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Sai Sudharsan’s classy fifty combined with a collective bowling effort powered Gujarat Titans to a commanding 58-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL clash in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Sudharsan lit up the evening with a dazzling 53-ball 82, while explosive cameos from Jos Buttler (36), Shahrukh Khan (36), and Rahul Tewatia (24) propelled GT to a formidable 217/6. The bowlers then kept chipping away, striking at regular intervals to keep Rajasthan on the back foot despite fighting knocks from Shimron Hetmyer (52) and skipper Sanju Samson (41). The visitors were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19.1 overs.

Sudharsan was in sublime touch, effortlessly finding gaps and punishing anything loose. His fluent knock, laced with eight boundaries and three sixes, formed the bedrock of GT’s imposing total.

Defending 217, pacers Mohammed Siraj (1/30) and Arshad Khan (1/19) struck early to give GT the perfect start.

Arshad drew first blood, removing the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) who slashed at a wide one and picked out Rashid Khan at deep third.

List of batters with most runs –

In the very next over, Nitish Rana (1) attempted an upper-cut off Siraj but met the same fate, guiding it straight to the fielder at deep third man.

But Samson and Riyan Parag (26) launched a fiery counterattack. Parag smoked three no-look sixes, while Samson dispatched anything loose to the boundary with casual ease, taking RR to 57/2 in the powerplay.

The momentum swung again as Impact Sub Kulwant Khejroliya (1/29) had Parag caught by Buttler, before Rashid Khan removed Dhruv Jurel (5) to leave Rajasthan tottering at 68/4.

Samson and Hetmyer added 48 runs to keep hopes alive, but Prasidh Krishna (3/24) dealt the killer blow.

He first dismissed Samson as the wicketkeeper tried to steer one behind square but only managed to skew it high towards Sai Kishore, who held on calmly at the edge of the circle.

Krishna then returned to snare Hetmyer.

List of bowlers with most wickets –

Earlier, after leaking plenty of runs initially in the IPL, Jofra Archer (1/30) is well and truly back to his best.

With the new ball in hand, he cranked it up to 152.3 kph in his first over, then returned in his second to clean up Shubman Gill (2) with a steaming 147.7 kph inswinger that beat the inside edge and crashed into Gill’s off stump.

Archer then greeted Buttler with a sharp bouncer, but the former England captain responded a couple of balls later with a crisp four to the deep-cover boundary.

With Sudharsan taking charge, Buttler joined the party with back-to-back boundaries off Fazalhaq Farooqi (0/38) in the seventh over.

In the next over, he sliced Maheesh Theekshana (2/54) through the off side for a four, before lofting him straight down the ground for another boundary.

But Theekshana had the last laugh, trapping Buttler leg-before, ending an 80-run partnership.

Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson immediately turned back to Archer in a bid to stem the flow of runs, and the Barbados-born pacer repaid the faith with a tight over that went for just six.

But Shahrukh exploded into action in the very next over, slamming consecutive boundaries before muscling one over deep extra cover to inject some much needed momentum into the GT innings.

The boundaries kept coming as Shahrukh went after Theekshana in the 14th over that yielded 16 runs.

Royals responded by striking twice in quick succession, removing Shahrukh and Sherfane Rutherford (7) to pull things back.

Sudharsan was handed a life on 81 but couldn’t make much of the reprieve, as Tushar Deshpande induced a thin edge to send him back in the dugout.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mananchaya Sawangkaew kept Thailand in the battle by winning the second singles.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

Prarthana Thombare and Ankita Raina won a thriller against Thailand to keep India in the race in the Asia-Oceania Billie Jean King Cup tennis in Pune on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
Kamesh Srinivasan

Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombare combined remarkably well to beat Peangtarn Plipuech and Patcharin Cheapchandej 7-6(3), 3-6, [10-3] in the decisive doubles against Thailand in the Asia-Oceania Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis championship at the Balewadi Stadium on Wednesday.

After having lost 1-2 to New Zealand in the first tie, it was an admirable recovery by India, especially after Sahaja Yamalapalli had to retire with a bout of cramps early in the third set in the second rubber against Mananchaya Sawangkaew.

It was high quality entertainment for the sparse gathering, as Ankita and Prarthana handled the energetic Thais, with assurance, especially in the super tie-break, racing away to set up six match points, and closing it out without any further drama.

Earlier, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty gave further evidence of her strong all-round game and a sound temparament as she wriggled out of a tight situation in the second set to beat the 170tth ranked Lanlana Tararudee 6-2, 6-4. Shrivalli trailed 2-4 in the second set, but turned it around by winning the next four games.

Sahaja Yamalapalli fought hard, till she was downed by a bout of cramps early in the third set when she had to retired. It was a gutsy fare from her that she won the second set tie-break, after having failed to serve out that set in the tenth and 12th games.

Manachanaya Sawangkaew was indeed very crafty, and made Sahaja work for every point.

Meanwhile, world No.41 Lulu Sun continued to make her presence felt for New Zealand, as she once again won her singles and doubles matches, to pull the Kiwis to their second 2-1 victory, past Korea.

Sohyun Park gave a flying start for Korea by racing away with the first singles, but the Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lulu won the second singles in straight sets against Dayeon Back. She joined Monique Barry to beat Kim Dabin & Eunhye Lee 10-8 in the super tie-break of the doubles.

The results (league):

India bt Thailand 2-1 (Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Lanlana Tararudee 6-2, 6-4; Sahaja Yamalapalli lost to Mananchaya Sawangkaew 3-6, 7-6(3), 0-1 (retired); Ankita Raina & Prarthana Thombare bt Patcharin Cheapchandej & Peangtarn Plipuech 7-6(3), 3-6, [10-3[).

New Zealand bt Korea 2-1 (Renee Zhang lost to Sohyun Park 1-6, 0-6; Lulu Sun bt Dayeon Back 6-4, 6-1; Monique Barry & Lulu Sun bt Kim Dabin & Eunhye Lee 6-3, 4-6, [10-8]).

GT vs RR Live: Squads –

Gujarat Titans: B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (Captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan, Jayant Yadav, Nishant Sindhu, Kulwant Khejroliya, Gerald Coetzee, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar, Karim Janat.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (w), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

WWE superstar John Cena and Virat Kohli© X/Twitter

Vijayveer Sidhu with the gold.
| Photo Credit: ISSF

Vijayveer Sidhu defeated Riccardo Mazzetti of Italy 29-28 for the 25m rapid fire pistol gold in the shooting World Cup in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Vijayveer had overcome a slow start, when he had got only one point out of five in the first series in the final. With the gold medal at stake on the last series, both were on 25. Vijayveer shot four to the three by the Italian.

It was the fourth gold for India, which helped the team stay on top of the table ahead of China, which has three gold medals.

However, China beat India 17-9 in the mixed air rifle match to clinch the gold and jump to the top of the medals table. India stayed in the race with the addition of a silver through Arya Borse and Rudrankksh Patil.

The results: 10m air rifle: Mixed team: 1. China (Wang Zifei, Song Buhan) 17(631.4); 2. India (Arya Borse, Rudrankksh Patil) 9(630.5); 3. Argentina (Fernanda Russo, Marcelo Gutierrez) 17(629.8); India-2 (Narmada Nthin, Arjun Babuta) 13(629.6).

25m rapid fire pistol: Men: 1. Vijayveer Sidhu 29(579); 2. Riccardo Mazzetti (Ita) 28(578); 3. Yang Yuhao (Chn) 23(581); 10. Gurpreet Singh 575; 13. Anish Bhanwala 570.

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Anirudh Chandrasekar in partnership with David Hernandez of Spain beat top seeds Guido Andreozzi and Theo Arribage 3-6, 7-5, [10-8] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday.

The results:

$200,000 Challenger, Mexico – Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Sriram Balaji & Miguel Reyes-Varela (Mex) bt Materus Alves (Bra) & Stefano Napolitano (Ita) 6-3, 6-2.

€145,250 Challenger, Madrid, Spain: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Anirudh Chandrasekar & David Hernandez (Esp) bt Guido Andreozzi (Arg) & Theo Arribage (Fra) 3-6, 7-5, [10-8]; Saketh Myneni & Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Jiri Barnat & Filip Duda (Cze) 6-2, 5-7, [10-6].

€145,250 Challenger, Monza, Italy: Singles (first round): Filip Misolic (Aut) bt Sumit Nagal 6-2, 1-0 (retired).

Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Matej Vocel (Cze) & Szymon Walkow (Pol) bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-3, 3-6, [10-7].

$30,000 ITF men, Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy: Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Giovanni Oradini (Ita) bt Manas Dhamne 6-4, 7-5.

$100,000 ITF women, Zaragoza, Spain: Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Olivia Gadecki (Aus) & Aldila Sutjiadi (Ina) bt Rutuja Bhosale & Paige Hourigan (Nzl) 6-1, 6-1.