AB De Villiers guides RCB to two-wicket victory over MI
Chennai, Apr 9: AB de Villiers rolled back the years with his beautiful yet brutal assault as Royal Challengers Bangalore pipped defending champions Mumbai Indians by two wickets in a last-ball thriller in the Indian Premier League opener here on Friday.
De Villiers smashed 48 off 27 balls after RCB were down in the dumps at 106 for 5. Harshal Patel capped off his dream day by scraping a single off the final delivery to reach the target of 160 in 20 overs.
Haryana's Harshal, an eternal peripheral presence in the IPL, finally had his night under the lights with 5 for 27, which helped RCB restrict MI to 159 for nine.
MI again lost the first match as has been the tradition in the IPL but they lost it to de Villiers, who changed the script in a space of two overs by attacking the two MI spinners Rahul Chahar (0/43) and Krunal Pandya (1/25).
His attack prompted Rohit Sharma to finish his best bowler Jasprit Bumrah's spell (2/26 in 4 overs) before the final over, from which seven runs were required.
RCB were in control when Glenn Maxwell (39 off 28 balls) came in and upset leg-spinner Chahar's line with a reverse-pull boundary. He repeated the shot off the same bowler for a six and got another maximum off Krunal Pandya over long-on.
Skipper Virat Kohli (33 off 29 balls), who had launched into an experienced Marco Jansen in his first over, got a bit bogged down as the innings progressed. However, Maxwell's attack meant that Kohli could take his time.
It was MI's strike bowler Bumrah, who came back for his second spell at the back-10 and removed the Indian captain with an angular delivery.
If that wasn't enough, Jansen, the 6 feet 8 inch youngster, banged one short that ended Maxwell's potentially dangerous innings as the 'Big Show' once again promised a lot but delivered little.
After Jansen removed Shahbaz Ahmed, de Villiers announced his arrival with a six and a boundary off Chahar.
Earlier, Harshal produced a death over masterclass, which kept the MI total under check.
He picked up three wickets in his final over for a run and also became the first bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians.
Reserve opener Chris Lynn (49 off 35 balls) partially made amends for his part in a horrible mix-up that led to skipper Rohit Sharma's (19 off 15 balls) run-out, by adding 70 runs in seven overs for second wicket with Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 23 balls).
That stand was the platform that MI needed to fire during the back-end.
Fresh from his exploits for India, Ishan Kishan blazed his way to 28 off 19 balls but Harshal got a few wickets in the final over to prevent MI from inflicting bigger damage.
On a Chepauk track where a good score is anything in the region of 150, the total was certainly par for the course.
Kyle Jamieson (1/27 in 4 overs) had an impressive IPL debut with his disconcerting bounce but the seasoned Yuzvendra Chahal (0/41 in 4 overs) has clearly lost his bearings for some time now.
But Harshal, Chahal's Haryana teammate made it up with some accurate wicket-to-wicket bowling in the 18th and 20th over.
Lynn, who looked shaky during the first few overs, stepped out to loft Chahal for a six over long-on and another over wide of long-on off left arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed to get his rhythm back.
This was after he called Rohit for a non-existent single and then sent him back, only to find the skipper yards short of his ground.
Suryakumar (31 off 23 balls), at the other end, took off from where he left against England as he clipped Jamieson for a boundary, punched Chahal through covers off the back foot and then back-cut Dan Christian for another four.
The pitch that looked slow during the first four overs went out of the equation as runs came at a fair clip.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians: 159/9 in 20 overs (Chris Lynn 49, Suryakumar Yadav 31; Harshal Patel 5/27).
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 160/8 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 48, Virat Kohli 33, Glenn Maxwell 39; Marco Jansen 2/28, Jasprit Bumrah 2/26).
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
