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IPL 2025: Dhoni, Jadeja snap Chennai Super King’s losing streak

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MS Dhoni and Shivam Dube bump fists in the middle [BCCI]

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were staring at the prospect of losing a sixth game in a row when MS Dhoni joined Shivam Dube with five overs left in the chase. But Dhoni won the battle against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) seamers with an 11-ball 26 while Dube made 43 to give them their second win in seven outings.

LSG captain Rishabh Pant felt right after the game that LSG were “10-15 runs short” in their first-innings effort. Despite Pant’s own 49-ball 63, his first half-century in LSG colours, they scored only 166 for 7 in 20 overs, their lowest total of the season. They were pegged back by Ravindra Jadeja’s two wickets and kept in check by Noor Ahmed’s miserly four overs that went for only 13 runs.

After CSK’s opening partnership put them on course early, LSG dragged the game back with their spinners. Digvesh Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi and part-time offspinner Aiden Markram produced combined figures of 11-0-80-4, but a 19-run over from Shardul Thakur in the penultimate over ended LSG’s hopes.

When Dhoni walked in at the 15th over, Dube had made only 17 in his first 20 balls. Dube had failed to boss the spinners like his usual self and the dismissals of Vijay Shankar and Jadeja had only added to the pressure.

But Dhoni enjoys pace, coming into the game with a strike-rate of 222 against seamers since IPL 2024, and LSG supplied him with just that. Despite one over of Bishnoi left, LSG went for Avesh Khan and Shardul Thakur, and their wide yorker plan to both batters ended up being predictable.

Dhoni edged a couple of fours down to deep third but showed his power by punching a boundary through the covers, flicking a full toss over midwicket and dragging a one-handed six over deep square leg.

He also ran his ones and twos, sometimes gingerly, with Dube and took the pressure off him. When Shardul bowled two full tosses at the start of the 19th over, Dube smacked him for four and a no-ball six.

Dhoni picked up his first IPL player-of-the-match award since 2019 while Dube, soon after hitting the winning runs, said he was proud of taking the game deep. Their partnership of 57 came in only 28 balls.

Shaik Rasheed’s skills were never in doubt. He is a former Under-19 World Cup-winning vice-captain, has a Syed Mushtaq Ali century and a double ton in first-class cricket. It’s for those reasons CSK have kept a close eye on him since IPL 2023.

With Devon Conway not among the runs, CSK gave Rasheed an IPL debut and he took strike to start the chase. By the second over, he had pumped three fours off Akash Deep, with one flick over midwicket described on the broadcast as “Virat Kohli-like.”

His 19-ball 27 with six fours helped CSK reach fifty in only 4.2 overs, and alongside Rachin Ravindra’s 22-ball 37, gave them a rare successful opening stand. Those runs proved crucial as a collapse against spin soon followed.

With a strike-rate of 80 and a high score of 21 this season, Pant needed to get going. He walked-in in the fourth over with Markram and Nicholas Pooran out to Khaleel Ahmed and Anshul Kamboj cheaply.

He started on a positive note, improvising a reverse lap over third man early for six along with a handful of contorted pulls and cuts. But his strike-rate of 165 plummeted to 103 when CSK’s spinners applied the squeeze. Pant saw wickets fall from the other end, and ended up playing ten dots in 15 balls against Noor, scoring only six runs. His strike rate of 40 against the purple-cap holder ended up being the second worst for any batter against a bowler in IPL (minimum15 balls).

However, from 40 in 39 balls, Pant found his touch against the pace-on options of Matheesha Pathirana and Khaleel to turn his innings around. He couldn’t stay till the end, though, and the CSK spinners’ effort ensured LSG could make only 166 on a day where their second-highest individual score was Mitchell Marsh’s 30.

Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 168 for 5 in 19.3 overs (Shaik Rasheed 27, Rachin Ravindra 37, Shivam Dube 43*, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 26*; Digvesh Rathi 1-23, Avesh Khan 1-32, Ravi Bishnoi 2-18, Aiden Markram 1-25) beat Lucknow Super Giants 166 for 7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 30, Rishabh Pant 63, Ayush Badoni 22, Abdul Samad 20; Khaleel Ahmed 1-38, Anshul Kamboj 1-20, Ravindra  Jadeja 2-24, Matheesha Pathirana 2-45) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]



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Sooryavanshi 175 makes India six-time Under-19 world champions

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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi celebrates his century (Cricinfo)

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gave the latest demonstration of his prodigious talent with a record breaking innings in Harare as India completed a dominant run at the Under-19 World Cup, swatting aside England’s challenge, to lift the trophy for the sixth time.

Sooryavanshi, the 14-year-old opener, showcased his full range of scoring in an audacious knock of 175 off just 80 balls to almost single-handedly extinguish England’s hopes after India had opted to bat. When he was third out, India were 251 for 3 in the 26th over and hypothetically on track to score 500. No one could keep up with Sooryavanshi’s rate, but cameos down the order from Abhigyan Kundu and Kanishk Chouhan did take India past 400 for the first time in a Youth ODI between Full Member nations.

For England, Caleb Falconer  struck a scintillating 63-ball hundred in response, but there was too much left to do and he was last out as India regained the Under-19 title, having lost the final to Australia two years ago.

Although England struck early, Aaron George caught at point off Alex Green, the game quickly ran away from them. Sooryavanshi put on 142 in 15 overs alongside India’s captain, Ayush Mhatre,  and then 78 out of 89 for the third wicket alongside Vedant Trivedi as the innings went into overdrive.

Having cruised to fifty from 32 balls, he took just 23 more to bring up his first century of the tournament, then another 16 to progress past 150. Sixes rained down around the ground, as England’s spinners, Farhan Ahmed and Ralphie Albert, were treated with disdain – although arguably no shot was more outrageous than the forehand smash off a Green bouncer than somehow went straight back over the bowler’s head into the sightscreen.

He fell completely against the run of play, gloving behind when aiming a slog-sweep at Manny Lumsden, and India’s innings stuttered – at least relative to what had gone before. James Minto   bagged three-for as England strove to keep the score below 400, a mark that was breached in the final over.

Set a record chase in Youth ODIs, never mind Under-19 World Cups, England needed an explosive start. Instead, India began with two maidens, as Ben Dawkins  and Joseph Moore struggled initially to lay bat on ball. RS Ambrish bowled Moores off an inside edge, but the arrival of Ben Mayes brought about the required increase in tempo as England raced to 64 for 1 at the end of the first powerplay.

Mayes struck seven fours and two sixes but fell the ball after retaking top spot from Sooryavanshi on the tournament run-scorers’ list. Thomas Rew, England’s captain, blazed out of the blocks with 31 off 18 and Dawkins notched a 49-ball fifty – but the latter’s dismissal sparked a collapse of 4 for 3 in nine balls as India’s grip tightened.

England were well up with the rate, despite wickets falling, and were given hope by a stand of 92 between Falconer and James Minto. Falconer found the boundary regularly on the way to his maiden hundred, but the requirement had ballooned above 10 an over and England were still 100 runs short when he was finally dismissed.

Brief scores:

India Under 19s 411 for 9 in 50 overs  (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 175, Ayush Mhatre 53, Abhigyan Kundu 40; Sebastian Morgan 2-74, Alex Green 2-49,  Ja,es  Minto 3-63) beat England Under 19s  311 in 40.2 overs  (Caleb Falconer 115, Ben Dawkins 65, Ben Mayes 45; RS Ambrish 3-56, Deepesh Devendran 2-64, Khan8shk Chouhan 2-63) by 100 runs

(Cricinfo)

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Mighty India meet multicultural USA in polarised World Cup

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Mumbai will have plenty of local boys to root for, from both sides [Cricinfo]

The USA national team has only four players born in the USA, all of them children of immigrants. The other 11 are first-generation immigrants.

Three of those 11 were born in Pakistan. Their captain Monank Patel, and four others, were born in India. Monank recently told PTI  there is “no Indian or Pakistani when you represent the USA.”

This team of Indian, Pakistani, South African and Sri Lankan immigrants will get under the star-sprangled banner and start, against India, their campaign in this T20 World Cup, during whose build-up the world has seemed to grow increasingly polarised.

Make of it what you will. Be relieved that cricket still has room for these niceties, or be despondent that this small win is worth celebrating.

Amid all the politicking, what has probably not been celebrated enough is the T20 excellence India have put together. Over nine editions, the T20 world title has neither been defended successfully nor been won at home. On Saturday, in front of a packed Wankhede Stadium where they won the 2011 ODI title, India will begin their campaign promising that both can be achieved in a month’s time.

Fourteen years ago, Ian Chappell wrote that left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, born in Mumbai and an Under-19 World Cup winner for India, was ready for international cricket. Watching Harmeet, Chappell was put in the mind of Bishan Singh Bedi. Here he is, an international cricketer via a circuitous route, back in his place of birth to take on the team representing his country of birth.

Six months ago, Ishan Kishan was not even on the World Cup radar. Then Shubman Gill got injured and fell short of runs on his T20I comeback. Kishan blasted all comers during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So he entered the World Cup squad as the back-up wicketkeeper-batter. Then Sanju Samson fell short of runs. Now, if India’s World Cup warm-up fixture was anything to go by, Kishan is the No. 1 choice to partner Abhishek Sharma at the top. And if he can get off to a good start, he is likely to keep his place for the business end of the tournament.

Washington Sundar, still recovering from a side strain, was not with the squad during their warm-up match against South Africa, but India are going to keep him in their squad. As it is, he is a back-up for Axar Patel, who is the first-choice spin allrounder. Harshit Rana was seen in some discomfort during the warm-up fixture and walked off after bowling just one over. The prognosis for Rana’s participation in this tournament ” doesn’t look good”, India captain Suryakumar Yadav has said, and it is particularly a cause for concern since he is the only genuine fast bowler in the squad who can contribute a few sixes down the order. Tilak Varma has made a successful return to fitness.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma,  Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt),  Hardik Pandya,  Rinku Singh,  Shivam Dube,  Axar Patel,  Arshdeep Singh,  Jasprit Bumrah,  Varun Chakravarthy.

Andries Gous, who missed USA’s last T20I, the final of the North America T20 Cup last April, should come back as wicketkeeper and opener. Others could drop down a slot each to make up for the absence of the suspended Aaron Jones.

USA (probable): Saiteja Mukkamalla, Andries Gous (wk),  Shayan Jahangir,  Monank Patel (capt.), Milind Kumar,  Harmeet Singh,  Shubham Ranjane,  Mohammad Mohsin,  Shadley van Schalkwyk,  Saurabh Netravalkar,  Ali Khan

[Cricinfo]

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At least 31 killed, dozens wounded in Islamabad mosque blast

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People shift an injured man to a hospital following an explosion at a mosque in Islamabad on February 6, 2026 [Aljazeera]

An apparent suicide attack at a Shia mosque in Islamabad has killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more, in one of the worst such incidents to hit Pakistan’s capital.

The powerful explosion occurred at Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, during Friday prayers.

A senior police official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity the explosion appeared to be a suicide attack but the conclusive cause is yet to be determined.

“Our team is present at the site and we’re in process of confirming the cause,” he said.

A security source told told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity the attacker detonated himself after being stopped at the gate of the mosque.

In a statement, Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospital after rescue teams reached the site of the explosion.

Footage shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed bloodied bodies laying on the floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass and debris.

At the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, AFP journalists saw several adults and children being carried in on stretchers or by their arms and legs.

Medics and bystanders helped unload victims with blood-soaked clothes from the back of ambulances and vehicles. At least one casualty arrived in the boot of a car, while friends and relatives of the wounded screamed as they arrived at the hospital’s heavily guarded emergency ward, the news agency reported.

In a statement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “deep grief” following the incident.

In November last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens

(Aljazeera)

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