Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli became the first player to score 6,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He brought up the milestone during RCB's 10-wicket thrashing of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021 on Thursday. Kohli scored his first half-century of the season, as he hit six fours and three sixes en route to his 47-ball 72. Coming into the match, Kohli needed to score 51 runs to get to the milestone. He currently has 6,021 runs in the IPL and leads the tournament's run charts. Suresh Raina, who is next in the list behind Kohli, was one of the first to congratulate him on his feat. Kohli took over from Raina as the tournament's leading run-scorer last season, as the left-handed Chennai Super Kings star opted out of the competition. But Kohli and Raina will go head to head in their next match as RCB take on CSK at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. It will be a top of the table clash, with RCB leading and CSK second with four matches played by all teams.
Indian women archers shoot team gold
Indian women set the tone for a super Sunday, winning the gold medal in the recurve team event in the World Cup Stage I at Sport Complex Los Arcos in Guatemala City. The women’s trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari got the better of Mexico in the summit clash, winning narrowly 5-4. India began well winning the first set 57-56, but the Mexican trio of Ana Vazquez, Alejandra Valentina and Aida Roman staged a great comeback, grabbing the next two sets with identical scores of 57-55. Going into the final set, the Indian eves brought out their best, winning 57-52 to tie the scores 4-4. The match was decided in a thrilling finish as India edged past their rivals by just one point in the three arrow tie-break. While India hit 27 (9, 8, 10), their rivals ended up hitting 26 (7,10, 9). This was India’s fifth gold in World Cup women’s team event, having previously won in Shanghai 2011, Medellin 2013 and Wroclaw in 2013 and 14.
However, this win was more commendable as this Indian team was relatively less experienced. Deepika, who played alongside seasoned archers Dola Banerjee and Bombayla Devi previously to win laurels for the country, found herself leading youngsters Ankita and Komalika this time. However, she did stand out with some consistent show relieving much pressure from her teammates.
Hockey matches postponed
The FIH Hockey Pro League matches between Great Britain and India, scheduled on May 8-9, have been postponed. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) said in a statement that the matches have been put off due to the UK government putting travellers from India on its ‘red list’ due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.
PGA Tour offering $40 million
The PGA Tour is awarding a $40 million bonus pool to the top 10 players who move the needle in golf, regardless of how they perform inside the ropes. Some of the top players and managers have loosely hinted at the plan, called the “Player Impact Program,” since the start of 2020. That was right about the time a concept known as the Premier Golf League funded in part by Saudi money was trying to lure the top players to join an international tour.
Rohit Sharma fined
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma was fined Rs 12,00,000 for maintaining a slow over-rate during the IPL game against Delhi Capitals in Chennai. “As it was his team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences, Sharma was fined Rs 12,00,000,” the IPL said in a statement. Delhi won the contest by six wickets.
