hours • 21 أبريل 2026 • • —

Malinga, Reddy sink Chennai Super Kings chase to defend under-par 194 in Hyderabad

📑 محتويات المقال

Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled a victory out of nowhere thanks to four unheralded bowlers taking the smallest chance given to them. Three of Chennai Super Kings’ own unheralded bowlers might have been their inspiration. In an IPL season full of runs, the oppressed finally became oppressors. After the first powerplay, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster had the first innings […]

⏱ وقت القراءة: 11 دقيقة • 🎯 محتوى تعليمي

Eshan Malinga's three-for wrecked the CSK chase [BCCI]

Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled a victory out of nowhere thanks to four unheralded bowlers taking the smallest chance given to them. Three of Chennai Super Kings’ own unheralded bowlers might have been their inspiration. In an IPL season full of runs, the oppressed finally became oppressors.

After the first powerplay, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster had the first innings total reaching 237. Jaamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj and Gurjapneet Singh prevented such nonsense. CSK were given a target of 194 and needed 84 off 60 balls with seven wickets in hand. They should have pulled off their first 190-plus chase in eight years.

But Eshan Malinga (3-29), Nitish Kumar Reddy (2-31), Shivang Kumar (1-18) and Sakib Hussain (1-32) just wouldn’t let them. On paper, there were weak links. On the field, there was none. Each of those four had an economy rate of 8 or lower and each of them picked up at least one wicket. Shivang dismissed Dewald Brevis for 0. Sakib wrecked Shivam Dube’s stumps and killed off all CSK hope. In the end, their contribution to victory was bigger than Abhishek Sharma’s 15-ball fifty and Heinrich Klassen’s 33-ball fifty.

CSK picked Matt Short over Akeal Hosein primarily so they could target Abhishek and Travis Head with offspin. For two overs it worked. They gambled on a third, and it backfired. Abhishek moved from 26 off 10 to 50 off 15 by moving leg side and making the room he needed to free his arms. Short had succeeded because he wasn’t giving any of that, but he couldn’t cope when the batter changed strategies.

Overton is 7 for 86 in the middle overs this season. He is its third-highest wicket-taker in this phase of the innings, and his success comes from his hit-the-deck style of bowling. CSK have also course-corrected a little bit. They threw him into the death overs against Tim David in Bengaluru and he got pulverised. Over the last three matches though, Overton has been given a role more suited to his strengths and he’s responded beautifully. The ball to dismiss Abhishek, minutes after he’d been dropped for 51, was a brute, rearing up at the unsuspecting batter and snagging his edge through to the keeper. Only Prasidh Krishna (7.2), Jofra Archer (11.4) and Prince Yadav (12.1) have a better bowling average than Overton (14.6) when they all go into the wicket.

For three straight IPLs, Klaasen had maintained a strike rate above 170. This time it’s down in the 140s. He is starting slow. He is being more selective with his shots. The upshot of all this caution is three fifties in six innings. Despite this change in his batting, Klaasen remained just as destructive against wristspin as he has always been, surprising Noor Ahmad with a switch hit in the 13th over. Klaasen made 24 of his 59 runs against Noor at a strike rate of 185. The other SRH batters totalled 9 off 11.

In pre-season, CSK really dove into turning Kamboj into a death bowler. They understood it was a gaping hole in their team dynamics. The worst of it was felt in Bengaluru when soon after he dismissed David with a pin-point yorker from around the wicket, it was revealed that he had overstepped. Kamboj nailed the yorker here too and Klaasen dragged it onto his stumps. This time the no-ball did not show up.

SRH ended facing the last 16 balls of their innings without their best source of boundaries. Gurjapneet from the other end alternated between going for the blockhole and getting the back-of-the-hand slower ball to kick up off the pitch. Together, this unlikely duo recorded a nice little high: where all 18 of the last 18 deliveries had to be bowled in IPL 2026, CSK giving just 17 runs slotted in right behind one of the best bowling teams of the tournament, Gujarat Titans’ effort, against Kolkata Knight Riders, when they gave up just 15 runs in overs 18, 19 and 20.

CSK outscored SRH in the powerplay 76 for 3 to 75 for 2, and the reason for it was a man who started the season being bounced out. Ayush Mhatre now has 68 runs against fast bowling at a strike rate of 226.66. He laid waste to Praful Hinge, teaching him not to bowl short with a down-to-up pull shot for six, and leaving him backed against that corner as he drove on the up over the off side again and again. Mhatre hit five boundaries in that over – the third of the innings. He was batting like he’d never heard of a concept called running between the wickets. Ironically enough, that’s what did him in.

Mhatre injured his left leg responding to a quick two from Ruturaj Gaikwad. The physio had to come out twice in two balls. In the dugout, there was heightened tension. Head coach Stephen Fleming couldn’t sit still, while batting coach Mike Hussey looked pensive. From the days of the dad’s army, this team’s fortunes now swing up or down based on an 18-year-old’s output. On Saturday, it swung inexorably down. CSK made 62 for 1 in 4.1 overs. Mhatre pulled up on 4.2. CSK spent the next 8.4 overs barely knowing where their next boundary was coming from. They made 58 runs and lost four wickets.

CSK know what it feels like to be on the wrong side of a Malinga. They lost a title that way. Seven years later, their efforts to put a simple league game out of sight was being blocked by a man with the same name.

Eshan Malinga bounced Gaikwad out. His ability to access the yorker length – or close to it – produced two more wickets. Short (34 off 30) and Sarfaraz Khan (25 off 19) were left ruing how well they had hit those balls, because all their power really did was make sure the ball carried to deep midwicket. At the presentation, Malinga said he was getting reverse swing as well.

Dube continued to struggle in the finisher’s role as CSK’s chase fizzled out. They were running away with the game in the powerplay. They were favourites even at the halfway mark of the chase. Not being able to pull it off is another example of how their flawed mega-auction strategy is still following them.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 194 for 9 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 59, Travis Head 23, Heinrich Klaasen 59, Nitish Kumar Reddy 12, Salil Arora 13, Shivang Kumar 12; Mukesh Choudhary 2-21, Anshul Kamboj 3-22, Jamie Overton 3-37, Gurjapneet Singh 1-34) beat Chennai Super Kings 184 for 8 in 20 overs (Rutraj Gaikwad 19, Ayush Mhatre 30, Maththew Short 34, Sarfaraz Khan 25, Shivam Dube 21, Jamie Overton 16, Anshul Kamboj 13*; Praful Hinge 1-60, Eshan Malinga 3-29, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-31, Sakib Hussain 1-32, Shivang Kumar 1-18) by 10 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, North-central, Southern, Uva provinces, and Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts

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2026/04/21

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Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 21 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 21 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, Northcentral, Southern, Uva provinces, and in Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Batticaloa districts after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities

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US, Iran exchange threats as fragile ceasefire set to expire

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2026/04/21

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The temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire before a resolution as tension grows between the countries [Aljazeera]

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after United States President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday without a deal.

The war of words comes as the second round of US-Iran peace talks scheduled to take place this week in Pakistan remains in limbo after the US and Iranian flagged vessel near the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, angering Iranian authorities and provoking another surge in global oil prices.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said, “There is no official confirmation on whether Iran is going to take part in talks in Islamabad.”

“We know that Iran has tried to keep the door ajar to diplomacy, so there is still a possibility,” he added.

In an overnight post on X, Ghalibaf expressed anger at Trump for “imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire”.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” he said.

This was a “mixed message”, according to Asadi, “saying Iran is ready for negotiations but not under terms imposed by the US”.

“There will be no easy negotiations, if, of course, they even happen, as there are still several complicated sticking points. Both sides have a long list of demands, including relating to the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions, war reparations, ballistic missiles and Iran’s regional relations,” Asadi said.

Meanwhile, Trump said he was confident that Iran would negotiate, adding that the country would otherwise “see problems”.

He told PBS News on Monday that if the ceasefire expires without a deal, then “lots of bombs start going off”.

[Aljazeera]

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Six Foreign Envoys Present Credentials to President Dissanayake

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2026/04/21

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Two High Commissioners, three Ambassadors and an Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See presented their credentials to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (20).

The ceremony, held at 10.00 a.m., followed the formal order of precedence, with the envoys representing Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Luxembourg, the Holy See, Pakistan and Kuwait.

Accordingly, diplomats who presented their credentials were:

01. Vincent Sumale, High Commissioner-designate of Papua New Guinea (Based in New Delhi)

02. Abdullahi Mohammed Odowa, Ambassador-designate of Somalia (Based in New Delhi)

03. Christian Biever, Ambassador-designate of Luxembourg (Based in New Delhi)

04. Monsignor Andrzej Józwowicz, Apostolic Nuncio-designate of the Holy See

05. Major General (Retd) Nayyar Naseer, High Commissioner-designate of Pakistan

06. Saleh Mubarak Al-Sarawi, Ambassador-designate of Kuwait

Following the presentation of credentials, the President engaged in a cordial discussion with them. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, and the Secretary to the President, Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, were also in attendance.

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