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IPL 2025: Kohli, Patidar and Krunal star as Royal Challengers Bengaluru end ten-year Wankhede jinx
In what is turning out to be a year of breaking jinxes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium for the first time in ten years after they did the same in the corresponding fixture against Chennai Super Kings for the first time in 17 years at the Chepauk stadium.
Even though RCB scored 221, the win didn’t come without a massive scare from Hardik Pandya and Tilak Verma, who added 89 in 34 balls from 99 for 4 in 12 overs. With 123 off eight overs reduced to 41 off the last three, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazelwood and Krunal Pandya put on a defensive masterclass to deny MI.
Rajat Patidar and Virat Kohli scored quick fifties before a finishing kick from Jitesh Sharma took them to 221 despite Jasprit Bumrah’s return and three excellent overs from Hardik. It was Kohli’s fastest T20 fifty since 2019, and his first in under 30 balls in the IPL since 2018. His intent allowed Patidar to get off to a watchful start before he took apart Hardik, who had stifled the other batters.
By no means was the target beyond MI’s reach, but Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma bowled their first five overs for just 21 runs to leave MI with just a 2.25% chance of winning on the ESPNcricinfo forecaster at the end of the 12th over. Hardik’s sensational 42 off 15 and Tilak’s 29-ball 56 turned it into an even contest, but Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood nailed enough yorkers in the 18th and 19th overs to give Krunal 18 to defend in the last over. He consigned his brother’s team to a second straight defeat by 12 runs.
For the 31st time in the IPL, Trent Boult struck in the first over of an innings, but Devdutt Padikkal hit his first ball for a four. The intent never stopped as RCB reached 73 after the powerplay. Kohli took 36 off 19, Padikkal 32 off 15. Kohli usually drops anchor but he took on the spinners with slog sweeps in the seventh and the ninth over to get to fifty in 29 balls.
Vignesh Puthur’s left-arm wristspin got the wicket of Padikkal for 37 off 22, but it was Hardik’s wide lines that suffocated RCB in the middle. Kohli still kept attempting big hits, allowing Patidar to be watchful for a start of 8 off 10.
Patidar then managed to move across and take Hardik for runs and rearranged Mitchell Santner’s figures with 20 off his last over. It was here that Hardik’s wide lines brought him the wickets of Kohli and Liam Livingstone in the same over to make it 144 for 5 with 33 balls to go.
Two of the remaining five overs were going to be bowled by Bumrah, making his comeback from a back injury that has kept him out since the first week of January. So RCB needed to score heavily at the other end. Patidar did so off Hardik, taking 33 off 12 to ruin his figures to 4-0-45-2. Jitesh took 24 off eight off Boult to consign him to his costliest T20 analysis of 4-0-57-2. Bumrah went for only 14 in the 18th and 20th overs, but RCB believed they had done enough damage.
That belief was only reinforced when Hazlewood’s impeccable lengths and Suyash’s unusual action troubled the MI top order. Hazlewood took Ryan Rickleton out thanks to an inspired DRS review from Jitesh before conceding just two in the final over of the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav was the one caught in the spotlight. He was 8 off 13 after this over and one from Suyash. To make matters for MI, Suryakumar was dropped twice as he and Will Jacks added just 41 in six overs. When they finally caught Suryakumar at the end of the 12th over, MI needed what would have been the second-highest successful target achieved in the last eight overs of an IPL match.
Tilak, who was retired out in MI’s last game, kept Hardik off strike for seven balls, but in these seven balls he took 17 off Suyash’s last over, much like Patidar took the last overs of Santner and Hardik for a plenty. When Hardik finally got strike, he hit the coldest and sweetest of boundaries to turn the game around in just seven balls. These seven balls featured two sixes and two fours off Hazlewood, and two sixes off brother Krunal.
With Hardik 32 off 7, the ask was now 71 off 33. A bit of gamesmanship followed to try to break Hardik’s rhythm, but MI kept going strong. Bhuvneshwar started the next over well, but Tilak hit a six and a four to take 13 off it. Still, only a little over two a ball was required. Yash Dayal managed to escape with some slower balls, but again a late six kept MI in it.
Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood now dealt almost exclusively in yorkers. When they missed even slightly, runs came: a Hardik four, a Naman Dhir six first ball and a Santner six off a low full toss from Hazlewood.
Still, MI needed 19 off the last over, and Krunal denied Santner and Deepak Chahar just enough power for them to be caught on the boundary. Krunal’s 4-0-45-4 were his best IPL figures.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 221/5 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 67, Devdutt Padikkal 37, Rajat Patidar 64, Jitesh Sharma 40*; Trent Boult 2-57, Hardik Pandya 2-45, Vignesh Puthur 1-10, Jasprit Bumrah 0-29) beat Mumbai Indians 209/9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 17, Ryan Rickelton 17, Will Jacks 22, Suryakumar Yadav 28, Tilak Varma 56, Hardik Pandya 42, Naman Dhir 11; Bhuveneshwar Kumar 1-48, Yash Dayal 2-46, Josh Hazelwood 2-37, Krunal Pandya 4-45) by 12 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bowl against Pzkistan in Pallekele.
Sri Lanka are out of the race for the semi-finals but Pakistan can make it provided they win by about 64 runs.”We would have bowled first definitely,” Pakistan captain Salman Agha said. “There’s no way we can do that while batting first. But now we need to put up a good total and restrict them.”It’s a massive opportunity. We just need to play a perfect game. We have to bat well, bowl well and field well.”
Pakistan made three changes. They left out Babar Azam, Saim Ayub and Salman Mirza and brought in Khawaja Nafay, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed.
“It’s a good pitch and there could be dew later on,” Shanaka said. “We need to do our basics right. We didn’t do that in the last two games but we need to make it right here.”
Sri Lanka made two changes. They brought in Kamil Mishara for the injured Kusal Mendis, and Janith Liyanage came in for Dushan Hemantha
.Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara (wk), Charith Asalanka, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (capt), Khawaja Nafay, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
(Cricinfo)
The United States and Israel have launched an attack on Iran, with explosions heard and seen across Tehran.
Several missiles have struck University Street and the Jomhouri area in Tehran, Fars news agency reported. Smoke was seen rising in the city, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed Israel launched the missile attack in order to “remove threats to the State of Israel”.
A United States official told Al Jazeera that the attacks were carried out as a joint military operation between Israel and the US, which has assembled a vast fleet of fighter jets and warships in the region to try to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear programme.
The Associated Press news agency reported that the strike in Iran’s capital happened near offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to an official cited by Reuters, Khamenei is not in Tehran and has been transferred to a secure location.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that explosions also occurred in Tehran’s northern Seyyed Khandan area.
As sirens sounded and a state of emergency declared in Israel, the Israeli military said it had issued a “proactive alert to prepare the public for the possibility of missiles being launched toward the state of Israel.”
Israel’s Airports Authority announced airspace had been closed to all civilian flights and urged the public not to come to the airport.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Qatar implemented shelter-in-place for all personnel, recommending that all of its citizens to do the same until further notice.
Reuters cited an Israeli deence official as saying the attacks had been planned for months and the launch date was decided weeks ago.
[Aljazeera]
At least 11 people have been killed after a Bolivian air force cargo plane crashed in the western city of El Alto, according to media reports quoting firefighters.
The incident happened at 18:15 local time (22:15 GMT) on Friday as the plane was arriving at El Alto’s airport from the city of Santa Cruz, aviation officials said. It reportedly skidded off the runway and hit nearby vehicles.
The defence ministry later confirmed its C-130 Hercules was involved and that it had been transporting banknotes to the Central Bank of Bolivia. It did not say how many people were on board, and gave no casualty numbers.
Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds allegedly trying to take the scattered banknotes.
Video footage showed people running away from the tear gas and police officers, some holding shields, forming a line. Some in the crowds are seen throwing rocks at police.
The crashed plane can be seen on the ground and badly damaged vehicles can be seen in other videos.
“I want to make it clear to those who are trying to take money from the plane involved in this tragedy that this money has no legal value since it has not been issued by the Central Bank and does not have a serial number, and that attempting to use this money is a crime,” the Minister of Defence, Marcelo Salinas, said.
“We also ask all those who are engaging in acts of vandalism in this area to refrain from doing so and to respect the mourning and grief we are experiencing at this difficult time.”
Firefighters working at the crash site said that at least 20 people were injured, local media reported.
El Alto International Airport was temporarily closed following the crash.
“My sister told me that she was in the car when the plane crashed. The plane’s tire fell on the car, and my sister was injured because the impact of the tire hit her on the head, so we rushed her to the hospital,” a man told the Reuters news agency.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, but some witnesses said the weather at the time was treacherous.
“A heavy hailstorm” was falling and “there was lightning” when the plane went down,” a woman whose car was struck by the aircraft wreckage told the AFP news agency.
An investigation into the incident is under way.
[BBC]
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