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IPL 2025: Royal Challengers Bengaluru go No. 1 after Krunal’s all-round heroics

Published

9 months ago

2025/04/28

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Krunal Pandya starred with both bat and ball

A sensational all-round display from Krunal Pandya led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the top of the IPL 2025 table as they outbowled and outbatted Delhi Capitals in a tense clash on a tricky, two-paced surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

A strong display with the ball set things up, as RCB sent DC in and restricted them to 162 for 8, with Bhuveneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood picking up five wickets between them, and Suvash Sharma and Krunal strangling with spin through the middle overs. The chase was never going to be straightforward, though, given the conditions and DC’s attack, and RCB duly slipped to 26 for 3 after four overs.

Krunal, though, hauled RCB out of the mire and put them in front, over the course of a 119-run fourth-wicket stand with Virat Kohli, who made his sixth half-century of the season, and his fourth in a chase.

The recovery came in two phases. By the 10-over mark, Kohli and Krunal had put on 40 in 36 balls, and neither batter was looking fluent. But Krunal found his hitting range, and took off. Having been on 17 off 21 balls at one stage, he hit 56 off his last 26 balls. Kohli fell for 51 off 47 with RCB needing 18 off 13. There was no late twist, though, as Tim David finished with a flurry of boundaries, sealing victory with nine balls remaining.

Abhishek Porel struck the ball sweetly at the start of DC’s innings to score 28 off 11 balls, and Tristan Stubbs made an innovative 34 off 18 at the finish, but DC’s other batters struggled, scoring just 96 off 92 balls between them.

Faf du Plesis, returning from a groin injury and playing his first game since April 10, and KL Rahul struggled for fluency in particular, scoring 22 off 26 and 41 off 39 respectively.

The surface was partly responsible for this, with the ball gripping and occasionally staying low too, and RCB’s bowling played its part too, with Suyash and Krunal especially suffocating through the middle overs, bowling at high pace into the pitch and keeping width to a minimum.

And DC suffered two crucial jolts.

First, just when Axzr Patel was beginning to look dangerous, having slogged Krunal for a six in the previous over, Hazlewood came back and bowled DC’s captain in the 14th. This took some pressure off Suyash and Krunal – who may not have relished bowling to the left-handed Axar – and they finished their quotas by conceding a combined 13 runs across the 15th and 16th overs, against Rahul and a new-to-the-crease Stubbs.

Then, when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Rahul in the 17th, DC sent in Ashutosh Sharma as their Impact Player. They had named a bowler-heavy XI despite batting first, with the hope that they could bring in the extra bowler if their top order enjoyed a good day. As it happened, they were forced to bring in a batter, and he was out third ball, bowled by a legcutter from Bhuvneshwar.

Stubbs and Vinrai Nigam then provided the spark that DC had sorely lacked up to then, using the V behind the wicket smartly to collect a combined 36 runs across the 18th and 19th overs. Bhuvneshwar, though, cut short the fireworks with a superb 20th over, dismissing Stubbs and only conceding six runs (one of them off a leg-bye) despite bowling with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle with RCB having run into an over-rate penalty.

Replacing Phil Salt, who was out with fever, Jacob Bethell played a short and exciting innings on IPL debut. He flicked Mitchell Starc for a six and a four off successive balls in the second over, before being done in by the slowness of the pitch, miscuing a pull off Axar to deep midwicket in the third over.

Despite the presence of the left-handed Bethell, Axar had bowled the first and the third overs. He ended up dismissing not one but two left-handers, with Devdutt Padikkal, RCB’s Impact Player, chopping on while attempting a cut two balls later.

Karun Nair had taken an excellent catch in the deep to send Bethell back, and he was soon in play once again when Kohli clipped one in his direction at midwicket and seemed to take off for a single before coming to an abrupt stop. Rajpat Patidar hared out of his crease at the other end, and it was too late by the time he turned back and dived, with Nair’s direct hit finding him well short.

The first part of RCB’s recovery wasn’t pretty. The pitch was still a tricky one for run-scoring, and one moment summed it up perfectly. A short ball from Nigam seemed ripe for pulling, but it lost so much pace off the pitch that it was on its way down by the time Kohli met it with his inside edge.

For all their lack of fluency, though, Kohli and Krunal were ensuring RCB had wickets at the back end, and at the halfway mark they needed 99 off 60 balls.

It was Krunal who switched gears, and he did it dramatically, whipping Dushmantha Chameera for a leg-side six in the 11th over and clearing the boundary twice off Mukesh Kumar in the 13th: the last of these hits, a length ball launched over long-off with a full extension of the arms, showed just how much Krunal had got to grips with the conditions.

And in the next over he showed he could do it against spin too, going over extra-cover off Kuldeep Yadav when he floated one into his arc.

DC’s last chance to get back in the game came in the 16th over, when Starc forced Krunal to miscue a pull with a sharp short ball angled across the left-hander from left-arm around. Running in from deep midwicket, Porel put down a sitter. Before this ball, RCB needed 40 off 25 balls.

By the time Chameera broke the partnership with a slower legcutter to Kohli in the 18th, DC were almost out of it. David then hurried RCB over the line, going 6, 4 (plus no-ball), 4, 4 as Mukesh’s attempted yorkers in the 19th over ended up as a succession of full-tosses and half-volleys.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73*, Virat Kohli 51, Jacob Bethel 12, Tim David 19*; Axar Patel 2-19, Dushmantha Chameera 1-24) beat Delhi Capitals 162 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Porel 28, Faf du Plesis 22, KL Rahul 41, Axar Patel 15, Tristan Stubbs 34, Vipraj Nigam 12; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-33, Yash Dayal 1-42, Josh Hazlewood 2-36, Krunal Pandya 1-28) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Shanaka, Mendis star in 12-over run-fest to square series for Sri Lanka

Published

16 mins ago

2026/01/12

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Kusal Mendis plays a sweep during his 30 from 16 balls (Cricinfo)

Dasun Shanaka clobbered 34 off 9 balls, Kusal Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka and Janith Liyanage all chipped in with quick runs, and Sri Lanka raced to 160 for 6 in 12 overs, but Pakistan still made them sweat.

The match had been shortened to 12-overs-a-side after rain forced a delay of two hours and 20 minutes. A wet outfield also made bowling significantly more difficult, with both spinners and seamers struggling to grip the ball.

But in any conditions, this was a run-fest, Sri Lanka traveling at 13.3 an over across their innings, while Pakistan’s run rate was 12.25. In the end, Sri Lanka’s bowlers made frequent-enough incisions to slow the opposition. Wanindu Hasaranga was chief among the destroyers, taking 4 for 35 in his three overs.

Salman Agha layed the most daring innings in the chase, thumping 45 off 12 balls. Had he survived for two further overs, Pakistan might have had the momentum to get over the line. In the end, they fell 14 short.

Sri Lanka’s captain was under a little pressure to impose himself after recently reclaiming the leadership. To this match he brought his best big-hitting self, and transformed a good total into a daunting one. Shanaka came in with only 19 balls left in the innings, then smoked his second and third balls for six. Then, in the final over bowled by Mohammad Wasim, Shanaka thumped three sixes off the first three balls, depositing two of those over the deep cover boundary. He holed out off the third-to-last ball of the innings, but he had produced a gem.

The stage had been set for him by a top order that had already prospered, however. By he time Shanaka arrived, Sri Lanka were already 100 for 5 after 8.5 overs.

Although the ball was difficult to grip, this Dambulla surface still took decent turn. And Hasaranga can be devastating on such tracks, particularly when the opposition has no choice but to target him. Although often Hasaranga gets plenty of bowled and lbw dismissals with his googly, all four of his victims on Sunday were caught attempting big shots. His speed through the air and degree of turn created most of those dismissals.

Of the 12 he faced, the only ball Agha didn’t score off was the one he got out to. Agha hit three sixes, five fours, one three, and two twos in his innings. He took a particular liking to the bowling of Maheesh Theekshana, who went for 22 runs in the third over. His most spectacular shot was an over-the-shoulder scoop against Matheesha Pathirana in the fourth over, which sailed over the boundary. But then Pathirana wised up, bowled fuller, and Agha sent a catch to short fine leg to end his innings.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 160 for 6 in 12 overs (Kamil Mishara 20, Dasun Shanaka 34, Kusal Mendis 30, Dhananjaya de Silva 22, Charith Asalanka 21, Janith Liyanage 22*; Naseem Shah 1-35, Mohammad Wasim 3-54, Mohammad Nawaz 1-08, Faheem Ashraf 1-09) beat Pakistan 146 for 8 in 12 overs (Salman Agha 45, Mohammed Nawaz 28, Khawaja Nafay 26; Eshan Malinga 127, Matheesha Pathirana 2-34, Wanidu Hasaranga 4-35) by 14 runs

(Cricinfo)

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One person dead and 300 buildings destroyed in Australia bushfires

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/11

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One person has died and 300 properties have been destroyed in bushfires that have torn across south-east Australia.

The fires have raged in dozens of locations across the country for several days, mostly in the state of Victoria, but also in New South Wales, burning through land almost twice the size of Greater London.

A state of emergency has been declared in Victoria as thousands of firefighters and more than 70 aircraft battle the blaze. Residents in more than a dozen communities have been advised to leave their homes.

Authorities fear the fires, which are being fuelled by very hot, dry and windy conditions, could burn for several weeks.

AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions. — *A forest burns in Longwood, Victoria, Australia on 9 January (BBC)*

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan said 30 active fires were burning across the state, 10 of which were of particular concern.

She said 350,000 hectares had been burnt across the state as of 08:00 local time on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday).

“We will see fires continue for some time across the state and that is why we are not through the worst of this by a long way,” she told Australian media.

“There are fires that are continuing right now that are threatening homes and property.”

Human remains were found in the village of Gobur, near the town of Longwood, some 110km (70 sq miles) north of the state capital Melbourne, police said. The victim has not yet been identified.

Allan praised the emergency workers who worked to retrieve the body. “This is difficult and confronting work, and it takes a heavy toll.”

“The Gobur community is grieving,” she said.

Bushfire smoke is impacting air quality in many areas across Victoria, including metropolitan Melbourne.

Authorities said the fires were the worst to hit the south-east of Australia since the 2019-2020 blazes that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.

(BBC)

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Iran warns it will retaliate if US attacks as protesters defy crackdown

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/11

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Protesters gathered in a street in Tehran on Friday, 9 January (BBC)

Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the US, as protesters defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night.

Videos verified by the BBC and eyewitness accounts appeared to show the government ramping up its response to the protests, which have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran.

Medics at two hospitals have told the BBC that more than 100 bodies had been brought in over a two day period. The nationwide death toll is feared to be far higher.

The US has threatened to strike Iran over the killing of protesters. Iran’s parliament speaker warned that if the US attacked, Israel along with US military and shipping centres in the region would become legitimate targets.

The protests were sparked in the capital, Tehran, by soaring inflation, and are now calling for an end to the clerical rule of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran’s attorney general said anyone protesting would be considered an “enemy of God” – an offence that carries the death penalty – while Khamenei has dismissed demonstrators as a “bunch of vandals” seeking to “please” Trump.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US “stands ready to help” as Iran “is looking at FREEDOM”.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the US and Israel for the unrest.

“They have trained certain individuals inside the country and abroad, brought terrorists into the country from outside, set mosques on fire, and attacked markets and guilds in Rasht, setting the bazaar ablaze,” he said without providing evidence.

As protests intensify, the number of deaths and injuries recorded by human rights monitors continues to rise.

Footage authenticated by BBC Persian and BBC Verify shows security officers shooting at gatherings of protesters in Tehran, in the western Kermanshah province and the southern Bushehr region.

Multiple verified videos filmed in the centre of the western city of Ilam last weekend show security forces firing shots towards Imam Khomeini Hospital, where a group of protesters had been holding a rally.

Staff at several hospitals have since told the BBC they have been overwhelmed with the injured and dead.

BBC Persian has verified that 70 bodies brought to one hospital in the city of Rasht on Friday night, while a health worker reported around 38 people dying at a Tehran hospital.

Sources inside Iran have told BBC Persian that plain-clothes officers have been targeting people filming and on their own at the protests.

Iran’s police chief said on state TV that the level of confrontation with protesters had been stepped up, with arrests on Saturday night of what he called “key figures”. He blamed a “significant proportion of fatalities” on “trained and directed individuals”, not security forces, but did not give specific details.

More than 2,500 people have been arrested since protests began on 28 December, according to a human rights group.

The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has imposed an internet shutdown since Thursday, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.

Nonetheless, some footage has emerged.

Several videos, confirmed as recent by BBC Verify, show clashes between protesters and security forces in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

Masked protesters can be seen taking cover behind bins and bonfires, while a row of security forces is seen in the distance. A vehicle that appears to be a bus is engulfed in flames.

Multiple gunshots and what sounds like banging on pots and pans can be heard.

A figure standing on a nearby footbridge appears to fire multiple gunshots in several directions as a couple of people take cover behind a fence.

In Tehran, a verified video from Saturday night shows protesters also taking over the streets in the Gisha district.

Other verified videos from the capital show a large group of protesters and the sound of banging on pots in Punak Square, and a crowd of protesters marching on a road and calling for the end of the clerical establishment in the Heravi district.

Internet access in Iran is largely limited to a domestic intranet, with restricted links to the outside world. But during the current round of protests, authorities have for the first time severely restricted that too.

An expert told BBC Persian the shutdown is more severe than during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising in 2022.Alireza Manafi, an internet researcher, said the only likely way to connect to the outside world was via Starlink satellite, but warned users to exercise caution as such connections could potentially be traced by the government.

Trump did not elaborate on what the US was considering. However, he has been briefed on options for military strikes on Iran, an official told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

The Wall Street Journal reports these were “preliminary discussions” and that there was no “imminent threat” to Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday about the possibility of US intervention in Iran, they told CBS.

On Sunday, Reza Pahlavi , the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah, who lives in the US and whose return protesters have been calling for, told demonstrators that Trump had “carefully observed your indescribable bravery” in a social media post.

“Your compatriots around the world are proudly shouting your voice,” he wrote, pledging: “I know that I will soon be by your side.”

Pahlavi claimed the Islamic Republic was facing a “severe shortage of mercenaries” and that “many armed and security forces have left their workplaces or disobeyed orders to suppress the people”. The BBC could not verify these claims.

He encouraged people to continue protesting on Sunday evening, but to stay in groups or with crowds and not “endanger your lives”.

(BBC)