Category News

New Chandigarh, the Indian Premier League

Punjab Kings 101 (14.1 overs): S Sharma 3-17, Hazlewood 3-21

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 106-2 (10 overs): Salt 56 (27)

Bengaluru defeated Bengaluru by eight wickets to win the Royal Challengers.

After defeating the Punjab Kings by eight wickets in the final, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are one match away from winning their first Indian Premier League match.

In 14.1 overs, Kings batted poorly and were bowled out for 101, with RCB chasing down their low target with the final fifty.

As RCB won the most games by remaining balls in IPL play-offs history, opener Phil Salt hit an unbeaten 56 from 27 deliveries while spinners Suyash Sharma and Josh Hazlewood each took three wickets.

The winners of Friday’s match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians will now advance to Tuesday’s final, their first since 2016, while the winners of the title decider will face them against them.

Kings entered the game after losing the toss in New Chandigarh, finishing first overall, ahead of RCB in terms of net run-rate.

They immediately ran into trouble, falling to 38-4 on the powerplay right away.

As Kings continued to lose wickets consistently, with opener Prabhsimran Singh and tail-ender Azmatullah (both 18) the only other batters to reach single figures, Marcus Stoinis top-scored with 26 from number six.

In April, Kings had defended 111 against this ground, but a repeat victory seemed too difficult.

Virat Kohli was left for 12 in the fourth over by Kyle Jamieson, but England international Salt anchored a straightforward chase from there.

His batting average of 50 from 23 balls was his fastest half-century in the IPL, which included six fours and three sixes.

Formula 1 drivers are “too nice” when posed with questions about changing the Monaco Grand Prix, according to Fernando Alonso.

The rule change, which required drivers to make two pit stops at Monaco last weekend, has drawn the attention of several drivers.

The Aston Martin driver, a two-time world champion and double champion in Monaco, said: “There is this constant discussion about how bad something is rather than how good it is.

“This is Monaco,” There may be some ideas between all parties involved in the sport for Monaco, but I don’t believe there is a need to think about anything.

“We only respond to questions because there is a lot of content to be created right now, and drivers are too nice,” the author says.

If you asked Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost about Monaco 40 years ago and they were competing for the title, they would be less polite than we were.

The most successful driver in Formula One history, Fernando Alonso, said that in Monaco, “you see one overtake every ten years.”

He continued, “I’m always a little surprised by the negative remarks from Monaco on Monday.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be going to Monaco next year, and on Wednesday we’ll be so excited, and on Friday we’ll all say it’s the best track of the season, and we’ll all want to win,” and then we’ll all be super-excited and excited on Saturday. And then we’ll all be let down once more on Sunday. It is what it is.

Alex Wurz, the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GDPA), shared some changes to the track that he thought might improve racing on Instagram, including a slight reorganization of the Loews and Rascasse corners.

The GPDA director, George Russell, a Mercedes driver, added that “Monaco has always been the same.” The solution is beyond me. I believe that we should accept Monaco for who it is.

Monaco being on the calendar makes F1 more appealing. Although the race is boring, qualifying makes us appreciate some of the other races.

Do we need to make every possible effort to make it better on Sunday, asks Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who won in Monaco in 2024 and finished second this year? Without a doubt.

Monaco has always been that way. In contrast to other races, there has always been a Sunday race where there isn’t much action or much less.

Alonso will be 45 by the end of the current season under his Aston Martin contract.

He stated in an interview with BBC Sport that “probably, or at least start,” this will be my final season in Formula One.

He claimed, however, that he was still motivated and competitive the day before the Spanish Grand Prix.

Alonso said, “I need to see how the new year begins and how motivated I am.”

Every year, there is a different outlook on how you perform, how competitive you feel, how determined you are to maintain your fitness level, and how your personal circumstances affect some crucial decisions you make.

“I am aware that a very crucial decision will be made regarding] when I stop racing,” he said.

When I was three years old, I first started a go-kart. I am now 43. I’ve had my hands on the steering wheel for 40 years, and I know that I will need to stop after one year. This is a crucial decision after which I will take some time to consider. I skipped F1 in 2018 and returned because I needed to. I must be certain that the next one is the same.

Alonso hasn’t managed to get a point this year, and he’s making his worst start to a year yet.

Apart from a crash in the wet in Australia, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine’s Alpine threw a lot of gravel on the track in front of him, largely because his car failed in the few races where the Aston Martin has been competitive enough to finish in the top 10.

His engine, for instance, failed last weekend while he was sixth in Monaco.

At a 0.297sec average advantage, he is nine-one ahead of teammate Lance Stroll in qualifying.

Alonso continued, “You need to feel it when you retire.” And I’m yet to feel it.

“I’m so happy to be in the car tomorrow and Sunday, motivated, and doing well.”

The stopwatch will alert me if we continue to be healthy and in good health, but I’m already feeling well.

On day one of the European Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, British Paralympic champion Benjamin Pritchard set a new world record.

Pritchard, 33, clinched gold in the PR1 men’s single sculls in Paris on Thursday night in the final of the competition in Bulgaria with a time of nine minutes, three 84 seconds.

The Welshman’s new world record, set at 8:47.88, beat the previous best of 8.50.38 set by Ukrainian Roman Polianskyi.

Pritchard claimed that his performance was a result of the LA 2028 Games’ “performance reset.”

Once the 2024 season was over, it was back to zero, he said, “we’ve got a mantra back at British Rowing.”

“Yes, I won the Paralympics, but this cycle is entirely different. You have to keep up the training to keep moving forward because you are unaware of what other people have done in the winter and what new athletes are gaining.

To go out there and get the world’s best time, which I still feel like I’m early in my season preparations, shows how much the effort I’m making, including trying to be an athlete, working in the city, and being a father, is worthwhile.

In addition, British record-holder Lauren Henry won the women’s single sculls competition, setting a British record.

The third fastest time Henry has ever won was 7:09.76, which Henry won in Paris last year as part of the quadruple sculls.

On Friday, the Englishwoman will compete in the semi-finals.

For my first senior international single race, the 23-year-old said: “It’s an exciting result.” I’m delighted that my plan has been carried out.