HYDERABAD, India: Ishan Kishan scored 106 not out off 47 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 44 runs in their season-opening encounter in the 2025 Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Kishan smacked 11 fours and six sixes in his first IPL hundred on debut for his new franchise, which notched up its second-highest total in tournament history.
Travis Head scored 67 off 31 balls as the Sunrisers picked up where they left off in 2024 to reach a mammoth 286-6 in 20 overs.
Hyderabad’s previous highest score was 287-3 — the highest IPL total — against Royal Challengers Bengaluru last season.
In the evening game, Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets with five balls remaining in a high-profile clash.
Afghanistan’s left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad took 4-18 in four overs for Chennai as Mumbai was restricted to 155-9 after losing the toss. Tilak Varma top-scored with 31 off 25 balls.
Rachin Ravindra’s unbeaten 65 off 45 balls, along with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s quick-fire 53 off 26, helped Chennai score 158-6 in 19.1 overs.
Royals fall short despite reaching 242-6
Rajasthan Royals fought well to post 242-6 (20 overs) in reply to Hyderabad’s huge target. Dhruv Jurel led with 70 off 35 balls, while Sanju Samson scored 66 off 37 balls.
Put into bat, Hyderabad ran away at the start with Head and Abhishek Sharma’s (24) explosive opening pairing putting on 45 off 19 balls.
Kishan found another gear as he reached 50 off 25 balls. Hyderabad, which bought him at the season’s auction earlier, found immediate returns as the young batter smacked his way to an attacking hundred on debut for his new franchise.
He put on 85 off 39 balls with Head, who also hit nine fours and three sixes. The latter fell just prior to the halfway mark.
Kishan – and Hyderabad – did not let up the scoring rate. He found able company in Nitish Reddy who hit 30 off 15 balls and Heinrich Klaasen, who added 34 off 14 balls.
Kishan’s next 50 came off 22 balls, as he raced to his century, helping Hyderabad to a statement total in its first outing.
Rough day for Rajasthan’s English pacer Jofra Archer
England pacer Jofra Archer finished with 0-76 from four overs – the most expensive spell in IPL history.
Rajasthan faltered early in its chase. Yashasvi Jaiswal was out caught for one, while Riyan Parag was dismissed for four — both in the second over. It became 50-3 as Nitish Rana was dismissed for 11.
Samson, coming in as an impact substitute, did start off the season in style. He scored 50 off 26 balls, and put on 111 off 60 balls with Jurel as Rajasthan fought back on a good batting surface.
Jurel reached 50 off 28 balls at the other end, hitting six sixes and five fours as the chase revolved around him. Adam Zampa dismissed him in the 15th over, while Samson was out caught in the previous over.
It was too tall an ask for Rajasthan thereafter to chase down the mammoth target successfully despite fruitful cameos from Shimron Hetmyer (42 off 23 balls) and Shubham Dubey (34 not out off 11 balls).
Mumbai’s spin woes in Chennai
Ahmad sprung into action after left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed took 3-29, including the dismissal of Rohit Sharma for a four-ball duck.
Spin did the trick on a slow Chepauk track as Mumbai never got into third gear in its opening game. It missed skipper Hardik Pandya, who was on the bench serving a slow over-rate suspension from 2024.
Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav only managed 29 off 26 balls. Mumbai was down to 96-6 in 13 overs and then 118-7 in 16.1 overs.
Deepak Chahar, a former Chennai player making his Mumbai debut, scored 28 not out off 15 balls including two sixes to push the score past 150.
Chasing 156, Chennai was boosted by a 67-run partnership for the second wicket off only 37 balls between Gaikwad and Ravindra.
Gaikwad hit three sixes and six fours, reaching 50 off 22 balls. Mumbai struck back through 24-year-old left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur (3-32).
Chennai lost regular wickets to Puthur and Will Jacks but Ravindra helped his team reach the target in the 20th over.
Season-opening wins for Hyderabad and Chennai in IPL
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Season-opening wins for Hyderabad and Chennai in IPL
- Rough day for Rajasthan’s English pacer Jofra Archer
- Mumbai had spin woes in Chennai
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
