President and Exco of Sri Lanka Cricket step down

In a separate cricket match, Rajasthan Royals defeated Punjab Kings, marking the latter's first loss of the IPL 2026 season. Shubham Dubey highlighted the significance of the Impact Player, while Donovan Ferreira proved his value to the Royals. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi continued their impressive performances, contributing to the victory. In a high-scoring game held in New Chandigarh, Rajasthan finished with 228 runs, chasing down Punjab's total of 222. Ferreira and Dubey's partnership of 77 runs off just 32 balls helped turn a challenging chase into an easy win, as they achieved victory with four balls remaining. Yuzvendra Chahal took three wickets for 36 runs, and Marcus Stoinis scored an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win for Punjab Kings. Priyansh Arya entered the match with a remarkable strike rate in the powerplay of 260.27. He made his presence felt early, hitting a spliced pull shot against Nandre Burger and following it up with impressive shots, including a six over covers. After two overs, Rajasthan was already at 29 runs without losing a wicket. Jofra Archer started the third over with an outswinger that Arya edged to the slip area. However, Arya quickly made up for it by slicing a fast delivery from Archer for a boundary. Prabhsimran Singh, while not in top form, helped Punjab score 65 runs in the powerplay. Cooper Connolly scored 30 runs off 14 balls but fell victim to a googly from Yash Raj Punja. Despite this, Prabhsimran reached fifty off 35 balls. Rajasthan’s bowlers, especially the spinners, controlled the game during the middle overs, limiting Punjab to 95 runs while taking key wickets. Marcus Stoinis, who had previously faced just 26 balls in the tournament, exploded in the 19th over, hitting Archer for two sixes. He finished strong against Brijesh Sharma, scoring 24 runs in that over, helping Punjab cross 220 runs with a total of 62 runs in the last four overs. Sooryavanshi started aggressively again, scoring 43 runs off just 16 balls. He hit multiple sixes and fours and helped Rajasthan reach 50 runs in just 19 balls. Although Sooryavanshi was eventually out, Jaiswal took charge and raced to 66 runs for one wicket after four overs. Harpreet Brar, the Impact Player, bowled a tight fifth over, but Ferguson struggled as Rajasthan moved to 84 for one after six overs. Punjab fought back with their spinners, with Brar conceding only 25 runs in his four overs. Chahal dismissed Dhruv Jurel with a full toss that was easily caught. Jaiswal reached fifty off 26 balls but was soon caught on a slice off Chahal's bowling. Riyan Parag also started well, scoring 29 runs off 16 balls before being dismissed by Chahal.