East Bengal’s Relentless Rise: Perfect Run in Kanyashree Cup, Leading…

Two days ago, in a high-voltage clash at the East Bengal ground, the reserve side of East Bengal Women took on UKSC Women in the Kanyashree Cup 2025-26. Both sides had a lot at stake as the group champions’ spot was on the line.

The Red and Gold Brigade did not disappoint and won the game comfortably 2–0. Astam Oraon opened the scoring and Ashalata Devi scored the winner from the penalty spot. This result meant East Bengal women’s reserves maintained their perfect run in the competition; six wins in six games in the group stage. They have been crowned Group Champions with 18 points as they continue to reign over the Indian football circuit. cricket-info.homes

But what happened after the final whistle added another intriguing twist to the tale.

As the celebrations from the reserves’ victory slowly settled, it didn’t take much time for East Bengal head coach, Anthony Andrews, to move on. He called his senior players who were watching the match from the stands and he quickly started preparing for the second phase of the Indian Women’s League (IWL), which is slated to kick off on April 27.

In a rare sight in Indian football, the training session started almost without a hitch following a competitive fixture that had just ended. For over an hour, the senior squad went through an intense routine under Andrews’ watchful eyes, reflecting a level of commitment and urgency that underlines the club’s ambitions in women’s football.

It is not easy to manage two squads at the same time with one playing in the Kanyashree Cup and the other preparing for the IWL. But Andrews appears to be tackling the challenge with great efficiency. His presence on the touchline for the reserves’ game, and then hands-on work with the first team in training, points to a unified philosophy being instilled across the club.

Andrews’ achievements at East Bengal are a testament to this dedication and hard work. Last season, he took the team to a historic treble—winning the IWL and the Kanyashree Cup before going on to lift the inaugural SAFF Women’s Club Championship. The side also proved its mettle in the AFC Women’s Club Championship (AWCL), which is widely regarded as the hardest stage in Asian women’s club football.

East Bengal have already set a benchmark and will now look to emulate that this season. They will continue their campaign in the second phase of the IWL on April 27 against local rivals Sreebhumi FC.

Defending champions, East Bengal Women, are on top of the table after the results of Phase 1. They have played 6 games winning all 18 points with a goal difference of plus 24 which is superior to Sethu FC (2nd) and Nita FA (3rd) at 16 and 13 points respectively.

The tournament’s second leg will be played at two venues, the National Centre of Excellence (NCE Ground) and East Bengal Ground. The timings of the games have also been finalised at 3:00 PM and 7:30 PM, with evening games being played under floodlights.

All eight teams face each other in a total of 29 matches to be played between April 27 and May 18.

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Abhishek Sharma delivered a breathtaking exhibition of power-hitting, smashing an unbeaten 135 off just 68 balls to propel Sunrisers Hyderabad to a resounding 48-run victory over the Delhi Capitals. Racing to his century in just 47 deliveries, the swashbuckling left-hand batter became the first Indian cricketer to score multiple IPL hundreds in under 50 balls, anchoring SRH’s massive total of 242 for 2.

The spectacular innings, peppered with 10 towering sixes, marked the second time Abhishek has hit double-digit maximums in an IPL match—a feat previously achieved multiple times only by Chris Gayle. With this knock, the 25-year-old drew level with Virat Kohli at nine T20 centuries, further cementing his reputation as one of the format’s most explosive batters with over 350 career sixes.

Delhi Capitals, however, will rue their missed opportunities. Abhishek survived a crucial run-out chance on 49 when KL Rahul failed to convert, a moment that proved catastrophic for the visitors. Reflecting on the onslaught, DC Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao, in the post-match press conference, highlighted the cost of those errors. “A kind of caliber he has, he’s shown in the last couple of years what he has done. When he gives us the opportunity, we need to take it,” Rao stated. “Post 50 runs he gave one run out, gave a chance, we missed it… We paid the price.”

For SRH, Abhishek’s sheer dominance at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium is a familiar sight. Bowling coach Varun Aaron praised the opener’s mindset and evolution since the World Cup. “When he comes to Hyderabad… it’s his safe space, he’s done so well here over the years,” Aaron explained. “He has that confidence that he’s the man and he takes the game forward. He wants to be the one.”

Abhishek credited his success to adaptability and the unwavering support of the SRH management. Realising the pitch was slow, he and Travis Head recalibrated their approach. “I just wanted to utilize the powerplay… but you have to have the backing from the captain and the coach,” Abhishek said during the post-match presentation. “That environment we had in the Sunrisers… was a game-changer.”

Dedicating his signature ‘L’ celebration to the passionate Hyderabad crowd, Abhishek also shared a heartwarming detail about playing in front of his family. “Since U12 days, my dad’s been sitting next to the screen… and whenever I’m on the non-striker end, he always tells me how to play,” he added.

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Mumbai Indians bowling hero in their 99-run win over Gujarat Titans, Ashwani Kumar (4-0-24-4), attributed his success on the night came from adjusting to the pitch conditions. “We had studied the batters beforehand, but once we got on the field, we realised we had to adapt to what the pitch demanded. Success came from adjusting to the conditions,” he said.

“Once I went in there, I saw that bowling hard lengths and back-of-a-length deliveries was working, so I kept backing that plan,” Ashwani explained.

Former Australia captain Allan Border arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday as part of his ongoing India tour on the special invitation of Sunil Gavaskar. As reported by mid-day in its April 10 edition, former Indian captain Gavaskar has invited his friend and ex-rival Border to watch the Indian Premier League, and has even planned his itinerary.

Border, 70, who is here with his son, Dene, watched Sunday’s IPL clash between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Eden Gardens and got nostalgic, having returned to the venue for the first time since leading Australia to their maiden World Cup title in 1987. “I should have come to the Eden Gardens much earlier. A good 39 years have gone by since we won that World Cup but memories of that final game are still fresh,” Border told mid-day on Tuesday.

RR’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Pic/IPL

Memories of ’87 World Cup

The Aussies, who batted first and scored 253-5, beat England (246-8) by seven runs. In the 31st over of the chase, while England were cruising at 135-2, Gatting, who was batting well on 41, attempted a reverse sweep, but ended up giving a catch to wicketkeeper Greg Dyer. “Mike Gatting’s reverse sweep cost England that match. They were cruising nicely till the reverse sweep happened. Gatting and I are still good friends, but sometimes I do tease him by mentioning that reverse sweep,” said Border, who collected 11,174 runs from 156 Tests at an impressive average of 50.56.

Also Read: Legendary Team India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar extends invitation to Allan Border to witness IPL 2026 action live

Speaking of the IPL, Border couldn’t stop praising RR’s teen prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 15, who hammered a 28-ball 46 (6x4s, 2x6s) against KKR. “I think Vaibhav’s one hell of a player, a great talent. I have never have seen any batter at the age of 14 or 15, hitting a cricket ball with so much of power. Of course, I can’t predict at this moment if he will go on to become a very successful Test cricketer or no, but I can clearly see glimpses of [West Indies great] Brian Lara in him. He has a long way to go, but he sure can hit that ball across all parts of the ground,” said Border, who played 273 ODIs, scoring 6524 runs at 30.62.

Border’s advice to Vaibhav

A stylish left-hander himself, Border however, had some words of advice for his fellow southpaw Sooryavanshi. “Vaibhav must now learn how to tighten his defence,” concluded Border, who will be catching the Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK) game at Wankhede on Thursday.

The hero of Mumbai Indians’s 99-run win over Gujarat Titans on Monday, Tilak Varma, who smashed a blistering 45-ball 101 not out, is confident the team can be unstoppable from here on if they execute their plans well.

MI, who had lost four matches in a row before this win, climbed to seventh in the points table.

“I’m grateful that it worked out. But we shouldn’t look too far ahead and should take one match at a time. Every game is like a knockout for us now. We know what we are capable of, having several World Cup winners in the side, experienced players, and the skills we possess. If we execute well, we can be unstoppable. It’s important to keep our heads down and continue working hard,” Varma said after the win.

Matthew Hayden. Pic/IPL

The opposition’s batting coach, Matthew Hayden, could not stop showering hosannas on Varma for his whirlwind century. “Credit has to go to Tilak Varma, who put in a wonderful performance from the position that MI were in,” Hayden said during the post-match media interaction at the Narendra Modi Cricket
Stadium on Monday night.

“Huge performance. It wasn’t just a one-dimensional performance. It wasn’t a cookie cutter-type performance. It was a dominant performance,” the former Australia opener said.

Hayden reckoned that Tilak’s superior ability to read the conditions swung the match in MI’s favour. “He read the play nicely. He was able to pick up and play with power and precision. Mumbai Indians, we all know are a dangerous side. We know they’re notorious starters. We know they’ve got magic within that ocean that surrounds their ground there in Mumbai,” The Aussie philosophically said in praise of the MI team.

“As an opposition side, we knew that, and we definitely blinked. And when you blink against a world-class player like Tilak, even on a wicket that’s kind of spicy, that is our downfall. We couldn’t really retract the negative momentum that was going our way,” he said.

45
No. of balls taken by Tilak Varma to reach his century against GT — the joint-fastest for MI with Sanath Jayasuriya

82
No. of runs scored by Tilak Varma in last six overs on Monday — the most by any batter in an IPL match

One
No. of wins for MI against GT at Ahmedabad in five games

251
The difference between Tilak Varma’s strike-rate in his first 20 balls and the remainder of his innings — the highest for any batter in an IPL innings