On Saturday, Delhi served up a belter of a pitch on which 265 played 264. Two days later, the adjacent surface produced a passage of play straight out of a spicy Test-match session. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood maximised the swing and bounce on offer in the early exchanges to raze through Delhi Capitals. DC crumpled to 8 for 6 – their powerplay score of 13 was the lowest in a full IPL game – and were in danger of being dismissed for the lowest total in the league.

Contributions from the lower order helped them avoid that ignominy and dragged them to 75. Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed the demolition job with nine wickets and 81 balls to spare. They narrowed Punjab Kings’ lead at the top of the table to just one point and boosted their NRR.

The carnage began with Bhuvneshwar yorking IPL debutant Sahil Parakh for a two-ball duck in the first over and ended with DC being decimated for the lowest powerplay score.

The Delhi pitch didn’t misbehave, but offered swing and bounce throughout the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood made the most of it to return figures of 3-0-5-3 and 3-0-8-3 respectively in the first six overs. At the innings break, Bhuvneshwar said that he was surprised that the ball swung for so long. Safe to say so were the DC batters.

Parakh, picked ahead of Prithvi Shaw, came in as a player with considerable reputation for an 18-year old. DC’s director of cricket Venugopal Rao believes he can play for India one day, but on Monday, his IPL debut lasted all of two balls. Bhuvneshwar hit his edge first ball with an outswinger and knocked out his middle stump with an inswinger next ball.

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 27 April 2026, valid for 28 April 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Colombo,
Gampaha, Kegalle, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on the human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, as Teheran intensifies diplomatic efforts to end the United States-Israel war on Iran.

Upon his arrival on Monday, Araghchi told Iranian media that he had travelled to Russia “with the aim of continuing close consultations between Tehran and Moscow on regional and international issues”.

The diplomat said his meeting with Putin “will be a good opportunity to discuss developments in the war and review the latest situation”.

“I am confident that these consultations and coordination between the two countries in this regard will be of particular importance,” he added.

The visit follows an earlier meeting in Muscat with Omani officials, as Iran seeks to rally regional and international support for renewed negotiations.

Washington and Tehran agreed to a temporary ceasefire on April 8 following more than a month of fighting that began with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

The truce, mediated by Pakistan, has since been strained by disputes over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and a US blockade on Iranian ports; meanwhile, a parallel conflict involving Israel and Lebanon also threatens to complicate negotiations.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said Russia was likely to play a central role in any next phase of the conflict. “We have a scenario for diplomatic settlement and another for confrontation,” Asadi said.

“Russia is going to play a key role when it comes to both, so Iran’s FM is there for consultations over most probably both. We know that Iran has several demands and is trying to prioritise them based on the situation. One is obviously the situation at the Strait of Hormuz, the possibility of the extension of the ceasefire, or another confrontation.”

The diplomatic push comes as US President Donald Trump scrapped plans to send Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for talks with Iran on Saturday, citing “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Tehran’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reiterated that Tehran will not enter negotiations while the blockade remains in place.

It comes as the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said forces were continuing to implement the blockade, preventing vessels from entering or leaving Iranian waters.

“American forces have directed 38 ships to turn around or return to port,” CENTCOM said on X.

Trump said Iran had “offered a lot, but not enough”, while adding on Sunday that Iranian leaders “can come to us, or they can call us” if they wanted to resume talks.

Araghchi earlier described discussions in Islamabad as “very productive” and said they included a review of “the specific conditions under which negotiations between Iran and the US could continue”.

Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said Pakistani officials remained hopeful that diplomacy could still succeed.

“According to one diplomatic source, recent events have served as a catalyst, [reinforcing the view] that there needs to be a permanent end to hostilities,” he said.

“We are being told here in Islamabad that we are inching towards a framework of sorts, which will provide a background to which all of these sides can come to an agreement – and not just the Iranians and the Americans, but essentially the Gulf countries as well.”

[Aljazeera]