Mumbai Indians restrict Punjab Kings to a below-par 135-6
Abu Dhabi, Sept 28: Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard snapped two wickets each as Mumbai Indians produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Punjab Kings to a below-par 135 for six in their Indian Premier League here on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat, Aiden Markram (42 off 29) was the most successful batsman for Punjab as he shared a 61-run partnership with Deepak Hooda (28) to lift their score after they were reduced to 48 for 4 in 7.3 overs.
However, once the South African was back in the hut in the 16th over, Punjab couldn't score a single boundary, managing a meagre 23 runs in the last four overs.
Pollard (2/8) and Bumrah (2/24) were the pick of the bowlers but they were supported well by Krunal Pandya (1/24), Rahul Chahar (1/27) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (0/19).
Opening the innings, KL Rahul (21) looked in good touch as he played a perfect cover drive against Boult before showing the full face of the bat to Bumrah for an exquisite off drive.
Mandeep Singh (15) too picked up a couple of boundaries but Krunal Pandya trapped him when he tried to sweep across the line as Punjab lost their first wicket.
With Chris Gayle coming in, skipper Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Kieron Pollard and he struck straight away. Looking for a big hit, Gayle was holed out at long-on by Hardik Pandya.
Two balls later, Pollard picked up Rahul for his 300th wicket in T20s after the batsman pulled a short of length delivery straight to Bumrah at short fine leg.
Bumrah then produced his famous dipping yorker to trap Nicholas Pooran in front of wicket as Punjab slipped to 48 for four in 8th over.
Markram and Hooda then kept the scoreboard ticking, picking up singles of Chahar and occassional boundaries to take Punjab to 90 for 4 in 14 overs.
The South African pounced on a wider delivery off Rahul Chahar for a boundary before producing an elegant looking shot off Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Hooda, after a sluggish start, unleashed a pull off Boult for the first six of the innings.
After the second time-out, Markram changed gears as he belted Boult through extra cover and then punched one through the covers for another boundary.
He picked up another boundary off Chahar before being outfoxed by the bowler, who disturbed his off stumps.
However, Punjab couldn't get the momentum going as new man Harpreet Brar struggled to negotiate the variations of Bumrah and Coulter-Nile in the death overs.
Hooda, in desperation, then sent one up in the air only to be caught by Pollard as PBKS ended with a below-par score.
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Trump repeats claim he stopped potential nuclear war between India and Pakistan
New York/Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim of resolving the India-Pakistan conflict and asserted that Islamabad's leadership credited him for saving millions of lives.
"We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India. And the head of Pakistan, a highly respected General, he's a Field Marshal and also the Prime Minister of Pakistan, said President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more...,” Trump said Monday.
He made these remarks at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, flanked by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“You know, eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage, and he actually said the other day that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more. So we solved all these wars. The only one I haven't solved yet is Russia, Ukraine,” he said.
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Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between the two neighbours.
New Delhi has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
