Star India batter Virat Kohli completed his trophy set by helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru win their maiden Indian Premier League title after 17 years of trying.
Kohli has won all major white-ball trophies in international cricket, but the IPL crown had eluded him for nearly two decades. But he finally got to tick that box after Bengaluru clinched an six-run win against Punjab Kings at packed Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Batting first, Bengaluru posted 190-9, Kohli top-scoring with 43. That total seemed below par but a sensational bowling display by Bengaluru kept Punjab batters at bay throughout the 20 overs.
Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (2-17) bowled a remarkable spell that included the scalps of the well-set Josh Inglis (39) and Prabhsimran Singh.
Punjab batter Shashank Singh took the match into the final over with a fighting 61 not out off 30 balls, but Bengaluru eked out victory for their first ever IPL title.
Punjab had lost seven wickets before the start of the final over, with 29 runs still needed. Josh Hazlewood bowled two dot balls to a well set Shashank. As the equation became mathematically impossible, the right-handed batter blasted consecutive boundaries to reduce the margin of defeat.
Earlier, star opening batter Kohli top-scored with 43 but Bengaluru's innings struggled to kick on at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
With Bengaluru and Punjab both searching for their first ever IPL title, the 132,000-capacity stadium was nearly packed with a sea of red and Kohli's jersey number 18 dominating the stands.
Kohli was far from fluent though, his innings taking 35 balls with just three fours.
He lost opening partner Phil Salt for 16 when New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson struck in his first over to send the England batter out, caught well in the deep by Iyer.
Kohli tried to anchor the innings with Mayank Agarwal, who made 24, and then skipper Rajat Patidar, who hit 26.
But Punjab kept taking wickets as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal got Agarwal and Jamieson trapped Patidar lbw.
Kohli then mistimed a rising delivery from Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai to be caught and bowled. But as it turned out during India's T20 World Cup win last year, Kohli had done just enough.
Jamieson took his third wicket to cut short Liam Livingstone's knock of 25 off 15 balls.
Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh then capped a stunning comeback from Punjab, taking three wickets including the dangerous Romario Shepherd in the 20th over while giving away just three runs.
The final was watched by a capacity crowd which included former British PM Rishi Sunak.
There was heartbreak for Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer who had entered his second straight IPL final after guiding Kolkata to the title last year.
As victory neared, Kohli became visibly emotional, struggling to contain himself as more than 100,000 fans rallied around him. He was the first to be mobbed by his teammates, showing how much the title meant for Kohli and the franchise.
Kohli's wife Anushka Sharma and long-time teammate and close friend AB de Villiers were at the ground to witness the historic moment, as was former opening partner Chris Gayle.
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The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
