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West Indies fight but India chip away on rain-hit, attritional day
Rain cut short the opening session with only 10.4 overs possible in the pre-Lunch period. Jaydev Unadkat was expensive at the start of the day, being struck for boundaries by Kirk McKenzie. Mohammed Siraj bowled testing lines but the batters kept him at bay, with Brathwaite continuing with his solid batting. Ravichandran Ashwin came on with 10-odd minutes left in the first hour but it was Mukesh Kumar who dismissed fellow debutant McKenzie as the batter looked to play it through the off side but edged to the ‘keeper to depart for 32, ending a 46-run stand. It started raining soon after, forcing the players off the field and the umpires called for early Lunch.
Brathwaite crossed fifty early in the second session, getting there with a couple off Mukesh. The pacer tried to go short at Brathwaite who managed to clear the fence with an awkward pull for his first six. There were also extra runs for Brathwaite via overthrows and the West Indies captain punched an Ashwin delivery for three runs. India were otherwise disciplined, bowling in the right channels with persistence, but Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood were up to the task as they built a watchful partnership and ensured that they put away the loose deliveries.
Ashwin ended the partnership worth 40 off 128 deliveries, getting the better of Brathwaite’s defence with drift and spin. Athanaze looked to play his shots, executing sweeps and a cut off Ashwin to get going. India then lost a review when they went up for a caught behind appeal off Blackwood in Jadeja’s over while Athanaze survived a leg-before appeal and a review from India in Ashwin’s over, with the umpire’s call saving the batter. Blackwood and Athanaze batted through for the remainder of the extended second session, with only 57 runs being scored in 35.4 overs.
Jadeja struck early in the third session, getting one to turn sharply off the rough to catch the edge of Blackwood’s bat, with Ajinkya Rahane taking a stunning one-handed catch at first slip to end a 21-run fourth wicket partnership that came off 83 deliveries. Jadeja and Unadkat bowled in tandem and had the batters in trouble on a few occasions but Athanaze and Joshua Da Silva kept West Indies going as they took their side past the 200 mark. But their stand came to an end when Da Silva was bowled by an incoming delivery from Siraj. But just like the first session, rain stopped play soon after a wicket.
Play resumed after a nearly an hour’s break due to rain, with Siraj and Ashwin continuing the bowling. India opted for the second new ball in the 103rd over, with Mukesh and Siraj operating with it. Mukesh found some movement and troubled Athanaze on a couple of occasions, but no damage was done. With the light fadiing, India got Jadeja to bowl one over but the umpires decided to call it Stumps soon after.
Brief scores:
India 438 lead West Indies 229/5 (Kraigg Brathwaite 75, Alick Athanaze 37*; Ravindra Jadeja 2-37, Mukesh Kumar 1-35) by 209 runs.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Prime Minister to recruit 2,284 to the government service as per the recommendations of the ‘Committee appointed to review the recruitment process of the Government Service at its meeting held on 14.11.2025.
1. Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education 196
2. Ministry of Health and Mass Media 480
3. Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and
Local Governments 04
4. Ministry of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic
Development 19
5. Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development 778
6. Ministry of Justice and National Integration 222
7. Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development 107
8. Ministry of Defense 73
9. Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources 20
10. Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs 21
11. Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development 36
12. Ministry of Buddha Shasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
04
13. Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Facilities 02
14. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation 74
15. Western Provincial Council 230
16. Uva Provincial Council 08
17. North Western Provincial Council 08
18. Finance Commission 02
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Cabinet green light to obtain a grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for post – disaster relief and rehabilitation activities
On a request made by the government of Sri Lanka, the Asian Development Bank has given its concurrence to provide a grant of United States dollars 3 million under Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.
It is expected to supply materials required for providing essential life security services for the communities affected, from the said grant.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President as the Minister of Finance, Plan Implementation and Economic Development to enter into the relevant agreements with the Asian Development Bank to obtain the said grant.
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Adhering to the broad plan of the Government to reach the objective of accomplishing 70% of the country’s electricity supply from renewable energy sources by the year 2030, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted on 10.02.2025 to invite requests for resolutions from interested developers of the private sector in order to implement the Mullikulum Wind Power – 100 Mega Watts (two (02) wind power stations of
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Accordingly, requests for proposals have been called to implement the relevant project by adhering to the international competitive bidding methodology, and seven (7) prospective project proposals were submitted.
Evaluating the said proposals, based on the recommendations submitted by the negotiation committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Power to award the contracts of establishing the two (02) 50 Mega Watts Wind
Power Stations to Consortium of Vidullanka PLC & David Pieris Motor Company (Lanka) Limited and WindForce PLC.
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