Chris Morris returns a four-wicket haul as Rajasthan Royals restrict KKR to 133/9
Mumbai, Apr 24: Chris Morris was effective at the death yet again as Rajasthan Royals pacers combined accuracy and guile to restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 133 for nine in the IPL here on Saturday.
Royals pacers, who were smart with change of pace pace, stifled the KKR batsmen who could not find a way to deal with it after being put in to bat.
Chris Morris, the most expensive player in the IPL auction history, proved his worth with a four-wicket haul.
The other pacers, Jaydev Unadkat (1/25), Chetan Sakariya (1/31) and Mustafizur Rahman (1/22), were also impressive.
KKR were not able to find rhythm in their underwhelming innings.
The highly rated Shubman Gill (11) disappointed yet again. He was dropped before his uncomfortable stay in the middle finally ended with a run out off a brilliant direct hit from Jos Buttler.
The Royals pacers were impressive with their variations and did not offer the batsmen any freebies in the powerplay as KKR laboured to 25 for one in six overs.
It became 45 for two in the eighth over when Gill's opening partner Nitish Rana (22) made room to cut a wide ball off Sakariya but the extra bounce led to his downfall as he ended up edging it to the wicketkeeper.
Skipper Eoin Morgan sent Sunil Narine ahead of himself to give the innings a much needed boost but it did not work with the West Indian departing after hitting one boundary, leaving KKR at 55 for three in 10 overs.
KKR's troubles worsened after Morgan got run out without facing a ball following a bad mix-up with Rahul Tripathi (36 off 26).
Their most destructive batsman Andre Russell had to wait till the 16th over to get into the middle with the innings not going anywhere at 94 for five.
Dinesh Karthik (25) came up with some badly needed boundaries in his bid to improve the scoring rate.
Russell smashed a straight six off Morris in the fifth ball he faced but that remained his only big hit of the night.
Morris removed both Russell and Karthik in the same over which allowed Royals to limit KKR to under 140.
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.
Informing Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul Gandhi on Jaishankar's 'admission'
New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW
