Gujarat, Bengaluru and Punjab advance to IPL playoffs

NEW DELHI (AP) — Sai Sudharsan hit 108 not out off 61 balls as Gujarat Titans thrashed Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets on Sunday and sealed its spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs.

Sudharsan shared a double-century unbeaten opening stand with skipper Shubman Gill – the third equal highest by runs in the IPL – as the Titans reached 205-0 in 19 overs.

Gill scored 93 not out off 53 deliveries.

Their stand canceled out Lokesh Rahul’s 65-ball 112 not out — his fifth IPL century – in Delhi’s 199-3 in 20 overs. It was Delhi's fifth loss in seven games.

Gujarat climbed to the top of the IPL points table with 18 points from 12 games. Its victory over fifth-placed Delhi also meant that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (second, 17 points) and Punjab Kings (third, 17 points) also advanced to the playoffs.

Delhi has 13 points and is a point behind fourth-placed Mumbai Indians, who occupy the fourth and final playoff spot, with two regular season matches remaining. Lucknow Super Giants is currently seventh with 10 points from only 11 games.

Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals by 10 runs earlier Sunday to secure its playoff spot.

Rahul scored his fifth IPL century overall as Delhi rode on a blistering knock to present a challenging score.

He hit 14 fours and four sixes, and put on a vital 90 off 52 balls with Abhishek Porel (30). Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs also had cameos – but there wasn’t a second major contribution alongside Rahul, who reached 100 off 60 balls.

In reply, Gujarat relied on its in-form openers to confirm a spot in the knockouts. The duo dominated Delhi’s bowling, hitting 11 sixes and 15 fours altogether.

Gill scored 50 off 33 balls, including four sixes, and then added another three.

Sudharsan hit 12 fours and four sixes. Three of those sixes came after he scored 50 off 30 balls and helped him gallop to a second IPL century.

Nehal Wadhera scored 70 off 37 balls to lead Punjab Kings to a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals.

Wadhera smashed five sixes and five fours in his second half-century of the season in Punjab’s 219-5 in 20 overs. Shashank Singh’s 59 not out off 30 balls also helped the Kings cross the 200-mark.

Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar then took 3-22 in four overs as Rajasthan’s chase lost momentum despite half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaisal and Dhruv Jurel. The Royals were restricted to 209-7 for a 10th loss this season.

Wadhera took charge of the innings after Punjab was down to 34-3 in 3.1 overs, rebuilding it with a 67-run partnership off 44 balls with skipper Shreyas Iyer, who scored 30 off 25 balls.

Wadhera reached 50 off 25 balls, and then added 58 off 33 with Shashank Singh which set up the base for a 200-plus score.

Singh hit five fours and three sixes, while also finding an able partner in Azmatullah Omarzai, who scored 21 not out off nine balls. The duo added 60 runs off the last four overs.

In reply, Rajasthan made a quick-fire start. Jaiswal took 22 runs off the first over, and added 76 off 29 balls with his teenage opening partner Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

The latter scored 40 off 15 balls, with four sixes, before he was caught off Brar in the fifth over. Jaiswal carried on despite the breakthrough, scoring 50 off 25 balls, before he holed out too – again off Brar in the ninth over.

Rajasthan started losing steam afterward with Sanju Samson (20) and Riyan Parag (13) unable to keep up the momentum.

Jurel scored 53 off 31 balls – his second half-century of the season – to keep the chase going, but Marco Jansen and Omarzai combined for four wickets to help Punjab gain valuable points.

The IPL’s much-anticipated restart had been delayed for another day on Saturday after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru-Kolkata Knight Riders game was washed out.

The IPL was suspended for a week to Friday due to the military showdown between India and Pakistan. The Pakistan Super League resumed on Saturday.

The IPL final, originally scheduled for May 25, was moved to June 3.

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

Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan, left, is congratulated by captain Shubman Gill after scoring a century during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Punjab Kings' Harpreet Brar celebrates the wicket of Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, India, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)

Punjab Kings' Nehal Wadhera plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur in Jaipur, India, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)

Delhi Capitals' KL Rahul celebrates after scoring a century during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan celebrates after scoring a century during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile launch toward Israel early Saturday, their first since the war in the Middle East started. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile.

The now monthlong war erupted after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which retaliated with strikes against Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states. The conflict has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports and caused fuel prices to soar. Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, has exacerbated the economic fallout.

Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than a dozen U.S. service members and damaging planes.

Before Saturday’s attack, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the strait.

Israeli airstrikes continued Saturday. Associated Press footage showed smoke rising from northeastern Tehran. Iran sent missiles toward Israel with loud booms heard in Jerusalem.

Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television station Saturday that the Houthis launched a barrage of ballistic missiles toward what he described as “sensitive Israeli military sites” in southern Israel. The attack came hours after Saree signaled in a vague statement Friday that the rebels would join the war.

Sirens went off around Israel’s southern city of Beer Sheba and near Israel’s main nuclear research center as Iran and Hezbollah fired on Israel overnight. Explosions filled the air in Tel Aviv, where Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it responded to 11 impact sites.

Saturday's assault calls into question whether the Houthis will target commercial shipping in the Red Sea corridor, as they did during the Israel-Hamas war. About $1 trillion worth of goods passed through the Red Sea annually before the war. Any attacks on Red Sea shipping routes would disrupt traffic through the Suez Canal, a crucial waterway for vessels bearing oil, gas and sundry goods to the Mediterranean Sea. About 10% of global maritime trade — including 40% of container ship traffic — passes through the canal each year.

Houthi rebels attacked over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels, between November 2023 and January 2025.

The Houthis' involvement would complicate the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the aircraft carrier that sailed to Crete for repairs then to Split, Croatia, where it arrived on Saturday. Sending the carrier to the Red Sea could draw it into similar attacks as experienced by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2024 and the USS Harry S. Truman in the 2025 campaign against the Houthis.

The Houthis have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Saudi Arabia launched a war against the Houthis on behalf of Yemen’s exiled government in 2015 and the rebels had thus far stayed out of the recent conflict due to their uneasy ceasefire with Saudi Arabia.

More than two dozen U.S. troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base in the past week, according to two people who have been briefed on the matter. Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base Friday, injuring at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the sources who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The base, about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, came under attack twice earlier in the week, including a strike that wounded 14 U.S. troops, according to the people briefed on the matter. The base is run by the Royal Saudi Air Force but is also used by U.S. troops.

The latest attacks happened after Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going “very well.” He said he had given Tehran until April 6 to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it has not engaged in any negotiations.

With the economic repercussions from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait.

Pakistan said Saturday that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will send their top diplomats to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will arrive Sunday for a two-day visit to “hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive discussions” on regional hostilities and efforts aimed at end the war.

Also Saturday, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told his Turkish counterpart by phone that Iran was skeptical about recent diplomatic efforts to stop the war. Iranian state-run media reported that Araghchi accused the United States of making “unreasonable demands” and exhibiting “contradictory actions” that raised doubts about the prospect of an agreement.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has said Washington delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, with a proposal to restrict Iran’s nuclear program and reopen the strait. Tehran rejected the proposal and presented its own five-point proposal that included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the waterway.

Meanwhile, U.S. ships drew closer to the region carrying some 2,500 Marines, and at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne who are trained to land in hostile territory to secure key positions and airfields have been ordered to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops.”

Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

In Lebanon, where Israel has started an invasion in the south, officials said more than 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the war.

Meanwhile, at least 13 U.S. troops have been reported killed, while in Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.

In the Gulf states, 20 people have been killed and four others in the occupied West Bank.

The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration also said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings in Iran, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people, were damaged.

Israel focused its attacks Friday on sites “in the heart of Tehran” where ballistic missiles and other weapons are produced, the military said. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in Western Iran, while witnesses in eastern Tehran reported a partial power outage following airstrikes.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said the Shahid Khondab Heavy Water Complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd Province were targeted, IRNA reported. The strikes did not cause casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said.

Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.

The Israeli military later said raw materials are processed for enrichment at the Yazd plant and the strike was a major blow to Iran's nuclear program. Tehran vowed to retaliate.

Iran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz following a request from the United Nations. Ali Bahreini, the country’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said Iran agreed to “facilitate and expedite” such movement.

The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and nearly a third of the world’s fertilizer trade. While markets and governments have largely focused on blocked supplies of oil and natural gas, the restriction of fertilizer ingredients and trade threatens farming and food security around the world.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed.

A member of the Iranian Red Crescent Society stands at Hypercar, an auto service center, amid damages which according to the company's officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Mourners carry the coffin of Jawad Younes, 11, who was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike, as they shout slogans during a funeral procession in Saksakiyeh village, south Lebanon, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A view of the damages at Hypercar, an auto service center, which according to the company's officials were caused by strikes on March 1, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Displaced women reach out to receive an aid package distributed by a volunteer in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People donate money following a call by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to support Iran and Lebanon during the war with the U.S. and Israel, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Babylon, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Israeli first responders remove the body of a person from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

Residents look on as first responders work at the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

An Israeli first responder walks from the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, early Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)