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2nd T20I: Klaasen powers South Africa to 4-wicket win, 2-0 series lead over India

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A disciplined bowling performance followed by Heinrich Klaasen’s brilliant knock (81 off 46) led South Africa to a convincing four-wicket win over India in the second T20I and helped them take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series at the Barabati Stadium, here on Sunday.

South Africa restricted India to 148/6 in 20 overs despite Dinesh Karthik’s late flourish (30 not out off 21 balls). Besides Karthik, Shreyas Iyer (40 off 35), Ishan Kishan (34 off 21) were the main scorers as most of the Indian batters failed to deliver against Proteas bowlers and lost wickets at regular intervals.

In reply, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s magical figures of 4/13 in four overs was not enough to stop Proteas as they chased down the total with 10 balls to spare.

Defending a modest total, India needed wickets early on and Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered after he went through Hendricks’ gate in the very first over. The decision to send Dwaine Pretorius did not reap the same reward as the first game, as he was deceived by the knuckleball of the veteran fast bowler.

In the sixth over, Bhuvneshwar picked his third wicket with the nip-backer to dismiss the dangerous Rassie van der Dussen. India kept the lid on scoring even after the fielding restrictions were lifted, reducing the Proteas to just 36/3 after the Powerplay.

However, wicket-keeper batter Klaasen had other plans. The required run-rate was touching 10 an over when he decided to take the attack to India. The carnage began when he plundered Yuzvendra Chahal for a four and six and dished out similar treatment to Hardik, with two fours in his second over.

The batter smashed Axar Patel out of the attack in his very first over, accumulating 19 runs which included a six and two fours. The wicket of Temba Bavuma for 35 did nothing to slow South Africa down as Klaasen’s fireworks had brought the required rate down.

Klaasen got to his fifty off just 32 balls and finished the game off in a hurry thereafter. With 34 needed off 30, the decision to bowl Chahal backfired on India as David Miller and Klaasen smoked the wrist-spinner for three sixes.

By the time the wicketkeeper-batter was dismissed by Harshal Patel for 81, South Africa only needed five from the last three overs. Bhuvi got one more wicket to complete his four-for before Miller hit the winning runs to take the visitors home with ten balls and four wickets to spare.

Earlier, Put into bat first, India had a bad start as opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the very first over of the innings. Shreyas Iyer then joined Ishan Kishan in the middle and it was not easy for both Indian batters as Proteas pacers were bowling hard lengths on a two-paced Cuttack pitch.

India got a bit of a move on in the fourth over, with Nortje bowling a couple in Ishan Kishan’s arc and he whipped them over the legside for sixes. The left-hander continued his aggressive approach and took India to 42/1 at the end of the powerPlay.

However, in the next over, Nortje bowled a shot pitch delivery to Kishan, who was late on the pull and offered a dolly to square leg, going back to pavilion after a breezy 34 off 21.

Unlike Delhi, where Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma brought spinners in the first over, he kept spin away for 8 overs here. In the ninth over, left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was introduced and went for 14 runs after Iyer hit him for a four and a six. But, Keshav Maharaj showed smartness in the next over, bowled outside off at an onrushing Rishabh Pant (5) who mistimed his slog to the sweeper cover fielder, leaving India to 68/3 in 9.1 overs.

From there on, the onus was on Hardik Pandya and a settled Iyer to take India forward. But, Bavuma brought Wayne Parnell back into the attack and the pacer bowled a ball with the angle to knock Pandya’s stumps down.

Very soon, Iyer nicked off a Dwaine Pretorius delivery, which was caught by Klaasen behind the wickets. India still had hopes from Dinesh Karthik and Axar pair — the last recognised pair to take their team to a competitive total. But Axar (10) couldn’t do much, got out to Nortje in the last delivery of the 17th over, leaving India tottering at 112/6.

It was eventually, Kartik, who used his finishing skills well and along with Harshal Patel (12 not out) scored 30 runs in the last two overs, taking India to 148/6 in 20 overs. Anrich Nortje (2/36) was the most successful bowler for South Africa while Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj picked one wicket each.

Brief scores: India 148-6 in 20 Overs (Shreyas Iyer 40, Ishan Kishan 34; Anrich Nortje 2/36) lost to South Africa 149-6 in 18.2 Overs (Heinrich Klaasen 81, Temba Bavuma 35; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/13) by 4 wickets

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Murder of Hindu leader: India slams Bangladesh, says killing follows pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities

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New Delhi, April 19: India on Saturday issued a sharp condemnation of the abduction and brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent Hindu community leader in northern Bangladesh, calling it part of a “pattern of systematic persecution” of minorities under the country’s interim government.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal voiced India’s grave concern, stating that the incident reflects an alarming trend of targetted violence against Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh.

“We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh. This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government, even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity,” Jaiswal said in a post on social media platform X.

He added, “We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.”

India has previously expressed similar concerns over rising attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, but this latest incident has drawn particular attention due to Roy’s prominence in the Hindu community.

Roy, who served as the Vice-President of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, was abducted from his residence in Dinajpur district on Thursday evening. According to police and family accounts, he received a phone call around 4:30 p.m., after which four unidentified men arrived on motorcycles and forcibly took him to Narabari village. He was reportedly assaulted and later found unconscious. He was rushed to a hospital in Dinajpur, where he was declared dead on arrival. His wife, Shantana Roy believes the attackers used the call to confirm his location before carrying out the abduction.

Opposition leaders in India also slammed the shocking incident in the neighbouring country.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge highlighted that religious minorities, especially Hindus, are being persecuted in Bangladesh.

“Attacks on other religious minorities are also continuing. Recently, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh made a very condemnable and disappointing comment about the northeastern states of India. The persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh, human rights violations, and the attempt to erase the memories of the 1971 Liberation War are efforts to weaken the relationship between India and Bangladesh. From 1971 till today, India has always wished for peace and prosperity for all the people of Bangladesh. This is in the best interest of the subcontinent,” he said.

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Death toll from US airstrikes on Yemeni fuel port rises to 38: Houthis

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Sanaa, April 18: The death toll from US overnight airstrikes on the Yemeni fuel port of Ras Isa has increased to 38, with 102 others wounded, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported on Friday, citing Houthi-controlled local health authorities.

According to al-Masirah, the casualties include five paramedics who were killed upon arriving at the scene, when the US military launched another wave of airstrikes on the port just minutes after the first on Thursday night.

More than 14 airstrikes on the fuel port were reported during the two waves, igniting massive fires in tanks storing imported fuel. The fires were extinguished within hours, said the report.

The US Central Command said earlier in a statement that it struck and destroyed the Ras Isa port on Thursday to “eliminate this source of fuel for” and “degrade the economic source of power of” the Houthis, Xinhua news agency reported.

In mid-March, US President Donald Trump ordered “decisive and powerful military action” against the Houthis after the group announced plans to resume attacks on Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, citing Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza as the reason.

Earlier on April 17, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi had said his group had launched 26 attacks against Israel and 33 strikes on the US aircraft carrier and warships in the Red Sea since March 15.

In a televised speech aired by the group’s al-Masirah TV on Thursday, the Houthi leader said the attacks on Israel were carried out using “30 ballistic missiles and drones,” while those targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its escorts involved “122 ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones”.

However, the Israeli military has reportedly intercepted many of the Houthi projectiles before they reached targets, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US Central Command dismissed the Houthi claims of daily attacks on the US aircraft carrier as “outlandish” in a post on the social media platform X.

Meanwhile, the Houthi leader noted that the US military had conducted more than 900 airstrikes against his group’s positions across northern Yemen during the past 30 days.

Tensions between the Houthi group and the US military have escalated since Washington resumed airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 15 to deter the group from attacking Israel and US warships in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen, said their attacks aim to press US-backed Israel to stop the offensive against the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

Israel’s Channel 12 News reported last Saturday that a Yemeni drone was intercepted near the Dead Sea within the Jordanian airspace before it could reach Israel.

The Jordanian army confirmed later last week that an unidentified drone entered Jordanian airspace and crashed in the Ma’in area of Madaba governorate, near the Dead Sea, and no casualties were reported.

Even since Israel renewed its intensive strikes in March across the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have been launching frequent attacks against Israeli and US targets.

Earlier last week, the Houthi military spokesperson claimed fresh attacks against the US aircraft carrier, USS Harry S Truman, and other US warships in the northern Red Sea.

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Houthis say 123 civilians in Yemen killed in one month of US airstrikes

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Sanaa, April 15: A total of 123 civilians have been killed and 247 others injured, mostly women and children, since the US military resumed airstrikes across Yemen in mid-March, Houthi-run health authorities said in an statement.

The statement was issued following US airstrikes against a ceramic factory on the western outskirts of Yemen’s capital Sanaa late on Sunday night, which killed seven people and injured 29 others.

The health authorities’ previous statement on April 9 put the death toll from the renewed US air raids at 107 and the number of injuries at 223.

The Houthi group rarely discloses casualties among its fighters. However, the US military has repeatedly said the strikes have killed dozens of Houthi leaders, which the group has denied, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi group announced that it had shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 19th it has downed since November 2023.

“A US MQ-9 drone was shot down while carrying out hostile missions in the airspace of Hajjah province” in northwestern Yemen, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Sarea added that the drone was downed by a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile, stressing “the ongoing US aggression” has not crippled the group’s military capabilities.

The statement affirmed the group’s support for the Palestinian people, saying its operations will continue “until the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and the siege on it is lifted.”

The US resumed its air campaign against Houthi forces on March 15, stating that its strikes were aimed at deterring the group from launching attacks against Israeli and US naval assets in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, who control vast areas of northern Yemen, have been attacking Israeli targets since November 2023 to show solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

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