Kohli, Rohit lead Bengaluru and Mumbai to IPL wins
Kohli scored 73 not out as Bengaluru chased down 158 to beat Punjab by seven wickets in Mullanpur. Rohit hit 76 not out in the second match of the day, helping Mumbai secure a nine-wicket win over Chennai.
Kohli hit his fourth half-century of this season and shared a 103-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal.
VIRAT KOHLI and Rohit Sharma played unbeaten knocks to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians to victories in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Kohli scored 73 not out as Bengaluru chased down 158 to beat Punjab Kings by seven wickets in Mullanpur. Rohit hit 76 not out in the second match of the day, helping Mumbai secure a nine-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings.
Kohli hit his fourth half-century of this season and shared a 103-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who made 61, to help Bengaluru reach the target with seven balls remaining.
Rohit, playing as an impact substitute, hit his first fifty of the season. He put on 114 runs with Suryakumar Yadav, who made 68 off 30 balls, as Mumbai chased down 177 with 26 balls left.
Rohit added 63 runs with Ryan Rickelton, who scored 24 before falling to Ravindra Jadeja.
"After being here for such a long period of time, it's easy to start doubting yourself and start doing different things," Rohit said after being named player of the match.
"For me, it was important to do simple things and have a clear mindset. It was important for me to hold my shape and extend my arms, and when the ball was in my area, I had to do what I have been doing."
Rohit had scored just 82 runs in six previous innings this season. He found his timing again with his usual flicks and pulls.
He reached his half-century in 33 balls. Suryakumar got to his fifty in 26 deliveries, hitting shots behind the wicket. The pair hit 11 sixes between them.
Mumbai's bowlers had earlier kept Chennai to 176 for 5. Jasprit Bumrah took 2 for 25 and Mitchell Santner picked up 1 for 14.
Shivam Dube scored 50 and Ravindra Jadeja was unbeaten on 53. They added 79 runs for the fourth wicket. Ayush Mhatre, 17, made 32 off 15 balls after becoming the youngest debutant for Chennai.
Chennai, led by MS Dhoni after Ruturaj Gaikwad withdrew injured mid-season, have now lost six out of eight matches and are at the bottom of the table.
Bengaluru, who had lost to Punjab at home on Friday, are now level on points with them. Both teams are yet to win an IPL title.
"Very important game for us," said Kohli, who was named player of the match. "When you go from eight (points) to 10, it makes a massive difference."
Speaking about his role, Kohli said, "One partnership is good enough in T20 cricket during run chase. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players. Holding one end up at the moment, that's working for us."
Kohli, 36, now has four half-centuries this season and moved past David Warner for the most 50-plus scores in IPL history. He has 67 scores of 50 or more, including eight centuries.
Padikkal scored his first fifty of the season after Bengaluru lost opener Phil Salt in the first over to Arshdeep Singh.
Padikkal was dismissed by Harpreet Brar. Kohli remained unbeaten, finishing with 73 from 54 balls with seven fours and one six.
Bengaluru spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma took two wickets each to help restrict Punjab to 157 for 6.
INDIA named top-order batsman Shubman Gill as the new Test captain, the cricket board said Saturday (24), as it announced the team for next month's all-important tour of England.
Gill, 25, succeeds Rohit Sharma, who retired from Tests recently along with Virat Kohli. He will take charge in the five-Test series in England starting June 20.
Gill will lead a team in transition after Rohit, 38, and Kohli, 36, walked away from the five-day format in the space of six days this month to leave a big void.
"Shubman Gill-led TeamIndia are READY for an action-packed Test series," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement. His vice-captain will be Rishabh Pant.
Gifted with a wide range of shots, Gill has led Gujarat Titans into the playoffs of the current Indian Premier League T20 tournament.
"Obviously, he's very young but we've seen the improvement," chief selector Ajit Agarkar told reporters after the team announcement in Mumbai.
He said that, as well as Gill's IPL performances, the board "take feedback from a lot of people" and the choice was a "unanimous decision".
"It's obviously going to be a high-pressure job. But we're hopeful that we've picked the right guy. I mean, he's a terrific player," Agarkar said.
"It's a big job, big transition," he said, especially with "two of our big players retiring".
"We were all confident that he is the guy to take us forward", he said.
However, pace bowler Mohammed Shami has been left out of the 18-member squad due to fitness concerns, Agarkar said.
"He's had a little bit of a setback over the last week or so," Agarkar said, adding medical scans had ruled Shami out for the series.
Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah is in the squad, although he will not be able to play all five Tests. Bumrah's workload is being managed while he recovers from a career-threatening back injury -- a key reason for him not getting the Test captaincy.
Bumrah was Rohit's deputy in India's last Test tour of Australia.
Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj returns after he was dropped from the ODI team for the Champions Trophy this year.
Batsman Karun Nair, who hit an unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in 2016, will make a comeback eight years after he last played a Test for India.
Gill's opening partner at Gujarat, Sai Sudharsan, who leads the IPL batting chart with 638 runs, also made the cut.
Agarkar said coach Gautam Gambhir and Gill will decide the batting order and who will replace Rohit and Kohli as opener and number two batter.
Gill has played 32 Tests, scoring 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05, with five hundreds, since his debut in Melbourne in 2020.
He has been a mainstay of India's batting in Test and ODI cricket and played a key role in the team's 50-overs Champions Trophy title in Dubai this year.
The Tests in England will be India's first in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.
The opener is at Headingley, followed by the second Test at Edgbaston from July 2.
Lord's hosts the third Test from July 10, with the fourth at Old Trafford beginning July 23 and the final Test at The Oval from July 31.
MITCHELL MARSH scored his first Indian Premier League century as Lucknow Super Giants defeated Gujarat Titans by 33 runs in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Marsh hit 117 off 64 balls, including 10 fours and eight sixes, helping Lucknow post 235-2 in their 20 overs.
In response, Gujarat, who have already qualified for the playoffs, were restricted to 202-9 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
"We gave 15-20 runs extra. If we'd stopped them at 210-220 it would've been better, that was a huge difference," said Gujarat captain Shubman Gill. "Getting momentum back will be key in the next game."
Lucknow were already out of the playoffs and played for pride.
Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan, the tournament’s top scorer, made 21 before being caught by Aiden Markram off Will O’Rourke, who took 3-27. Gill, who looked in rhythm, was dismissed for 35, caught in the deep by Abdul Samad off Avesh Khan.
Jos Buttler added 33 before falling to Akash Singh in the 10th over.
Shahrukh Khan (57) and Sherfane Rutherford (38) built a brief partnership but O’Rourke struck twice in the 17th over to end Gujarat’s chase.
"We had a lot of fun out there, T20 is fickle," said O'Rourke.
Earlier, Marsh and Markram gave Lucknow a solid start with a 91-run opening partnership after Gujarat won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Markram hit two consecutive sixes off Kagiso Rabada but was caught by Shahrukh Khan near the boundary off Sai Kishore for 36.
Marsh kept scoring quickly, taking 25 runs off Rashid Khan’s first over. He reached his century in 56 balls before being caught by Rutherford off Arshad Khan for 117.
Nicholas Pooran made an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls, including four fours and five sixes. Captain Rishabh Pant remained not out on 16.
The IPL resumed last Saturday after a pause due to a deadly conflict between India and Pakistan, which had led overseas players to reassess their plans.
(With inputs from agencies)
Keep ReadingShow less
Mumbai Indians' Suryakumar Yadav celebrates his team's win against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 21, 2025.
Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten 73 and a quickfire 24 from Naman Dhir helped Mumbai Indians secure a 59-run win over Delhi Capitals and confirm their place in the Indian Premier League playoffs on Wednesday.
In a direct contest for a playoff spot, Mumbai scored 180-5 and bowled Delhi out for 121 at the Wankhede Stadium.
Mitchell Santner returned figures of 3-11 from four overs, while Jasprit Bumrah also picked up three wickets.
"I can throw them (Santner and Bumrah) the ball whenever I want," Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya said. "They bring such control and perfection, which makes my job easy."
The five-time champions have now joined Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings in the top four. The playoffs begin on May 29.
Delhi still have one game left but can only get to 15 points, while Mumbai have 16 points with one more match to go.
Mumbai recovered their campaign midway through the season after losing four of their first five games. They have now won seven of their last eight matches.
The final group games will determine the playoff positions, with the top two teams getting two chances to reach the final on June 3.
After being asked to bat first, Mumbai overcame an early top-order collapse, which included Rohit Sharma getting out for five. They rebuilt in the second half of the innings.
Suryakumar held firm in his 43-ball innings that included seven fours and four sixes, while Dhir added 24 not out from eight balls to boost the total.
Dhir hit two fours and two sixes off Mukesh Kumar in a 27-run 19th over. Suryakumar followed it up with 21 runs in the final over bowled by Dushmantha Chameera.
‘Let it slip’
"We let it slip in the last two overs," said Delhi stand-in captain Faf du Plessis, who stepped in for Axar Patel due to illness.
"Momentum is a real thing in cricket. The way they counter-punched to get almost 50 in the last two overs, undoing the work of the first 17-18 overs. We lost that momentum."
Du Plessis also said the team missed Australian bowler Mitchell Starc, who did not return after the IPL resumed following a pause caused by the India-Pakistan conflict.
The IPL resumed last Saturday with a revised schedule, leading some overseas players to change their season plans.
Tilak Varma added 27 runs in a 55-run stand with Suryakumar after Mumbai lost three early wickets.
Rohit was dismissed by Mustafizur Rahman in the third over, followed soon after by Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton.
Rohit, who recently had a stand at the stadium named after him, had several fans dressed in white as a tribute to his recent retirement from Test cricket.
Delhi lost early wickets in the chase, starting with du Plessis falling for six in the second over.
Trent Boult dismissed KL Rahul for 11, and Jacks removed Abishek Porel for a single-digit score.
Wickets continued to fall, and Santner took two in one over to end Delhi’s resistance. They were bowled out in 18.2 overs.
(Inputs from agencies)
Keep ReadingShow less
FILE PHOTO: Pakistan's players, (L-R) Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
PAKISTAN dropped stars Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan on Wednesday (21) as they named a new-look squad for three home Twenty20 internationals against Bangladesh.
Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson will take charge for the first time after being appointed last week, replacing Aaqib Javed.
Salman Ali Agha will captain Pakistan as they look towards next year's Twenty20 World Cup, to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Fast bowler Shaheen had played in Pakistan's last T20 series in New Zealand in March, but batsmen Azam and Rizwan were omitted for the second consecutive T20 series after being criticised for slow scoring.
"The squad has been selected based on players' performances in the ongoing Pakistan Super League, which concludes on May 25," the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.
Shaheen has taken 12 wickets for Lahore Qalandars in 10 PSL matches at an economy rate of 8.20. Opener Sahibzada Farhan earned a recall after topping the PSL batting charts with 394 runs.
Batsmen Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman return after missing the New Zealand tour with injuries.
Fast bowler Hasan Ali is back after being sidelined with multiple injuries since May last year.
The PCB said that the matches, which have been affected by a 10-day delay to the PSL caused by the deadly India-Pakistan conflict, will be held in Lahore on May 28, 30 and June 1.
Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub
(AFP)
Keep ReadingShow less
The 14-year-old, who had earlier drawn attention with a 35-ball century last month, made 57 off 33 balls to help Rajasthan chase down 188 with 17 balls remaining. (Photo: Getty Images)
VAIBHAV SURYAVANSHI scored a half-century as Rajasthan Royals ended their IPL campaign with a six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.
The 14-year-old, who had earlier drawn attention with a 35-ball century last month, made 57 off 33 balls to help Rajasthan chase down 188 with 17 balls remaining in New Delhi.
Suryavanshi, who began his IPL career by hitting his first ball for six and played a key role in the chase, hitting four fours and four sixes in his innings.
"I don't have words for Vaibhav, he can hit a slower ball over cover," Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson said.
"Today when the middle overs were going on, he was going with his job very smartly. He has game awareness at such a young age."
Dhruv Jurel remained unbeaten on 31 off 12 balls to finish the chase.
Both teams were already out of the playoff race. Rajasthan stayed ahead of Chennai, which was bottom of the table with four wins from 14 matches.
Chennai, led by MS Dhoni, who is 43, have one league game remaining.
Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings have secured play-off spots. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are still in contention for the final place.
Chennai had opportunities in the match, including a double strike by Ravichandran Ashwin, who removed Samson (41) and Suryavanshi in the space of five balls.
Jurel responded with boundaries in the next over, and even after Riyan Parag was dismissed, Rajasthan completed the chase.
Jurel hit the winning six, with Shimron Hetmyer not out on 12 at the other end.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made 36 off 19 balls and added 37 for the opening wicket with Suryavanshi.
Mhatre leads Chennai recovery
Chennai posted 187-8 after falling to 78-5 in under eight overs, batting first on a hot and humid day in Delhi.
"If you look at the amount of runs we had put on the board, it was very good," said Dhoni. "But you got to see the wickets column as it puts pressure on the lower-middle order that you might not bat 20 overs."
Teenager Ayush Mhatre made 43 off 20 balls, lifting Chennai after two early wickets. His dismissal started a collapse.
Mhatre, who has a top score of 94 in his debut year, hit eight fours and one six before being dismissed by Tushar Deshpande.
Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed Ashwin, and Yudhvir Singh claimed his third wicket by removing Ravindra Jadeja as Chennai lost five wickets in 7.4 overs.
Dewald Brevis scored 42 and shared a 59-run stand with Shivam Dube, who made 39, to rebuild the innings.
Rajasthan bowlers restricted Chennai to 17 runs in the final three overs.
Akash Madhwal took 3-29 and was named player of the match.
The IPL resumed on Saturday after being paused due to the conflict between India and Pakistan. The final is now scheduled for 3 June in Ahmedabad.
Justin Bieber faces backlash for ‘I love you’ comment on 17-year-old star Ariana Greenblatt’s post