chouhan did take India past 400 for the first time in a Youth ODI between Full Member nations.

For England, Caleb Falconer  struck a scintillating 63-ball hundred in response, but there was too much left to do and he was last out as India regained the Under-19 title, having lost the final to Australia two years ago.

Although England struck early, Aaron George caught at point off Alex Green, the game quickly ran away from them. Sooryavanshi put on 142 in 15 overs alongside India’s captain, Ayush Mhatre,  and then 78 out of 89 for the third wicket alongside Vedant Trivedi as the innings went into overdrive.

Having cruised to fifty from 32 balls, he took just 23 more to bring up his first century of the tournament, then another 16 to progress past 150. Sixes rained down around the ground, as England’s spinners, Farhan Ahmed and Ralphie Albert, were treated with disdain – although arguably no shot was more outrageous than the forehand smash off a Green bouncer than somehow went straight back over the bowler’s head into the sightscreen.

He fell completely against the run of play, gloving behind when aiming a slog-sweep at Manny Lumsden, and India’s innings stuttered – at least relative to what had gone before. James Minto   bagged three-for as England strove to keep the score below 400, a mark that was breached in the final over.

Set a record chase in Youth ODIs, never mind Under-19 World Cups, England needed an explosive start. Instead, India began with two maidens, as Ben Dawkins  and Joseph Moore struggled initially to lay bat on ball. RS Ambrish bowled Moores off an inside edge, but the arrival of Ben Mayes brought about the required increase in tempo as England raced to 64 for 1 at the end of the first powerplay.

Mayes struck seven fours and two sixes but fell the ball after retaking top spot from Sooryavanshi on the tournament run-scorers’ list. Thomas Rew, England’s captain, blazed out of the blocks with 31 off 18 and Dawkins notched a 49-ball fifty – but the latter’s dismissal sparked a collapse of 4 for 3 in nine balls as India’s grip tightened.

England were well up with the rate, despite wickets falling, and were given hope by a stand of 92 between Falconer and James Minto. Falconer found the boundary regularly on the way to his maiden hundred, but the requirement had ballooned above 10 an over and England were still 100 runs short when he was finally dismissed.

Brief scores:

India Under 19s 411 for 9 in 50 overs  (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 175, Ayush Mhatre 53, Abhigyan Kundu 40; Sebastian Morgan 2-74, Alex Green 2-49,  Ja,es  Minto 3-63) beat England Under 19s  311 in 40.2 overs  (Caleb Falconer 115, Ben Dawkins 65, Ben Mayes 45; RS Ambrish 3-56, Deepesh Devendran 2-64, Khan8shk Chouhan 2-63) by 100 runs

(Cricinfo)

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Mighty India meet multicultural USA in polarised World Cup

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Mumbai will have plenty of local boys to root for, from both sides [Cricinfo]

The USA national team has only four players born in the USA, all of them children of immigrants. The other 11 are first-generation immigrants.

Three of those 11 were born in Pakistan. Their captain Monank Patel, and four others, were born in India. Monank recently told PTI  there is “no Indian or Pakistani when you represent the USA.”

This team of Indian, Pakistani, South African and Sri Lankan immigrants will get under the star-sprangled banner and start, against India, their campaign in this T20 World Cup, during whose build-up the world has seemed to grow increasingly polarised.

Make of it what you will. Be relieved that cricket still has room for these niceties, or be despondent that this small win is worth celebrating.

Amid all the politicking, what has probably not been celebrated enough is the T20 excellence India have put together. Over nine editions, the T20 world title has neither been defended successfully nor been won at home. On Saturday, in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium where they won the 2011 ODI title, India will begin their campaign promising that both can be achieved in a month’s time.

Fourteen years ago, Ian Chappell wrote that left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, born in Mumbai and an Under-19 World Cup winner for India, was ready for international cricket. Watching Harmeet, Chappell was put in the mind of Bishan Singh Bedi. Here he is, an international cricketer via a circuitous route, back in his place of birth to take on the team representing his country of birth.

Six months ago, Ishan Kishan was not even on the World Cup radar. Then Shubman Gill got injured and fell short of runs on his T20I comeback. Kishan blasted all comers during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So he entered the World Cup squad as the back-up wicketkeeper-batter. Then Sanju Samson fell short of runs. Now, if India’s World Cup warm-up fixture was anything to go by, Kishan is the No. 1 choice to partner Abhishek Sharma at the top. And if he can get off to a good start, he is likely to keep his place for the business end of the tournament.

Washington Sundar, still recovering from a side strain, was not with the squad during their warm-up match against South Africa, but India are going to keep him in their squad. As it is, he is a back-up for Axar Patel, who is the first-choice spin allrounder. Harshit Rana was seen in some discomfort during the warm-up fixture and walked off after bowling just one over. The prognosis for Rana’s participation in this tournament ” doesn’t look good”, India captain Suryakumar Yadav has said, and it is particularly a cause for concern since he is the only genuine fast bowler in the squad who can contribute a few sixes down the order. Tilak Varma has made a successful return to fitness.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma,  Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt),  Hardik Pandya,  Rinku Singh,  Shivam Dube,  Axar Patel,  Arshdeep Singh,  Jasprit Bumrah,  Varun Chakravarthy.

Andries Gous, who missed USA’s last T20I, the final of the North America T20 Cup last April, should come back as wicketkeeper and opener. Others could drop down a slot each to make up for the absence of the suspended Aaron Jones.

USA (probable): Saiteja Mukkamalla, Andries Gous (wk),  Shayan Jahangir,  Monank Patel (capt.), Milind Kumar,  Harmeet Singh,  Shubham Ranjane,  Mohammad Mohsin,  Shadley van Schalkwyk,  Saurabh Netravalkar,  Ali Khan

[Cricinfo]

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At least 31 killed, dozens wounded in Islamabad mosque blast

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People shift an injured man to a hospital following an explosion at a mosque in Islamabad on February 6, 2026 [Aljazeera]

An apparent suicide attack at a Shia mosque in Islamabad has killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more, in one of the worst such incidents to hit Pakistan’s capital.

The powerful explosion occurred at Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, during Friday prayers.

A senior police official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity the explosion appeared to be a suicide attack but the conclusive cause is yet to be determined.

“Our team is present at the site and we’re in process of confirming the cause,” he said.

A security source told told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity the attacker detonated himself after being stopped at the gate of the mosque.

In a statement, Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospital after rescue teams reached the site of the explosion.

Footage shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed bloodied bodies laying on the floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass and debris.

At the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, AFP journalists saw several adults and children being carried in on stretchers or by their arms and legs.

Medics and bystanders helped unload victims with blood-soaked clothes from the back of ambulances and vehicles. At least one casualty arrived in the boot of a car, while friends and relatives of the wounded screamed as they arrived at the hospital’s heavily guarded emergency ward, the news agency reported.

In a statement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “deep grief” following the incident.

In November last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens

(Aljazeera)

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