International
1st T20I: Suryakumar, Rohit guide India to five-wicket win over New Zealand

Outstanding knocks from Rohit Sharma (48), Suryakumar Yadav (62) and a timely boundary by Rishabh Pant (17*) helped India register a five-wicket win over New Zealand in a thrilling T20 encounter, taking 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Wednesday.
Earlier, fantastic half-centuries by Martin Guptill (70 off 42) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50) powered New Zealand to 164-6 in 20 overs. And while chasing a competitive total, openers Rohit and KL Rahul got India off to a flying start. The duo played some beautiful shots and took India to 50/0 in 5 overs.
Mitchell Santner gave New Zealand the first breakthrough in the 6th over by removing Rahul, who didn’t find the timing and was caught at square leg.
Thereafter, Suryakumar Yadav who came in at number three joined forces with his skipper to add another 59 runs for the second wicket. Both Suryakumar and Rohit looked in great touch and it seemed that they would finish the game for India but that didn’t happen.
Rohit was dismissed by his Mumbai teammate Trent Boult in the 14th over while Surya, who went on to hit his third T20I fifty, got out at a time when India were cruising at 144 for 3 in the 17th over. His dismissal gave New Zealand a glimmer of hope and they managed to bring the equation between runs required and balls left to within touching distance.
Things got too close for comfort in the final three overs with 21 runs needed off 18 balls for India as Shreyas Iyer and debutant Venkatesh Iyer got out for 5 and 4, respectively. But, Pant (17 not out off 17 balls) held his nerve and managed to get the team over the line, with 2 balls to spare.
Earlier, batting first, New Zealand were off to a bad start as they lost the wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the first over. An outstanding in-swinger from Bhuvneshwar Kumar found the gap between Mitchell’s bat and pad before crashing into the stumps.
The wicket brought Mark Chapman to middle and he along with Martin Guptill revived the New Zealand’s innings. The duo punished the bad deliveries to keep the scoreboard ticking, taking Kiwis to 41/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Both batters efficiently rotated the strike and didn’t go for big hits between 6 to 10 overs. On the other hand, Indian bowlers struggled to find a breakthrough and conceded few occasional boundaries, as New Zealand reached 65/1 at the halfway mark of the innings.
With ten overs to go, Guptill shifted gears and targeted Mohammed Siraj, scoring 16 runs in his over. In the next over, Chapman scored his impressive half-century by slamming Axar Patel’s full-toss for a huge six over deep square. Deepak Chahar was hit for 10 runs as Chapman and Guptill brought their 100-run partnership, taking Black Caps to 106/1 after 13 overs.
India were in desperate need of a breakthrough as Ashwin provided that by getting rid of the dangerous Chapman, who was looking for a big shot but the ball crashed into the stumps. Glenn Phillips came to bat next but he couldn’t do much and was dismissed by off-spinner in the same over, leaving Kiwis in some sort of trouble.
However, the quick wickets did very little to deter Guptill as he kept on playing his lofted shots and scored his 19th T20I fifty, first against the Men in Blue in the shortest format. His partner on the other side, Tim Seifert was dropped on 7 by Axar Patel in the over bowled by Bhuvneshwar.
With Guptill set, Black Caps were eyeing a big total but Chahar dismissed the attacking opener in the 18th over. Guptill mistimed his shot while trying to go over mid-wicket as Shreyas Iyer came running in and took a good low catch.
From there, Indian bowlers didn’t give any freebies to Tim Seifert (12) and Rachin Ravindra (7) and Mitchell Santner (4) and pulled things back in the death overs as New posted 164-6 in 20 overs.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/24) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/23) were the main wicket-takers for India.
Brief scores; New Zealand: 164/6 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 70, Mark Chapman 63; Ravichandran Ashwin (2/23) lost to India 166/5 in 19.4 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 62, Rohit Sharma 48; Trent Boult (2/31)
International
‘I’m happy here’: Cristiano Ronaldo pledges to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Pro League

Portugese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia despite walking away empty handed in this season. The 38-year-old has earmarked the tournament to be among the top five in the world.
Ronaldo, who signed a two and a half year contract with Al Nassr, scored 14 goals in 16 games in the season, with his side standing second behind Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro league. However, there were speculations about how long will he stay as reports of swap deal with Saudi-owned Newcastle United emerged, who have now qualified for next season’s Champions league.
In an official Saudi Pro League interview, the star footballer revealed:
“I’m happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here. And in my opinion, if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t, but next year I’m really positive, but next year I’m really positive and confident that things will change and we go in a better way.”
Cristiano Ronaldo suggests he is still adjusting to strange training timings in Saudi Arabia:
Ronaldo also revealed how contrasting the training timings in Europe and Saudi Arabia are, elaborating:
“In Europe, we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon or evening and in Ramadan, we train at 10 at night. So this is strange but as I tell you, these situations are part of an experience, memories. I like to live these moments because you learn with these things.”
With 837 goals in 512 games, Ronaldo is the combined highest goal scorer in history.
International
Lionel Messi to leave PSG at the end of the season, confirms club manager Christophe Galtier

Paris Saint Germain superstar Lionel Messi will leave the club at the end of the current season, manager Christophe Galtier confirmed on Thursday. Messi made 74 appearances for PSG in which he scored 32 goals and made 35 assists. In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain has played 37 matches out of which they have won 27, lost six and drew four.
PSG had acquired Messi’s services two years ago in a record transfer deal after he left FC Barcelona in 2021.
Messi, who’s contract with PSG ends this season, is now being linked with with a move to Saudi Arabia while talk of a return to the Nou Camp has picked up in Spain in recent weeks.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner will play his final match for PSG against Clermont Foot on Saturday.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football,” Galtier said on Thursday. “This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes.”
Messi’s envious record
In the Spanish La Liga football competition, Lionel Messi has scored 474 goals in 520 matches. In the French Ligue 1, Messi has scored 22 goals in 57 matches.
The 35-year-old while playing for Football Club Barcelona has scored 672 goals in 778 games. While playing for Paris Saint-Germain he has scored 32 goals in 74 matches.
No plan to bring Messi back: Barca president
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta recently said that the club has re-established good relationships with Argentine legend Lionel Messi, but it would not pay any price to bring him back to the Camp Nou Stadium.
“I have spoken with Leo to somehow redirect the situation that occurred when I had to put the institution ahead of everything, including him, the best player in the world,” said Laporta in a Monday morning TV show.
International
Mark Zuckerberg strikes gold against jiu jitsu fighters, posts pictures on Instagram

In the past, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has appeared helpless in front of the US Congress where he has been slapped by fines, and fired 11,000 vulnerable employees after being hit by falling revenues. But outside the business arena where Meta is facing tough competition from TikTok and other rivals, Zuckerberg is a huge mixed martial arts fan.
Contrary to setbacks in the tech sector, the Facebook founder has tasted victory in jiu jitsu.
Striking gold, but in a different arena
- The billionaire who has trained with UFC fighters, posted pictures after winning jiu jitsu matches for the first time.
- The billionaire who tried his hand at martial arts, revealed that he won a gold medal in the Gi categroy and a silver medal in the No-GI category.
- His post on Instagram received comments from UFC featherweight and bantamweight category champions, as well as jiu jitsu hall of fame member Bernardo Faria.
Competitive or short tempered?
- The entrepreneur turned sportsperson, who also enjoys surfing, was seen getting into a heated argument after losing a contest during the tournament in California as well.
- On the work front, Zuckerberg’s firm Meta also surprised the markets by bouncing back with strong earnings, after struggling with loss of ad revenue.
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