Jacks unleashes batting barrage and Kohli hits 70 as Bengaluru beats Gujarat by 9 wickets in IPL

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Will Jacks unleashed a batting barrage and shared an unbroken 166-run partnership with Virat Kohli as Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

In the late game, skipper Rituraj Gaikwad smacked 98 runs off 54 balls to lead Chennai Super Kings to a 78-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Jacks scored his first IPL hundred off 41 balls, finishing 100 not out, which included 10 sixes as Bengaluru chased down Gujarat’s 200-3 in 20 overs with 24 balls to spare at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Kohli scored 70 not out off 44 balls at the other end as Bengaluru passed the victory target to reach 206-1 in 16 overs.

Chasing another high total to mathematically stay in contention for a knockout spot, 10th-place Bengaluru made a good start. Kohli and opening partner Faf du Plessis (24) put on 40 off 23 balls.

Du Plessis holed out in the fourth over, marking the last wicket the Titans’ attack would manage on the day.

Jacks started off slowly, allowing Kohli to take charge as he raced to 50 off 32 balls. It was the star batter’s fourth half-century in the IPL this year and he also crossed the 500-run mark for this season.

Kohli scored 20 more off the next 12 balls he faced, but he was a spectator at the non-striker’s end for much of this period.

Jacks took charge, smacking Mohit Sharma for 29 runs in the 15th over. He raced to 50 off 31 balls, and then accelerated further. The next 50 came off only 10 balls, a span that included six sixes and two fours.

Jacks smashed 29 runs off Rashid Khan’s 16th over to bring a very early end to the proceedings.

Bengaluru had needed 53 off 36 balls and managed to get there from just 12.

Earlier, Sai Sudharsan’s 84 not out off 49 balls had rescued the hosts from 45-2.

Openers Wriddhiman Saha (5) and Shubman Gill (16) fell cheaply, leaving the Titans stranded.

Sudharsan then managed an 86-run stand off 45 balls for the third wicket with Shahrukh Khan.

Khan hit five sixes in his 58 off 30 balls for his first IPL half-century. Scoring 50 off 34 balls, Sudharsan then added another 69 off the last six overs with David Miller (26 not out).

Gujarat Titans stay seventh after 10 games with only four wins. Bengaluru has three wins from 10 games.

CHENNAI WINS

In the second game, medium pacer Tushar Deshpande picked up 4-27 in three overs as Hyderabad was bowled out for 134 runs in 18.5 overs in pursuit of Chennai’s imposing 212-3.

Gaikwad followed up his century in the previous game with another big score. He hit 10 fours and three sixes and anchored his side to a 200-plus total again.

Daryl Mitchell found form to score 52 off 32 balls, adding 107 off 64 with Gaikwad.

Hard-hitting Shivam Dube provided the finishing touch with a brisk 39 not out.

Despite dewy conditions, Hyderabad’s batting lineup crashed for a second time running when faced with a 200-plus target.

Travis Head was out for 13 and Abhishek Sharma dismissed for 15. Both fell to Deshpande, who also had impact player Anmolpreet Singh caught for a golden duck.

Hyderabad was down to 40-3 in 3.5 overs and never recovered from the early blows.

Aiden Markram was the top-scorer with a 26-ball 32. Heinrich Klaasen could only manage 20 off 21 balls.

Pacers Mustafizur Rahman (2-19) and Matheesha Pathirana (2-17) added to the damage.

Chennai returned to winning ways after losing its last two games and is back in the top four with 10 points from nine games. It trails second-place Kolkata Knight Riders on net run-rate.

It was the Sunrisers’ second consecutive loss and it moved down to fourth, ahead of Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals on run-rate with all three teams also on 10 points each.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Chennai Super Kings' Matheesha Pathirana celebrates the dismissal of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen,during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Chennai Super Kings' Matheesha Pathirana, centre, celebrates the dismissal of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen, left, during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Chennai Super Kings' Shardul Thakur , centre, celebrates the dismissal of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Abdul Samad during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain Pat Cummins walks off the field after losing his wicket during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain Pat Cummins plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Chennai Super Kings' captain Ruturaj Gaikwad , left, greets Sunrisers Hyderabad's captain Pat Cummins at the end the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/R.Parthiban)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli, left, and teammate Will Jacks touch gloves during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli celebrates his fifty runs during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' Rashid Khan, second left, talks to Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli as they wait for the third umpires's decision during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Will Jacks bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Will Jacks bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Will Jacks and teammate Virat Kohli, right, celebrate their team's victory in the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Will Jacks and teammate Virat Kohli, right, smile after their team won in the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Will Jacks celebrates his century during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo /Ajit Solanki)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a “real difference” on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive.

In increasingly intense attacks along the northeastern border in recent days, Moscow’s troops have captured around 100 to 125 square kilometers (about 40 to 50 square miles) of territory that includes at least seven villages, according to open source monitoring analysts. Though most of those villages were already depopulated, thousands of civilians in the area have fled the fighting.

Analysts have called this moment one of the most dangerous for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 — and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Tuesday for more air defense systems to protect civilians under Russian fire in the northeast.

“We know this is a challenging time,” Blinken said in the Ukrainian capital where he met with Zelenskyy. But he added that American military aid is “going to make a real difference against the ongoing Russian aggression on the battlefield.”

The visit comes less than a month after Congress approved a long-delayed foreign assistance package that sets aside $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, much of which will go toward replenishing badly depleted artillery and air defense systems.

Some of that “is now on the way,” Blinken said, and some has already arrived in Ukraine.

Moscow’s renewed offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv is the most significant border incursion since the early days of the war. More than 7,500 civilians have been evacuated from the area, according to authorities.

The Kremlin’s forces are now expanding their push to the northern border regions of Sumy and Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials say, and repeated shelling and sabotage raids there are further stretching Kyiv’s resources.

Zelenskyy thanked Blinken for the aid — but added that more is necessary, including two Patriot air defense systems that are urgently needed to protect Kharkiv.

“The people are under attack: civilians, warriors, everybody. They’re under Russian missiles,” he said.

Artillery, air defense interceptors and long-range ballistic missiles have already been delivered, some of them already to the front lines, said a senior U.S. official traveling with the secretary on an overnight train from Poland who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of Blinken’s meetings.

On his fourth trip to Kyiv since Russian troops rolled over the border, Blinken's goal is to underscore the Biden administration’s commitment to Ukraine’s defense and long-term security, U.S. officials said. They noted that since President Joe Biden signed the aid package late last month, the administration has already announced $1.4 billion in short-term military assistance and $6 billion in longer-term support.

In a statement released after Blinken's arrival, the State Department said he would hold talks with Zelenskyy and other top Ukrainian officials “to discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new U.S. security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery.”

Delays in U.S. assistance, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war began and has preoccupied top administration officials, triggered deep concerns in Kyiv and Europe. Blinken, for example, has visited the Middle East seven times since the Gaza conflict began in October. His last trip to Kyiv was in September.

The U.S. official added that Blinken also would give a speech later Tuesday extolling Ukraine’s “strategic successes” in the war. It is intended to complement a Blinken address last year in Helsinki, Finland, deriding Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow’s strategic failures in launching the war.

Since the Helsinki speech, however, Russia has intensified its attacks, most noticeably as the U.S. House of Representatives sat on the aid package for months without action, forcing a suspension in the provision of most U.S. assistance. Those attacks have increased in recent weeks as Russia has sought to take advantage of Ukrainian shortages in manpower and weapons while the new assistance is in transit.

Top Biden administration officials and Ukrainian national security officials held a call Monday “about the situation on the front, about the capabilities that they are most in need of, and a real triage effort to say, ’Get us this stuff this fast so that we can be in a position to effectively defend against the Russian onslaught,'” said national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The administration is “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of U.S. weapon shipments, he said.

Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “fierce battles” are taking place near the border in eastern and northeastern Ukraine as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to push back a significant Russian ground offensive.

The new Russian push in the northeastern Kharkiv region and a drive into the eastern Donetsk region come after months when the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line barely budged. In the meantime, both sides have used long-range strikes in what largely became a war of attrition.

The senior U.S. official said despite some recent setbacks, Ukraine could still claim significant victories. Those include reclaiming some 50% of the territory Russian forces took in the early months of the war, boosting its economic standing and improving transportation and trade links, not least through military successes in the Black Sea.

The official acknowledged that Ukraine faces “a tough fight” and is “under tremendous pressure” but argued that Ukrainians “will become increasingly more confident” as the new U.S. and other Western assistance begins to arrive.

Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fourth left, speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, third right, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, greets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, prior to their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, greets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, prior to their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, watches Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, greets U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, right, prior to their meeting in Kyiv Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, greets U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, prior to their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support as it struggles to defend against increasingly intense Russian attacks. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, arrives by train at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken works while traveling on a Ukraine Railways train to Kiev, Monday, May 13, 2024, near Lviv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, front, waits with Ukrainian Railways staff and others to greet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, arrives by train at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken works while traveling on a Ukraine Railways train to Kiev, Monday, May 13, 2024, near Lviv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, walks to board a Ukrainian Railways train at Przemysl Glowny train station while traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 13, 2024, from Przemysl, Poland. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink after arriving by train at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station May 14, 2024, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski(Photographers name/Pool Photo via AP)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Monday, May 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken works while traveling on a Ukraine Railways train to Kiev, Monday, May 13, 2024, near Lviv, Ukraine. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)