Another IPL top-order failure for Chennai in 8-wicket defeat to Gujarat. Lucknow hosts Kolkata

CHENNAI, India (AP) — Sai Sudharsan continued his fine form with 87 runs off 46 balls as Gujarat Titans strolled to an eight-wicket win over host Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

Sudharsan, who scored a hundred in the previous game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, hit seven sixes and four fours as Gujarat finished its successful chase on 162-2 in 16.4 overs in reply to Chennai’s 158-7.

Apart from undefeated opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (74 not out off 60 balls), it was another top-order failure for Chennai, which was put in to bat and reduced to 37-4 in 8.2 overs. Despite Gaikwad’s resistance, the hosts were unable to recover. Kagiso Rabada picked up 3-25 in four overs for Gujarat.

Gujarat moved to fifth in the standings with its fourth win in eight games. It was a fifth loss for Chennai in eight games as it slipped to sixth with six points.

In Sunday’s evening game, Lucknow Super Giants hosts Kolkata Knight Riders in a bottom-of-the-table clash. Lucknow won the toss and opted to bowl.

Rabada struck first when Chennai in-form batter Sanju Samson was caught behind for 11 in the fourth over. Urvil Patel was caught for four three balls later.

Sarfaraz Khan fell to Mohammed Siraj for a golden duck, with left-arm spinner Manav Suthar claiming Dewald Brevis for two. Chennai’s powerplay yielded only 28-3.

Gaikwad fought his own poor form to reach a sedate 50 off 49 balls, but he was not able to gain any scoring momentum. Shivam Dube’s 22 and Karthik Sharma’s 15 helped push the score past 150.

Gujarat’s top order made short work of the chase. Shubman Gill scored 33, putting on 58 for the opening wicket with Sudharsan, who hit 50 off 33 balls.

Jos Buttler contributed 39 not out, adding 97 off 60 balls with Sudharsan, as the Titans polished off the easy win with 20 balls to spare.

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

Chennai Super Kings' captain Ruturaj Gaikwad bats during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

Gujarat Titans' Kagiso Rabada gestures in the field during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in Chennai, India, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican senator who had effectively blocked confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve said Sunday he was dropping his opposition after the Department of Justice ended its investigation of the current central bank chair.

The announcement by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina removes a big hurdle to Trump's effort to install Kevin Warsh, a former high-ranking Fed official, in the job in place of Jerome Powell, long under White House pressure to lower interest rates. Tillis' opposition was enough to stall the nomination in the GOP-controlled Senate Banking Committee as Powell neared the scheduled end of his term on May 15.

“I am prepared to move on with the confirmation of Mr. Warsh. I think he’s going to be a great Fed chair,” Tillis told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” two days after the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia said her office’s investigation of the Fed’s multibillion-dollar building renovations was over. Powell's brief congressional testimony last summer about that work was also under review.

The Fed's internal watchdog is scrutinizing a project, now at $2.5 billion after earlier estimates had put it at $1.9 billion, that the Republican president has criticized for cost overruns. Powell had asked in July for the inspector general's review.

“I believe that there will not be any wrongdoing. May we find a little stupid here in terms of somebody responsible for the project making a decision they shouldn't? Maybe. But it doesn’t rise to a criminal prosecution. That was my problem to begin with because I feel like there were prosecutors in D.C. that thought this was going to be a lever to have Mr. Powell leave early," he said.

Tillis, who infuriated Trump in June for opposing his big tax and spending cuts bill over Medicaid reductions and then announced he would not seek reelection in 2026, added that he had received assurances from the Justice Department that “the case is completely and fully settled … and that the only way an investigation would be opened would be a criminal referral from one of the most respect inspector generals.”

The committee on Saturday said it planned to vote Wednesday on Warsh's nomination. The ranking Democrat, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, responded with a statement that "no Republican claiming to care about Fed independence should support moving forward the nomination of Kevin Warsh, who proved in his nomination hearing to be nothing more than President Trump’s sock puppet.”

At a hearing last week, Warsh told senators he never promised the White House that he would cut interest rates and pledged to be “an independent actor” if confirmed as chair. Hours before that, Trump had been asked in a CNBC interview whether he would be disappointed if Warsh did not immediately cut rates. “I would,” the president said.

Without the constraints of a political campaign, Tillis has spoken out forcefully about Powell, decrying the inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a longtime Trump ally, as a “vindictive prosecution” and suggested it threatened the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics. Tillis told NBC that he had gotten assurances from the Justice Department that he needed "to feel like they were not using DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed. So this will allow Mr. Warsh to move on with his confirmation.”

On Saturday, Trump was asked by reporters whether there was now smooth sailing for Warsh with the end of the Justice Department's investigation. “I imagine it's smooth,” Trump said, adding that his nominee “is going to be fantastic.” The president said he still wanted to find out “how can a building of that size cost ... whatever it’s going to be.”

Trump visited the Fed building in July and, in front of television cameras, said the renovations would run $3.1 billion. Powell, standing next to him, said after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, that the president's latest price tag was incorrect.

The investigation was among several undertaken by the Justice Department into Trump’s perceived adversaries. For months it had failed to gain traction as prosecutors struggled to articulate a basis to suspect criminal conduct. Other efforts by the department to prosecute Trump’s adversaries, including New York state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, and former FBI Director James Comey, have also been unsuccessful.

Last month, a federal judge quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Fed in the investigation, describing their purpose as “to harass and pressure Powell to resign” and open the path for a new chair. A prosecutor handling the Powell case had acknowledged at a closed-door court hearing that the government had not found any evidence of a crime.

Pirro said Friday on X that she “will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, told NBC on Sunday that ”there is no doubt that we will investigate" if the inspector general finds evidence of criminal conduct.

Trump appointed Powell as chair in 2017 during his first administration and has for years attempted to pressure the central bank to cut short-term interest rate.

Even after a new Fed chair is in place, Powell could elect to stay on the board to finish his term as a Fed governor, which lasts until January 2028. He has told reporters he had not yet decided whether to do so.

Warsh is a financier and former member of the Fed’s board of governors. Trump nominated him January.

FILE - President Donald Trump listens to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speak during a visit to the Federal Reserve, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks during the confirmation hearing of Kevin Warsh, nominee for Federal Reserve chair, on Capitol Hill, in Washington Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Kevin Warsh testifies during his nomination hearing to be a member and chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FILE - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses students at Harvard University, March 30, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks during the confirmation hearing of Kevin Warsh, nominee for Federal Reserve chair, on Capitol Hill, in Washington Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)