Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by 29 runs in IPL
Mumbai, Apr 7: Romario Shepherd’s 10-ball 39 not out outmuscled Tristan Stubb’s courageous 71 off 25 balls as Mumbai Indians ended its three-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League with a 29–run win against Delhi Capitals here on Sunday.
Conceding as many as 51 runs in the last two overs proved catastrophic for Delhi Capitals, whose bowlers remained wayward and batters lacked the spunk in the initial overs to go after MI bowlers, even though Stubbs went ballistic to make 25-ball 71 not out.
The right-handed Stubbs smacked as many as seven sixes and three fours but his effort could only reduce the margin of defeat for Delhi, who lost a flurry of wickets towards the end to finish at 205 for eight in reply to Mumbai Indians’ 234 for five. Once again poor quality of domestic talent in DC set-up proved to be their undoing.
Save Abhishek Porel, none of the other young uncapped Indians have measured up.
While Mumbai Indians managed to open their account in the points table after three losses upfront, the win also helped them leapfrog both Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals to jump to the seventh spot while also improving their NRR to -0.704.
On their part, a fourth loss in five matches resulted in Delhi Capitals slipping down to the bottom of the table and they now also have the worst NRR of -1.370 among all teams.
Shepherd hurt Delhi Capitals the most, clobbering four sixes and two fours off Anrich Nortje’s 20th over to collect 32 runs and returned with the ball to get the prized scalp of David Warner (10).
Later in the game, Shepherd was on the receiving end too, ending as the costliest of all bowlers by giving away 54 runs among all those who finished their four-over spells for Mumbai.
Shepherd’s onslaught featuring four sixes and three fours topped a collective effort which Mumbai Indians came up with in the first half of the game to register their highest-ever score at their homeground.
When DC started its chase, Prithvi Shaw came up with a 40-ball 66 with three sixes and eight fours but the asking rate kept soaring beyond its reach.
The No 3 Porel hit a few attractive strokes but failed to make the most of a lifeline he got while batting on 30. The left-hander eventually perished for a 31-ball 41 with five fours, and following him back in the hut soon was Delhi captain Rishabh Pant (1).
Delhi’s lower order too cut a sorry figure with Axar Patel (8), Lalit Yadav (3), debutant Kumar Kushagra (0) and Jhye Richardson (2) falling in quick succession giving Gerald Coetzee, four wicket haul.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians batting unit fired in unison to post an imposing 234 for 5 against Delhi Capitals.
Nortje's final figures read a sorry 2 for 65 in 4 overs. Ishant Sharma, in all likelihood, playing his last IPL edition, is looking a pale shadow of his very old self, being taken for 40 in 3 overs. Mostly he is huffing and puffing to the bowling mark and also at times not able to finish his follow through. The pace has dipped alarmingly but DC have no option but to play him.
Shepherd was last to join the party but seemed to have made the most of it, after each of Rohit Sharma (49 off 27 balls), Ishan Kishan (42 off 23 balls), Hardik Pandya (39 off 30) and Tim David (45 not out off 21 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) also made merry in batting-friendly conditions at the Wankhede Stadium.
It was, however, a forgettable outing for Suryakumar Yadav, who perished for two-ball duck on his first game since mid-December last year.
But David’s fiery knock and Shepherd’s late fireworks ensured that they still had a huge total on board.
Mumbai’s cause in general was also aided by wayward Delhi bowlers through the course of the innings, who kept feeding them balls in the zone to hit or those with enough width off which the batters could take their chances.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
