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Holder and Washington star in Gujarat Titans’ nervy last-over win
The top half of the IPL 2026 points table is an utter logjam.Punjab Kings (PBKS), unbeaten through their first seven games, have now lost two in a row. And the team that beat them on Sunday night, Gujarat Titans (GT) have won three in a row. All around the IPL, teams that had led secure lives in the top four have endured setbacks over the last few days.
And so the big squeeze. PBKS remain at No. 1, but they’re only one point above GT at No. 5.
GT, however, are the only team in the top five with a negative net run rate (NRR). This may have something to do with their style of play: they rely on their bowlers to ensure their batters don’t have to score at the frenetic rates of some other teams, but that means their margins of victory tend to be less emphatic.
On Sunday, their margin was wafer-thin – one ball remaining – despite the fact that they dominated virtually from start to finish. Their Test-match pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada amd Jason Holder bowled hard lengths on a pitch that offered steep bounce and plentiful seam movement from those lengths, and reduced PBKS to 47 for 5. Suryansh Shedge and Marcus Stoinis ensured that PBKS recovered to post 163 for 9, but this was still very much a GT kind of target, perfect for their style of top-order play.
A measured half-century from B Sai Sudarsan laid the perfect platform, but GT’s scoring rate remained somewhere in the region of their original required rate right through their chase. And suddenly, they ended up needing 11 off the final over. Washington Sundar sealed victory with a penultimate-ball six, but on another day, this could have so easily been the story of GT sleepwalking to defeat.
But the major story was this: for the third match in a row, GT pulled off the trademark GT victory. Straightjacketing their oppositions with the ball, and chasing down sub-170 targets with significant contributions from one or two of their top three.
This was a black-soil pitch with a healthy covering of grass, and it was evident from ball one that it would reward bowlers who hammered away on hard lengths. Ball one from Siraj almost produced a chance, with extra bounce leading to a miscued pull from Priyansh Arya that fell just out of reach of Jos Buttler, who had chased from his spot behind the stumps to the edge of the 30-yard circle at backward square leg. Ball two produced the first wicket: a bit of width for Arya to free his arms, but extra bounce once more to take away his control and bring about a slice to deep third.
Siraj struck again with his next ball, going slightly fuller, getting a bit of swing into the left-handed Cooper Connolly to produce an inside-edge to the wicketkeeper.
Rabada matched Siraj’s excellence from the other end, as the two bowled three overs each in the powerplay, beating the bat multiple times as Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer struggled to match their usual rates of scoring. Then, Rabada bowled an outstanding sixth over, which included the wicket of Prabhsimran with a 152kph length ball that cramped him for room on the on-the-up punch, and four straight dots to Nehal Wadhera, including one that zipped past the edge and a bouncer that zipped past the helmet. A wicket maiden completed PBKS’ least productive powerplay since the start of IPL 2025: 35 for 3.
There’s no better resource on a trampoline pitch than a towering fast bowler. Holder is four inches taller than the 6’3″ Rabada, and he immediately got in the act in the seventh over, finding Wadhera’s edge with a hard-length ball slanted across him. And when he nipped a back-of-a-length ball back into Shreyas and bowled him off the inside edge in the ninth over, PBKS were five down and in all kinds of strife.
In GT’s previous game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the left-arm spinner Manav Suthar didn’t bowl a ball. Given the help the quicks were getting on Sunday, GT may have felt inclined to repeat this, but a wayward 13th over from the left-arm seamer Arshad Khan, which went for 16, may have prompted them to bring on Suthar for the 14th.
And Suthar bowled one of the more forgettable overs of the season. Bowlers often get taken to the cleaners in the IPL even when they bowl reasonably good balls, but this was just an old-fashioned bad over: after starting with a single, he sent down two slot balls, a wide full-toss, a wide long-hop, and another full-toss. Shedge took ruthless toll, going 6, 6, 4, 4, 6. Twenty-seven off that over, and PBKS were suddenly looking at a decent total.
That over was the centrepiece of a 79-run partnership between Shedge and Stoinis. Shedge, who was at one stage batting on 13 off 14 balls, rushed to a 24-ball half-century. He then flicked Rabada for a nonchalant six in the 16th over before falling to Rabada’s extra bounce, caught behind for 57 off 29.
Stoinis held the key to a big finish for PBKS, but Holder forced a miscue out of him with an into-the-pitch cutter from around the wicket in the 18th over. When he followed up with an inducker to bowl Xavier Bartlett comprehensively, PBKS were eight down with 13 balls remaining.
Marco Jansen hit Rashid Khan for a six and four in the final over to haul PBKS past 160, but it wasn’t quite the magnitude of finish they may have hoped for. Only 45 came off their last five overs.
This was an innings of many delectable shots: the high-elbow drive through the covers off Bartlett in the first over, the hooked six over fine leg off Jansen in the sixth, and expert riding of the bounce to cut and carve the ball behind point. But there wasn’t a whole lot of intent to force the pace off balls that weren’t in his hitting zones.
And all of GT’s batters played pretty much this way, with the caveat that this was still an awkward pitch to bat on. Jos Buttler picked off a trademark scooped six over short fine leg, but his 26 consumed 22 balls. Nishant Sindhu, making his IPL debut, fell for 15 off 11. Washington scored 16 off his first 14 balls.
And so, it came to a situation where, after Sai Sudharsan and Impact Player Rahul Tewatia fell in the 15th and 17th overs, GT suddenly came under a bit of pressure.
But with 11 to get off the final over, they found a way to push through. Arshad flicked an almost-perfect Stoinis yorker for four, and then, with three to get off two balls, Washington coolly stepped across his stumps and scooped a full-toss over the fine leg boundary to take GT over the line.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 167 for 6 in 19.5 overs (Sai Sudharsan 57, Jos Buttler 26, Nishant Sindhu 15, Washington Sundar 40*; Arshdeep Singh 2-24, Marco Jansen 1-33, Vyjayakumar Vyshak 2-31, Marcus Stoinis 1-26) beat Punjab Kings 163 for 9 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 15, Shreyas Iyer 19, Suryansh Shedge 57, Marcus Stoinis 40, Marco Jansen 20; Mohammed Siraj 2-28, Kagiso Rabada 2-22, Jason Holder 4-24, Rashid Khan 1-32) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
The UK has said it will contribute drones, fighter jets and a warship to a joint mission aimed at safeguarding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Defence minister John Healey announced the package at a virtual summit of defence ministers on Tuesday. It includes autonomous systems to detect and clear naval mines, drone boats and Typhoon jets for air patrols.
More than 40 other nations are involved in the mission, which Healey said would begin when conditions allow.
For months Iran has been controlling the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s busiest oil shipping channels – in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks.
The US, for its part, has been enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports to exert pressure on Tehran to agree to its terms – a move that has infuriated Iran.
Some 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas uses the crucial waterway, whose blockage has sent prices soaring globally.
A ceasefire has been in place between the US and Iran since April, but US President Donald Trump has said it is on “massive life support”.
Both sides have accused the other of launching attacks in the strait.
There is already more than 1,000 British personnel deployed in the region as part of existing defensive operations, including counter-drone teams and fast jet squadrons, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Defence said the multinational mission – which was announced last month by the UK and France – is strictly defensive and aimed at restoring confidence for commercial shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.
It said the contribution is backed by £115m new funding for mine-hunting drones and counter-drone systems.
“With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive, independent, and credible,” Healey said in a statement.
Under the plan, HMS Dragon – the air defence destroyer that is already on its way to the Middle East – will also “be ready for any mission” to secure the strait, the MoD said.
It added that another British ship, the RFA Lyme Bay, continues to be upgraded by with new equipment, if required for operations in the strait.
The announcement comes as Healey offered his support to Sir Keir Starmer, as dozens of Labour MPs called on the prime minister to resign.
[BBC]
Jess Phillips, a high-profile Labour minister, has quit in protest as Prime Minister Keir Starmer refuses to heed growing calls to resign, according to Sky News. Hours earlier, Miatta Fahnbulleh, a junior minister, was the first politician to leave government over the issue.
Starmer has promised to “get on with governing”, defying calls from about 80 MPs who are urging Starmer to leave imminently or set out a timetable to do so after his Labour Party suffered heavy losses in local elections.
As Labour was hammered, the hard-right Reform UK party surged in the local elections.
The UK’s fourth prime minister in five years, Starmer also faces pressure over the Labour Party’s vetting process to approve Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the United States, given Mandelson’s relationship with the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
[Aljazeera]
Bangladesh’s bowlers combined to trounce Pakistan by 104 runs in the first Test in Dhaka. Nahid Rana struck decisive blows while Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam were among the wickets as the home team put together a rare triumph on the fifth day. This is now Bangladesh’s third consecutive win against Pakistan, after they won the 2024 series by 2-0 margin.
Rana removed Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan in a fiery spell, before he took down Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi to finish with figures of 5 for 40 from his 9.5 overs. Taskin and Taijul took two wickets each while Mehidy, who took a five-for in the first innings, took one wicket.
For most of their fourth innings, Pakistan were kept together by debutant Abdullah Fazal. He initially overcame Pakistan’s early loss of Imam-ul-Haq before lunch, when he struck Mehidy for consecutive fours just after lunch. Rana then went for three fours in a row; Fazal edged twice through the slips before driving hard down the ground.
Mehidy brought back Bangladesh immediately when he bowled Azan Awais next over. The opener was undone by a delivery that held its line before sliding into the stumps. Awais, who made a century in the first innings, fell for 15 this time.
When Rana removed Masood soon after, Pakistan were 68 for three staring at trouble. Fazal reached his half-century with an upper-cut off Ebadot Hossain. He is now the sixth Pakistan batter to get fifties in both innings of his debut Test.
Fazal however fell in the first over after tea when Taijul got the ball to spin sharply into the left-hander’s defensive prod, with the TV umpire confirming the dismissal through a review. Fazal made 66 off 113 balls, with eleven fours.
Soon after, Taskin had Salman Ali Agha caught at second slip. Shadman Islam however had to walk off after the catch hit his chest, although he held on to the chance.
Earlier in the day, the home side jumped into action in the fifth morning, adding 88 runs in 20 overs. They lost six wickets in the process, but Bangladesh made a laudable approach to keep the game alive. The morning however began with Hasan Ali removing Mushfiqur Rahim, caught at mid-off for 22.
Hasan then took an excellent catch at the fine-leg boundary after Litton Das top edged a hook off Shaheen Afridi after making eleven runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck couple of fours and a six before Noman removed him for 24. It was his 100th wicket.
Shanto fell to Noman too, lbw for 87 while trying to play a reverse sweep. Shanto missed out on becoming only the fourth batter, after Sunil Gavaskar, Ricky Ponting and David Warner, to score twin hundreds in a Test on three occasions.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 413 [Monimul Haque 91, Najmul Hossain Shanto 101, Mushfiqur Rahim 71; Shaheen Shah Afrid 3-113, Mohammad Abbas 5-92] and 240 for 9 dec [Mominul Haque 56, Najmul Hossain Shanto 87; Hasan Ali 3-52, Noman Ali 3-76] beatPakistan 386 [Azan Awais 103, Abdullah Fazal 60, Salman Agha 58, mohammad Rizwan 59; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-102] and 163 [Abdullah Fazal 66, Salman Agha 26; Nahid Rana 5-40] by 104 runs
[Cricinfo]
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