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IPL 2025: Rohit, Suryakumar fifties seal NRR-boosting win for Mumbai Indians

Published

11 months ago

2025/04/21

Priyan

Rohit Sharma goes over the off side [Cricinfo]

Mumbai Indians (MI) put together a third straight win in IPL 2025 as they outgunned a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side shorn of hitting power. The lack of batting showed in how they played a highly cagey brand of cricket, only targeting certain pockets and conceding match-ups without protest. It took them three overs to hit a boundary, then they went 27 balls in the middle overs without even attempting one, only to cap it off with no boundary in the 17th and 18th overs, bowled by MI’s best bowlers on the night: Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner.

Not only did MI manage a run-rate boost with the win that takes them to eight points in eight matches, they also welcomed Rohit Sharma back to runs. Rohit scored his first fifty this IPL – his previous highest was 26 – they put together their first half-century opening stand this IPL, and Suraykumar Yadav got the better of CSK’s spin threat with his various sweeps.

This match was played on the pitch that produced 430 runs for RCB and MI. The toss, as usual, was a big advantage at Wankhede. Which should make it important to look for above-par scores, but CSK took the pragmatic route: don’t risk 120 all out looking for 200. Consequently, their openers tested waters for too long, timing shots straight to fielders. When Shaik Rasheed finally hit one in the air, and for a four, CSK had only 16 in three overs.

Rachin Ravindra by now felt he had to target the change bowler without a sighter. He looked to go big down the ground, and edged the first ball by Ashwani Kumar. His replacement at the wicket, CSK’s younger player of all time, the 17-year-old Aush Mhatre injected some life to the innings with flair reminiscent of Dwayne Bravo. It still meant only 48 runs in the powerplay. The unperturbed MI stayed with Deepak Chahar for a fourth straight over, eventually resulting in the legcutter that got Mhatre out for 32 off 15.

Santner produced a beauty in the eighth over at 77kmph to have Rasheed stumped on the defence, but that brought together Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. They have batting behind these two, but it’s MS Dhoni, Jamie Overton and Vijay Shankar. So these two decided not to hit anything even though their coming together meant Santner was taken off despite figures of 2-0-8-1. Put together, CSK didn’t make a boundary attempt between Mhatre’s dismissal and the return of Boult in the 12th over.

To be fair to CSK, they did well when they went after Boult and Ashwani, taking 85 in the six overs bowled by them. Dube raced away from 16 off 19 to a 30-ball fifty even as Jadeja hovered around a run a ball. However, when Bumrah got Dube with a slower ball, it allowed MI to bring back Santner for the 18th over because Dhoni and Jadeja were in the middle.

Santner bowled the 18th without a boundary, and it was only a late surge from Jadeja off Boult in the last over that took CSK to a modicum of respectability.

MI have been resurgent in recent times, but they might feel this was the final missing piece in the puzzle. A sizeable opening partnership, and Rohit carrying on from a quick start. He was severe on early errors from the quick bowlers, haring away to 32 off 18 in the powerplay, hitting three sweetly timed sixes. Only R Ashwin managed to keep him quiet. However, he went on to get the better of Ashwin when he slog-swept him for a six in the eighth over.

That six still didn’t take Rohit to a run a ball in his head-to-head against Ashwin in all these years, but it must have provided him a sense of victory against his old foe. Rohit was not the only one getting better of nemeses. Suryakumar entered this match with just 50 runs and four dismissals off 65 Jadeja deliveries. It was Jadeja that brought Suryakumar into the middle with the wicket of Ryan Rickleton in the seventh over. In the ninth over, Surya drove Jadeja over extra cover for four followed by a swept six, his first career six off Jadeja.

This was only a harbinger of what was to come. In all, Surya played nine sweeps for a whopping 35 runs. Three of them flew over the ropes, four others ended in the advertising boards. He outpaced Rohit with ease, and his flourish made sure MI got a bit net-run-rate boost, winning with 4.2 overs to spare.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians177 for 1 in 15.4 overs (Ryan Rickelton 24, Rohit Sharma 76*, Suryakumar Yadav 68*; Ravindra Jadeja 1-28, Matheesha Pathirana 0-34) beat Chennai Super Kings 176 for 5 in 20 overs (Shaik Rasheed 19, Ayush Mhatre 32, Ravindra Jadeja 53*, Shivam Dube 50; Jasprit Bumrah 2-25, Deepak Chahar 1-32, Ashwani Kumar 1-42, Mitchell Sabtner 1-14) by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Trump says US will ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if Strait of Hormuz not open before 48-hour deadline

Published

16 hours ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

President Donald Trump says the US will “obliterate” Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not open within 48 hours – the waterway is vital for global oil shipping.

Iran warns it will retaliate against all US-linked energy infrastructure in the Middle East if its power plants are attacked.

Trump also says he has achieved his war aims “weeks ahead of schedule”, adding: “Iran wants to make a deal. I don’t”

More than 100 people have been injured after strikes on southern Israel. The target appears to have been a nuclear facility 13km away from the city of Dimona

Meanwhile, Israel says it launched a wave of strikes on the Iranian capital. It follows an attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, Tehran says

An attempted Iranian strike on the joint UK-US base on Diego Gracia happened late on Thursday night into Friday morning, the BBC understands. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK won’t be drawn into wider conflict

[BBC]

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Trump at a crossroad in US-Israel war with Iran

Published

21 hours ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

Three weeks after the joint US-Israeli war against Iran began, the conflict has reached a fuzzy state of mixed messages and uncertainty, with Donald Trump’s public comments often seemingly contradicted by realities on the ground.

The war is “very complete, pretty much”, Trump has said, but new American ground forces – including a Marine expeditionary unit – are moving into the region. It is “winding down”, but US and Israeli bombing and missile strikes on Iranian targets continue unabated.

Opening the Strait of Hormuz, the geographic choke point through which 20% of the world’s oil export travels, is a “simple military manoeuvre”, but for now only Iranian-approved ships are transiting the waters.

The Iranian military is “gone”, but drones and missiles are still striking targets in the region and targets have extended as far as the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia.

In a Friday evening Truth Social post published while he was flying from Washington to his Florida resort for the weekend, the US president provided a numbered list of American military objectives for the Iran war, which he said the US was “getting really close” to fulfilling.

The items, comprising his most detailed statement on the subject since the war began, included degrading or destroying Iran’s military, its defence infrastructure and its nuclear weapons programme, as well as protecting American allies in the region.

Not included was the goal of securing the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump said should be the responsibility of other nations that are more dependent on oil exports from the Gulf. The president has frequently noted that the US is a net exporter of energy and does not rely on oil from the Middle East – although such a view glosses over the global nature of the fossil fuel market, where price fluctuations directly impact the price at American gas pumps.

Trump’s Truth Social post also made no call for Iranian regime change. Gone are any references to approving the nation’s next leader or “unconditional surrender”, which Trump had insisted on in the early days of the war.

In Trump’s latest outline of his objectives, it is possible that the US could end its operation with Iran’s current anti-American leadership in power, its oil exports still flowing and its ability to assert some measure of control over the Strait of Hormuz intact.

If that is an unappealing resolution to a war that the president and his aides have said began with the 1979 Iran Revolution and that they would finish, there is an alternative route that involves the US ground forces presently on the way to the Middle East region.

Just over a week ago, US media reported that a Marine expeditionary unit, with about 2,500 combat soldiers and supporting ships and aircraft, had been dispatched from Japan to the Middle East, which it should reach in the coming days. Another Marine force of similar size recently departed its base in California with its arrival expected in mid-April.

Military analysts have suggested that the US could be planning to capture Kharg Island. an 3-sq-km (8-sq-mile) slice of land that contains Iran’s primary oil export terminal. Doing so could, in theory, cut off the nation’s oil shipments, depriving the nation of much-needed revenue and forcing it to make greater concessions to the Americans in exchange for an end to hostilities.

Trump on Friday said that he wasn’t sending ground troops to Iran, but added: “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you”. Clarity, it seems, is not his intention.

The threat of such a move prompted Iran’s state media to report on Saturday that any attack on Kharg Island would lead Iran to cause “insecurity” in the Red Sea, another key global shipping transit point, and “set fire” to energy facilities throughout the region.

Iran’s warning underscores the dangers that would accompany a US escalation that further exposes American military forces to Iranian reprisals.

Earlier this week, US media reported that the Trump administration was preparing to ask Congress for $200bn (£150bn) in emergency funding for the ongoing Iranian military operation. Such a request would suggest that, far from winding down, the White House is preparing for a long, expensive fight.

The initial reaction from Congress, including from Trump’s Republican allies, was cautious at best.

“We’re talking about boots on the ground. We’re talking about that kind of extended activity,” said Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Texas.

“They have got a whole lot more briefing and a whole lot more explaining to do on how we’re going to pay for it, and what’s the mission here.”

The so-called “fog of war” doesn’t just cloud the thinking of military planners, it also affects the perception of politicians and the public.

The Iran war, it seems, is at a pivot. But which direction it takes from here is a puzzle.

(BBC)

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Heat Index likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Mannar and Vavuniya districts

Published

22 hours ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
at 3.30 p.m. on 21 March 2026, valid for 22 March 2026.

Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in
Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Mannar and Vavuniya districts.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.