Urvil Patel played the kind of innings that erased a bit of history and created a bit of history. In 2025, team after team came to Chepauk and breached it and the crowd got used to leaving early. On Sunday evening, 32,825 people – some of whom might have seen the morning show where one of Tamil Nadu’s most popular actors took charge as the chief minister – were given double delight as  Chennai Super Kings (CSK) chased down their first 200-plus target since 2018 and one of their future stars announced himself with the IPL’s joint fastest half century.

Urvil got there in 13 balls. When he walked into the middle, CSK’s chances of winning were 38.13%. When he walked out, to a standing ovation from the crowd and his coaching staff, CSK’s chances of winning were 93.02%. He single-handedly changed the game and powered CSK to fifth spot.

Gujarat Titans rode their red-hot momentum wave to keep the Rajasthan Royals winless in Jaipur with a 77-run win, marking their biggest ever victory in their relatively short IPL history. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan set up a big total with the bat, before the bowlers ran through the batting lineup to catapult the Titans to second position on the points table with only net run-rate separating them from table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.

‎‎Brief Scores:

‎Gujarat Titans 229/4 in 20 overs [Shubman Gill 84, Sai Sudharsan 55, Washington Sundar 37n.o.; Brijesh Sharma 2-47]

‎Rajasthan Royals 152 in 16.3 overs [Ravindra Jadeja 38, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 36; Rashid Khan 4-22, Jason Holder 3-12, Kagiso Rabada 2-33]

‎‎Who won GT the match?

‎‎It was another day out for the famed Sudharsan-Gill combination. But once again, it was GT’s bowling unit that sealed this contest. On a good batting strip, 230 was certainly not beyond the realms of possibility for RR after yet another blazing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi start. But Kagiso Rabada continued to make hay in the Powerplay, bouncing out Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shimron Hetmyer after Mohammed Siraj dismissed Sooryavanshi off the short ball. The game was still on after the Royals scored 78 in the Powerplay but Rashid Khan cut the middle-order to size to shut the hosts out.

‎A lengthy opening over spells doom for RR

‎‎Perhaps the only thing that went right on the evening for RR was the toss as Yashasvi Jaiswal, standing in for an injured Riyan Parag, elected to field first. The hosts donned an all-pink kit to support a noble cause but their bowling unit, which hadn’t been in the pink of health for a few games, looked far from incisive. And nothing drove home that fact more than an 11-ball opening over from Jofra Archer, who overstepped and bowled multiple wides as he failed to control the swing on offer. Eighteen runs came off the first over and Archer was replaced by Brijesh Sharma in the third over, summing up what was to come for the Royals.

‎‎Gill, Sudharsan make merry

‎‎The bowling was shoddy and for a pair that has mastered the art of percentage batting, Gill and Sudharsan were not going to miss out. Tushar Deshpande speared too many outside leg stump to the left-hander, who was the dominator early on before Gill put on an exhibition of aesthetic power-hitting, launching Archer down the ground with effortless ease. An 82-run Powerplay marked GT’s most productive phase of the season. Both batters eventually brought up their fifties – off 30 balls each.

‎‎Did RR pull things back?

‎‎Head coach Kumar Sangakkara had an animated chat with his players during the timeout that followed the Powerplay. It seemed to work to some extent as the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Yash Raj Punja tightened the screws, combining for 2/71 off their eight overs. The steady slowdown told on Sudharsan as he miscued a slot delivery off Punja to long on, before Buttler shanked a 107.2 kph Jadeja delivery to long off. On the back of the spinners’ success, Jaiswal turned to an over of part-time spin from Donovan Ferreira but once the pacers returned, they travelled again. Gill found an able ally in Washington Sundar, who kept the momentum going with regular hits to the fence.

‎‎Archer endured an off day so bad that he did not even bowl his fourth over. Gill missed out on a hundred and Brijesh sent down a four-run 19th over, but Sundar and Rahul Tewatia peeled off three sixes off Deshpande’s final over to wrest momentum back in the Titans’ favor as they finished on 229.

‎‎Sooryavanshi tees off again

‎‎A breezy but entertaining blitz this time. Little surprise that he struck a six off the first ball he faced from Siraj, although he jammed an inswinging yorker onto his right ankle, demanding the physio’s attention. He visibly struggled with his running and there were a couple of streaky shots that followed, but it did not seem to affect him as he smashed a couple of sixes off Rabada. His skill was on full display with a late cut through backward point and a drill straight back past Siraj, but a well-directed bumper at the body got the better of him as Siraj let out a huge roar.

‎‎Rashid Khan closes out the game

‎‎Dhruv Jurel attacked the pacers in the Powerplay, underlined by a 22-run over off Siraj. But once Rashid was introduced, Jurel’s recent woes against spin surfaced again. He was cleaned up by a googly before Donovan Ferreira was bamboozled by the leg-break a couple of deliveries later. Rashid was impeccable with his lengths and would go on to nab two more including Ravindra Jadeja, who showed positive intent early on with a six and a four off his first two balls but eventually had too much on his plate. Closing it out – fittingly with a bunch of short-pitched deliveries – was Jason Holder, who continued his rich vein of form with the ball as RR were bundled out inside the 17th over.

‎‎Where do the teams go next?

‎‎GT fly back home to face SRH on Tuesday (May 12) in a contest that could hand the winner a foot in the playoffs. RR are set for another long break and do not play for the next week, taking the field against Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday (May 17).

Debutant Azan Awais’  century was the centrepiece of Pakistan’s spirited reply on the third day, before bad light forced early stumps. The umpires called off play at 5.30pm, although it was initially announced that play could go up to 6.15pm after a lengthy rain delay in the afternoon. Mehidy Hasan Miraz’z five-for had handed Bangladesh a 27-run first-innings lead, before they batted for 1.5 overs in the second innings, with openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shadman Islam adding seven.

It was Mehidy’s 14th five-for, and he finished with 5 for 102. Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam took two wickets each, while Nahid Rana picked up one, as Pakistan were bowled out for 386 in reply to Bangladesh’s 413.

The day, however, belonged to Pakistan’s batters – especially Awais, who scored 103. The 21-year-old made a telling contribution with his bat that consisted of some excellent shots through the off side. But he was equally fluent on the on side. The left-hand opener had two big partnerships: 106 with Imam-ul-Haq, and another 104 with fellow debutant Abdullah Fazal. They became only the third debutant pair from Pakistan to put together a century stand.

Awais’ dismissal also sparked Pakistan’s batting collapse on the third morning. Taskin had him caught at first slip, making him his 50th Test wicket. He also got Pakistan captain Shan Masood caught at point for 9, before Mehidy got into the act. He had Saud Shakeel lbw for a duck, before sucking Fazal into an uppish shot, which Taijul took gleefully at mid-on.

Fazal played second fiddle to Awais, striking seven fours and a six in his 120-ball stay. But when he fell, Pakistan went from 210 for 1 to 230 for 5 just before lunch.

Salman Agha and MonammadRizwan then went into recovery mode, and ensured Pakistan chipped away at Bangladesh’s first-innings total. They struck 15 boundaries between them, but Rizwan fell soon after reaching his half-century. He couldn’t clear Mahmudul at mid-off when he tried to charge at Taijul just before tea.

Rizwan must have rued his shot further when he saw covers coming on seconds after he was dismissed. There was heavy rain for nearly an hour, after which play began at 4.15pm, about half an hour after the rain had fully stopped.

Agha fell shortly after play restarted, as he was caught at first slip, before Mehidy removed both Noman Ali and Shaheen Afridi in quick succession. The innings ended when Taijul bowled Hasan, roughly an hour before the scheduled end of play.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 413 in 117.1 overs and 7 for 0 in 1.5 overs  (Mahmudul Hasan Joy 02*) lead  Pakistan 386 in 100.3 overs (Azan Awais 103, Imam-ul-Haq 45, Abdullah Fazal 60, Salman Agha 58, Mohammad Rizwan 59; Taskin Ahmed 2-70, Mehidy Hasan Miraz  5-102, Taijul Islam 2-46) by 34 runs

[Cricinfo]