Rishabh Pant wins the toss, and LSG will bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The team will face off at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. SRH lost their opening match of the season against the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but recovered from the loss by beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the second match. Meanwhile, LSG have lost their only match of the season so far, against the Delhi Capitals in Lucknow. The visitors will hope to get their first win of the season against SRH. Speaking after the toss, Rishabh Pant said that his team would chase. The star keeper added that the wicket looks good and will be better to chase in the day game."We'll bowl first. The wicket is good, let them bat first, and we will put them under pressure in the second innings. It's not a new challenge, but this is one team that can hurt us. Looks like a good wicket for sure, but there's something in it, the ball might stick after the first 6 overs. Just one change, Manimaran Siddarth is in, Nortje is out." Rishabh Pant said. The opposition captain, Ishan Kishan, said he was happy to bat first and put up a big score in front of their home crowd. The hosts have brought Liam Livingstone back in the team after spending big on him during the auction. "Very happy, always good to be in front of the home crowd. Two changes - Livingstone and Harshal Patel come in. Harshal has always done well here. Livi will give us some off-spin. Decision-making is the most important; try well and execute your plans. It's important to get two points, but we need to be calm and take one match at a time." Kishan said. Confirmed Playing XI: Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Avesh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
05 April,2026 03:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentPunjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer credited his side’s explosive start and collective batting effort for chasing down a 200-plus total against Chennai Super Kings. PBKS once again proved why they are the masters of 200-plus chases in the IPL, pulling off the feat for the ninth time as Priyansh Arya (33 off 11 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (50 off 29 balls) dismantled the CSK attack. Shreyas Iyer “The way we started today [Friday], I think it was an exceptional start. Priyansh and Prabh [Prabhsimran Singh, 43 off 34 balls] are doing the job at the start and setting the bench for us to go inside,” said Iyer. Meanwhile, Iyer was fined Rs 24 lakh for maintaining a slow over-rate during his team’s match against CSK. Fleming backs struggling Samson There may have been some doubts about Sanju Samson’s start with the CSK (six and seven), but head coach Stephen Fleming is sure that the star batter will soon get back into the swing of things. “He is not going to score every time. It’s T20 cricket and he just nicked one today [Friday]. But, he is in good form. He is training well. And when he gets going, he is often a match-winner. So, two innings don’t define an area of concern,” Fleming said. 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
05 April,2026 08:44 AM IST | Chennai | AgenciesLucknow Super Giants will need to step up their batting as they seek their first win of the season against an explosive Sunrisers Hyderabad side in a tricky away IPL clash here on Sunday. SRH head into their first home game of the season brimming with confidence after rediscovering their batting mojo, hammering 226-8 to crush Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs at Eden Gardens. Returning to Uppal, where conditions are expected to favour strokeplay in an afternoon game, only adds to LSG’s challenge. With momentum on their side and home conditions in their favour, SRH will surely start as favourites. Despite making the Playoffs in their first two seasons, the Sanjiv Goenka-owned side have endured a slump over the past couple of years, finishing seventh in identical fashion, and their campaign this time has not begun on a promising note. The Justin Langer-coached side boasts a formidable batting line-up featuring Australia T20 skipper Mitchell Marsh, South Africa’s Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant and the explosive Nicholas Pooran. SRH, on the other hand, appear to have hit their stride after an opening defeat to defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL opener. Their batting unit clicked in unison against KKR, with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma returning to form at the top. Skipper Ishan Kishan, leading in the absence of Pat Cummins, has also shown encouraging signs, while Heinrich Klaasen’s experience remains central to their middle-order stability. 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
05 April,2026 08:42 AM IST | Hyderabad | PTIThe sports journalistic fraternity of India on Saturday woke up to the profoundly sad news of cricket writer Santosh Suri passing away at the age of 68 in Lucknow. He is survived by his wife and daughter. Suri contributed regularly to this newspaper over the last decade after his retirement from The Times of India. Playing the game and being a good swing bowler in his younger days contributed to his expertise in cricket writing. His Ahmedabad-based contemporary, Sunil Vaidya told us on Saturday that Suri did some of his education in Jamnagar and had he not taken up journalism, he could have played for a state like Saurashtra. He spoke fluent Kathiawar Gujarati. Suri didn’t have to be prompted or always assigned to do a cricket piece. A comment on the big news of the day would land up in our inboxes. He was versatile to the point of becoming one of our go-to men for a comment on a controversial occurrence of Pan India importance. Whenever Kuldeep Yadav faced a lack of opportunities, Suri would come up with a piece. Not only because the cricketer hails from his state of Uttar Pradesh and he had access to the people who coached Kuldeep, but also because Suri felt that a wrist spinner added a cutting edge to an attack. Suri covered World Cups in both formats, Champions Trophies, home and away series and IPL games. His last article appeared in these columns on Friday. His reports were to-the-point and the only time we recall him missing a deadline was when the WI-FI misbehaved in one of the many press boxes he graced. His quiet, kind, and pleasant ways in those media enclosures will be missed by reporters young and old. This newspaper has lost a fine cricket writer, but the loss to cricket journalism in an overall sense seems greater.
05 April,2026 08:41 AM IST | Mumbai | Clayton MurzelloIt’s been a long week since Royal Challengers Bengaluru began the defence of their IPL crown, at home against Sunrisers Hyderabad last Saturday. Their six-wicket victory is almost a distant memory; so much has happened in the interim, with several teams having played two matches already. SRH, their opponents in the opener, will have played their third game before Rajat Patidar’s men take the field on Sunday night, against beleaguered five-time former champions Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. CSK have made a horror start with comprehensive losses away to Rajasthan Royals and at home on Friday to Punjab Kings. Their bowling has appeared bedraggled and terribly short on penetration. RCB’s power-packed batting unit will need no second invitation to express itself at a venue it is determined to make a fortress after having had mixed fortunes at the Chinnaswamy in previous years. Hazlewood likely to return RCB have used the seven days between games judiciously, mixing rest and recovery with smart training and a match-simulation exercise at the Just Cricket ground, some 25 kilometres from the city centre. The week will have given Josh Hazlewood a reasonable time to refamiliarise himself with his colleagues. The Australian quick, who took 22 wickets last season, is expected to line up against his former franchise, who will be fretting over the fitness of Dewald Brevis. CSK will bank on skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (left) and Sanju Samson for a solid start The South African missed the two losses with a side strain and is a 50-50 shot for the morrow. He was one of the bright spots during a miserable campaign in 2025 when CSK occupied the cellar for the first time. Within the RCB camp, there is a sense of quiet belief stemming from their clinical display against SRH when they chased down 202 with 26 deliveries to spare. Vice-captain Jitesh Sharma revealed that there had been no talk about their exploits of last season. “Mo Bobat, the director [of cricket], clearly said we are not defending, we are chasing the title,” the wicketkeeper-batter said on Saturday evening. “We are hungry like we were last year. We have the confidence that we have achieved something. With that confidence, we are just going forward.” Dhoni absence felt The normal buzz that accompanies an RCB-CSK clash has been conspicuously absent, primarily because of the publicised absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni with a calf strain. But it isn’t merely the Dhoni-sized hole that Chennai must contend with. 3-2RCB’s win-loss record against CSK at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, in the last five IPL matches 60CSK’s winning percentage against RCB in the IPL. The two teams have faced each other in 35 matches, with CSK winning 21, RCB winning 13, while one match ended in no result ThreeConsecutive IPL matches won by RCB against CSK
05 April,2026 08:37 AM IST | Bengaluru | R KaushikDhruv Jurel beautifully merged aggression and discretion in his 42-ball 75 to guide Rajasthan Royals to a challenging 210 for 6 against Gujarat Titans after the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi set up the platform in an IPL match here on Saturday. In the RR innings, Jaiswal looked like getting back into the groove with a 55 off 36 balls after ‘Boy Wonder’ Sooryavanshi smashed 18-ball 31 in an opening stand of 70 in just 6.2 overs. Jurel seemed settled in his new role as No. 3 and showed that there is place for conventional shots and yet can strike at more than 150. He hit five maximums and an equal number of boundaries. At the time of going to press, GT were 103-1 in 10 overs. 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
05 April,2026 08:33 AM IST | Ahmedabad | PTIMumbai Indians stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday lauded Sameer Rizvi’s brilliant batting while admitting that his team was few runs short of a par-score on a decent Kotla wicket. “It was a decent wicket. We expected it to be a little on the slower side, but still from batting point of view we were a little short — 15-20 runs, but I don’t want to take any credit away from the bowlers and also their batters batted really well in the second innings,” he said after the match. Asked about Sameer Rizvi, who slammed 90 off 51 balls coming as an impact substitute, Suryakumar said: “Absolutely, I mean at 7 for 2 someone coming in like that and batting like the way he batted, I think a lot of credit goes to him. He never let us come into the game. We tried our best to follow all the things what was there in the bowling department, but we couldn’t come back,” the MI stand-in captain said. He said the pitch played true and it was the same both sides. “It was quite similar. It didn’t change too much, but the way they batted, I think they batted very beautifully,” he said. 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
05 April,2026 08:31 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesImpact Sub Sameer Rizvi carried on his match-winning form from Lucknow to his home base Delhi, scoring an explosive 51-ball 90 (7x4, 7x6) as Delhi Capitals easily beat Mumbai Indians by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. The 22-year-old Rizvi took MI pacer Corbin Bosch for 20 runs in the 11th over and then hit 13 runs, including two sixes, off leg-spinner Mayank Markande in the very next over. While MI’s batting brigade led by Rohit Sharma & Co found the wicket slow and difficult for hitting fluent strokes, Rizvi had no such problem and nor did he find the MI bowling difficult to score off. On course for a century, Rizvi eventually fell short, caught by Tilak Varma off Corbin Bosch at long-off. Opener Pathum Nissanka was the next best scorer at 44, while KL Rahul (1) fell cheaply again to Deepak Chahar (1-20). David Miller (21 not out) and Tristan Stubbs (3 not out) took DC over the line. MI players wear a dejected look after their loss to DC on Saturday Speaking about his teammate Rizvi’s mindset at the post-match press conference, bowler Mukesh Kumar (2-26) said, “The key to Sameer’s batting performances is how he does well in the nets. If he does well there, then he doesn’t leave the opportunity to score big in matches. In practice, he’s always very positive. He always says that if he gets going early, he can play a long innings, and he’s doing exactly that.” Meanwhile, MI pacer Deepak Chahar felt the pitch was slow: “The wicket was slow, we ended up a few runs short. To defend 160, we need to take wickets regularly. Had we got Rizvi out cheaply, things could have been different.” Speaking about Rizvi’s innings, Chahar said, “He plays attacking cricket and the one who is confident, always scores runs.” Mukesh Kumar Earlier, MI scored 162-6 in their allotted 20 overs. Put into bat by DC skipper Axar Patel, MI’s opening pair of Ryan Rickelton (9) and Rohit Sharma (35, 5x4, 1x6) had a modest partnership of 18 runs with Rickelton being the first to fall. MI suffered a double setback with Tilak Varma being caught and bowled by pacer Mukesh two balls later without scoring a run. Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 51 off 36 balls (3x4, 2x6) before falling leg-before to Lungi Ngidi. Suryakumar and Rohit resurrected MI’s innings with their 53-run partnership for the third wicket off 40 balls. MI made three changes, bringing in Deepak Chahar for unwell regular skipper Hardik Pandya, Corbin Bosch for Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner for Allah Ghazanfar. I’ve worked a lot on my weakness against pace: Rizvi Delhi Capitals’s Sameer Rizvi, who was named Player of the Match for his 51-ball 90 against Mumbai Indians, was delighted with his back-to-back match winning performances coming in as an Impact Player, but revealed that he worked very hard for these results.“I’ve worked a lot. I’ve worked on my weaknesses. I wasn’t as good against fast bowlers. I try to play according to the situation. I took time, got set and then played my shots. I tried to watch the ball as long as possible. If you score runs here, you get a lot of confidence,” Rizvi said. TwoSameer Rizvi’s 90 runs against MI is the second-highest score as an Impact Player in the IPL after Jos Buttler’s 107* vs KKR 3No of consecutive half-centuries scored by Sameer Rizvi in the IPL 11 No of sixes struck by Sameer Rizvi in two innings this IPL — the most so far 160No of runs scored by Sameer Rizvi in two IPL matches this year — the most so far 7No of sixes for Rizvi on Saturday — the joint-most by a DC batter vs MI
05 April,2026 08:29 AM IST | New Delhi | Neeru BhatiaIn the IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans (GT), Rajasthan Royals (RR) emerged victorious by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Following the victory over GT, RR captain Riyan Parag said, "It was just incredible. I took a challenge thinking that let's go full and fast. It's insane that they (Archer and Tushar) executed as we wanted". The skipper then revealed that Dhruv Jurel suggested that he should bring in Jofra Archer in the 19th over. "He (Dhruv Jurel) asked me to go Jofra on the 19th so credit to him for that. If it comes out it's good, if it doesn't we go again. We have not done a lot of justice to the talent he has got. He has to bat No. 3 and hopefully this is the start for him. We will focus on what we need to do against Mumbai," said Parag. In an attempt to chase a target of 211 runs, GT managed to reach 204 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Opening the innings, Sai Sudharsan delivered a stunning knock of 73 runs off 44 deliveries, which was laced with nine boundaries and three maximums. Fellow opening batsman Kumar Kushagra scored 18 runs in 14 balls, with the help of three boundaries. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler also departed after scoring 26 runs in 14 balls, including five boundaries. Glenn Phillips was dismissed on three runs in four balls. Washington Sundar returned to the pavilion on four runs in two balls, including a boundary. Rahul Tewatia and Impact Player Shahrukh Khan registered the scores of 12 and 11 runs, respectively. Facing six balls, Tewatia smashed a boundary and a maximum, whereas Shahrukh faced four balls and smashed a boundary and a maximum. Stand-in captain Rashid Khan smashed 24 runs off 16 balls, including three boundaries. Kagiso Rabada and Ashok Sharma stayed unbeaten. Facing 16 balls, Rabada scored 23 runs, with the help of a boundary and two maximums, whereas Ashok faced just one ball and did not score any runs. RR's Impact Player Ravi Bishnoi claimed four wickets by conceding 41 runs in four overs. Skipper Riyan Parag, Tushar Deshpande, and Nandre Burger also chipped in with one wicket each. Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, and Tushar Deshpande went wicketless in the IPL 2026 match.
05 April,2026 12:13 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentIn the IPL 2026 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered a loss by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Following the loss, GT's stand-in captain Rashid Khan feels that his team lost the momentum in the middle overs, where they lost back-to-back wickets. "Well, I think, we bowled really well, especially the way they have started to restrict them under like, 210. I think it was a great effort on this wicket by the bowlers. And then we started really well with the bat too. I felt we have given a great start with the openers. And then I felt in the 12th and 13th overs, we lost back-to-back wickets. That's something which really put us on the back foot. But I think, if they were there, it wasn't that hard to score, but I think in that period of time, we just lost the momentum of the game," he said. "Well, I feel, on the wicket like this, 9-10 per over, it's not that the hard job to be done. And I feel like we just, a little bit like you lose the momentum in that time and go harder and to keep a little bit for a longer period of time. And the boundaries were coming. I think on this wicket, boundaries were coming easily. And, but I think we just lost a few early quick wickets in that period of time, which just didn't allow us to go on and keep the momentum till the end. (on regrouping) Well, everyone have their own gameplan and they know the condition and situation really well. And then just to make sure that, you read the condition and the requirement of the game. Everything is written on the board. I feel like that makes the job pretty much easier, but it's too early, it's still in the competition," added Rashid. Gujarat's stand-in skipper heaped praise on RR's pacer Tushar Deshpande, who successfully defended the target in the last over. "We learn from our mistakes, what we do and we keep getting better and come back stronger in the next game. (on the chat in the last over) Well, the discussion was clear, like, you know, we just need to hit one boundary. And I feel like if we get there, I think we don't need much of the boundaries in that over. And I think Tushar bowled really well. He bowled some exceptional yorkers. We didn't allow us to go on, but I feel that the one ball which he missed his line length, I should have picked that for six," said the 27-year-old cricketer. He also provided an update on regular captain Shubman Gill, who missed the game due to muscle spasm. "He's good. Hopefully he's gonna be all right for the next game. He just had the muscles spasm, so hopefully he's gonna be all right soon," Rashid concluded.
05 April,2026 12:01 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentIn the IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans (GT), Rajasthan Royals (RR) emerged victorious by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In an attempt to chase a target of 211 runs, GT managed to reach 204 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Opening the innings, Sai Sudharsan delivered a stunning knock of 73 runs off 44 deliveries, which was laced with nine boundaries and three maximums. Fellow opening batsman Kumar Kushagra scored 18 runs in 14 balls, with the help of three boundaries. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler also departed after scoring 26 runs in 14 balls, including five boundaries. Glenn Phillips was dismissed on three runs in four balls. Washington Sundar returned to the pavilion on four runs in two balls, including a boundary. Rahul Tewatia and Impact Player Shahrukh Khan registered the scores of 12 and 11 runs, respectively. Facing six balls, Tewatia smashed a boundary and a maximum, whereas Shahrukh faced four balls and smashed a boundary and a maximum. Stand-in captain Rashid Khan smashed 24 runs off 16 balls, including three boundaries. Kagiso Rabada and Ashok Sharma stayed unbeaten. Facing 16 balls, Rabada scored 23 runs, with the help of a boundary and two maximums, whereas Ashok faced just one ball and did not score any runs. RR's Impact Player Ravi Bishnoi claimed four wickets by conceding 41 runs in four overs. Skipper Riyan Parag, Tushar Deshpande, and Nandre Burger also chipped in with one wicket each. Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, and Tushar Deshpande went wicketless in the IPL 2026 match. Earlier, having opted to bat first, Rajasthan Royals' (RR) opening batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a fiery cameo of 31 runs off just 18 deliveries, laced with five boundaries and a maximum. Fellow opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal registered 55 runs after facing 36 balls. During his knock, he smashed six boundaries and three maximums. Skipper Riyan Parag managed to score just eight runs in four balls, with the help of a maximum. Shimron Hetmyer also departed on 18 runs. His knock of eight balls included a boundary and two maximums. Donovan Ferreira scored one run in three balls. Dhruv Jurel delivered a glorious knock of 75 runs off just 42 balls. He also smashed five boundaries and the same number of maximums. Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten seven runs in seven balls, including a boundary. Along with him, Jofra Archer stayed unbeaten, who scored one run in two balls. With this, RR posted a total of 210 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. GT's star pacer Kagiso Rabada returned with the figures of two wickets for 42 runs in four overs. Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, and stand-in skipper Rashid Khan chipped in with one wicket each.
04 April,2026 11:52 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
-1775381384506_d.png?tr=w-436,h-271 "Rishabh Pant (Pic: PTI)")
