Before Sunday, Mumbai Indians had never chased down a 220-plus target in their previous seven attempts. MI had never won their opening game of the IPL since 2012. On day two of IPL 2026,  MI broke two jinxes as they chased down 221 in 19.1 overs to begin their season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma  wound back the clock, smashing 78 off 38 balls, while Ryan Rickelton thumped 81 off 43, the duo adding 148 runs for the opening wicket off 71 balls.

That KKR were coming into this opening game severely depleted on the bowling front was known. The extent of it was visible on Sunday night with Vaibhav Arora and Blessing Muzarabani toothless, Varun Chakravarthy ineffective and Sunil Narine a shadow of his former self.

At the halfway mark, KKR might have been happy reaching 220 for 4, their second-highest score against MI in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane,  who at the toss said that he had “never seen so much of grass at Wankhede”, scored 67 off 40 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, another Mumbai lad, made 51 off 29 as KKR breached the 220 mark. But against a KKR unit missing several of their frontline seamers, MI barely had any hiccups, completing the highest-successful IPL chase at the Wankhede with five balls to spare.

It was a typical Rohit innings that Wankhede has witnessed so many times, laced with some of the most pristine shots. He was on 12 off eight at one stage, but once in, he lit up Mumbai like only he can. Coming into the game, he had a strike rate of less than 100 against Varun in T20s. So, what did he do? He lofted the spinner inside-out over covers first ball and then lifted him for six the next ball. By the time the powerplay was done, Rohit had raced to a 23-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL and MI’s chase was on course.

They raced to 80 in the first six, past 100 in 8.1 overs and by the time Rohit fell, thanks to a lovely catch by Anukul Roy running back from mid-off, MI’s required rate had gone below nine, which at the start of the innings was above 11 an over.

Sri Lankan champion thrower Rumesh Tharanga created history with yet another world-leading effort when he shattered his own national record at the Champions Track and Field event held at Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium on Saturday.

‎Tharanga produced a massive throw of 89.37 metres in his final attempt, a distance which, once ratified by World Athletics, is expected to stand as the fourth-longest throw ever recorded in Asia. The outstanding performance further cemented his status as one of the region’s leading javelin throwers.

‎Despite facing little competition from his rivals at the meet, Tharanga displayed the composure and determination of a true champion. Rising above the field, he delivered the record-breaking throw in dramatic fashion with his final effort of the competition.

‎Coming into the meet, Tharanga already held the world-leading mark of 83.07 metres for the season. Saturday’s performance elevated him to a new level, strengthening his reputation as a strong medal prospect for Sri Lanka on the global stage this year.

‎Tharanga first attracted widespread international attention when he set a Sri Lankan national record with a throw of 86.50 metres, a performance that earned him the gold medal at an international meet and secured direct qualification for the World Athletics Championships.

‎The former athlete of St. Peter’s College Colombo has continued to impress since then, producing consistent world-class performances while competing against some of the best javelin throwers in the world. Among his major achievements is reaching the final of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Sri Lankan male javelin thrower to reach the final stage of the event.

‎With his latest record-breaking performance, Tharanga has once again demonstrated that he is ready to shine and carry Sri Lanka’s hopes at the highest level of international athletics.

By Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka’s trailblazing 1996 World Cup-winning side will roll back the years when they take on a World XI in Kuala Lumpur, marking three decades since their watershed triumph that changed the game’s field settings for good.

The exhibition match, hosted by the historic Royal Selangor Club, an institution that has been part of Asia’s sporting fabric since 1884, will be preceded by a gala dinner before the old warhorses lace up their boots once more against a Rest of the World XI.

It promises to be more than a nostalgic lap around the park.

“Some of the players took the initiative and I thought it was a splendid idea,” Arjuna Ranatunga, the captain who marshalled his troops like a seasoned general in 1996, told Telecom Asia Sport. “It helps us come together again and more importantly, inspire the next lot coming through.”

Beyond the boundary ropes, the legends will don the coach’s hat, conducting sessions aimed at passing on the baton to aspiring youngsters.

Former Malaysian cricketer Devindran Ramanathan, one of the chief architects behind the event, is keen that this is not just a walk down memory lane but a springboard for the future.

“This isn’t only about celebrating a World Cup win,” Ramanathan said. “It’s about showing young players what’s possible when you dare to dream.”

“When players of that calibre turn up, it shouldn’t end with autographs and photographs. It must open doors and broaden horizons,” he added.

In a heartening initiative, around 20 youngsters from Malaysia’s interior, players who have been making steady strides despite limited facilities, will be brought to the capital on May 15 and 16 to witness the action up close.

For many of them, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with giants of the game, a chance to trade dusty nets for the bright lights and perhaps believe that they, too, can one day play on the big stage.

“The real impact is not the match or the dinner,” Ramanathan noted. “It is whether a young player walks away believing they can go further.”

Malaysia, steadily padding up as a regional cricket hub, has already hosted events like the Under-19 World Cup and continues to expand its footprint in the game. In a sporting landscape dominated by motor racing, racquet sports and football, visits from former world champions in cricket could well help the sport get a firmer grip.

All 14 members of Sri Lanka’s 1996 squad are expected to travel to Malaysia in the second week of May, even as life has taken many of them to different corners of the globe.

Their famous triumph over Australia in Lahore remains one of cricket’s most defining moments, a victory that didn’t just tilt the balance of a final, but shifted the axis of the modern game itself.

(telecomasia.net)