Suryakumar Yadav breaks Tendulkar's record as MI post 184/7 against PBKS in IPL
Jaipur, May 26 (PTI): Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya pushed Mumbai Indians to 184 for seven despite a decent bowling effort from Punjab Kings in the penultimate league fixture of the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
With both teams needing a win to seal a top-two spot in the standings, Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer put Mumbai Indians in to bat at a venue that has produced 200-plus first innings scores for majority of the season.
Suryakumar (57 off 39 balls), who has been a picture of consistency this season, broke Sachin Tendulkar's record to become the highest run scorer for the Mumbai outfit in an IPL season.
Though opener Ryan Rickelton (27 off 20) played some sublime strokes, Mumbai Indians could get 52 for one in the powerplay.
Arshdeep Singh swung the ball both ways in the opening over of the game, troubling Rickelton who managed to survive.
In the following over, Rickelton got a couple of boundaries from Kyle Jamieson, who was making his debut for Punjab Kings.
Rohit Sharma (24 off 21) was slow off the blocks before a straight hit over mid-off against Marco Jansen got him going.
Jansen, playing his final game of the season for Punjab Kings, induced a mishit from Rickelton that had the opener caught at mid-on in the sixth over.
In the absence of Yuzvendra Chahal, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar was up to the task again in the middle overs and got the prized wicket of Rohit, whose mishit was brilliantly pouched by Nehal Wadhera at long-on.
At 106 for four in the 13th over, Punjab Kings controlled the proceedings. Hardik would have been out on the first legal ball he faced but Vijaykumar Vyshak missed a regulation return catch.
Vyshak too played a big role in keeping Mumbai Indians batters in check by removing Will Jacks and Tilak Varma in quick succession. His ploy of bowling a wide line got him the desired results in the middle overs.
The momentum shifted Mumbai Indians' way in the penultimate over and on this occasion, Vyshak was at the receiving end as he leaked 23 runs.
Suryakumar and Naman Dhir (20 off 12) got the much-needed hits in the death overs. The 20th over from Arshdeep Singh was exactly what Punjab Kings needed to close the innings. The left-arm pacer took two wickets and gave away just three runs.
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Brazil's Ancelotti raises doubts about whether Neymar will reach the 2026 World Cup
Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
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