International
SA v IND, 2nd Test: Thakur, Vihari help India set 240 as target for South Africa

Crucial cameos from Shardul Thakur (28) and Hanuma Vihari (40 not out) helped India set a target of 240 for South Africa on a challenging day three pitch at the Wanderers.
South Africa has never chased anything over 220 at this venue. After Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara made half-centuries and fell in the first session, Thakur and Vihari did well in taking India’s lead past 200.
If Thakur had bailed India out of trouble with the ball on day two, on day three, he did the same job with the bat. Resuming with a lead of 161 at lunch, Thakur tore into Marco Jansen, hammering boundaries through cover and point.
Thakur continued to deal into boundaries off Jansen, a top-edge on hook went over the keeper for a six while the next two boundaries were lofted and pulled towards the on-side.
Thakur’s lightning quick knock came to an end when he tried to pull Jansen’s short ball but picked out Keshav Maharaj at deep square leg. With some byes and no-balls, India’s lead swelled past 200. Jansen, after taking out Thakur, strangled Mohammed Shami down leg for a duck. Vihari and Jasprit Bumrah took a four and six respectively off Kagiso Rabada but in the next over, Lungi Ngidi took the latter out with a top-edge flying to Jansen at point.
With Mohammed Siraj struggling due to hamstring issue, Vihari farmed the strike and began to go for the kill. He made use of the short ball strategy to upper-cut over slip cordon, slap over mid-wicket with a forehand smash-like shot, hitting over extra cover and pulling over deep square leg. Ngidi ended India’s innings by ratting Siraj’s off-stump, leaving Vihari unconquered at a gritty 40.
Earlier, in an action-packed first session, India dominated the first hour, thanks to Rahane and Pujara cashing on South Africa’s wayward lines and lengths. But the hosts’ bounced back in the second session, taking four wickets while conceding 37 runs, as Rabada picked up crucial scalps of Pujara, Rahane and Rishabh Pant.
Resuming from 85/2 on day two, Pujara continued his impressive run, hitting Jansen for two fours through on-side. On the other hand, Rahane slashed Jansen with a drive through mid-off followed by a upper cut over deep point. South Africa were unable to find a consistent line and length and leaked runs as Rahane continued to smash Rabada for boundaries.
Pujara reached his fifty in 62 balls while two overs later, Rahane brought up his half-century with back-to-back boundaries through point and gully off Duanne Olivier. After the first hour of play fetched India 66 runs in 14 overs, including the partnership between Pujara and Rahane crossing the 100-run mark, South Africa bounced back in the second hour.
Rabada took the first wicket of the day, getting a delivery to kick off from a length and Rahane edged to keeper Kyle Verreynne, breaking the 111-run partnership off 144 balls. In his next over, Rabada trapped Pujara lbw with a big inswinger hitting him flush on the pads. Pujara took the review but couldn’t change the decision.
Rabada then went on to remove Pant for a three-ball duck. After being beaten outside the off-stump, Rabada rattled Pant by being hit on the gloves through a ball which bounced a bit. On the very next ball, Pant stepped out to slog but gave a feather edge behind to Verreynne.
Ravichandran Ashwin hit some boundaries but was caught down the leg side by Verreynne off Ngidi. Thakur got off the mark with a four off his second ball and remained not out along with Vihari at lunch. Post that, the Indian lower-order came into play, adding 82 runs off the last four partnerships as Rabada, Jansen and Ngidi all ended with three wickets each.
Brief scores: India 202 & 266 in 60.1 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 58, Cheteshwar Pujara 53; Kagiso Rabada 3/77, Lungi Ngidi 3/43) set South Africa 229 all out in 79.4 overs (Keegan Petersen 62; Shardul Thakur 7/61) a target of 240.
International
Murder of Hindu leader: India slams Bangladesh, says killing follows pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities

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

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

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.
-
Crime3 years ago
Class 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra7 months ago
Mumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Maharashtra6 months ago
Mumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Maharashtra7 months ago
False photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
National News6 months ago
Ministry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Crime6 months ago
Baba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
-
Maharashtra5 months ago
Maharashtra Elections 2024: Mumbai Metro & BEST Services Extended Till Midnight On Voting Day
-
National News7 months ago
J&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface