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Namibia’s Loftie-Eaton smashes fastest T20I ton
Namibia’s Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton broke the record for the fastest T20I hundred at Kathmandu in the series opener of the Nepal-Namibia-Netherlands T20 tri-series, reaching the milestone off just 33 balls.
Coming to the crease with his side in trouble at 62-3 in the 11th over, Jan Frylinck dismissed by an ungainly fumbling stumping, Loftie-Eaton needed just a single legal ball to get his eye in. Pushing a straight single off Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel to retain the strike, Loftie-Eaton hooked Gulshan Jha first ball over fine leg for six. The burly left-hander took two more boundaries off that over, going to 18 off 6 with an audacious reverse slog-sweep over fine leg for six.
Ably supported by Malan Kruger, who struck eight boundaries himself en route to an unbeaten half-century, Loftie-Eaton conducted a controlled demolition of the home attack in a display of uncontainable innovation and aggression. In an innings that contained 8 sixes, perhaps the most impressive shot was a reverse sweep off left arm slinger Avinash Bohara – laced through a barely perceptible gap behind square for four. The shot set the tone for what was to follow as Loftie-Eaton ran through a full repertoire of scoops, reverses, dabs, muscled pulls, booming drives, and knee-dropping slog-sweeps – each new innovation frustrating Paudel’s every effort to set field.
Loftie Eaton’s exploits were all the more remarkable as his hitting was done on a TU International square where the three sides had struggled to score batting first, just one 200+ first innings score posted over the course of the preceding CWC League 2 ODI series. But for the record setting ball the pitch hardly mattered, a full toss from offpsinner DS Airee that anyone could have hit for a boundary, floating into middle stump and helped round the corner for four. It was just the 33rd legitimate delivery Loftie Eaton had faced, making his maiden century the fastest in the history of T20 internationals, and the third fastest in recognised List A T20.
Having taken his side from 62-3 in the 11th over to 197-3 in the last, Loftie Eaton lasted two more balls, long enough to congratulate Kruger on his own half-century, before falling 4 balls from the end picking out short third with another manufactured reverse flick off Bohara to go for 101 off 36. In company of stand-in skipper JJ Smit, Kruger finished the innings with a flourish, taking back to back fours off the final two balls to set the hosts a target of 207 to take the honours in the series curtain-raiser.
The man whose record Loftie-Eaton had broken, young southpaw Kushal Malla, was on the field to witness his 34-ball ton against Mongolia at last years’ Asia games surpassed by one ball. In the Nepal reply he had a rare chance to break the record right back. Coming in at 20-2 after Ruben Trumpelmann had removed Kushal Bhurtel LBW with the first ball of the innings and Aasif Sheikh in the third over, Malla looked intent on doing so as he raced to 20 off his first 7 balls. But he slowed up after he saw his captain held at long on for 42 off the legspin of none other than Loftie-Eaton, and eventually fell for 32 miscuing a hittable delivery from left arm spinner Bernhard Scholtz to JJ Smit at long on.
The day’s drama was far from over however with DS Airee marshalling a lower-order fightback even as wickets fell around him. Airee kept the hosts in the hunt until the penultimate over, taking the home side to 186-8 with a 38-ball 48 before edging Trumpelmann behind on the pull looking for a third six. One ball later it was all over, Trumpelmann spearing one full and straight into the stumps as No. 11 Bohara backed away, closing out a 20-run victory.
Namibia can look forward to a well-earned rest-day tomorrow to celebrate Loftie-Eaton’s achievement before returning to action against the Netherlands on Thursday, while the hosts will have to bounce back right away when they take on the Dutch tomorrow.
Brief Scores:
Namibia 206-3 in 20 overs (JN Loftie-Eaton 101, MB Kruger 59; RK Paudel 2-30) beat Nepal 186 in 18.5 overs (DS Airee 48, RK Paudel 42; R Trumpelmann 4-9) by 20 runs
(Cricbuzz)
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Incoming Bangladesh PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament
Newly elected Bangladesh lawmakers have been sworn into parliament, days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first vote since the 2024 student-led uprising that expelled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tarique Rahman will take the oath as prime minister later on Tuesday, as the BNP is expected to form a new government after securing more than a two-thirds majority in the elections last week.
Inside the parliament’s oath room, lawmakers pledged loyalty to Bangladesh as they were sworn in by the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. Foreign dignitaries, including the Pakistani foreign minister and the speaker of India’s parliament, were in attendance.
Cabinet members were slated to follow suit with another ceremony hosted in front of the parliament building at 4pm (10:00 GMT).
Despite tight security, hundreds of people pooled outside the grounds throughout Tuesday to await the proceedings.
“People really want changes. They want to see new faces in parliament: People with good qualifications, even people who are younger,” said Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from the capital, Dhaka.
“You’ll see a lot of new faces, and that’s what’s expected: They want new dynamics in parliament.”
The BNP won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong majority, while the Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating in the polls.
Rahman will take over from an interim government that led the country for 18 months after Hasina’s ousting.
He will also be tasked with implementing the July National Charter, which contains 80-plus prospective reforms of Bangladesh’s governance system.
More than 60 percent of the electorate voted to pass the charter in a referendum held at the same time as the election.
The sweeping document introduces term limits, a two-chamber parliament and limits the governing party’s ability to make unilateral amendments, among other changes.
“Lots of fundamental and primary change is expected by the population, particularly the younger population who were behind the July uprising,” Al Jazeera’s Chowdhury said. “They want to be represented in this parliament, and their voices must be heard.”
[Aljazeera]
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Samra’s record 110 in vain as Phillips and Ravindra put New Zealand in Super Eights
Yuraj Samra’s record-breaking hundred went in vain as New Zealand beat Canada by eight wickets in Chennai to qualify for the Super Eight stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Batting first, Canada posted a competitive 173 for 4, thanks to Samra’s 110 off 65 balls, the highest score by an Associate batter against a Full Member in the tournament’s history. At 19 years and 141 days, the left-hand opener also became the youngest to cross 50 in a men’s T20 World Cup match.
Canada’s bowlers and fielders, though, let them down. They did send back Tim Seifert and Finn Allen inside the first four overs, but Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra snatched the game away from them and ran away with it.
Phillips smashed 76 not out off 36 balls and Ravindra 59 not out off 39. The two added 146 off just 73 balls for the third wicket and took New Zealand home with 4.5 overs to spare.
Matt Henry started the proceedings with four dots to Samra but the opener got going with back-to-back fours off the last two deliveries. Samra faced only five balls in the next four overs but took James Neesham down in the final over of the powerplay. With Neesham operating from around the wicket, he pulled to fine leg, muscled over midwicket, drilled down the ground, and slashed over the covers after coming down the ground. The first three went for fours, the last carried all the way.
Samra kept the scoreboard ticking even after the powerplay. He smashed Kyle Jamieson’s slower ball through extra cover before pulling Cole McConchie for a flat six. Soon, he reached his fifty, off 36 balls.
New Zealand were without Lockie Ferguson and Mitchell Santner. Ferguson has returned home for the birth of his first child and Santner was ruled out because of a “dodgy burger”. In their absence, New Zealand’s bowling attack looked toothless, and Samra took full advantage of it. He started the 13th over by smashing McConchie for 6, 6, 4. Dilpreet Bajwa and he added 116 in 14 overs for the first wicket; Bajwa’s contribution was only 36 off 39 balls.
Samra brought up his hundred off 58 balls, getting there with a toe-ended four past short third. He had a reprieve on 103 when Neesham dropped him at long-on off Henry. The ball burst through Neesham’s hands and went for four. Samra was eventually dismissed in the final over, caught at deep-backward square-leg by Phillips on the second attempt.
Canada’s indiscipline with the ball was evident from the very first over. Jaskaran Singh’s second delivery was down the leg side, which Allen helped to the fine-leg boundary. It was followed by an off-side wide and a front-foot no-ball. Allen attempted a quick single off the latter. The short midwicket fielder missed with the throw at the bowler’s end, and a sloppy effort from the fielder backing up resulted in four overthrows.
Allen then took apart Dilon Heyliger, hitting his first two balls for a four and a six. Seifert also threw his bat around and got one over the covers. Shivam Sharma, the chasing fielder, was casual in his effort near the boundary line and failed to flick the ball back.
Saad Bin Zafar provided temporary relief by having Seifert caught at mid-off. When Allen was caught in the covers off a Heyliger delivery that stuck in the pitch, New Zealand were 30 for 2 in 3.1 overs. But Canada continued to be profligate in the field. Bajwa started the fifth over with a no-ball, and also bowled a wide before Ravindra hit him for two fours in three balls. That allowed New Zealand to finish the powerplay on 60 for 2.
Phillips took the lead after the powerplay. He hit Saad for back-to-back fours before launching Bajwa for a straight six. When Ansh Patel came on to bowl, Phillips treated him with the same disdain, hitting the left-arm wristspinner for three sixes in eight balls. The last of those sixes brought up Phillips’ fifty, off 22 balls.
By the end of the 11th over, New Zealand needed only 53 from 54 balls. Phillips, though, was in a hurry. Against Saad, he switched his hands and pulled him for a six over deep extra-cover, even though there was a fielder at the boundary line. Ravindra, who had taken the backseat, finished the over with another six. A few minutes later, he pulled Jaskaran through midwicket to bring up the victory.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 176 for 2 in 15.1 overs (Finn Allen 21, Glenn Phillips 76*, Rachin Ravindra 59*, Dilon Heyliger 1-42, Saad Bin Jaffar 1-29) beat Canada 173 for 4 in 20 overs (Yuraj Samra 110, Dilpreet Bajwa 36, Navneet Dhaliwal 10; Matt Henry 1-28, Jacob Duffy 1-25, Kyle Jamieson 1-41, James Neesham 1-38) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
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Long queues and confusion mar first day of India’s landmark AI summit
India’s AI Impact Summit, billed as a landmark gathering of global leaders and technology executives, was overshadowed by logistical chaos on its opening day in Delhi on Monday.
Participants complained about long queues, overcrowding and confusion at the venue, saying they had to wait for hours. Some also reported limited access to food and water and said their products were stolen from their stall.
The five-day summit, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi, is being promoted as the first major international AI meeting hosted in the Global South.
More than 100 countries are taking part, with technology leaders including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc expected to attend.

Speaking at the inauguration, Modi said the summit showcased “the extraordinary potential of AI, Indian talent and innovation”, adding that India aimed to shape solutions “not just for India but for the world”.
India’s Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the summit intended to look at both the benefits and harms of AI.
In the next few days, “we are basically looking at and measuring what [AI’s] impact on human society is going to be”, he said.
But the opening day was marred by complaints of poor crowd management at the summit venue Bharat Mandapam. By Monday afternoon, social media was flooded with complaints from founders, exhibitors and delegates who said security sweeps and last-minute closures left them stranded outside exhibition halls.
Maitreya Wagh, co-founder of voice AI start-up Bolna, wrote on X that he was unable to access his company’s booth after gates were closed. Punit Jain, founder of tech platform Reskill, described “7 AM queues” followed by hours of waiting and a “full evacuation” before the prime minister’s arrival.
Reuters reported that some speakers were still awaiting confirmation of their session timings, adding to concerns over mismanagement.

Dhananjay Yadav, founder of wearable AI start-up NeoSapiens, alleged that products from his company’s stall were stolen at the venue. Writing on X, he said the firm had spent heavily on travel, accommodation and exhibition space, “only to see our wearables disappear inside a high-security zone”.
Several attendees also complained about payment arrangements at food stalls inside the venue, saying food counters were accepting only cash and not digital payments, adding to the inconvenience, particularly for international visitors.
Soumya Sharma, founder of healthcare-focused Livo AI, said several discussions were held behind closed doors and that security shut down sessions because of overcrowding, preventing many delegates from taking part.
The closures, he suggested, undercut the summit’s ambition to showcase India’s AI ecosystem to a global audience.
While he said he attended some “excellent sessions”, Sharma added that operational lapses risked overshadowing the substance of the event. “Unless we get the basics right, we cannot claim to be utilising AI to its fullest,” he wrote on X. “AI is only part of the system. We must solve basic on-ground issues first.”
Organisers and the government have yet to respond publicly to the complaints. The BBC has reached out to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a comment.
[BBC]
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