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Jaiswal, Gill tons begin India’s new Test era in style
The two faces of India’s new generation of Test batters traded sparkling centuries to dominate England on the opening day at Headingley. Yashaswi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill cruised to hundreds as opener and No. 4 respectively, shrugging off the absence of two modern greats whose retirements have vacated those roles: no Rohit, no Virat, no problem.
Jaiswal plundered 712 runs in India’s home series against England 18 months ago, here, he provided further evidence of his adaptability. His century was a masterclass in off-side strokeplay: each of his 17 boundaries, including a vicious cut for six over cover, came on the off side, and he took only 48 balls to move from 50 to 100.
But Gill’s innings, his first as captain, was even better. He embodied the tempo that he wants from his side, charging to his fastest half-century (off 56 balls) without offering a chance before cruising serenely to three figures. After lashing a cover drive for four to reach his sixth Test hundred, he bowed to a standing ovation from his team-mates on the dressing-room balcony.
Gill said on the eve of the series that he would look to lead through his action and “dominate” with the bat, and backed up his words with an innings that oozed authority. Having never previously made an impact in Tests outside Asia, he looked completely at home as he seized his chance to prove he is not only the future of India’s batting line-up, but the present too.
It made for a long, painstaking day in the field for England’s bowlers, who must have ruedBen Stokes’ decision to bowl first on winning the toss on an unusually hot day in Leeds. Stokes himself was the pick of the attack, strangling the debutant B Sai Sudharsan down the leg side on the stroke of lunch and knocking back Jaiswal’s off stump straight after tea.
Stokes’ call was informed by the sense that there would be life in the pitch in the first session, but Jaiswal and KL Rahul did not entertain that notion. England’s seamers bowled reasonably full and attacked the off-stump channel but without success, their desperation summed up by a hugely optimistic lbw review when Josh Tongue hit Jaiswal on the pad from around the wicket.
Jaiswal occasionally played and missed, and was struck on the ribcage by a lifter from Brydon Carse, but Rahul looked totally unflustered as he punished width and half-volleys. It came as a shock when he finally offered a chance off a Carse outswinger, his thick outside edge flying straight to Joe Root at slip.
Carse’s follow-up ball to Sai Sudharsan, India’s new No. 3, was a snorter which wrapped him on the back thigh, and he soon fell into England’s trap. Stokes bowled the final over of the morning session with a leg slip and a leg gully, appealing unsuccessfully for a leg-side strangle with his third delivery; Sai Sudharsan duly obliged one ball later, feathering through to Jamie Smith.
Gill started jumpily after lunch, scampering through for a tight single off his second ball and offering a run-out chance off his sixth. He worked Carse to the right of Ollie Pope at short midwicket, whose pick-up-and-throw would have found Gill short of his ground with a direct hit; instead, it ran away to the boundary for overthrows.
It proved to be the only real chance of the middle session, though Carse might well have had Jaiswal lbw on review for 45 had he not overstepped. After an itchy start, Gill settled down and looked utterly unflappable for the rest of his innings: he made Chris Woakes look utterly innocuous after lunch, then reached a rapid half-century with a pull off Tongue.
Jaiswal battled cramp as he put his foot on the accelerator, marking Shoaib Bashir’s introduction to the attack by slicing his first ball away behind point and later dumping him back over his head for four. As he grew tired, he began to stand and deliver: he reached his hundred by belting Carse for consecutive fours, then snuck through for a single and raised his arms aloft.
His innings ended soon after tea, as Stokes angled the ball away off the seam and pegged back the top of his off stump. But the respite was short-lived: Rishabh Pant, playing against England in Tests for the first time in three years, charged at his second ball and belted it over Stokes’ head for four. England’s captain could only laugh.
Pant and Gill reined themselves in, allowing Bashir to settle into an economical, if largely unthreatening, spell of 21 unchanged overs from the Football Stand End. But Pant was never likely to wait for long, and started to take on the deep fielders: he nearly miscued a catch to Crawley at short midwicket, but comfortably cleared long-on with a towering straight six.
Gill upped the tempo further after his rasping drive off Tongue to reach his century, short-arm pulling six over long leg. And England’s hopes that the second new ball would provide a breakthrough were quickly quashed as Pant toe-ended a slog-sweep through mid-on, then hoicked Woakes over midwicket for six in the final over of the day.
Brief scores:
India 359 for 3 in 5 overs (Shubman Gill 127*, Yahaswi Jaiswal 101, Rishabh Pant 65*; Ben Stokes 2-43) vs England
[Cricinfo]
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Everest record holder warns of Nepal danger as two Indian mountaineers die
Two Indian climbers have died on Mount Everest during a record-breaking period of ascents via Nepal’s southern route, as experts warn of overcrowding on the world’s highest peak.
Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring.
At least five climbers have died during this Everest season, including the two Indians and three Nepalis. A United States and a Czech climber died on Mount Makalu earlier this month.
Nivesh Karki, director at Pioneer Adventures, named the latest victims as Sandeep Are, who he said summited on May 20, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who reached the peak on May 21.
“They fell ill while descending at high altitude. We are working out how to retrieve the bodies,” Karki told the AFP news agency.
Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, who scaled Everest for a record 32nd time earlier this month, returned to the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday, where he expressed concern about the experience of some climbers.
Pictures posted by climbers show a long line of people climbing up fixed ropes, queueing in the icy, low-oxygen high-altitude zones.
“The expedition this time felt a bit crowded,” said Kami Rita Sherpa, dubbed the “Everest Man”.
“The government should regulate this a bit … They should let in only climbers of quality – there should be a limit,” he told AFP.
On Thursday, a record number of climbers reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) Himalayan peak from the Nepali side, according to tourism officials, who gave a preliminary total of 275 pending final confirmation.
The peak can be tackled from both Nepal and the northern face in Tibet, but Chinese authorities have closed the latter route this year.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists the highest number to climb Everest in a single day as 354, in May 2019.
Nepali tourism officials said the final number will be tallied after the climbs are verified, which require photographs and statements from the climber’s expedition company and guides.
Among the successful climbers on Friday was British guide Kenton Cool, who reached the top for the 20th time – extending his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak by a non-Nepali.
The high number of climbers has rekindled concerns about overcrowding on the mountain – especially if poor weather shortens the climbing window.
The country has issued a record 492 Everest permits for foreigners this season, with a city of tents set up at the foot of the mountain for climbers and support staff.
Approximately 600 people – including guides – have summited Everest since the start of this year’s spring climbing season in April.
[Aljazeera]
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Sunrisers Hyderabad win big but Royal Challengers Bengaaluru, Gujarat Titans seal top two spots
Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] won, and yet it didn’t feel like a win. Royal Challengers Bengaluru [RCB] lost, but it didn’t feel like that either. In a nutshell, that’s how Friday night went in Hyderabad as RCB secured a top-two finish – they finished No 1 – despite a 55-run defeat, while SRH remained third.
On the back of half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klassen and Ishan Kishan, SRH posted a monster total of 255, but had to restrict RCB to 166 or below for a chance to move into the top two. Rajat Patidar’s 56, Venkatesh Iyer’s 44 and Krunal Pandya’s unbeaten 41 ensured there were no blushes for RCB even as they finished the league stage with a defeat.
That left the top three teams all on 18 points, with Gujarat Titans sandwiched between the two teams at No. 1 and No. 3. Eventually, it came down to net run-rate to decide which team would go to Qualifier 1, and which team would play the Eliminator.
Going into the game, RCB wanted to win but also wanted to ensure they didn’t slip outside the top two should they lose. After SRH pumped 255 for 4 in 20 overs, the equation became clear – RCB had to avoid losing by 90 or more runs.
The start given by their new opener, Venkatesh, calmed the nerves. He gave Pat Cummins a four-six jab in the first over, and saved his best for the fourth over delivered by left-arm wristspinner Shivang Kumar. He punished Shivang for two sixes in one over, with a boundary sandwiched in between. Venkatesh fell for a 19-ball 44 but by then RCB had already scored 60 in 4.3 overs.
Even though Virat Kohli (15) failed to leave a mark in the game with the bat, a spunky 21 from No. 3 Devdutt Padikkal ensured RCB stayed on course for 166 even if the chase looked to get out of hand. Sakib Hussain, who delivered 1 for 31 in four overs, was a major reason why RCB could not push on.
Patidar scored his fourth half-century of the season, staying in from the sixth over to the 19th. His 39-ball 56 included crisp boundaries off Eshan Malinga, Cummins and Harshal Patel, but fell to part-timer Travis Head. Krunal stayed till the end with an unbeaten 41 in 31 balls as RCB finished on a commendable 200 for 4 by the end.
Dropped in the sixth, seventh and eighth overs, Abhishek made full use of the chances RCB’s fielders offered him. On a flat surface with no grass, he did not let purple-cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar settle. His early boundaries over the off-side against Bhuvneshwar’s awayswingers moved into his takedown of Suyash Sharma’s googly and Romario Shepherd’s seam-up balls.
Abhishek was finally out in the ninth over, but by then his turbo-charged innings had SRH almost touching triple-digits.
Kishan had three fifties against RCB in his last three outings, and on Friday, he made it four in a row with a 46-ball 79. While Abhishek was going, Kishan took his time to score nine off his first ten balls, but then found his groove.
His best shot of the night was probably the leg-side slog towards the bigger boundary against Krunal in the 11th over, a sign that timing and form continued to be on his side. A sixth 50-plus score for Kishan this season also made IPL 2026 his most prolific as a batter. His sweeps, cuts and pulls allowed SRH to pump 73 runs across overs 11 to 15.
Klaasen’s story was similar, starting off with only five runs in nine balls, but one that was unlocked with his takedown of Josh Hazlewood in the 13th over. One six over cow corner and two more over long-on made Hazlewood leak 27. His effortless loft of Bhuvneshwar over extra cover took him close to yet another landmark, and he brought up his sixth half-century of the season in the 16th over. He fell in the 17th over to a low-arm slinger from Krunal for 52, but not before becoming the first player to cross 600 runs while batting at No. 4 or lower in a T20 tournament.
Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a blazing unbeaten 29 in 12 balls to give SRH a late push. He hit Krunal for two sixes in his first three balls in the crease and then deposited Hazlewood for another.
The late flourish took SRH past 250 while also leaving RCB’s senior seam-bowling pair of Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood ducking for cover. Hazlewood conceded 55 on the night while Bhuvneshwar leaked 51. They both finished the evening wicketless.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 255 for 4 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 56, Travis Head 26, Ishan Kishan 79, Heinrich Klaasen 51, Nitish Kumar Reddy 29*; Rasikh Salam 2-52, SuyashSharma 1-36, Krunal Pandya 1-24) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 200 for 4 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 44, Virat Kohli 15, Devdutt Padikkal 21, Rajat Patidar 56, Krunal Pandya 41*, Tim David 15*; Eshan Malinga 2-33, Sakib Hussain 1-31, Travis Head 1-07) by 55 runs
[Cricinfo]
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Flood warning issued to the Aththanagalu Oya basin extended until 0600AM on Monday [25]
The warning mentioned in the flood warning message No. 01 issued for the Aththanagalu Oya basin on 22.05.2026 at about 5.30 am will be extended for the next 48 hours.
It is requested that residents in the area and vehicle drivers running through those areas pay high attention in this regard by the . Disaster Management Authorities are requested to take adequate precautions in this regard
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