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How Gujarat Titans choked Chennai Super Kings run flow in the slog overs

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 Chennai Super Kings were cruising along at 109 for 2 after 15 overs in the game against Gujarat Titans, and looking to unleash their batting might in the slog over at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. But just then the Hardik Pandya-led side applied the skids on Mahandra Singh Dhoni’s side, choking them and restricting the four-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions to just 133 runs.

Even though CSK are out of reckoning for a playoffs berth, they were looking to make a match out of it by scoring at a fast clip and set a target in the vicinity of 165-170. But meticulous bowling plans and clinical execution — with GT bowlers not conceding a single boundary in the last five overs — resulted in CSK returning another poor score.

With Ruturaj Gaikwad batting on 51 (45 balls), and Dhoni and Shivam Dube waiting to bat, it caught the CSK fans by surprise that their team couldn’t hit a single boundary in the last five overs, with only 24 runs scored and three wickets lost.

Call it the death-overs master-class by the newbies or their perfect execution, it rendered CSK batters toothless on Sunday.

“Our bowling plans have been really specific,” said Gary Kirsten, Gujarat Titans’ batting coach-cum-mentor.

“Ashish (Nehra), I think, has done a great job in making sure he’s put together a really strong bowling unit, with good experience in it. But also Yash Dayal is an incredibly talented young player, and I think to have a left-armer in your bowling attack that can bowl across the 20 overs, is really, really important,” opined the former South African opener, who was also in contention for the England Test coaching job before the role went to KKR head coach Brendon McCullum.

“So this was a great opportunity for us to use him (Dayal) in the 19th over, where there is a little bit of pressure. He’s done it before for us in the tournament. It was a long boundary on one side of the field so he could take advantage of that. And he bowled a great over, went for eight. So that’s real confidence for him.”

It was then left to India pace bowling stalwart Mohd Shami to finish things off. He had already started brilliantly in powerplay, and needed to ensure there was no last-over surge by CSK. And he did the job to perfection.

The only blemish in Gujarat’s bowling on Sunday was when spinner Rashid Khan came in to bowl the final powerplay over and was clouted for two sixes. But despite the 17-run over, skipper Pandya didn’t lose faith in his slow bowler, who bowled two out of the last five overs — the 16th and 18th. He conceded a total of seven runs in those two overs and also took a wicket, while West Indian pacer Alzarri Joseph was brought in to bowl the 17th over. Joseph bounced out Shivam Dube, and allowed only two scoring shots, for a single and a two.

International

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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International

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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Maharashtra

ICC, BCCI, ECB and CA to bankroll plan to support Afghan women cricketers: Report

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Mumbai, April 16: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) plans to support the exiled female cricketers from Afghanistan will be bankrolled via contributions by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Cricket Australia (CA), a report claimed on Wednesday.

The initiative to assist Afghanistan’s displaced women cricketers, which will include coaching and mentorship, “will be constituted through a dedicated fund,” and it will be fully funded by the ICC and the three boards.

An ICC spokesperson confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the fund will not include any contribution from the Afghanistan Cricket Board. The ACB will continue to receive its full amount from the ICC.

The ICC has recently announced that it will put in place a plan to support women cricketers exiled from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the country and banned the participation of females in sports and disbanded the teams.

“Last year, the prospect of ring-fencing an amount for women’s cricket from the ACB’s portion of the ICC’s revenue distributions was discussed but that plan did not come to fruition. The ACB is the only Full Member board that does not field a women’s team, and is not able to because of the severe restrictions on women’s rights after the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021,” the report claimed.

The report also said, the ICC’s latest plan to engage with Afghanistan’s female cricketers neither amounts to official recognition nor does it clear the path for Afghanistan to field a women’s team, as such a team can only be ratified by the ACB. Instead, the ICC hopes to work with Afghanistan’s female cricketers to provide them with both access to the game and funding for further education.

“The ICC does not select a team for Afghanistan. Rather, we are committed to addressing the complexities of the issue and finding a solution that fits within the ICC’s legal and constitutional framework,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report.

The report also confirmed that the ICC’s initiative will not be limited to the 19 Afghan cricketers resident in Australia but, “the plan is to include all displaced Afghan women cricketers regardless of their location.”

The ICC has so far not clarified on what will the Afghanistan women cricketers in exile do after getting coaching and mentorship from this fund.

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