Stoinis' fifty guides LSG to 163/5 against GT
Lucknow, Apr 7: All-rounder Marcus Stoinis hit a fine fifty, his first in this edition of the tournament, while Nicholas Pooran played a cameo towards the end to guide Lucknow Super Giants to 163 for 5 in an IPL match here on Sunday.
Opting to bat, LSG rode on Stoinis' 58 off 43 balls and his 73-run stand off 62 balls with skipper KL Rahul (33 off 31) for the third wicket to propel LSG.
Towards the end, Pooran made 32 off 22 balls to help his side's cause.
It was an eventful first over from Umesh Yadav (2/22) as, after being dispatched over deep backward square leg boundary by in-form Quinton de Kock in the second ball of the innings, he got his man a ball later.
De Kock went for a similar shot to get an outside edge and Noor Ahmad took a smart catch at the third man.
In the first ball of his next over, Umesh was pulled by Devdutt Padikkal to square leg fence but the pacer got his revenge inducing an outside edge from the left-hander and Vijay Shankar made no mistake at slip as GT slid to 18 for 2 after three overs.
Rahul, however, went about his business in a quiet fashion, plucking three boundaries off Spencer Johnson with delightful strokes through the square and straight down the ground to pick up 13 runs off the fourth over.
Rahul found an able ally in Stoinis as they played cautiously, dispatching bad deliveries to the fence to form the partnership and stabilise LSG's innings.
Rahul was in great touch but just when he looked to spice up the run rate, the right-hander perished.
Rahul went for a huge heave down the ground off Darshan Nalkande that was in the slot, but mistimed the hit and Rahul Tewatia took a fine catch at long-on in the 13th over.
Stoinis got a reprieve on 43 and the Australian cashed in on the chance with both hands, clobbering Nalkande over his head for a maximum and in the process brought up his fifty in 40 balls.
Stoinis then cleared Nalkande over wide long on for another six but the young bowler had the last laugh as he got his man in the next ball, caught by wicket-keeper BR Sharath as the batter went for another maximum.
Pooran gave the final flourish to LSG innings with some strong hits.
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Astronaut Sunita Williams to participate in Kerala Literature Festival 2026
New Delhi (PTI): Former NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is set to participate at the ninth edition of Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), starting January 22, announced organisers on Tuesday.
Williams, 60, who has spent over 300 days in space, is expected to reflect on her journeys beyond earth and speak about science, exploration, leadership, resilience, and the enduring power of human curiosity.
“The Kerala Literature Festival has always believed in expanding the idea of the fest to include science, discovery, leadership, and the human spirit. Sunita Williams represents the courage to explore the unknown and the discipline required to stretch human boundaries.
"She has also been a well-wisher of DC Books and KLF, which makes her presence at the festival especially meaningful. Her participation will inspire audiences across generations," said Ravi DeeCee, Managing Director of DC Books and chief facilitator at KLF.
On her third mission to the International Space Station in June last year along with Butch Wilmore, which lasted for 286 days, Williams created history by setting a record of most time spent spacewalking by a woman.
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She was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and she underwent training at the Johnson Space Center. She also worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian contribution to the International Space Station.
KLF 2026 will host over 500 speakers from across the world and will feature Germany as the guest nation for this year’s edition.
The festival’s speaker line-up include Nobel Laureates Abdulrazak Gurnah, Olga Tokarczuk and Abhijit Banerjee, Booker Prize-winning writer-activist Banu Mushtaq, Olympian Ben Johnson, former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, artist Cheyenne Olivier, economist Arvind Subramanian as well as noted writers Gabriela Ybarra, Peggy Mohan, Shobhaa De and Amish Tripathi.
