Latest News
IPL 2025: Sai Sudharsan, Prasidh Krishna consign MI to big defeat
On a black-soil pitch in Ahmedabad where 180 was expected to be the par score, Gujarat Titans (GT) posted 196 for 8 after being put in. It proved to be 37 too many for Mumbai Indians (MI) who, despite Hardik Pandya’s return after an over-rate ban, were found lacking in all three departments.
While it was not a perfect game for GT either, they did most things right, including selecting a slow surface for this game, as their assistant and batting coach Parthiv Patel revealed during an in-game interview. Their main concern seemed to be Sai Sudarshan, leaving the field clutching his left hamstring after a diving effort. But Shubman Gill later said that it was merely a cramp.
Before the start of the season, Gill said he wanted GT to maximise the powerplay; they were the slowest side in that phase last season with a run rate of 7.72. Both Gill and Sudharsan did their best to improve that number. Each scored 32 off 18 balls in the first six overs and took the side to 66 for no loss. It was their third-highest powerplay score in the IPL. For Gill and Sudharsan, it was their fifth 50-plus stand in five innings they have opened together in T20s.
Once the field restrictions were relaxed, MI pulled things back. They conceded only 13 in the next three overs and dismissed Gill. It was a short ball from Hardik Pandya and Gill pulled it straight to Naman Dhir at deep square leg. Hardik has now dismissed Gill four times in 18 balls in T20s while giving away just 11 runs.
Jos Buttler ended the boundary drought by hitting Mitchell Santner for a six and a four off successive balls in the tenth over. He hit a boundary in each of the next four overs as well but Mujeeb Ur Rahman ended his stay on 39.
udharsan kept GT going for a while. He brought up his second fifty in as many games, off 33 balls, and took the side to 170 for 3 after 17 overs. But GT collapsed after that. On the last ball of the 18th over, Trent Boult trapped Sudharsan lbw with a yorker, Rahul Tewatia was run out on the first of the 19th, and Sherfane Rutherford holed out to deep extra cover the following ball. Despite Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada hitting a six each, GT could manage only 26 in the last three.
Coming into this game, Mohammed Siraj had conceded 74 runs off 55 balls to Rohit Sharma in ten T20 innings without ever dismissing him. Rohit looked set to extend that record when he hit Siraj for two fours in the first three balls of the chase. But Siraj finally had his man two balls later with a scrambled-seam delivery. It cut Rohit in half and went on to hit the stumps.
Tilak Varma attacked straightaway and hit Kagiso Rabada for 4, 4, 6 off successive balls in the next over. But Ryan Rickelton was struggling at the other end. In the fifth over, he tried to smash Siraj only to get an inside edge onto his stumps. MI ended the powerplay on 48 for 2.
After that blazing start, Tilak slowed down considerably, but Suryakumar Yadav kept MI in the game. Facing just his second ball, he brought out the supla shot and hit Siraj over fine leg for a six. Not long after, he meted out the same punishment to Ishant Sharma.
R Sai Kishore was not spared either. He beat Suryakumar in the flight but the batter still hit him over extra cover for a six. Suryakumar and Tilak added 62 off 42 balls for the third wicket in which the latter’s contribution was 21 off 22.
MI needed 100 from the last nine overs with eight wickets in hand – far from an unachievable task. But the slower balls were gripping into the surface. Hardik had used this ploy in the first innings, and Prasidh Krishan did the same for GT. Introduced in the 12th over, he had Tilak caught at wide long-on with a slower short ball. When Suryakumar tried to counter that tactic with the supla shot, he gloved it onto his helmet.
Hardik was booed at this very venue last season for leaving GT for MI. Tonight, when he came out to bat, the crowd chanted his name. But it was not easy for a new batter to score freely. With Hardik struggling and the asking rate climbing, Suryakumar decided to attack Prasidh but holed out to long-off. This, too, was a slower ball. How slow? Just 97.1 kph.
When Rabada dismissed Hardik in the next over, which went for just four, MI’s hopes were buried. They needed 73 from the last three overs. While Naman Dhir and Santner hit four fours and two sixes between them, the task was virtually insurmountable.
Gujarat Titans 196 for 8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 63, Joss Buttler 39, Shubman Gill 38, Sherfaine Rutherford 18; Trent Boult 1-34, Deepak Chahar 1-39, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-28, Hardik Pandya 2-29, Satyanarayana Raju 1-40) vs Mumbai Indians 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 48, Tilak Varma 39, Hardik Pandya 11, Naman Dhir 18*, Mitchell Santner 18*; Prasidh Krishna 2-18, Mohammed Siraj 2-34, Kagiso Rabada 1-42, Sai Kishore 1-37) by 36 runs
Latest News
Heavy rainfall of about 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Western, Southern and Uva provinces and in Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa districts
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 01 APRIL 2025
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 01 April 2025 by the Department of Meteorology
The atmospheric conditions are getting favorable for afternoon thundershowers in the most parts of the island for next few days from today (01).
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-central and Uva provinces and in Galle, Matara and Kurunegala districts during the morning.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the most parts of the island during the afternoon or night. Heavy rainfall of about 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Western, Southern and Uva provinces and in Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershower
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated a former Navy commander to head the country’s domestic security services, despite the courts having blocked his bid to fire the previous head of Shin Bet.
Netanyahu’s office announced on Monday that he had nominated Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit to lead the agency, which surveils attacks from abroad and at home, including by armed groups based in Palestine and Lebanon. However, a halt to the sacking of Ronen Bar as head of Shin Bet, ordered by the Supreme Court, remains in place.
[Aljazeera]
The Trump administration has deported 17 more alleged gang members to El Salvador, the US state department has said, despite legal battles over removing people to the Central American country’s supermax prison.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the group included members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs.
Salvadoran government officials told the BBC they included a mix of Venezuelans and Salvadorans.
Earlier this month a court ordered a halt to deportations carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law previously used only in wartime. However, US media, citing administration sources, reported that the recent deportations were made under general immigration laws.
In a statement, Rubio said the group included “murderers and rapists”, but did not provide names or details of the alleged crimes or of any convictions.
In a post on X, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele shared a dramatically edited video showing shackled men being loaded off a plane and their heads being shaved before they were put into prison cells.
“All individuals are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists,” he wrote. “This operation is another step in the fight against terrorism and organized crime.”
President Trump reposted the message, blamed the administration of his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing the deportees into the US and thanked Bukele for “giving them such a wonderful place to live”.
El Salvador has agreed to take in deportees in exchange for $6m (£4.6m).
Family members of some of those who were previously sent to the maximum security prison have denied they have any gang ties.
After Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to remove more than 100 Venezuelans from the US earlier this month, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge alleging the administration had illegally denied the immigrants due process.
In a hearing on 15 March, James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington DC, imposed a temporary restraining order on the use of the law and ordered deportation flights that were in the air to be turned around.
But the deportations proceeded. The next hearing in the case will be held on Thursday.
[BBC]
Heavy rainfall of about 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Western, Southern and Uva provinces and in Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa districts
Netanyahu nominates new Israeli spy chief despite court order
Underworld leader threatens police over arrest of his father and brother
-
Sports2 days agoSri Lanka’s eternal search for the elusive all-rounder
-
Features6 days agoCelebrating 25 Years of Excellence: The Silver Jubilee of SLIIT – PART I
-
Business6 days agoCEB calls for proposals to develop two 50MW wind farm facilities in Mullikulam
-
Business4 days agoAIA Higher Education Scholarships Programme celebrating 30-year journey
-
News3 days agoGnanasara Thera urged to reveal masterminds behind Easter Sunday terror attacks
-
Features6 days agoNotes from AKD’s Textbook
-
News2 days agoComBank crowned Global Finance Best SME Bank in Sri Lanka for 3rd successive year
-
Features2 days agoSanctions by The Unpunished