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Washington and Carse light up Lord’s as gripping finish looms
Washington Sundar’s prize wicket-taking set India up for a 135-run pursuit on the final day of the third Test at Lord’s , but in a twist to an enthralling fourth day in which 14 wickets fell, they only have six wickets in hand.
Brydon Carse removed Karun Nair and Shubman Gill cheaply for impressive figures of 2 for 11 from four overs and Ben Stokes bowled nightwatcher Akash Deep with the last ball of the day as three wickets fell in the last half-hour of play.
Washington’s 4 for 22 included the key names of Joe Root, Jamie Smith and Stokes before he claimed the last England wicket to fall, Shoaib Bashir, as the hosts took a lead of 192. After scores were level on first innings, that meant India needed to chase down 193 for a 2-1 lead in the series.
Jofra Archer broke through in the second over of India’s pursuit when Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted to pull a shorter, wider ball and sent a top edge into the air above wicketkeeper Smith.
But it wasn’t until 30 minutes before stumps that England were able to make inroads again, Nair flummoxed by Carse’s nip-backer and offering no shot as the ball struck the inside of his back knee. Gill, on 6, failed to overturn his lbw dismissal after he was hit on the knee roll by one in line with middle stump.
When Akash Deep entered still needing to don his arm guard and gloves, Root revved up the crowd to protest at any time wasting, which had been Gill’s bugbear in a heated exchange with Zak Crawley at the end of day three.
The issue went from prickly to farcical to downright funny when Carse rapped Akash Deep’s pads. He survived England’s review on umpire’s call with impact on the top of leg stump and India sent the physio out to apply some strapping to the batter’s leg, chewing up more time.
England managed to squeeze in another over though, and Stokes struck with the fourth ball, flattening Akash Deep’s off stump.
India’s bowlers started the day with great intent. Jasprit Bumrah caused Crawley all sorts of discomfort without being rewarded and Mohammed Siraj produced a miserly seven-over opening spell yielding two wickets.
Ben Duckett was the first to go pulling to Bumrah at mid-on amid an impassioned send-off from Siraj that ensured the tensions of the previous evening remained high.
Siraj then pinned Ollie Pope lbw, although it took an India review to confirm his dismissal for just 4 off 17 balls. Pope’s average in the second innings languishes at a mere 19.64 now.
Nitish Kumar Reddy relieved Bumrah midway through the morning session and removed Crawley for the second time in the match, this time a loose drive outside off stump gathered by Jaiswal at gully.
Harry Brook mounted a counterattack, ramping Akash Deep for back-to-back fours before launching him down the ground for six but it was short-lived. He fell for a 19-ball 23 when, attempting to sweep a full, straight one, Akash Deep flattened his middle stump in the perfect riposte.
Enter Washington as India turned to spin after lunch and he rattled Root’s middle stump with one that slid under the attempted sweep and broke his fifth-wicket stand with Stokes at 67. Root’s 40 ended up as England’s highest of the innings and his dismissal ended a run of four scores of fifty or above at Lord’s (including three centuries on the trot).
Four overs later, Washington bowled Smith for just 8 with an excellent quicker ball that didn’t turn in the slightest but skidded past the outside edge and onto off stump.
At that point England were 164 for 6 and they were subsequently becalmed as Stokes and Chris Woakes looked to avoid further damage.
Stokes added just six more runs after tea before Washington struck again, beating the slog sweep and clattering middle stump to send him on his way for 33.
Bumrah was finally rewarded with the wickets of Carse and Woakes, the former to a stunning, pinpoint-accurate yorker on leg stump and the latter to one that expertly clipped the leg-side bails.
Bashir’s was the 12th bowled dismissal by India for the match when Washington beat his defences to close out the innings, completing an England collapse in which they lost their last four wickets for 11 runs, and their last six for 38. Washington’s 4 for 22 is the best figures by an Indian spinner at Lords since 1974.
Brief scores: |
India 387 in 119.2 overs and 58 for 4 in 17.4 overs (KL Rahul 33*, Brydon Carse 2-11) need 135 runs to beat England 387 in 112.3 overs and 192 in 62.1 overs (Joe Root 40, Ben Stokes 33; Washington Sundar 4-22, Mohammed Siraj 2-31, Jasprit Bumrah 2-38)
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Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 30 March 2026, valid for 31 March 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district.
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.
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Electricity tariffs to be increased from 1st April
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has granted approval to increase electricity tariffs with effect from 1st April .
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) requested a 13.56% electricity tariff revision for the second quarter of this year.
The revision announced by the PUCSL for domestic consumers:
0–30 units category, electricity tariffs will rise by 4.3%,
31–60 units category, tariffs will rise by 6.9%,
61–90 units category, tariffs will rise by 6.9%,
91–120 units category, tariffs will rise by 7.2%,
Above 180 units, electricity tariffs will rise by 25.3%
The PUCSL has decided not to increase electricity tariffs for religious and charitable institutions that consume below 180 units monthly and a 9.6% increase for institutions that consume above 180 units.
Ectricity tariffs for the general and household consumer categories has been increased by 8%, while the electricity tariff increase for the industrial sector is 8.7%, the increase in tariff for government institutions is 14.4%.
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Rickelton, Rohit, Shardul break Mumbai’s first-game jinx
Before Sunday, Mumbai Indians had never chased down a 220-plus target in their previous seven attempts. MI had never won their opening game of the IPL since 2012. On day two of IPL 2026, MI broke two jinxes as they chased down 221 in 19.1 overs to begin their season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma wound back the clock, smashing 78 off 38 balls, while Ryan Rickelton thumped 81 off 43, the duo adding 148 runs for the opening wicket off 71 balls.
That KKR were coming into this opening game severely depleted on the bowling front was known. The extent of it was visible on Sunday night with Vaibhav Arora and Blessing Muzarabani toothless, Varun Chakravarthy ineffective and Sunil Narine a shadow of his former self.
At the halfway mark, KKR might have been happy reaching 220 for 4, their second-highest score against MI in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane, who at the toss said that he had “never seen so much of grass at Wankhede”, scored 67 off 40 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, another Mumbai lad, made 51 off 29 as KKR breached the 220 mark. But against a KKR unit missing several of their frontline seamers, MI barely had any hiccups, completing the highest-successful IPL chase at the Wankhede with five balls to spare.
It was a typical Rohit innings that Wankhede has witnessed so many times, laced with some of the most pristine shots. He was on 12 off eight at one stage, but once in, he lit up Mumbai like only he can. Coming into the game, he had a strike rate of less than 100 against Varun in T20s. So, what did he do? He lofted the spinner inside-out over covers first ball and then lifted him for six the next ball. By the time the powerplay was done, Rohit had raced to a 23-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL and MI’s chase was on course.
They raced to 80 in the first six, past 100 in 8.1 overs and by the time Rohit fell, thanks to a lovely catch by Anukul Roy running back from mid-off, MI’s required rate had gone below nine, which at the start of the innings was above 11 an over.
There were a few raised eyebrows when Rickelton was picked over the more experienced Quinton de Kock , but the former justified his selection. Rickelton needed just the first couple of overs to get a hang of the surface and once he did, there was no stopping him. He deposited Arora for back-to-back sixes, one over extra cover and then over deep midwicket, and that kickstarted a brutal takedown of the KKR bowlers.
While he saw Rohit do his thing in the powerplay, Rickelton took on Narine after the six-over mark. He slog swept him over deep midwicket in his first over and then launched him over the ropes twice in three balls in the next to raise a 24-ball fifty.
He didn’t stop there and only fell courtesy a stunning direct hit from the deep by Anukul. Suryakumar Yadav, the Impact Sub, came and went, but Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma took MI closer. Hardik finished on an unbeaten 18 off 11 balls, while Naman Dhir hit the winning runs off Anukul as MI started their IPL 2026 in style.
Finn Allen brought his stellar form international cricket to the IPL. After facing five dot balls against Hardik, he went after MI debutant AM Ghazanfar, pumping him to the deep square fence and then spanking him for an 86-metre six over wide long-on. Another six capped off Ghazanfar’s opening over. Rahane then went after Hardik, thumping him for back-to-back sixes and Allen then got on strike and went 4, 4, 4. A monster 26-run over against Hardik helped KKR race past fifty in 3.5 overs, their fastest against MI in the IPL.
Shardul Thqkur, on MI debut, then brought his experience into play and sent back Allen who shoveled a slower length ball to long-off but Rahane carried on. He struck two fours off Thakur as KKR finished on 78 for 1 in six overs.
Two Mumbai boys on opposite ends were critical to their team’s cause. After removing Allen, Thakur sent back Cameron Green, whose innings lasted just ten balls and he then dismissed Rahane with a hard length delivery outside off that was mistimed to extra cover. At this point, KKR were still going at over ten an over but had lost steam, thanks to some terrific bowling from Bumrah, Trent Boult and Thakur.
Enter the other Mumbai boy, Raghuvanshi. He was on 17 off 14 at one stage but found a new lease of life after being dropped by Rohit at long-on. He closed out the 15th over with a four and six against Ghazanfar and then launched Thakur over long-on. Raghuvanshi added 60 off 30 balls with Rinku Singh for the fourth wicket, reaching his fifty off 28 balls as KKR raced past 200 in the 19th over.
Rinku struck unbeaten on 33 off 21 as KKR finished on 220 for 4 but it wasn’t enough.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 221 for 4 in 19.1 overs (Ryan Rickelton 81, Rohit Sharma 78, Suryakumar Yadav 16, Tilak Varma 20, HardikPandya 18*; Vaibhav Arora 1-52, Kartik Tyagi 1-43, Sunil Narine 1-30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 220 for 4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 67, Finn Allen 37, Cameron Green 18, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Rinku Singh 33*; Hardik Pandya 1-39, Shardul Thakur 3-39) by six wickets
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