Sport
All-round Ravindra Jadeja leads Chennai into IPL final

Ravindra Jadeja starred with bat and ball as Chennai Super Kings beat holders Gujarat Titans by 15 runs on Tuesday to enter the Indian Premier League final that could be skipper M.S. Dhoni’s farewell.
Four-time winners Chennai posted 172-7, a total their bowlers defended as they bowled out Gujarat for 157 in a play-off believed to be the last home match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium for the 41-year-old Dhoni, AFP reported.
The left-handed Jadeja returned figures of 2-18 with his spin bowling following his 22 runs, which boosted the Chennai total after Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 60 on an awkward pitch for batting.
Fireworks lit up the sky as Chennai made their 10th Indian Premier League final.
Gujarat, led by Hardik Pandya, will have another shot at making the final, which is on Sunday in Ahmedabad, when they take on the winner of the second play-off between Lucknow Super Giants and five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
The spotlight remained on Dhoni, who is India’s most decorated player, leading his country to two World Cup triumphs including the inaugural T20 crown in 2007 and has played mentor to younger heroes including Virat Kohli.
Believed to be playing his last IPL as a player, Dhoni has attracted huge crowds across venues with fans turning up in Chennai’s yellow as a tribute to the cricketing great.
His home venue was nearly packed to capacity as fans cheered every move of their hero, who raised the noise when he came into bat.
But the crowd soon fell silent as the superstar, who has been troubled with a knee injury in this season but has not explicitly said he is retiring, fell to Mohit Sharma for one off two balls.
Earlier Gaikwad registered his fourth half-century of the season as he capitalized on a reprieve on two when he was dismissed in the second over only for the delivery to be called no-ball.
He hit back with a six and four and soon converted Chennai’s modest start to a strong opening stand of 87 with New Zealand’s Devon Conway, who made 40.
Chennai wobbled after Gaikwad’s departure but Jadeja’s 16-ball cameo, which included two sixes, and one hit over the fence by England’s Moeen Ali in the final over fired Chennai to what turned out to be a winning total.
Shubman Gill attempted to drive Gujarat’s chase with his 42 but the rest of the batting faltered.
Fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who took down Gill, and the Sri Lankan duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana also took two wickets each.
Rashid Khan attempted to pull out a rabbit in his 16-ball 30 but fell in the 19th over and Pathirana sealed the deal on the final ball.
Sport
Afghanistan A registers massive win over Ireland A in 4-day match

Afghanistan A cricket team defeated Ireland A by an innings and 194 runs in a four-day Test match that ended on Thursday.
Choosing to bat first after winning the toss in Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan A team scored 612 runs in their first innings for the loss of seven wickets.
Bahir Shah (187), Riaz Hassan (94), Imran (85), Shams-ur-Rahman (84), Afsar Zazai (55) and Darwish Rasooli (53) were the major contributors for the total.
The Irish team scored 309 runs in their first innings, before being asked by Afghanistan to follow on.
Ireland A were bowled out for only 109 runs in their second innings.
Arab Gul was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan A as he took 10 wickets. Zia-ur-Rehman followed with five wickets.
Sport
Afghanistan win U-19 cricket series despite rain-impacted loss to Nepal

Nepal’s U-19 cricket team defeated Afghanistan by 85 runs via the DLS method in the rain-hit final match of their three-game series at Mulpani Cricket Stadium. However, Afghanistan won the series 2–1, having already secured victory in the first two match.
Batting first, Nepal posted 191 all out in 44.5 overs, with Sahil Patel scoring 46. Afghanistan struggled in response, collapsing to 46 for 6 in 20.1 overs before rain intervened. The match ended with Nepal’s 85-run victory under the DLS method.
Afghanistan had earlier dominated the series with a 130-run win in the first match and a dramatic one-run victory in the second. Despite the rain-affected loss, Afghanistan’s 2–1 series triumph highlighted their overall superiority, while Nepal showed potential in their final match.
Sport
Afghanistan’s national futsal team heads to Morocco

Afghanistan’s national futsal team has departed for Morocco to participate in a four-nation futsal tournament.
Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) has announced that Morocco will host the four-nation futsal competition.
In this tournament, the national futsal teams of Afghanistan, Portugal, Morocco, and China will compete against each other from April 9 to 13, 2025.
According to the football federation, all matches, except for the final, will be played without television broadcasts.
Afghanistan’s national futsal team will also play a friendly match against Morocco’s national futsal team on April 15.
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