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2nd Test: Joe Root, Dan Lawrence put dominant England on top in Barbados

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Skipper Joe Root scored the 25th century of his Test career and Dan Lawrence contributed 91 as England controlled the opening day of the second Test against West Indies here.

With the series all-square after a draw in Antigua, England moved into a strong first-innings position at the Kensington Oval thanks to a Root hundred and a fine half-century from Lawrence.

A wicket in the final over of the day saw Lawrence (91) miss out on the chance to bring up his first Test century, but Root will resume unbeaten on 119 with England on 244/3 at the close.

Ben Stokes will join Root at the crease for the start of Day Two, with England on 244 and with seven wickets remaining.

Earlier, the opening day of the Barbados Test started on a disappointing note for the tourists, with captain Root being forced to name a late change to the starting XI, with an unwell Craig Overton replaced by Matthew Fisher for a Test debut.

Fishe’s introduction meant that England are fielding two debutants in their seam attack, with Saqib Mahmood having already been confirmed as the replacement for an injured Mark Wood. But a green England seam attack were given time to put their feet up in the dressing room when Root won the toss and opted to bat first on what appears to be a benign surface in Bridgetown, said a report on the ICC website.

England’s troubles continued in the first session as Jayden Seales struck early to give the hosts a strong start in front of a packed and largely England-supporting crowd, removing Zak Crawley for a seven-ball duck.

But a patient partnership between Alex Lees and Root saw England through to 47/1 at lunch, with the scoring rate at well under two-an-over after the morning session. Root cruised through the gears after the inte’val, but Lees’ obstinate knock came to an end the ball after his captain had reached 50, with the Durham opener trapped in-front by spinner Veerasammy Permaul for a 138-ball 30.

New batter Lawrence had shown attacking flair and a selfless attitude in his second-innings cameo in Antigua, and showed similar positive intent right from the off in Barbados, stroking two fours to quickly reach double figures.

A fluent partnership developed between Root and the prodigious 24-year-old to take England to 136/2 by tea.

The rate of scoring increased markedly immediately after the tea break, with the pair racing towards their respective milestones and reaching them in consecutive deliveries. Lawrence brought up his fourth 50 in Test cricket with a pull around the corner for a single off the first ball of a Seales over, with the half-century coming off just 62 balls. And Root latched onto a bumper next up to flick away a single of his own to bring up his second century of the series and the 25th of his career.

The partnership blossomed from there as England built on the platform that Lees and Root had set in the morning session, and the English made hay.

Lawrence was given a reprieve when a takeable chance was put down by Alzarri Joseph off a frustrated Seales, with the drop not improving the mood of a tiring West Indian bowling attack. And a five-over burst with the new ball didn’t look like being enough to unsettle the England duo, as an increasingly well-oiled and boisterous traveling fanbase serenaded the pair in the middle.

But Lawrence, who had crunched back-to-back fours during the final over from Jason Holder, fell to the penultimate ball of the day for a career-best Test score of 91, finishing agonisingly short of his first Test century.

England are looking forward to continuing their domination on Day Two and put up a big total so that they don’t have to bat again in this Test.

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Saif Ali Khan case: Mumbai Police find clues from crime scene

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Mumbai, Jan 22: The Mumbai Police have recovered a piece of cloth from actor Safi Ali Khan’s apartment which belongs to accused Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, the Bangladeshi national arrested in the attack case.

Sources said the Bandra police recovered cloth from Khan’s house, which the accused used to cover his face. The cloth fell from his face in Saif’s son Jahangir’s room during the scuffle.

The cloth can be seen in the CCTV footage when Shehzad is climbing up the stairs before committing the crime. The police have sent the cloth and hair samples for DNA testing to the forensic department.

Earlier, the officials said that Shehzad had entered the actor’s building, Satguru Sharan, in the Bandra area by scaling its compound wall and found the security guards sleeping.

Sources said that both the security guards in the building were sleeping when the attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.

The sources further said that as Shehzad found both the security guards sleeping, he entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera exists. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise. He also switched off his phone.

The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the building. Police took the accused wherever he went after fleeing from Saif Ali Khan’s house. Shehzad was taken to the garden near the Satguru Sharan building and then to the National College Bus Stop where he was said to have stopped and stayed for a while after committing the crime. During the probe, the police took Shehzad to the Bandra Railway Station from where he had fled. Police are trying to find out how he reached the station.

The police were trying to record the chain of events starting from Shehzad’s entry to the building to his fleeing before being arrested.

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times by Shehzad inside his apartment in the early hours of January 16. The actor underwent emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged on Tuesday. Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.

A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.

Shehzad, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh was residing in Mumbai for over five months. He had been working odd jobs and was associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.

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Saif Ali Khan discharged from hospital after recovering from knife attack

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Mumbai, Jan 21: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who suffered an injury following a knife attack at his house, has now been discharged from the hospital after he underwent the medical procedures, and made a recovery.

Earlier, in the day, the actor’s wife Kareena Kapoor Khan was seen arriving at the Lilavati Hospital in the Bandra area of Mumbai prior to the discharge presumably to execute the discharge process and sign off the documents. She left hospital in few hours after completing the process, and was seen in a tense mood while talking on her phone inside her car. Saif was accompanied by his wife Kareena.

Earlier, a document pertaining to the insurance claim made by the actor went viral. It showed an initial requested amount of Rs 35, 98, 700 against an approved amount of Rs 250, 00, 000.

The document stated that the actor suffered an injury to an unspecified region. However, it should be noted that the document has not been verified by the hospital authorities, and has been doing rounds on social media.

Saif was reportedly attacked by an assailant who barged into his Bandra house through his youngest son, Jeh’s room during the wee hours of Thursday.

As per media reports, doctors removed the 2.5 inches of knife from his wound. The actor, who underwent a surgery, has now been shifted to the ICU and is said to be out of danger.

The actor was stabbed multiple times in an attempt to fight off a burglar during the wee hours of Thursday. The actor sustained six stab wounds, two of which are said to be serious as they are closer to his spine. The incident took place at 2:15 am when the burglar allegedly barged into their Bandra home, and attacked their house help and then Saif when he intervened.

Saif was woken up by the commotion in his son Jeh’s room. He went inside the room to see the culprit arguing with their house help, looking at this, Saif intervened to save the house help with bare hands to fight off the intruder.

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Ekta remembers late Sushant Singh Rajput: Happy birthday, wherever you are

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Mumbai, Jan 21: On his 39th birth anniversary on Tuesday, TV Czarina remembered late star Sushant Singh Rajput and paid a tribute to him by sharing some moments from his popular show “Pavitra Rishta”.

Ekta took to Instagram, where she shared a video featuring Sushant and actress Ankita Lokhande. It had several moments from their show, which aired from 2009 to October 2014. It was an adaptation of Tamil television series Thirumathi Selvam.

“Nostalgia emotions n memories come in waves and maybe today is one such day…… happy birthday, where ever you are shine, smile, remember you r loved!” Ekta wrote as the caption.

The show revolved around Sushant’s character Manav, who was a garage owner. He is smitten by Archana, a homely and hardworking girl belonging to a middle-class family. After Archana marries Manav, their happiness gets dampened by the crises in his family.

Sushant stepped into the world of acting with the show “Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil”. He made his big screen debut with “Kai Po Che!”. He was then seen in a slew of commercial cinema such as Shuddh Desi Romance, “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story”, “Kedarnath” and “Chhichhore”.

Rajput began his acting career after dropping out of his engineering course at the Delhi College of Engineering and entering the theatre industry in Mumbai. After Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil, Sushant starred in Pavitra Rishta.

He died by suicide at his home in Bandra, Mumbai, in June 2020, aged 34. Several controversies surrounded his death. The Narcotics Control Bureau claimed Rajput had been using various people to obtain drugs since 2018 and filed abetment charges against them.

His last film, Dil Bechara, was released posthumously in 2020 on the streaming platform Hotstar. It was a coming-of-age tragedy romance film directed by Mukesh Chhabra. The film was based on John Green’s 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars.

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