The United States and Iran have pressed pause for a second day on what had been an escalating conflict.

Reports on Sunday said neither the US nor Iran had launched strikes for a second day in a row. The sudden period of calm after two weeks of nightly attacks on Iran by the US, and Iranian retaliation on US allies in the Gulf comes amid hopes of a return to diplomacy.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told Fox News on Sunday that President Donald Trump was “giving [the potential for] talks … a little bit of room”.

While noting that the president has said the US was “locked and loaded”, Waltz said negotiators have been engaged at every level over the past few weeks, and in particular, over the past few days.

US broadcaster CBS, quoting two regional sources, reported that the US decision to pause the bombing was made due to the arrival of an Omani delegation in Tehran.

The prospects for peace between Tehran and Washington remain hindered by lingering mistrust, however. Since the US and Israel began their war on Iran in late February, Iranian officials have been quick to note that they have been attacked by the US and Israel during periods of negotiation on several previous occasions.

Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told the Austrian broadcaster ORF on Sunday that mediators, including Qatar and Pakistan, are exchanging messages between Iran and the US. But he added that Iran’s past efforts at diplomacy have been “betrayed”.

The New York Times reported that Trump paused plans to escalate attacks due to concerns about draining the Pentagon’s diminishing stockpile of missile interceptors and other air defence munitions in the Middle East.

[Aljazeera]

An unbeaten 72 off 34 balls from Chamika Karunarathne and a three wicket haul by Sachindu Colambage helped Galle Gallants register their fourth win in the Lanka Premier League by defeating Dambulla Sixers by 44 runs and consolidate their spot as table leaders

Scores:
Galle Gallants 220/6 in 20 overs [Sam Harper 41, Nurul Hasan 29, Charith Asalanka 31, Sahan Arachchige 28, Chamika Karunarathne 72*; Dushmantha Chameera 5-55, Mohammad Wasim 1-60]
Dambulla Sixers 176/7 in 20  overs [Niroshan Dickwella 32, Sahibzada Farhan 11, Dinesh Chandimal 15, Gulbadin Naib 15, Marques Ackerman 23, Ramesh Mendis 39*, Maheesh Theekshana 16*; Akif Javed 1-40, Eshan Malinga 1-32, Mohammad Nawaz 1-06, Sachindu Colambage 3-17]

Half tons from Kamil Mishara [78 off 53] and Avishka Fernando [66 off 36] and three wicket hauls from Mohamed Shiraz [3/18] and Dunith Wellalage [3/21] helped Jaffna Kings crush Kandy Royals by 93 runs in the 13th match of the Lanka Premier League played at Dambulla on Sunday [26].

With this win Jaffna Kings rise to third spot with six points while Kandy Royals were pushed down to the bottom of the table.

Scores:
Jaffna Kings 199/4 in 20 overs [Kamil Mishara 78, Avishka Fernando 66, Towhid Hridoy 35*, Chamindu Wickrmasinghe 10; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-27, Dushan Hemantha 1-20]
Kandy Royals 108/10 in 18.2 overs [Lahiru Udara 54, Shaheen Shah Afridi 22; Mohamed Shiraz 3-18, Shakib Al Hassen 1-18, Dunith Wellalage 3-21, Traveen Mathew 1-21, David Weise 1-05]