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)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health officials want you to think twice before buying one of those brightly colored little bottles often sold at gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops.

Sometimes called “gas station heroin,” the products are usually marketed as energy shots or cognitive supplements but actually contain tianeptine, an unapproved drug that can be addictive and carries risks of serious side effects.

U.S. poison control centers have reported a steady rise in calls linked to the drug for more than a decade. And last month the Food and Drug Administration sent a warning to health professionals about “the magnitude of the underlying danger or these products.”

Here’s what to know about gas station heroin.

Tianeptine is approved in a number foreign countries as an antidepressant, usually as a low-dose pill taken three times a day. But it has never been approved by the FDA for any medical condition in the U.S.

Additionally, the drug cannot legally be added to foods and beverages or sold as a dietary supplement — something the FDA has repeatedly warned U.S. companies about.

Still, under-the-radar firms sell tianeptine in various formulas, often with brand names like Zaza, Tianaa, Pegasus and TD Red. Although that is technically illegal, the FDA does not preapprove ingredients added to supplements and beverages.

“It’s kind of this grey area of consumer products, or supplements, where the contents are not regulated or tested the way they would be with a medication,” said Dr. Diane Calello of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System.

Last year, Calello and her colleagues published a study documenting a cluster of emergency calls in New Jersey tied to a flavored elixir called Neptune’s Fix. People experienced distress, rapid heartbeat, low blood pressure and seizures after drinking it. More than a dozen of the 20 patients had to be admitted for intensive care.

Many tianeptine products claim— without evidence or FDA approval— to help users treat medical conditions, including addiction, pain and depression.

In 2018, the FDA issued a warning letter to the maker of a product called Tianna, which claimed to provide “an unparalleled solution to cravings for opiates.”

While tianeptine is not an opioid, the drug binds to some of the same receptors in the brain, which can temporarily produce effects akin to oxycodone and other opioids. Tianeptine also carries some of the same physiological risks of opioids, including the potential to dangerously depress breathing.

“That’s what tends to get people into trouble,” said Dr. Hannah Hays of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “They use it for opioid-like effects or to self-treat opioid withdrawal and that can lead to slow breathing and problems like that."

People dealing with opioid addiction, pain, depression, anxiety and other conditions should see a health professional to get a prescription for FDA-approved treatments, Hays said.

Experts aren’t sure but national figures show a big rise in emergency calls involving the drug.

Calls to poison control centers increased 525% between 2018 and 2023, according to a data analysis published earlier this year. In about 40% of cases, the person had to seek medical care, with more than half of them needing critical care.

One explanation for the rise in calls is simply that more Americans are using the products.

But experts also say that the products are triggering more emergencies as they become more potent and dangerous. And the researchers in New Jersey who analyzed Neptune’s Fix found that the liquid also contained synthetic cannabis and other drugs.

“You never quite know what’s in that bottle," Calello said. “It’s important for people to know that even if they have used a product before, they could get a bottle that contains something very different from what they’re looking for.”

Tianeptine is not included in the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bans or restricts drugs that have no medical use or have a high potential for abuse, such as heroin, LSD and PCP. But about a dozen states have passed laws prohibiting or restricting tianeptine, including Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Tennessee.

In some cases, those laws have led to more cases of withdrawal among users of tianeptine, which can be chemically addictive. But state data also shows some success in reducing harm tied to the drug.

Until recently, Alabama had the highest rate of tianeptine-related calls in the southern U.S., which increased more than 1,400% between 2018 to 2021. But after the state restricted tianeptine in 2021 calls began modestly decreasing while calls across other southern states continued to climb.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This photo provided by the FDA in January 2024 shows a bottle of TD Red Extra Strength, a product labeled to contain tianeptine. (FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch via AP)

This photo provided by the FDA in January 2024 shows capsules of White Magic, a product labeled to contain tianeptine. (FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch via AP)

This photo provided by the FDA in January 2024 shows capsules of Purple Magic, a product labeled to contain tianeptine. (FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch via AP)

This photo provided by the FDA in January 2024 shows a the ingredient list of TA TA, a product labeled to contain tianeptine. (FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch via AP)

This photo provided by the FDA in January 2024 shows bottles of Neptunes Fix Elixir, a product labeled to contain tianeptine. (FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs, Health Fraud Branch via AP)