Krunal, Bhuvneshwar fire RCB to top of IPL points table with nervy win; Mumbai Indians knocked out
Raipur (PTI): Krunal Pandya's gritty 73 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's all-round heroics (4/23, 7 not out) powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a nervy two-wicket victory and knocked Mumbai Indians out of the race for IPL playoffs here on Sunday.
The win took RCB to the top of the Indian Premier League table with 14 points from 11 matches.
In a low-scoring attritional contest, fortunes swung from one side to the other but RCB got over the line in the final ball, scoring two off it.
The defending champions made the required 15 runs off the final over bowled by Raj Bawa, including a six from Bhuvneshwar while also losing the last recognised batter in the form of Romario Shepherd (4).
RCB kept fighting from being reduced to 39 for three, and eventually finished with 167 for eight in reply to MI's 166/7.
Pandya battled cramps towards the end but produced a sensational 73 off 46 balls with five sixes and four fours, doing the bulk of scoring for his side.
A pivotal moment came in the 18th over when Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma came close from midwicket and long-on to a top edge which had carried all the way towards them. While Dhir collected the ball, he parried it to Tilak poorly and the chance was missed.
Pandya made the most of it, hammering two sixes off AM Ghazanfar to take RCB closer, but on the final ball, Tilak completed a bunny hop catch to remove the biggest threat.
Trying to impose himself on the game early on, Virat Kohli (0) smacked one straight to mid-off where Bawa took a fine low catch off Deepak Chahar (2/33).
Chahar struck again in the third over when he found an outside edge off Devdutt Padikkal’s (12) bat, who had struck a four and a six to make a confident start.
Jolted twice early on, RCB stuck with their aggressive approach which led to the dismissal of Rajat Patidar in the sixth. Corbin Bosch (4/24) found extra bounce off the surface and cramped the RCB skipper for room, and Patidar (8) could not prevent a leading edge flying high to wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton.
Reduced to 39 for three inside the powerplay, RCB, like MI, too decided to drop the anchor while their opponents looked to squeeze the scoring rate further with some disciplined bowling.
Jacob Bethell (26) hit a couple of spectacular fours to begin with, and held one end strongly while adding 55 runs for the fourth wicket with Pandya. But in the 13th over, he flicked one off the pads straight to Tilak at deep square leg.
An out-of-sorts Jitesh Sharma (18) hit a six and a four to signal his return to form but he too perished trying to be aggressive, caught by Dhir off Bosch in the 16th over’s penultimate ball.
Bosch then had MI firmly in the game when he had the dangerous Tim David (0) caught behind.
Earlier, Tilak scored a tenacious 57 but a splendid 4/23 from Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru restrict Mumbai Indians to a scratchy 166 for seven.
On a pitch replete with cracks and uneven bounce for fast bowlers, Bhuvneshwar made the most of the conditions on offer, which included a three-wicket burst to put his side on top.
Bhuvneshwar ran through MI’s top-order dismissing Ryan Rickelton (2), Rohit Sharma (22) and stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) to leave them tottering at 28 for three early on.
But to their credit, Tilak (57 off 42 balls; 3x4s, 2x6s) and Naman Dhir (47) dug in deep for a resolute 82-run stand for the fourth wicket to lay the foundation for an at-par total on a pitch which forced the batters to work hard for their runs throughout.
Tilak also had Suyash Sharma to thank for dropping a sitter when he was on nine in the sixth over, since another wicket might have completely derailed a struggling MI.
Tilak was beaten by an off-pace delivery from Rasikh Salam and a top edge flew to Suyash at midwicket, where the ball went through the fielder’s hands for an embarrassing drop.
Tilak and Dhir showed resolve during their fourth-wicket stand in rotating the strike and playing the ball as per merit. While he was undone by a cross-seam delivery which kept low, Dhir struck five fours and two sixes to make 47 off 32 balls.
Bhuvneshwar's three early wickets was also the sixth occasion the 36-year-old has taken a three-wicket haul in this IPL.
Bhuvneshwar struck on the final ball of the opening over to remove an in-form Ryan Rickelton (2). The Protea batter went for a lofted drive but extra bounce had him hitting it in the air and straight to Patidar at mid-off.
Bhuvneshwar then floated a knuckle ball while taking pace off it outside off, which had Rohit reaching out for it but only to edge it behind.
Suryakumar Yadav’s (0) forgettable IPL season had another failure when he too went with hard hands against one that was comparatively quicker yet probing outside off. A thick edge flew to Kohli who was jubilant having completed a perfect catch.
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VCK urges CM Vijay to enact stringent law against superstitious practices
Chennai (PTI): VCK MLA Vanni Arasu on Wednesday urged the newly formed Tamil Nadu government to enact a stringent law against superstitious practices, citing similar legislations in Karnataka and Maharashtra to curb exploitation in the name of black magic and rituals.
VCK, which won two seats in the 2026 Assembly election, has offered support to TVK to form a government during the floor test.
Speaking during the discussion on the confidence motion in the Assembly, Arasu highlighted that states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Rajasthan already have laws against witchcraft and sorcery.
"From 2013 in Maharashtra and 2020 in Karnataka, laws providing imprisonment for those who deceive through superstitious means have been in practice," he stated. The party noted that rationalist Narendra Dabholkar had fought for such a law in Maharashtra before being murdered by "Sanatana terrorists".
The VCK MLA further called on the government to prioritise scientific temper over beliefs in astrology and sorcery.
"Our government should give priority to projects that develop science without giving room for superstitions like astrology and black magic," Arasu said, citing Article 51A of the Indian Constitution, which defines the development of scientific temper as a fundamental duty of every citizen.
The party demanded a special law to prevent honour killings as well, which Arasu claimed are rising in Tamil Nadu as they once did in North Indian states.
The government was also urged to enact legislation protecting the "200-point roster system" for SC/ST employee promotions, utilising powers under Article 16(4A) of the Constitution.
Highlighting the recent arrest of 40 Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, the VCK sought a permanent solution to protect them from such attacks.
The party called on the state government to take initiatives toward the "right of Eelam Tamils to rule themselves" and requested that the state officially observe May 18 as International Genocide Day.
