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Pandya Sr. lifts Lucknow Super Giants to second successive home win
An all-round show from Krunal Pandya (3 for 18 & 34 off 23) helped Lucknow Super Giants beat SunRisers Hyderabad by five wickets and bring up their second consecutive win at their home ground. For SRH, the back to back losses keeps them rooted to the bottom of the points table.
Krunal Pandya registered his second best IPL figures and it was his introduction in the third over of the innings that turned things around for LSG, who had hitherto seen runs scored off pace. His first wicket of the night was Mayank Agarwal, who mistimed a chip straight to cover. The mode of dismissal, commonly seen on slow-low pitches, was a bellwether for what was to come. And for Krunal, that was two wickets in an over after he changed ends. The well-set Anmolpreet Singh was trapped on the back leg by an arm ball whereas Aiden Markram, in his first game as SRH captain, was bowled by a delivery that just straightened a touch.
Despite Rahul Tripathi’s 35 off 41, it could have been much worse for SRH after opting to bat. But Samad, walking in at No.7, picked couple of sixes off Jaydev Unadkat in the last over and finished on 21* off 10 balls, thus taking SRH to something they could look to defend. Until then, it looked like SRH would struggle to get to 110 because the troika of spinners had kept them tied down. Krunal stood out but Amit Mishra (2 for 23) and Ravi Bishnoi (1 for 16) weren’t too far behind.
An innings at a strike-rate of nearly 148 on a pitch where Washington Sundar struggled for his 28-ball 16, the second slowest by a SRH batter. Walking out to bat in the seventh over, Krunal got going with a cover drive off Markram before launching Adil Rashid for a six over long-on. There were a couple of boundaries against Umran Malik too before the pacer had him caught behind.
The LSG captain scored 35 off 31 balls and was involved in a 55-run stand with Krunal for the third wicket. Rahul looked set to take his side over the line but Adil Rashid put paid to that, defeating his reverse-sweep with a legbreak before trapping Romario Shepherd with the googly next ball. But LSG had enough of a headstart and chased the target down with four overs to spare.
Brief scores:
SunRisers Hyderabad 121/8 (Tripathi 35; Krunal 3-18) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 127/5 in 16 overs (Rahul 35, Krunal 34; Rashid 2-23) by 5 wickets
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Sparkling Aaron George ton seals record chase, powers India into U19 WC final
On a batting beauty at the Harare Sports Club, India’s assembly line of batting talent was out in full splendour in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal. There were two centurions in a statement innings from Afghanistan, but Uzairullah Niazai and Faisal Shinozada’s knocks – glorious as they were – were rendered footnotes by a superb century from Aaron George, who led India’s record chase of 311 with the kind of composure that belied his low scores from earlier in the tournament.
Afghanistan 310/4 in 50 overs (Faisal Shinozada 110, Uzairullah Niazai 101; Kanishk Chouhan 2-55, Deepesh Devendran 2-64) lost to India 311/3 in 41.1 overs (Aaron George 115, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 68, Ayush Mhatre 62; Nooristani Omarzai 2-64) by 7 wickets.
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Pakistan PM Sharif on India boycott: ‘A very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh’
Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani Prime Minister, has said Pakistan’s decision to boycott the game against India at the men’s T20 World Cup 2026 was a show of solidarity with Bangladesh, after their removal from the tournament.. It is the first time any official from either the Pakistan state or the PCB has publicly touched upon the reasons for the boycott.
“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif told members of his cabinet on Wednesday. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision.”
The Pakistan government put out a post on Sunday saying that while the team would participate in the T20 World Cup, it would not take the field in the February 15 group game against India. The post, which came after a week in which Pakistan’s participation in the tournament had become uncertain, did not give any reason for the decision.
The PCB has not spoken publicly on the matter, but the ICC issued a response a few hours after the X post, in which it said it hoped “that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”
It is not known whether the PCB has officially notified the ICC, or whether there has been any contact between the two bodies. The ICC had said that it “expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.”
The Prime Minister’s comments confirm, however, that the boycott decision is linked to what the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi – the interior minister in Sharif’s government – called the ICC’s double standards in excluding Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh were replaced in the world event after their government refused to let the team travel to India, where they were based for their games. The government, citing security concerns, wanted Bangladesh to play their games instead in Sri Lanka, the co-hosts for the event, and where Pakistan will play all their games.
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