Navi Mumbai, Apr 21: Pacer Mukesh Choudhary wreaked havoc with the new ball before Tilak Varma's responsible half-century lifted Mumbai Indians to 155 for seven in the IPL here on Thursday.

Invited to bat, Choudhary (3/19) accounted for Rohit Sharma (0) and Ishan Kishan (0) in the first over and then dismissed Dewald Brewis (4), leaving Mumbai reeling at 23/3.

However, Varma's unbeaten 51 off 43 balls, in which he struck three fours and two sixes, along with Jaydev Unadkat's blazing unbeaten 19, helped Mumbai cross the 150 run-mark.

While Rohit offered an easy catch to Mitchell Santner at mid-on, Kishan was undone by a swinging yorker, which rattled his off-stump.

Brewis (4) became Choudhary's third victim. Brewis tried to chase a delivery outside the off stump, but ended up nicking to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Suryakumar Yadav (32) started with a boundary, an on drive. He creamed another drive off Choudhary and then launched into mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana (1/35), sweeping him for a maximum. Mumbai were at 42/3 after the power-play.

But it was Mitchell Santner (1/16), who dismissed Surya, whose sweep was easily caught by Choudhary at long-leg and Mumbai were reduced to 47/4.

Then Tilak and debutant Hrithik Shokeen (25), tried to rally the innings, but managed to add only 41 runs for the fifth wicket. The duo was brutal on Ravindra Jadeja (0/30), who bled 13 runs in the 11th over, with Varma hitting a six with a slog-sweep.

Mumbai lost half their side for 85. Shokeen, who had three boundaries, top-edged a Dwayne Bravo (2/36) short-ball only to be caught at Robin Uthappa at mid-on.

Wickets kept tumbling for Mumbai with Kieron Pollard (14) and Daniel Sams (5) also falling cheaply.

But thanks to a quick-fire 35-run eight-wicket stand off 16 balls between Tilak and Unadkat, Mumbai gave their bowlers something to defend.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi: The Indian women's team emerged champion in the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup with a dominant 78-40 victory in the summit clash against Nepal here on Sunday.

On a memorable night at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, India produced a masterclass of speed, strategy and skill, dishing out a clinical show.

A brisk start marked Turn 1 as the Indian attackers took charge of the proceedings. Three batches in the Nepal women were out by simple touches on 7 occasions, putting 14 points to India's kitty.

Skipper Priyanka Ingle was in the best form with multiple touch points to her name, as the hosts started off in an excellent manner. This was enough to take the Women in Blue to 34 points and preventing a single Dream Run for the Nepal team.

Manmati Dhami got Vaishnavi Pawar, and B Samjhana eliminated Priyanka Ingle but B Chaithra took India's first batch of Turn 2 into the Dream Run.

It wasn't for long, though, as Dipa completed the ALL OUT just moments later. This got the side back into the game but they only managed to score 24 points at the end of Turn 2, with an 11-point deficit at half time.

India were once again the dominant force in Turn 3, never allowing the Nepal defenders to settle in their stride. BK Dipa was a regular for Nepal but it went in vain throughout, ensuring that the Indians edged closer to the trophy.

Chaithra was the orchestrator of the Dream Run for India, taking the score to a massive 78 points in Turn 4. Their batch went on for a massive 5 minutes and 14 seconds, closing out the game for India and confirming them as the first-ever champions of the Kho Kho World Cup.

India's path to glory had included commanding victories over South Korea, Iran and Malaysia in the group stages, followed by triumph against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals and a masterful win over South Africa in the semi-finals.