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T20 World Cup: Mendis, Hasaranga star as Sri Lanka beat Netherlands by 16 runs; confirm Super 12 qualification

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Kusal Mendis slammed a fine 79 while Wanindu Hasaranga picked three wickets as Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by 16 runs in a decisive Group A match of the first round at Kardinia Park, Geelong, to confirm Super 12 qualification in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

After Mendis’s knock helped the 2014 T20 World Cup champions post 162/6 in their 20 overs, the Netherlands opener Max O’Dowd made an unbeaten 71 off 53 balls, laced with six fours and three sixes and was the long ranger for his side.

But he didn’t have much support from the other end as the Netherlands’ ultimately ended up at 146/9 in 20 overs, with leg-spinner Hasaranga taking 3-28 and off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana picking 2-32.

The Netherlands’ hopes of reaching Super 12 are now on the Namibia-UAE clash happening later in the day, with a UAE victory giving them the ticket to continue their journey in the tournament.

Chasing 163, Vikramjit Singh never got going before slog-sweeping a Maheesh Theekshana delivery straight to midwicket. Lahiru Kumara, brought in the eleven due to the fast bowling department being hit with injuries, was successful in enticing Bas de Leede to poke at a length ball outside the off-stump and edged behind to the keeper.

Three balls later, Colin Ackermann chipped tamely back to Hasaranga, departing for his second duck in three matches. Tom Cooper got a brace of boundaries before becoming Theekshana’s second wicket, missing a slog-sweep and seeing his stumps rattled by the mystery spinner.

Captain Scott Edwards fought back with three boundaries, using the sweep to good effect. But his promising stay ended when he went too far across his stumps and was bowled around his legs by Binura Fernando in the 15th over.

The Netherlands then collapsed like a pack of cards – Tim Pringle and Paul van Meekeren were run out, while Hasaranga’s googly castled Tim van der Gugten and Fred Klaassen.

O’Dowd, who didn’t get much strike due to his teammates falling in quick succession, hit a hat-trick of boundaries through the leg side to get his half-century. He went on to take two sixes off Theekshana and sliced a four over off-side off Kumara but saw his knock go in vain.

Earlier, Mendis nearly carried his bat throughout the innings, overcoming various points of struggle in his 44-ball stay at the crease, laced with five fours and as many sixes at a strike rate of 179.55 to get Sri Lanka a score they were very sure of defending.

Electing to bat irst, Sri Lanka didn’t have a great start on a slow pitch as the Netherlands were in control for the first ten overs, conceding only 60 runs. Van Meekeren was impressive with his raw pace and control, resulting in rattling Pathum Nissanka’s stumps with a fiery yorker and trapping Dhananjaya de Silva lbw for a golden duck in the seventh over.

Mendis and Charith Asalanka (31 off 30 balls) ‘nsured Sri Lanka didn’t have a middle-order collapse with their 60-run stand off 45 balls for the third wicket. After Asalanka fell, Mendis went for the big hits to reach his ninth T20I fifty and was supported well by Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 13-ball 19 as Sri Lanka crossed the 160-mark.

For the Netherlands, van Meekeren and de Leede took two wickets each while van der Gugten and Klaassen took a wicket apiece. But their bowling couldn’t maintain the grip they had in the first ten overs as Sri Lanka collected 102 runs off their last ten overs, which eventually proved to be decisive.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 162/6 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 79, Charith Asalanka 31; Paul van Meekeren 2-25, Bas de Leede 2-31) beat Netherland’ 146/9 in 20 overs (Max O’Dowd 71 not out; Wanindu Hasaranga 3-28, Maheesh Theekshana 2-32) by 16 runs

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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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