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IPL 2022: Williamson’s measured fifty seals 8-wicket win for Hyderabad over Gujarat

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A measured half-century by captain Kane Williamson, after their bowlers applied brakes in the last five overs, sealed Sunrisers Hyderabads eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the D.Y Patil Stadium to record their second successive win of the tournament.

After the bowlers conceded 44 runs and took three wickets in the last five overs to restrict Gujarat to 162/7, Williamson led the chase with patience and precision while making 57 off 46 balls, laced with two fours and four sixes. He found support from Abhishek Sharma (42) and Nicholas Pooran doing the finishing job with an unbeaten 34.

The chase began with Williamson beaten on the inside edge off Mohammed Shami and was struck on pads. Hardik Pandya consulted keeper Matthew Wade, but eventually didn’t go for review. But replays later showed Williamson would have been out.

Hyderabad’s slow start of 11 runs in the first four overs changed dramatically with Williamson pulling Shami for a four and six off the first two balls of the fifth over. Sharma took on Lockie Ferguson, smashing four glorious boundaries through off-side as Hyderabad took 31 runs off the last two overs of power-play.

Sharma slammed Rashid Khan for boundaries through extra cover and backward point. But the leg-spinner bounced back by breaking the 64-run opening stand as Sharma holed out to deep mid-wicket.

Williamson, who was on 27 off 31 balls till the 12th over, slammed Pandya for pulled back-to-back sixes to take 16 runs off the over. After hitting a six off Rahul Tewatia, Rahul Tripathi had to retire hurt due to muscle cramps in his leg.

But it didn’t deter Hyderabad as Williamson reached his fifty in 42 balls by moving across and using the pace of the ball off Ferguson to scoop over short fine leg. He followed it up with a crisp drive through the gap between cover and mid-off before he skied an off-cutter from Pandya to mid-on.

Ferguson’s horror night went worse as he dropped a tough chance of Nicholas Pooran off his own bowling. He was then punished by the left-handed batter for straying twice in his line, flicked through fine leg for four followed by a picked-up six over fine leg.

Pooran then went for a pull off Shami but the top-edge ‘ailed over Wade’s head for four before Aiden Markram levelled the scores with a crisp drive down the ground. Pooran finished off the chase with a majestic pull off Nalkande over backward square leg fence to end Gujarat’s clean slate in the tournament.

Earlier, Pandya’s unbeaten fifty and a quickfire 35 by Abhinav Manohar took Gujarat to a respectable total. Pandya and Manohar joined forces to stitch a stand of 50 off 32 balls for the fifth wicket while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan took two wickets each.

Kumar had an uncharacteristic opening over, leaking 17 runs, including five wides twice. But he returned in his next over to take out Shubman Gill, who mistimed an uppish drive and was snapped by Tripathi diving to his left at cover and stuck his hand out to complete a one-handed stunning catch.

Wade and Sai Sudharsan hit two boundaries each but Natarajan took out the latter, forcing him to drive off a slower delivery, easily caught by mid-off. Pandya closed the powerplay with a drive past long-off for four as power-play yielded 51/2.

Struck on the helmet by a sharp bouncer from Umran Malik, Pandya shook off the blow by slamming Malik for back-to-back fours. Malik ended the over by trapping Wade plumb lbw from around the wicket, going past the attempted flick. Soon after, David Miller fell, finding mid-wicket off Jansen.

Pandya continued to find boundaries, clobbering Markram over deep mid-wicket followed by timing his flick well past mid-on off Malik. He got support from Manohar, who fetched three boundaries off the outside edge while slamming a six over cow corner and collecting two fours through off-side.

Manohar had luck on his side, being dropped at 21, 32, 33 before running out of luck when he holed out to long-off off Kumar. Natarajan provided an excellent finish by taking out Tewatia and Khan in quick succession. In between the two dismissals, Pandya brought up his fifty to take Gujarat to a respectable total, which wasn’t enough to avoid their first loss in IPL 2022.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 162/7 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 50 not out, Abhinav Manohar 35; T Natarajan 2/34, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/37) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (Kane Williamson 57, Abhishek Sharma 42; Hardik Pandya 1/27, Rashid Khan 1/28)

International

UNSC asks all countries to cooperate in bringing Pahalgam terrorists, backers to justice

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United Nations, April 26: The Security Council has “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pahalgam terrorist attack and urged all countries to cooperate in bringing all those involved in the massacre, to justice.

The members of the Security Council “stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard”, Council President Jerome Bonnafont said in a Press statement on Friday.

A front organisation of the Pakistan-based terrorist group Laskhar-e-Tayiba has owned responsibility for the attack.

The statement issued by France’s Permanent Representative Bonnafont who is the Council president for this month, took a broad view of those involved in the massacre by including the financiers and sponsors.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”, the statement said.

Pakistan, which is on the Council as an elected member, went along with the other members in endorsing the statement, committing itself – at least on paper – to bringing those involved to justice.

A Press statement expresses the consensus of the Council and carries moral authority, while not being legally binding like a resolution.

The statement also shot down the attempts by some in Pakistan to give terrorist attacks a veneer of justification.

“The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed”, it said.

The Council members “reaffirmed the need for all States to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”, the statement added.

Earlier, the spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hinted that a diplomatic effort by him may be afoot.

Asked by a reporter, if Guterres would speak to leaders of India and Pakistan, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that he hoped to have something to share on that later.

Reiterating the condemnation of the terrorist attacks, Dujarric said, “We again urge both the Government of India and the Government of Pakistan to exercise maximum restraint to ensure the situation does not deteriorate further.”

When a reporter asserted that the possibility that “two nuclear countries” might “go to war” was getting insufficient attention, Dujarric said, “I don’t agree with your comment. We are paying very close attention to the situation between India and Pakistan.”

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Wagah-Attari border closure leaves several families in limbo

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Islamabad, April 25: Pakistan and India’s decision to shut down the Wagah-Attari border crossing after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack has forced several citizens from both countries to cut short their visit and rush back home.

On Thursday, after both countries announced closure of border crossing and gave a deadline for citizens to leave for their respective countries, at least 28 Pakistanis nationals returned from India while 105 Indian citizens in Pakistan crossed over into India.

A Hindu family from Balochistan’s Sibi was reportedly denied entry into India after the closure of border crossing.

“We were on our way to Indore in Madhya Pradesh to attend a wedding. Seven members of our family were excited to join our relatives in India and take part in the celebrations. But upon reaching Wagah, we learned that the border had been sealed. We will spend the night at Dera Sahib in Lahore and head back home tomorrow,” said Akshay Kumar.

Meanwhile, a Sikh family from India, in Pakistan to attend a wedding, decided to leave for India immediately.

“We had come to Pakistan for a wedding. While the ceremony took place, several important rituals remained. Once we heard the border was closed, we decided to return immediately,” said Raminder Singh, an Indian national.

A Hindu family from Ghotki in Pakistan’s Sindh province, now residing in New Delhi, was visiting Pakistan for the last two months to meet their relatives. However, they are now unsure about getting permission to return to India.

“There are five of us, including my young son and daughter, uncle and aunt. We all hold Pakistani passports and were granted No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) certificate by India. But uncertainty looms now, said a family member named Indira.

“Families with cross-border ties often bear the brunt of rising tensions between the two neighbours. With tensions between Pakistan and India once again on the rise, human connections across borders are becoming the first casualty,” said Asif Memood, a Lahore-based journalist.

“The closure of the Wagah-Attari border has left many families in limbo, uncertain when they will next reunite with their loved ones,” he added.

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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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