RR beat LSG by 3 runs in IPL
Mumbai, Apr 10: Shimron Hetmyer lived up to his Rs 8.5 crore price tag with a six-hitting exhibition before Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Bout displayed their wizardry with the ball as Rajasthan Royals outwitted Lucknow Super Kings by three runs in an IPL game here on Sunday.
Invited to bat, star West Indies batter Hetmyer smashed an unbeaten 36-ball 59 to lift RR from 67 for four to 165 for six in 20 overs.
Trent Boult (2/30) then struck twice in a sensational opening over, while Chahal (4/41) picked up four wickets to achieve the feat of claiming 150 IPL victims but Marcus Stoinis blasted two fours and four maximums in his unbeaten 38 off 17 balls to conjure up hopes of a turnaround.
But Kuldeep Sen, making his IPL debut, showed great nerves as he defended 15 runs in the last over as RR limited LSG to 162 for eight.
With this win, RR bounced back from their four wicket loss to RCB in the last match to take the top position in the IPL standings, while LSG slipped to fifth spot.
Defending the total, Boult produced a ripping late inswinging yorker to dismiss KL Rahul for a first-ball duck, before trapping Krishnappa Gowtham plumb in front in the opening over as LSG slipped to 1 for 2.
Prasidh Krishna then got rid of Jason Holder with a back of a length delivery which took a top-edge and balloned to Ravichandran Ashwin at mid-on.
Madhya Pradesh pacer Sen made an impressive IPL debut as he disturbed the woods of Deepak Hooda to leave LSG at 52 for four.
The wily Chahal then got into the act as he first foxed young Ayush Badoni (5), and then had Quinton de Kock (39) holed out to Riyan Parag and knocked back the leg stump of Krunal Pandya (22) as RR put one foot in the door.
Needing 34 runs off 12 balls, Stoinis accumulated 19 of Krishna in the puenltimate over but Sen held his nerves and gave away just one run in the first four balls to shine on his debut.
Earlier, Jos Buttler (13) and Devdutt Padikkal (29) added 42 runs in five overs but they lost three wickets in a 15-ball burst to be reduced to 67 for four at one stage.
If Buttler was castled by Avesk Khan in his first ball, Gowtham produced a two-wicket burst, removing Devdutt Padikkal and Rasie Van der Dussen (4) in a space of five balls on a track where the ball was holding.
Paddikal, who replaced Yashsavi Jaiswal at the top, lived dangerously before paying the price for a reverse sweep as his top-edge landed in the safe hands of Holder, handing Gowtham also a first-ball wicket.
The left-handed batter survived an LBW appeal in the first over off Dushmantha Chameera before being dropped by Ravi Bishnoi (0/29).
Sanju Samson (13) played two nice shots before being stuck on the pads by a full toss from Jason Holder (2/50).
RR could have been in more danger but Krunal Pandya dropped a dolly at long-on in the 14th over to hand a reprieve to Hetmyer.
It allowed the West Indian join hands with Ashwin to rebuild the innings with a 68-run stand before the latter was strategically retired out by the RR camp in the slog overs.
The West Indian paced his innings well before going for the shots at the back end as RR amassed 50 runs in the last three overs.
Hetmyer launched into compatriot Holder in the 18th over, clobbering him over deep mid-wicket to bring up the 50-run stand, before sending one fine down the leg-side and then plundering him down the ground. The over yieled 18 runs.
He next hit two sixes of Avesh, before launching Holder for another maximum in the last over.
Rayan Parag, who came in after Ashwin was retired out, also deposited one over deep square leg as the last two overs yielded 16 runs each.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 165 for 6 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 59 not out; Krishnappa Gowtham 2/30).
Lucknow Super Giants: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 39, Marcus Stoinis 38 not out; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/41).
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
