CricBuzz

USA Cricket by Smit Patel • Karthik Gattepalli had a dream start to the MLC earlier this year © Sportzpics Karthik Gattepalli had a dream start to the MLC earlier this year ©Sportzpics "My heartbeat must've been 200!" laughs Los Angeles Knight Riders' left-arm spinner Karthik Gattepalli, reflecting on the nerve-wracking chaos of his debut over in top-flight T20 cricket. The 25-year-old's introduction to the big stage was nothing short of a cinematic emotional roller coaster.

IPL 2025 by   •  Last updated on KKR's spinners picked up six wickets in the game. © BCCI Midway through the first innings of the match, the official IPL website ran a poll asking the viewers which of the participating teams had the better spin attack. The question had direct relation with one of the intriguing sub-plots of the match with the likes of Kuldeep and Axar on one corner and Varun and Narine at the opposite. At the mid innings break, the votes were split exactly 50-50.

IPL 2025 Narine made an impact with the ball, with the bat and on the field as a stand-in captain. ©BCCI Kolkata Knight Riders' batting has been far from convincing this season. Heading into the game against Delhi Capitals, their opening partnership tally was the least among all teams, and the middle order fared no better, with the average of their Nos.4-8 being the lowest.

MAXED OUT? Another IPL season isn't going to plan for the maverick Maxwell. ©BCCI Writing in the foreword to Glenn Maxwell's autobiography, The Showman, Virat Kohli laid out the thinking behind bringing the all-rounder to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Maxwell wouldn't just bolster the middle order, Kohli believed, but he would thrive at the "chance to stop being the centre of attention" - a freedom he hadn't enjoyed since his breakout 2014 campaign with Punjab Kings.

WOMEN'S TRI-SERIES, 2025 by   •  Last updated on Tazmin Brits scored a brilliant hundred but battled cramps in the heat. © AFP Tazmin Brits knows the feeling of scoring an ODI century, but her 109 against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday was nothing like the other two. For one thing, South Africa lost by 15 runs. When she made 118 against Bangladesh in Benoni in December 2023, the home side won by 216 runs.

ZIMBABWE TOUR OF BANGLADESH, 2025 by   •  Last updated on Legspinner Vincent Masekesa led Zimbabwe's fight back. © AFP Shadman Islam believes Bangladesh are in a good position in the Chattogram Test, though he admits it could have been better, with the hosts ending the second day 64 runs ahead with three wickets in hand. Bangladesh were cruising on the back of a 118-run opening stand between Shadman (120) and Anamul Haque (39), the team's first century opening partnership in 33 innings.

IPL 2025 by   •  Last updated on Vaibhav Suryavanshi acknowledges the crowd after a fantastic century © Sportzpics Talegaon, a modest settlement about an hour's drive from Nagpur, can be infernally hot - even outside the scorching summer months. Temperatures are extreme, often soaring to unforgiving levels, making the climate anything but conducive to cricket.

IPL 2025 by   •  Last updated on Sunil Narine took 3 wickets and effected a crucial run-out of KL Rahul. © BCCI Sunil Narine's exceptional all-round effort brought down Delhi Capitals in a thrilling finish at the national capital to keep KKR alive in IPL 2025. Faf du Plessis (62 off 45), Axar Patel (43 off 23) and Vipraj Nigam (38 off 19) did their bit to keep DC afloat in chase of KKR's 204/9 but timely dents from Narine meant DC ended 14 short.

Sunil Narine smashed away at the top after DC chose to bowl Rahmanullah Gurbaz also added to the early onslaught, as he and Narine added 48 runs - their best opening stand Ajinkya Rahane stepped in and tonked Mitchell Starc and Mukesh Kumar as KKR got to 79/1 in the PowerPlay Vipraj Nigam stopped the frenzy by trapping Narine leg before Axar Patel then took out his opposite number and also continued Venkatesh Iyer's dreadful season Rinku Singh fought back for KKR with a fabulous cameo of 36...

IPL 2025 by   •  Last updated on CSK could be the first team to be eliminated from the playoffs race this season © Sportzpics Despite scoring a 39-ball hundred, his first in the IPL, something still felt amiss for Priyansh Arya. "I wanted to talk to Dhoni sir, but he had left the ground by that time," the 24-year-old confessed during a media roundtable, a couple of days after helping Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by 18 runs in Mullanpur. Fortunately for Arya, he's got a second shot at it.