KKR beat RR by 86 runs, take giant step towards play-offs
Sharjah, Oct 7: Kolkata Knight Riders produced a clinical performance to beat Rajasthan Royals by a massive 86-run margin and take a huge step towards securing their play-off berth in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.
With three play-off spots, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and Royals Challengers Bangalore already sealed, KKR consolidated their position for the fourth and final play-off spot, finishing their round-robin engagements with 14 points from 14 games with an impressive net run rate of 0.587.
With 12 points from 13 matches, defending champions Mumbai Indians is the only team still in the play-off race but they will need to register a big win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game on Friday to dislodge KKR from the fourth spot. Effectively, Mumbai need a miracle to make the play-offs ahead of KKR.
Shubman Gill hit a second consecutive fifty as KKR registered the highest score at the venue this season, posting a competitive 171 for four after being put into bat.
Gilll (56 off 44) and Venkatesh Iyer (38 off 35) got KKR's innings to a rollicking start, stitching 79 runs for the opening stand.
Rahul Tripathi (21), Dinesh Karthik (14 not out off 11) and skipper Eoin Morgan (13 not out off 11) also played good hands towards the end to take KKR to past the 170-run mark.
RR had a horrible star to their chase, losing their best batter of the season Yashasvi Jaiwal to Shakib Al Hasan in the third ball of the innings
If that was not enough, skipper Sanju Samson departed in the first delivery of the next over.
Back into the side after recovering from an injury, Lockie Ferguson struck twice in his first over -- first removing Liam Livingstone and then accounting for young Anuj Rawat a ball later.
Mavi then struck twice in the eighth over -- disturbing the timbers of Glenn Phillips and Shivam Dube with his brute pace as RR kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was not to be left behind as he joined the party in the next over dismissing Chris Morris LBW.
Rahul Tewatia took the attack to the opposition and struck Mavi for three boundaries as RR reached 49 for seven in the 10th over.
With no pressure on his back, Tewatia continued his attacking display and clobbered Chakravarthy over deep square leg boundary for the first six of RR innings.
Tewatia played a 36-ball 44-run cameo but it was not enough as KKR bowled out RR for a meagre 85.
Mavi finished with his best IPL figures of 4/21, while Ferguson (3/18) also shone bright with the ball.
Earlier, riding on Gill and Iyer's impressive start, KKR reached 50 in the eighth over.
Iyer didn't curb his natural instinct and first clobbered Jaydev Unadkat over the deep midwicket boundary and then straight over the bowlers's head two bowler's later to accumulate 14 runs off the 10th over as KKR reached 75 for no loss at the halfway mark.
Inspired by Iyer's power-hitting, Gill then joined the party and welcomed Rahul Tewatia with a maximum.
But Tewatia had the last laugh as he gave his side the important breakthrough when he went through the defence of Iyer between his legs as the left-hander went for an extravagant reverse sweep.
RR skipper then introduced Phillips into the attack but the off-spinner went for 17 runs, albeit he picked up the wicket of Nitish Rana in the process.
Rahul Tripathi was lucky to get a reprieve as he was dropped by Samson when he outside edged a full delivery off Mustafizur Rahman in the last ball of the 13th over.
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Espionage racket busted: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra among six Indians arrested for spying for Pakistan
New Delhi: Indian authorities have arrested six individuals for allegedly spying for Pakistan, including Haryana-based YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra. Malhotra, who operated the travel-themed YouTube channel "Travel with Jo", is accused of maintaining contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives and sharing sensitive information.
According to a report by India Today, Malhotra had visited Pakistan in 2023 after obtaining a visa through commission agents. During her visit, she reportedly developed a close relationship with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, a former staff member at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Danish was declared persona non grata and expelled from India on May 13, 2025, following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Investigators claim Danish introduced Malhotra to multiple Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), including an individual identified as Shakir alias Rana Shahbaz. Malhotra allegedly stayed in contact with these operatives through platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Snapchat. She is also reported to have saved one contact under the alias “Jatt Randhawa.”
Authorities allege that Malhotra shared sensitive information about key Indian locations with PIOs. She is also suspected of having had an intimate relationship with one of the operatives and travelling with him to Bali, Indonesia. Her YouTube videos have been noted for presenting Pakistan in a favorable light, and she was reportedly in frequent communication with Danish during his tenure in India.
In addition to Malhotra, the arrested individuals include a 32-year-old widow named Guzala from Malerkotla, Punjab. Guzala is said to have visited the Pakistan High Commission in February 2025 to apply for a visa and remained in close contact with Danish, who allegedly promised to marry her and sent her money on multiple occasions. Visas were also arranged for Guzala and her friend Banu Nasreen, another widow from Malerkotla.
A third suspect from Malerkotla and a 25-year-old student from Haryana were also arrested. The student reportedly established contact with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during a religious pilgrimage and is accused of sharing sensitive military details. Another individual named Arman, a resident of Nuh district in Haryana, was arrested for allegedly supplying Indian SIM cards and transferring funds to Pakistan-based handlers.
