Nitish Kumar Reddy, who played a key role in Sunrisers Hyderabad's 65-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders, said he had been waiting for such a performance for a long time after his all-round show helped his side register their first win of the IPL season here on Thursday. Heinrich Klaasen (52) and Reddy (39) provided the late charge as SRH posted a challenging 226 for 8. Reddy (2/17) also chipped in with the ball as KKR were bowled out for 161 in 16 overs. "It's the match-winning performance I was waiting for a long time. Thankfully it came at the right time, and even my bowling, it's given me confidence. Just trying to be positive," Nitish said at the post match presentation. "There have been too many negative thoughts in my mind because the last season didn't go my way and I couldn't bowl last season. "I've worked really hard on my bowling and it's paying off, and that really makes you feel happy and I am happy now. Thanks to the trainers and physios, my body is fully fit now." Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan lauded the team effort but said fielding remains an area of concern. "Not happy with the way I played but really happy the team was committed. Everyone was putting in the energy they put that I asked for. I don't think the pitch was that good to be honest. "Head and Abhishek played a beautiful knock out there. The powerplay made the game easy for us because every batter got time to take singles and get a feel of the pitch. Great effort from them and Klaassy at the end. Team effort. "We all know Finn is dangerous but Harsh just bowled that ball and we were lucky to get that wicket." On Harsh Dubey and Shivang Kumar, Kishan said: "Harsh has been doing well for his domestic team and keeping his nerves down and keeping calm in tough situations. "I would like to talk about Shivang. Coming here, small ground. But his hard work paid off. He was in touch with all the coaches and trying to understand what works. You saw him bowl with big heart against someone like Rinku." On areas of improvement, Kishan said: "I think we are getting to know about the areas with each game. Fielding is an area. We can't give 20 runs in extras. We'll work on it as a team." KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said his team failed to build partnerships and hinted at a possible change in combination. "Yeah I thought we needed a couple of big partnerships. Guys who were set needed to take it deep. With the ball I thought we came back really well. In batting, when you are chasing a target, you need that partnership but we didn't get that. Second innings, I felt the ball was slightly stopping. Slower balls were gripping a lot more than first innings," he said. "We thought the wicket would get better but it got slower. But not making excuses. SRH did good use of the slower balls and the angles they used were really good. "Winning home games is really important so we have to go back to the drawing room and think about our combination, if we need an extra batter. But we don't need to think too much. Just one bad day." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:47 AM IST | Kolkata | PTINew Zealand T20I skipper Mitchell Santner on Thursday joined the Mumbai Indians squad here ahead of their Indian Premier League match against Delhi Capitals. The five-time winners Mumbai Indians will take on the Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Santner and England all-rounder Will Jacks were the only two players left to join Mumbai Indians, who had convincingly won their season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday in Mumbai. The two overseas players, who had featured prominently for their respective teams in last month's T20 World Cup, had asked for an extended period before joining the MI squad. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene had confirmed giving these two players extended time off for personal reasons. "With the guys who are joining (late are) obviously Mitch (Mitchell Santner) and Jacksy (Will Jacks). Both (had) asked for a slightly extended time for personal reasons and we were quite happy to go with that. But they will join the team pretty soon," Jayawardene told reporters on eve of the game against KKR. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 10:45 AM IST | New Delhi | PTIIndia T20I skipper and Mumbai Indians star Suryakumar Yadav showed off his dance moves at the recent MI Stage Show, mimicking the iconic steps pulled off by the character Rehman Dakait (Akshaye Khanna) to the song FA9LA in the superhit Bollywood film Dhurandhar. As seen in this series of screengrabs from MI’s recent Instagram post, Yadav rocks as he steps onto the stage with the same swagger that Dakait oozed in the hit flick. MI captioned the post: “Ye dada ka style hai, full Dhurandhar mode.” The post received a whopping 3.5 million views. and over three lakh ‘likes.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mumbai Indians (@mumbaiindians)
03 April,2026 10:08 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentMumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Ajinkya Naik, who has had multiple meetings with government officials in recent times, has revealed that the proposed new cricket stadium near Navi Mumbai International Airport will be up and running within three years. “I have met CIDCO Managing Director Vijay Singhal yesterday [on Thursday], we’ve had multiple meetings earlier also. It will take six months for the paperwork and planning and we are expecting the new stadium to be built within the next two-and-half to three years. The stadium will have an indoor cricket academy and multiple grounds for local club cricket within the stadium premises,” Naik told mid-day on Thursday. When Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis named some of the Wankhede stands after India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Rohit Sharma, former Test skipper Ajit Wadekar and ex-ICC, BCCI and MCA chief Sharad Pawar last May, he had promised that his government would allot land to MCA to build a new stadium in the city which will accommodate one lakh spectators. “MCA’s new stadium will have a capacity of one lakh. It’ll be the second biggest stadium in the country [after Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad which has a capacity of 1,30,000] and built across 60 acres. The location is ideal as it will be just 25 to 30 minutes away from the new Navi Mumbai International Airport and will take just 20 minutes from Thane and around 40 minutes from Mumbai to reach,” added Naik. 60 acresArea allotted for new stadium in Navi Mumbai
03 April,2026 09:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureAjit Puthran, a former Dadar Union Sporting Club pace bowler, passed away on Thursday. Puthran, 62, was a terrific Kanga League bowler and teamed up well with the late Ramesh Rajde in the 1980s, tormenting the best sides in the premier division of the monsoon league. Both were bespectacled. He was also known for his exploits in tennis ball cricket.
03 April,2026 09:43 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentSri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Thushara on Thursday sought a court order to secure his playing rights in the ongoing IPL after the country's cricket board refused to grant him a No Objection Certificate due to "failed fitness tests". The 31-year-old, who is contracted to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, filed a case in the Colombo District Court, seeking an order directing Sri Lanka Cricket to issue the NOC. The case has been fixed for hearing on April 9. According to local media reports, the player with 30 T20 international appearances for his country since 2022, has pleaded that his contract with the SLC ended on March 31 and he had no desire to seek an extension. He said he had told the SLC about his wish to end his international career. Therefore, denial of NOC citing failed fitness tests should be set aside by the court. SLC had made fitness tests mandatory to be picked for the national team. However, Thushara said his fitness levels were never found wanting and he had been allowed to play at similar levels by the SLC previously. Thushara was acquired by RCB for Rs 1.6 crore in 2025. He played one game during the team's title-winning campaign last season. He has snared 174 wickets in 137 T20s overall at an average of 21.25. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 09:41 AM IST | Colombo | PTIChennai Super Kings will need to improve significantly in all departments of the game to trouble a potent Punjab Kings in their first home game of the Indian Premier League here on Friday. It was a uninspiring start for CSK in their opener against Rajasthan Royals. CSK, now a team full of youngsters, did not get anything right in Guwahati and would simply like to leave that comprehensive defeat behind in a long tournament like the IPL. While the injured MS Dhoni did not travel to Guwahati, he could be back in the dugout as a sounding board to captain Ruturaj Gaikwad while he continues to nurse a calf strain. Sanju Samson, their biggest signing for the season, did not last long on his CSK debut and would be looking to make a big impact in front of home fans. Samson scored six off 11 deliveries against his former franchise RR at a strike-rate of 85.71. The explosive opener, who was at the forefront of India’s recent T20 World Cup triumph with three impactful knocks at the fag end of the tournament (97* vs WI, 89 vs England, 89 vs NZ), will look to find his rhythm against PBKS. On the bowling front, the likes of Matt Henry and Noor Ahmad were made to look ordinary by the sheer belligerence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. They would be itching to bounce back from that pasting. CSK take on last year’s finalists PBKS, who have become a formidable unit in the Shreyas Iyer-Ricky Ponting era. PBKS have found an able No. 3 in Cooper Connolly who anchored a tense chase against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday night. Rs 18 crCSK’s signing amount for Sanju Samson 85.71Samson’s strike-rate in his CSK debut against RR SixNo. of runs scored by Sanju Samson against RR This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
03 April,2026 09:38 AM IST | Chennai | AgenciesFollowing LSG’s opening defeat to DC at Lucknow on Wednesday night, team owner Sanjiv Goenka was seen in an animated discussion with skipper Rishabh Pant and head coach Justin Langer, leading to a lot of chatter on social media. It instantly brought back memories of Goenka’s altercation with then skipper KL Rahul when the team suffered a 10-wicket hammering against SRH in IPL 2024. This time though Goenka quickly doused any scope of a fire with a message on X. This is a long season, and moments like these are part of building something meaningful. I have full confidence in our captain and the team to respond with strength. To our fans, thank you for your support at Ekana today, we will come back stronger. The story of @LucknowIPL this… pic.twitter.com/iQvN8u4g1d — Dr. Sanjiv Goenka (@DrSanjivGoenka) April 1, 2026 “This is a long season, and moments like these are part of building something meaningful. I have full confidence in our captain and the team to respond with strength. To our fans, thank you for your support at Ekana today [Wednesday], we will come back stronger. The story of @LucknowIPL this season is far from written,” he wrote to his near 20,000 followers on the social media platform.
03 April,2026 09:35 AM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentTeams make plans, but fate ultimately determines the outcome. This adage perfectly fits the Lucknow Super Giants think-tank’s decision to promote skipper Rishabh Pant as an opener, a role he has seldom performed. But even before that could be tested in the IPL match against Delhi Capitals here on Wednesday, fate intervened. Pant was run-out at the non-striker’s end. That was the last thing the team wanted, and jolted by the blow, the famed batting line-up never flourished and the home side managed just 141. That was never going to be defendable, despite LSG’s pacers making an early fight of it. Pant had opened only once last season, when Mitch Marsh was unavailable, scoring 21 off 18 against Gujarat Titans, and on Wednesday, he managed seven off nine balls. Thus, after the six-wicket defeat, there were questions galore for the team management, including owner Sanjiv Goenka, who was seen having a now-customary animated discussion with Pant and head coach Justin Langer after the match. The moot questions for the Lucknow team management are: (i) Was it worth breaking the Aiden Markram-Marsh opening pair that worked so well last season. (ii) Was it worth dropping Nicholas Pooran way down the order? Talking to the official broadcasters, Pant justified the move: “The idea was very simple. Pooran is taking charge in the middle overs. He’s not batting in the top order anymore because I’m batting up.” When asked if the team management would rethink his role as an opener, he said, “It’s a 50-50 call. But [you’ll] definitely see me in the top three.” Pant also admitted that a batting collapse forced their hand into bringing in all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed as the Impact Player in the first innings itself, which meant they were unable to utilise promising leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi. In the final analysis, LSG did feel the absence of Rathi, as Shahbaz and Markram conceded 29 runs in two overs that swung the momentum DC’s way, with UP boy Sameer Rizvi playing a fine, match-winning innings of 70 not out. SixNo. of times Rishabh Pant has opened the batting in the IPL; he has scored 132 runs @ 22.00 FiveNo of consecutive wins for DC vs LSG 286Total number of runs scored in Lucknow on Wednesday — the lowest match aggregate involving LSG and DC
03 April,2026 09:32 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh SuriThe Kolkata Knight Riders lost their second game of the season in a row after a loss against SRH by 65 runs. The visitors put on a huge target of 226 runs at the end of their 20 overs, largely thanks to a solid start from their opening duo.Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma started off with a bang, scoring at over the strike rate of 200. Klassen top-scored for SRH with 52 runs in 35 balls. Meanwhile, Blessing Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 wickets, including 2 in the final over. Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 52 runs off 29 balls for KKR, while vice captain Rinku Singh scored 35 off 25 deliveries.Speaking after the defeat, Ajinkya Rahane said that his team could not capitalise on a good start. He further added that KKR needed a partnership to get them going, but that could not happen."I thought the second innings, I felt the ball was slightly stopping. The slower balls were gripping a lot more than the first innings. And that's what we, I don't know, we thought the wicket will get better but the ball was little stopping. But again, see, no excuses. We got the good start. I thought first six overs we were 78. We lost that one extra wicket. Green is run out. But apart from that, we were going really well. As I said, middle overs were the crucial time for us. We needed that partnership from the set batters." Rahane said. The KKR captain further added that he is positive despite two defeats in two matches and is looking forward to the rest of the season. "I think guys are doing really well. Just one off day with the bat. Last game we did really well. Just needed those small partnerships. I think if the batters can have that positive mindset and this extra awareness while batting, I think we'll be fine." Rahane added. Ishan Kishan happy with SRH's victory away at Kolkata Winning captain Ishan Kishan was delighted with SRH's victory. The skipper was happy with the way his team bounced back after the opening day defeat at the hands of defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Kishan praised the start given to his team by Head and Abhishek Sharma, which set up the foundation for SRH's win. "Head and Abhishek made our game easy. It was a complete team effort. Our plan was to take wickets. Harsh just bowled that ball and we were lucky to get that wicket. Harsh has been doing well for his domestic team as well. I would like to talk about Shivang, he bowled exceptionally well. He was bowling with big heart. He did the job for us." Kishan said.
02 April,2026 11:29 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first win of the season as they defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. SRH put on a huge target of 226 runs at the end of their 20 overs, largely thanks to a solid start from their opening duo.Batting first, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave the visitors a blistering start. Sharma scored 48 runs off 21 balls, while Head scored 46 runs in 21 balls. After both the openers were dismissed, Heinrich Klassen stabilised the innings, scoring 52 runs of 35 balls.The South African, along with Nitish Kumar Reddy, ended SRH's innings with a bang, taking their team to 226 runs at the end of their innings. For KKR, Blessing Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 wickets, including 2 in the final over. KKR start strong but falter in the end After a strong start to the innings, Kolkata Knight Riders faltered in the last few overs of the powerplay and scored 74 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, chasing Sunrisers Hyderabad's total of 226 runs. Kolkata Knight Riders' opener Finn Allen started his innings with a bang, scoring 25 runs in the first over. The Kiwi star hit his first six balls for boundaries as he raced to 28 runs in 6 balls before being caught and bowled by Harsh Dubey. The run flow slowed down after Allen's departure, and captain Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed soon as Jaydev Unadkat picked up his maiden wicket of the season. Cameron Green and Angkrish Raghuvanshi were both run out, hurting KKR's chances of a successful run chase.Rinku Singh looked in fine touch as he tried to guide KKR to a victory. The KKR vice captain scored a fighting 35 runs in 24 balls, but it was too little too late. The hosts fell short of the target by 65 runs and have now lost both of their opening two matches of the season.SRH became the second team, after Delhi Capitals last night, to win an away game this season. SRH will face LSG next, while KKR will go against PBKS at the Eden Gardens.
02 April,2026 11:12 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
