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IPL 2025: Patidar, bowlers lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to first win over Chennai Super Kings in Chennai since 2008
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ended their Chennai jinx in style, beating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) there got the first time since the first IPL – by a whopping 50 runs, CSK’s biggest defeat at home. The contest was so dead that more than half of CSK’s chase was all about finding out if and when MS Dhoni would bat. He eventually did so at No. 9, only for the second time in his career.
The build-up was all about how RCB would tackle 12 overs of spin, but the conditions rolled out inverted the spotlight: how would CSK handle eight overs of traditional seam and swing from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood? Not very well, as their combined figures of 7-0-41-4 demonstrated.
And that after RCB’s batters dominated the CSK attack on what was not a straightforward pitch. Like Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar, Khaleel Ahmed drew seam movement and extra bounce, but CSK didn’t have any more such bowlers. Rajat Patidar led RCB’s innings, full of intent, capitalising on a dropped catch when he was on 17, and finishing with 51 off 32 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were allowed to bowl only five overs, which were taken for 59 runs.
Khaleel drew some seam movement and uneven bounce in the first over, but CSK hadn’t planned for such conditions. They don’t have quick bowlers who can hit the good length and just short. They were going to open with Ashwin, and they did. Only for the first ball to not come out right and for Phil Salt to pull him for a six. The over went for 16, forcing the early introduction of Noor.
On his way to the Purple Cap, Noor and Dhoni recreated a lightning stumping to get rid of Salt for 32 off 16 balls, but Devdutt Padikkal denied them any relief. The left-hand batter took down Jadeja in ways Jadeja is not accustomed to: a sweep and a charge down the wicket to consign him to a 15-run first over.
When Ashwin got Padikkal out for 27 off 14 deliveries, CSK would have hoped to re-establish control. But the presence of Patidar meant they were not able to bowl spin at Virat Kohli, who struggled to achieve even a run a ball. Patidar took a six off Noor the moment he overpitched. Kohli, playing Matheesha Pathirana for the first time, took 16 runs off his second over, and RCB were 109 for 2 in 11 overs.
Like Ashwin earlier, Jadeja nearly had his own back when he drew a mis-hit from the enterprising Patidar, but Deepak Hooda dropped a sitter at long-off. In the next two overs, Patidar offered three half-chances, but none of them was taken. Kohli’s offering was taken, though, and the pressure on Liam Livingstone, and eventually his wicket, reduced RCB to 145 for 4 in the 16th over.
RCB kept the intent up, though, and Jitesh Sharma hit the second ball he played for the shot of the match, an inside-out drive off a Noor wrong’un over extra cover for six. Patidar played a delectable pick-up shot off a Pathirana slower ball in the next over. This 27-run stand in 13 balls gave RCB the impetus they needed before the death overs.
In the death overs, though, both fell, even resulting in just one run off the 19th over, bowled by Pathirana. However, Tim David took them 20 past what CSK believed to be par with three sixes in the last over, bowled by Sam Curran, who has now bowled four overs for 47 runs in two matches.
Hazlewood got Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad in his first over with steep bounce, and Bhvuneshwar took his 73rd powerplay wicket when he nicked off Hooda.
Dhoni kept teasing his fans by batting after Jadeja and Ashwin. Yet there were 4.4 overs left when he walked out to bat at No. 9. Only in the last two overs did he get some hits in, but couldn’t avoid a record home defeat.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 196 for 7 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 51, Phil Salt 32, Virat Kohli 31, Devdutt Padikkal 27, Liam Livingstone 10, Jitesh Sharma 12, Tim David 22*; Khaleel Ahmed 1-28, Ravichandran Ashwin 1-22, Noor Ahmad 3-36, Maheesha Pathirana 2-36) beat Chennai Super Kings 146 for 8 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 41, Shivam Dube 19, Ravindra Jadeja 25, Ravichandran Ashwin 11, MS Dhoni 30*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-20, Josh Hazlewood 3-21, Yash Dayal 2-18, Liam Livingstone 2-28) by 50 runs
[Cricinfo]
US and Iranian officials have met in Geneva for a third round of indirect talks seen as crucial to averting conflict, with President Donald Trump threatening to strike Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached.
The discussions come amid the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and with Iran vowing to respond to an attack with force.
Thursday’s talks were adjourned after three hours. Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who is acting as the mediator, said negotiators had exchanged “creative and positive ideas” and would return after taking a break. “We hope to make more progress,” he added.
But the chances of an agreement remain unclear.
While Trump has said he prefers to solve the crisis through diplomacy, he has also said he is considering a limited strike on Iran to pressure its leaders to accept a deal.
The president, however, has done little to explain what he is demanding in the negotiations and why there could be the need to take military action now, eight months after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities during a war between Israel and Iran.
Iran has rejected the US demand to stop the enrichment of uranium in its territory, but there have been indications that it is prepared to offer some concessions about its nuclear programme.
As in the previous two rounds of discussions earlier this month, the Iranian delegation is being led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while the US is represented by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
In recent weeks, the US has sent thousands of troops and what Trump has described as an “armada” to the region, including two aircraft carriers along with other warships, as well as fighter jets and refuelling aircraft.
Trump first threatened to bomb Iran last month as security forces brutally repressed anti-government protests, killing thousands of people. But since then, his focus has turned to Iran’s nuclear programme, which has been at the centre of a long-running dispute with the West.
For decades, the US and Israel have accused Iran of trying to secretly develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its programme is only for peaceful purposes, though the country is the only non-nuclear-armed state to have enriched uranium at near weapons-grade level.
In his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump briefly and vaguely talked about the tensions with Iran, without clearly laying out the case for strikes.
He said Iran was working to build missiles that would “soon” be capable of reaching the US, without giving details. He also accused the country of trying to “start all over again” with a nuclear weapons programme following last year’s strikes, and said he could not allow the “world’s number one sponsor of terror… to have a nuclear weapon”.
The US struck three nuclear sites in Iran last June, as it joined Israel in its bombing campaign. At the time, Trump said the facilities had been “obliterated”.
Iran says its enrichment activity stopped after the attacks, although it has not allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors to access the damaged sites.
“They want to make a deal,” Trump said, “but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon’.”
Hours before the speech, however, the Iranian foreign minister posted on social media that Iran would “under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon”. Araghchi also said there was an “historic opportunity to strike an unprecedented agreement that addresses mutual concerns and achieves mutual interests”.
Reacting to Trump’s address, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman accused the US of repeating “big lies” regarding its nuclear programme, ballistic missiles and the number of protesters killed in the crackdown.
Iran’s proposals have not been made public, but the discussions in Geneva could include the creation of a regional consortium for uranium enrichment, which has been raised in previous negotiations, as well as ideas about what to do with Iran’s roughly 400kg (880lb) stockpile of highly enriched uranium and verification and monitoring mechanisms.
In return, Iran expects the lifting of sanctions that have crippled its economy. Opponents of the regime say any relief would give the clerical rulers a lifeline.
But it remains unclear which conditions Trump could find acceptable for a deal. Iran has already rejected discussing limits to the country’s ballistic missile programme and ending its support for proxies in the region – an alliance Tehran calls the “Axis of Resistance” that includes Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen.
Reports in US media, quoting unnamed administration officials, have suggested that Trump was considering an initial strike in the coming days on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or nuclear sites to pressure the country’s leaders. If negotiations failed, according to the reports, the president might go as far as ordering a campaign with the aim of toppling the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is also said to have warned that strikes against Iran could be risky, potentially drawing the US into a prolonged conflict, although Trump has insisted that Gen Dan Caine believes it would be “easily won”.
Iran, meanwhile, has threatened to respond to any attack by striking American military assets in the Middle East and Israel.
US-allied countries in the region are concerned that an attack on Iran could lead to a wider conflict, and have warned that air power alone will not be able to change the country’s leadership.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has warned against a deal that does not include Iran’s ballistic missiles and its proxies. Netanyahu has long described Iran as a key threat for Israel, and a source of instability in the region.
Analysts believe that the prime minister, who visited the White House earlier this month, may be pushing for a campaign with the goal of toppling the Iranian regime.
The US has the world’s second-largest nuclear arsenal. Israel is also believed to have nuclear weapons, although it neither confirms nor denies this.
Ahead of the State of the Union, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a classified briefing to the so-called “gang of eight”, composed of the leaders of both parties in the Senate and House of Representatives and the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees of both chambers.
Following the briefing, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, gave a brief statement, saying: “This is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people.”
[BBC]
Zimbabwe won the toss and asked India to bat first in what was practically a must-win match for both sides. Thanks to South Africa’s win over Weszt Indies minutes before the toss, India now need to just win. Zimbabwe, though, need to win big.
Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwe captain, said there was grass and moisture on the surface, and that he wanted his seamers to use it early. Raza didn’t even go for an X-ray on his injured hand lest it show a fracture and force him out of the big match.
Thanks to Raza’s call to field, we were to soon find out the batting position of SanjunSamson, whose inclusion brought about a huge cheer from the stands in Chennai, which will now be his home during the IPL. A Chennai boy, though, went out. Washington Sundar made way for the vice-captain Axar Patel, who had been left out for tactical reasons against South Africa.
Samson replaced a lower middle-order hitter Rinku Singh, who might or might not have his mind on other things. He made a quick visit to Delhi with his ailing father before rejoining the squad on the eve of this match. How Samson would fit in the batting was intriguing, but one thing was made clear: he was going to take the big gloves behind the wicket later in the night.
Zimbabwe made one change to go with their reading of the conditions. Legspinner Graeme Cremer went out for fast bowler Tinotenda Maposa.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Zimbabwe: Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (capt.), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Tinotenda Maposa, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava
[Cricinfo]
Aiden Markram’s 82 not out led South Africa to a nine wicket victory over West Indies that, while not confirming his side’s semi-final place just yet, underlined why many believe the Proteas could finally lift the T20 World Cup. In this meeting of the last two unbeaten sides at this tournament, South Africa were ruthless, maintaining their 100 per cent record with 23 balls to spare.
Markram’s third half-century of the tournament – his 22nd fifty-plus score in T20Is – made light work of a 177 chase. He and Quinton de Kock put on 95, their highest opening stand of the tournament, skewering whatever belief West Indies had picked up at the back end of a first innings that started disastrously.
Inserted on a tacky-looking Ahmedabad surface, West Indies were 83 for 7 in the 11th over, before a record T20I stand of 89 for the eighth wicket between Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd.
Lungi Ngidi (3 for 30) and Kagiso Rabada’s (2 for 22) were the chief architects of the early stages of that collapse, with Corbin Bosch (2 for 31) also chiming in, profiting from batters’ unrelenting pursuit of boundaries.
Shepherd’s unbeaten 52 – a maiden T20I half-century, sealed with an inside edge for four off the final ball of the innings – and a well-managed 49 from Holder was a part change of tact. But even they focused on finding the fence throughout their 57 deliveries together rather than ticking over to bat time, even if West Indies were able to use all 20 overs.
South Africa were far from perfect, dropping four catches and being a little passive in the field. But they took it to West Indies’s bowlers. All six used by Shai Hope ended up wearing economy rates in double figures, as de Kock’s 47 off 24) and then Ryan Rickleton’s unbeaten 45 off 28 dovetailed neatly as left-handed foils to Markram’s belligerent march to the finish line.
Brief scores:
South Africa 177 for 1 in 16.1 overs (Aiden Markram 82*, Quinton de Kock 47, Ryan Rickelton 45*; Roston Chase 1-46) beat West Indies 176 for 8 in 20 overs (Brandon King 21, Shai Hope 16, Sherfane Rutherford 12, Romario Shepherd 52, Jason Holder 49, Mathew Forde 11; Lungi Ngidi 3-20, Kagiso Rabada 2-22, Corbin Bosch 2-31) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
US and Iran hold talks seen as crucial to prevent conflict
Zimbabwe opt to bowl, include Maposa; Samson, Axar back for India
Markram, bowlers lead South Africa’s rout of West Indies
Samra, Airee headline Associates’ team of the tournament
Maharoof expects ‘some hard decisions’ after Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup exit
Matthews’ century leads West Indies to six-wicket victory
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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