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Samson century, Hosein four-for hand Mumbai Indians their biggest defeat
Playing the first IPL El Clasico of their career, Chennai Super King’s Sanju Samson (101 not out) and Akeal Hosein (4-1-17-4) handed Mumbai Indians their biggest loss by runs in T20 history. CSK’s batting revolved around their new talisman; their second-highest score was 22. MI crumbled to spin, eight of their XI dismissed for single-digits.
CSK and MI came into the game as the seventh and eighth-placed teams in the season. And yet the amped-up nature of a game between the IPL’s two most decorated teams ever was on show from the very first ball, where Sherfane Rutherford couldn’t find the wicketkeeper with a regulation throw and the short fine leg fielder backing up didn’t do his job properly either. Jasprit Bumrah, the bowler, asked his fielders to calm down and then, in a sign that he was pushing himself harder too, overstepped. In the chase, Tilak Varma and Jamie Overton got into a brief but heated argument.
This game was a tactical give-and-go. Hardik Pandya quickly realised how well the ball was coming onto the bat. He went for 38 runs in two overs. So he took pace off in the powerplay. The two overs of spin he went to yielded two wickets. CSK countered that by promoting Shivam Dube. AM Ghanzafar took him down for 5 off 8. He was brave to take the pace off. Dube, along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, the other batter Ghazanfar dismissed, are having a poor IPL 2026. The CSK captain has a high score of 28 and a strike rate of 119.54. Aaruchaamy, Dube’s nickname, loosely translated as god of sixes, has hit only five in seven innings.
Deeply aware of the disadvantage batting first at Wankhede Stadium, every batter made an effort to hit early boundaries. CSK put up 73 for 2 in the first six overs. Only once have they made more against MI, and that was way back in 2015. When the field spread and MI looked like regaining control, taking two wickets and only giving two boundaries in a stretch of 3.3 overs, Dewald Brevis walked out and smashed Mitchell Santner for two sixes. One of them made Santner trying to hide the ball outside off stump look entirely silly. This is the talent Brevis has. MI knew they had to get rid of him.
There were plenty of mistakes – too many on the pads, too many with width – but there were also good plans. MI showed signs that the pressure was getting to them but they didn’t buckle. In the 11th over, after being taken for two fours, Ashwani Kumar didn’t lose sight of what his team wanted to do. Go short at Brevis. He made things better for himself by taking pace off as well. So when the batter tried to upper cut him, the ball didn’t have enough to clear the boundary. Brevis’ wicket for 21 off 11 left CSK at 122 for 4, with Kartik Sharma and Overton left to bat.
All night long, he had shown his touch. Creaming Bumrah through cover point for the first boundary of the innings. Whipping Hardik off his pads for six. Often it seems he expends no effort to score these runs. Nothing exemplified this aspect of his game more than the boundaries he got through third man. All he needed to do was beat the infield. Later, he did push himself. Facing a free-hit against Bumrah in the 19th over, he predicted the fast bowler would go for a yorker, so he walked down the pitch, shaping to play the reverse ramp, saw the ball was a little too straight and so went proper ramp and got four for it. When he ended the over with a single, he and Bumrah had a little laugh about the shot. This is what MI vs CSK is. The best players doing unbelievable things against each other. This hype won’t die.
Samson was 44 off 20. CSK started losing wickets. And he had to throttle down. 15 off 14. He hit only one boundary from over 7.5 to 15.1 because CSK just could not afford to lose him. They also couldn’t afford a total less than 200. Samson jugged these two opposing responsibilities – guarding his wicket but also finding the boundary – so well. Hardik refusing to bowl himself after the early pasting helped. Krish Bhagat, playing his first IPL season, had to bowl the 16th and the 20th overs and Samson targeted him, facing all 12 of his balls, denying singles in the last over, and smashing 31 runs, including three sixes and three fours. The last of those boundaries brought up his second century for CSK. No one has made more, and he’s only played seven innings for them. Bumrah, Hardik and Suryakumar Yadav all came over to congratulate Samson. In his own dressing room, Steven Fleming pulled him into a bear hug.
CSK dropped Akeal against Sunrisers Hyderabad, worried by what power-hitting left-handers might do to him. MI had left-handers too but clearly not the fear inducing kind like Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan. Akeal started his evening getting hit for six by Quinton de Kock but ended it by taking down Tilak Varma. In between, he bowled a wicket-maiden in the powerplay and got plenty of opportunity to bring out his masked man celebration, where he hides his face behind one hand with his eyes peeking out through spread fingers.
Akeal bowled two overs in the first six. He used the around-the-wicket angle to keep himself in the game against left-hand batters. Bowling in tandem with Noor Ahmad, he helped CSK pick up four wickets for three runs and create one of the lasting visuals of the night. MI batters walking in and being crowded out by slips and short legs and short covers. Nine wickets to spin was an IPL record at Wankhede Stadium.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 207 for 6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 101*, Rutraj Gaikwad 22, Sarfaraz Khan 14, Dewald Brevis 21, Kartik Sharma 18, Jamie Overton 15; Jasprit Bumrah 1-31, AM Ghazanfar 2-25, Mitchell Santner 1-44, Ashwani Kumar 2-37) beat Mumbai Indians 104 in 19 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 35, Tilak Varma 37; Akeal Hosein 4-17, Mukesh Choudhary 1-31, Anshul Kamboj 1-10, Noor Ahmad 2-23, Jamie Overton 1-14, Gurjapneet Singh 1-07) by 103 runs
[Cricinfo]
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Udaygiri arrived at the Port of Colombo on an official visit today, 8 September 2026, where it was received by the Sri Lanka Navy in accordance with time-
honoured naval traditions.
INS Udaygiri is a 149.02m long Frigate, Commanded by Captain Vikas Sood. Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer of the visiting ship is scheduled to call on Commander Western Naval
Area, Rear Admiral Harsha De Silva at the Western Naval Command Headquarters.
Captain Sood served as the Defence Adviser at the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka from July 2020 to October 2023.
During their stay in the island, the crew of INS Udaygiri will participate in several goodwill events organized by the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance camaraderie between the two forces.
The visiting personnel are also scheduled to visit prominent tourist and cultural locations across the island.
Additionally, Sri Lanka Navy personnel are expected to visit the ship for capability observation and knowledge sharing, and will conduct onboard training during its stay.
Harshitha Samarawickrema’s splendid 48 not out off 37 balls took Sri Lanka over the line in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh. The defending champions secured a semi-final berth with a four-wicket win, and by virtue of topping Group B, will play the side that finishes second in Group A on Friday.
An excellent opening spell of 2 for 17 from Marufa Akter put Bangladesh in firm control of the match after they posted a below-par target of 115, thanks to Chamudi Prabodha’s career-best figures of 3 for 21.
Sri Lanka found themselves behind the required run rate for much of the chase after losing their top order inside the powerplay and slipping to five down by the tenth over. But a resolute Samarawickrama brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by absorbing the pressure throughout the middle overs before landing the final punches to seal the win. This was Sri Lanka’s seventh consecutive win over Bangladesh.
Praboda strangles Bangladesh
This was only the sixth international match the 17-year-old left-arm spinner had played after making her debut against Pakistan in a three-match T20I series last month, and she doubled her tally of wickets on Sunday.
As Bangladesh looked to rebuild after Juairiya Ferdous fell in the fifth over, Praboda struck in her first over, the seventh of the match, to send the dangerous-looking Dilara Akter back to the hut two balls after being hit for a boundary by her. Dilara made a run-a-ball 26 after adjusting to the slow surface. She made her attacking intent known in the third over when she dispatched three consecutive balls from Sri Lanka pacer Chethana Vimukthi for boundaries.
Praboda and the other Sri Lankan spinners bowled with great discipline and used their variations with great guile to put a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batters, who managed just 114 for 8.
With Sobhana Mostary (34 off 41) and Shorna Akter (9 off 14) stretching their steady 41-run stand into the death overs, the Bangladesh dugout must have anticipated a much bigger total than what they eventually managed. Their hopes were bulldozed by Praboda in her last over as she accounted for both batters inside three balls. The left-arm spinner bamboozled Mostary with flight to have her stumped before drawing Dilara into chipping a tossed-up delivery back to her.
An unlucky outing for Athapaththu
Nilakshi Silva and Vimukthi dropped sitters off Chamari Athapaththu’s bowling, with the former putting down Mostary in the 14th over. Athapaththu eventually got a wicket in her last over, but missed out on a second when on-field umpire Humaira Farah turned down a clear caught-behind appeal off the last ball of her spell.
During the chase, her stay at the crease lasted only two balls, as Fahima Khatun took a sharp catch at first slip when she advanced down the pitch to smash Marufa over the top of her head. That shot, on any other day, would have landed in the stands, as is often the case when Athapaththu charges at the bowlers.
Marufa turns a straightforward chase into a contest
Bangladesh needed early wickets to make a contest of what many expected to be a cakewalk for Sri Lanka, with the required rate below a run-a-ball at the start of the chase. Marufa delivered exactly what was needed, accounting for both Sri Lankan openers.
Marufa had Athapaththu caught at first slip off the last ball of the first over before bowling a jaffa in her next over, rattling Imesha Dulani’s stumps with one that ripped through the gate. Her three powerplay overs yielded 2 for 17.
Sri Lanka’s middle order crumbled under pressure as Sanjana Kavindi was bowled by Sultana Khatun off the last ball of the powerplay. They were soon five down for 44 in the tenth over, but a gutsy 38-run stand between Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva brought them back into the contest and threatened to take the game away from Bangladesh.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana returned to her trump card in the 17th over, and Marufa obliged with a perfect over to shift the momentum back in her side’s favour. The seamer bowled Silva and conceded only four runs to finish with career-best T20I figures of 3 for 21. It was the fourth time in her 48-match T20I career that she had taken three wickets in the format.
Samarawickrama finishes the job
Ritu Moni had been immaculate in her first three overs, but Samarawickrama plundered 16 runs off her last over – the most conceded in an over in the match – to swing the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.
A lucky inside edge off the second ball raced to the fine-leg boundary as Moni followed Samarawickrama after she backed away to make room on the off side. The next ball landed straight into the advertising cushion at midwicket as the batter swept the medium pacer for six. She then danced down the wicket to launch Nahida Akter for a towering six down the ground, reducing the equation to two off the final over.
The win came off the second ball of the final over, with the ball trickling past the keeper after brushing her pad.
Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 115 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Imesha Dulani 12, Harshitha Samarawickrama 48*, Nilakshika Silva 18, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11*; Marufa Akter 3-21, Sultana Khatun 1-14, Ritu Moni 1-29) beat Bangladesh Women 114 for 8 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 26, Juairia Ferdous 14, Solbhana Mostary 34, Fahima Khatun 14; Sugandika Kumari 2-22, Chamari Athapaththu 1-20, Chamudi Praboda 3-21, Kavisha Dilhari 1-17) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest total in T20I cricke. A collapse where they lost six wickets for eight runs in 29 balls set them so far back that they couldn’t even bat out 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who broke new ground by becoming the first player – male or female – to lead her team 150 times in T20Is, had the time of her life celebrating each wicket and eventually scoring the winning runs as well.
Shree Charani shines
Old-fashioned left-arm spin is having a resurgence. India men have found Manav Suthar. India women already had N Shree Charanin. The No. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the world picked up two wickets in her first over on Saturday.
The flight on the ball drew Gull Feroza out of her crease. The drift in had her looking leg side. The dip and the turn resulted in a leading edge and a simple catch to point. The bowler did everything right. The batter did everything wrong. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only Pakistan batter to put any kind of pressure on India. Charani had her lbw for 14 off 14 and from there it was a procession.
Pakistan’s batting troubles
Playing their 200th T20I, Pakistan went from 27 for 0 to 35 for 6 before the innings was halfway done. They could not find a risk-free way to score runs, absorbing long periods of dot balls and trying to get out of it by playing low-percentage shots, often against the turn, on a Dubai pitch that was offering plenty of it. Only the openers got to double digits and only Zulfiqar was able to score a run a ball.
Rawat’s support act
Prema Rawat finished with figures of 4-0-9-3. Nineteen of her 24 balls were dots. All of that is remarkable considering she is a legspinner, whose release points tend to be just shy of the perpendicular. Like Shane Warne. From there, they turn their wrist over and it can either be awesome or awful. Rawat’s release point is perpendicular, maybe even beyond it, like Rashid Khan’s. And she doesn’t turn her wrist. For the most part, she just flicks the ball out the front of her hand. This gives her better control at the cost of big turn and in T20Is, that trade-off is well worth it. Nobody could hit Rawat off her line and length and when Sadaf Shamas tried, she got bowled off her pads.
A simple enough chase
Scores:
India Women 57 for 3 in 8.4 overs (Shafali Verma 12, Harmanpreet Kaur 18*, Deepti Sharma 12*; Fatima Sana 3-17) beat Pakistan Women in 18.1 overs 55 (Muneesha Ali 13, Shawal Zulfiqar 14, Shafali Verma 1-10, Shree Charani 3-07, Deepti Sharma 2-05, Prema Rawat 3-09) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
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