Sport
Hetmyer, Jaiswal dump Curran’s Punjab out of IPL

Shimron Hetmyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal starred as Rajasthan Royals dumped Punjab Kings out of the IPL on Friday, capping a poor season for the league’s most expensive ever player Sam Curran.
The nail-biting four-wicket in Dharamsala win gave Rajasthan, last season’s runners-up, hope of qualifying for the knockout phase although their fate depends on other matches this weekend, AFP reported.
Curran, who cost Punjab a hefty $2.23 million, fell one run short of what would have been only his second 50 of the tournament as Punjab put on 187-5 with Navdeep Saini taking 3-40 for Rajasthan.
This was after Punjab were in trouble at 50-4 after 6.3 overs when Saini sent Liam Livingstone’s off stump flying, the English big-hitter managing just nine and captain Shikhar Dhawan 17.
Curran’s valiant 49 came off 31 balls with four fours and two sixes included vital partnerships with Jitesh Sharma (44) and Shahrukh Khan (41) that rescued Punjab’s innings.
In reply for the Royals, Curran’s England teammate Jos Buttler fell for his latest duck of his lackluster season, trapped leg-before to a vicious inswinger by Kagiso Rabada.
But Jaiswal, the IPL’s second-highest run scorer this year behind Faf du Plessis, and who last week hit a 13-ball 50, continued in his stellar form with yet another half-century, off 36 balls.
Tense finale
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson departed for just two to Rahul Chahar but rock-solid Devdutt Padikkal made 51 off 30 before falling to a stunning catch on the circle by Harpreet Brar off Arshdeep Singh.
Hetmyer almost saw the Royals home in a tense final phase that saw the West Indian exchange sharp words with Curran when he was given out caught behind, only to be reprieved on review, AFP reported.
“It is nice to have someone saying something, giving me a little bit more confidence and a little bit more energy to execute,” Hetmyer said afterwards, adding that what Curran said to him “is not anything I can disclose”.
Curran, who leaked 46 runs in the match, finally got his man and his only wicket in the 19th over, with Hetmyer finally departing for 46 off 28 after a brilliant catch by Dhawan at cover.
But Hetmyer and Riyan Parag (20) had done enough, with impact player Dhruv Jurel (10) finishing the job by clubbing a six back over Chahar’s head with two balls remaining.
The win in their final group-stage game by Rajasthan puts them in fifth position with 14 points.
Only the top four proceed, and whether Rajasthan make it depends on other teams, primarily Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, currently fourth and sixth respectively.
Defending champions Gujarat Titans are top of the table ahead of second-placed Chennai Super Kings. Punjab though are out, as are Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“I think that in all areas we could have done better. Sometimes the batting clicked and sometimes the bowling clicking,” said Dhawan.
“I am sure this season boys must have learned lots of things. As a leader I learned lots of things,” he said.
Sport
De Kock fireworks see Kolkata thrash Rajasthan in IPL

Spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy combined to help restrict Rajasthan to 151-9 after KKR elected to field first in Guwahati.
De Kock bossed the chase with his 61-ball innings laced with eight fours and six sixes as Kolkata achieved their target with 15 balls to spare.
De Kock, who has retired from Tests and one-day international cricket for South Africa and whose T20 international future remains uncertain, showed no signs of rustiness.
“To be fair, haven’t felt any challenges yet,” De Kock said.
“Have had three months off which felt nice. Had about a 10-day build-up to this season. Only my second game here, just taking it as I see it.”
Kolkata signed De Kock in November’s auction after he was released by Lucknow Super Giants.
He handed his team a quick start, hitting two fours but then lost opening partner Moeen, run out for five.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane fell after a brisk 18 but De Kock stood firm and along with impact substitute Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who made 22, steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 83.
De Kock finished with a six off Jofra Archer as Kolkata bounced back from their opening loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Rajasthan suffered their second straight loss.
Earlier, Kolkata fast bowler Vaibhav Arora dismissed Sanju Samson, bowled for 13, and Chakravarthy and Moeen soon took two wickets each.
Wicketkeeper Samson is Rajasthan’s regular captain but has been forced to play only as a batter in the first three matches due to an injury.
Chakravarthy, who starred in India’s recent Champions Trophy triumph, got stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag out caught behind for 25.
Former England all-rounder Moeen, in for the unwell Sunil Narine, stifled the opposition with his off-spin and was rewarded with the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal for 29.
The 37-year-old and Chakravarthy both struck again as Rajasthan slipped to 82-5 in 11 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling for Rajasthan and despite wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel’s 33 and 16 from Archer, they settled for a below-par total.
“I think 170 was a reasonable score but we fell short by 20 runs,” said Parag. “The plan was to get Quinny out early but he didn’t so we shifted to containing them in the middle overs.”
Arora and fellow quick Harshit Rana also took two wickets each.
Kolkata, under Shreyas Iyer who is now Punjab Kings captain after a $3.17 million move in the auction, won their third IPL title last year.
The seventh match of the day will see Sunrisers Hyderabad play Lucknow Super Giants. The live broadcast of this match, on Ariana Television, will start at 6:15pm.
Sport
AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers: Myanmar defeat Afghanistan 2-1

Afghanistan’s national football team went down 2-1 to Myanmar in their first match of the third round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The match was held on Tuesday at the stadium in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar.
The only goal for Afghanistan was scored in the 14th minute by Omid Popalzay.
Afghanistan is in Group E along with Myanmar, Pakistan, and Syria.
The national team’s next match will be on June 10 against Syria. The venue is still to be decided.
Sport
Afghanistan eliminated from Asian Beach Soccer Championship

Afghanistan’s national beach soccer team was defeated 6-4 by Indonesia in their third and final match of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup 2025, resulting in their elimination from the tournament.
The match took place on Tuesday in Thailand.
In their first and second games, Afghanistan lost to the United Arab Emirates and Iran, respectively.
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