IPL to begin on March 22 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens

NEW DELHI: Kolkata’s Eden Gardens will host the Indian Premier League (IPL) final on May 25 as well as the opening game between the defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, India’s cricket board said on Sunday.

Kolkata has staged the IPL final twice before in 2013 and 2015.

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The tournament begins on March 22 with 10 teams playing 74 games across 13 venues. There will also be 13 double headers with the afternoon game at 1530 local time (1000 GMT) and the late game from 1930 IST (1400 GMT).

Three IPL teams will play at two venues each, with Delhi Capitals also playing home games in Visakhapatnam, Rajasthan Royals playing in Guwahati and Punjab Kings in Dharamsala.

Earlier in the day, Mujeeb Ur Rahman replaced fellow Afghan spinner Allah Ghazanfar in the Mumbai Indians roster after Ghazanfar was ruled out with a spinal fracture, the IPL franchise said.

Uganda’s Kiplimo smashes half marathon world record

Meanwhile, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo broke the world half marathon record with a time of 56 minutes and 41 seconds in Barcelona on Sunday, 49 seconds faster than the previous mark set by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in October.

Twice world cross country champion Kiplimo’s run was the greatest single improvement on the men’s half marathon record, World Athletics said on its website.

“It has been the perfect race. Ideal temperature, no wind at all, fantastic circuit – everything went better than expected,” Kiplimo said.

“I found myself full of energy and decided to inject a brisker rhythm from the third kilometre, but I never imagined to perform under the 57-minute barrier, that’s astonishing.

“I won’t compete any more until my marathon debut in London on April 27.”

Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi broke the men’s 20 km race walk world record earlier on Sunday, clocking one hour, 16 minutes and 10 seconds in Kobe to beat the mark set by his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki in 2015.