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Miller and Baartman help South Africa end Netherlands jinx in low-scoring nail-biter

Published

2 years ago

2024/06/9

Priyan

David Miller lifted South Africa out of a mess [Cricinfo]

South Africa made heavy weather of a modest chase in New York before David Miller and Tristan Stubbs dug deep to save them from a third straight defeat at Netherlands’ hands at an ICC tournament.

Miller and Stubbs added 65 for the fifth wicket to lift them from the pits of 12 for 4 on a pitch that didn’t play anywhere as badly as the scorecard suggested, even though there was enough in it for quick bowlers – 13 of the 15 wickets fell to them, while there were two run outs.

As he walked out to bat, Miller might have had a flashback of Adelaide 2022, where his wicket, with 47 needed off 28 balls, shut the door on South Africa and gave Netherlands a 13 run win. On Saturday, Miller stayed the course and remained unbeaten on 59, flicking on his best six-hitting self in the penultimate over with South Africa needing 16 off 12.

In the end, in a game where 209 runs were scored in 38.5 overs, South Africa won with enough to spare.

Quinton de Kock was run out without facing a ball. Reeza Hendricks got a peach from Logan van Beek that angled in and straightened to hit the top of off. Vivian Kingma had the first of a double when he strangled Aiden Markram down leg to leave South Africa 3 for 3. And when Heinrich Klaasen’s rush of blood had him picking out Tim Pringle attempting a pull off Kingma, Netherlands dared to dream – or maybe just expected the expected, considering the recent results between the two sides at ICC events.

Both Miller and Stubbs are instinctive batters who love taking the bowlers on. But the situation they walked out to was not for that sort of batting, it was a crisis. A mis-step could have meant curtains. So they chose caution, saw off the powerplay without any further damage, and hit only a further two boundaries until the ten-over mark to leave South Africa needing 72 off the last ten overs.

Stubbs was on 9 off 21 at this point, struggling to force the pace, especially when the ball was dug in to the pitch. A hint of grip for the spinners also made it difficult for him to hit out. So when Bas de Leede came on in the 11th, Stubbs gave him the charge and enjoyed a massive slice of luck as a thick inside edge flew wide of the midwicket fielder.

Miller, too, rode some luck. A big hit down the ground off left-arm spinner Pringle only just eluded the long-on fielder in the 12th over with South Africa still needing 57 off 50.

Stubbs finally shrug off the pressure that had built around him with a hoick for six off Vikramjit Singh, and then launched van Beek down the ground three balls later to turn the tide South Africa’s way.

It should have been a smooth ride from there, with South Africa needing 29 off 30. But there was another twist. First, Paul van Meekeren delivered a maiden over to Miller, and the pressure showed when Stubbs holed out to deep midwicket in the next, off Bas de Leede. Then, in the 18th, van Beek came back after being walloped for six by Miller to dismiss Marco Jansen.

But, with South Africa needing 16 off 12, de Leede erred in line. Miller began the penultimate over by dispatching a half-tracker over fine leg, and then finished the game with a sequence of 2, 0, 4 and 6 – cue a roar and wild fist pumping.

Miller had tamed the demons of Adelaide 2022.

Sybrand Engelbrecht who represented South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in 2008 and only recently made his Netherlands’ debut, top-scored with a 45-ball 40 on surface where the next best among the top seven was 12.

At the toss, Netherlands were put in to bat seemingly because South Africa wanted to exploit the morning conditions, and had them tottering at 32 for 4. South Africa’s four-pronged pace attack, led by Marco Jansen was breathing fire at that stage, with pace and bounce off the pitch for assistance.

South Africa’s hostility didn’t end there, with Ottneil Baartman and Anrich Nortje ensuring there weren’t any freebies. This resulted in Netherlands attempting to manufacture strokes, like Scott Edwards did when he executed a reverse scoop for six, but they simply didn’t have enough.

It came down to Englebrecht’s patient knock and his 54-run association with van Beek to get them into three figures. It would have been inadequate on most days, but Netherlands can give themselves a pat on the back for making a match out of it to keep Group D very open.

Brief scores:
South Africa 106 for 6 in 18.5 overs ( David Miller 59*, Tristan Stubbs 33; Vivian Kingma 2-12, Logan van Beek 2-21, Bas de Leed 1-34) beat Netherlands 103 for 9 in 20 overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 40, Logan van Beek 23; Ottneil Baartman 4-11, Anriche Nortje 2-19, Marco Jansen 2-20) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Violence in Australian town after arrest of man over girl’s murder

Published

2 hours ago

2026/05/1

Priyan

There has been violence outside an Australian hospital where a man suspected of murdering a five-year-old girl was being treated.

Jefferson Lewis was arrested late on Thursday night local time in Alice Springs, after being seen by members of the local community and reportedly attacked.

Video shows dozens of people gathering outside the town’s hospital, some throwing projectiles, with police using tear gas.

The body of the girl, who is identified only as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, was discovered earlier on Thursday.

She had last been seen on Saturday, when she was put to bed at an Aboriginal town camp near Alice Springs just before midnight.

Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, reports the crowd of about 400 Aboriginal people outside the hospital yelled that Lewis needed to face “payback” and accused the police of protecting him.

“Payback” is term for traditional punishment under Aboriginal law in Central Australia.

Many were chanting that he should be killed for his alleged attack on Kumanjayi Little Baby, the ABC added.

Video from the scene shows crowds throwing items towards police and items being thrown. Several police vehicles appear to have been damaged.

Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole told the ABC Lewis was unconscious when officers found him.

Dole said about 200 people turned on police and paramedics as they responded to reports Lewis was being assaulted.

Several people including members of the emergency services were injured, but no arrests have been made over the violent disorder.

Dole said the scenes outside the hospital were “not acceptable” and were not “reflective of what we’ve seen from the community of Alice Springs in the last five days”.

Lewis has been flown from Alice Springs to Darwin and has been taken into police custody, Dole said.

Charges are expected to be laid against Lewis in the coming days, Dole said.

Forensic test to confirm the young girl’s identity and cause of death will continue on Friday.

Police had been combing nearby bush and desert for Lewis, who was released from prison six days before Kumanjayi Little Baby disappeared and vanished around the same time.

Dole said everyone involved in the search for her had been holding out hope of finding her alive.

“When we made that discover yesterday [it was] absolutely devastating for everybody involved,” he said.

Northern Territory Police An girl wearing a pink dress and blue backpack poses for a picture, holding up the peace sign — *A picture of Kumanjayi Little Baby, used with the permission of her family [Northern Territory Police]*

In a statement, Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother – who was not named – said her daughter was loved and missed.

“It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you.”

“We know you are in heaven with the rest of the family and Jesus. Me and your brother will meet you one day.”

The girl’s mother also thanked the dozens of people, both police and volunteers, who have spent days searching the area around Old Timers Camp – a site set aside by the government for Aboriginal people to stay in when in Alice Springs.

“Around 200 people have worked tirelessly around the clock in searching for this beautiful little girl who went missing five days ago,” Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said.

“And for five days every Territorian has had their heart in their throat waiting for the moment when we got the announcement that she had been found safe and well… Everyone is incredibly devastated.”

Using the name of deceased people, as well as broadcasting their image or voice, breaches cultural protocols around mourning in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and cannot be done without the permission of their families.

[BBC]

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Holder, Rashid and Arshad give Gujarat Titans NRR-boosting win

Published

2 hours ago

2026/05/1

Priyan

Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 3 for 28 [Cricinfo]

Jason Holder was so omnipresent that his involvement in five dismissals enabled the Gujarat Titans (GT) to bowl Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) out for 155 in Ahmedabad. Such a middling chase was right up the alley of Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudarshan, but once GT lost both their openers in the powerplay, their soft underbelly was exposed once again. They needed cameos from Holder (12 off 10 balls) and their Impact Player RahulTewatia (27* off 17 balls) to get over the line, handing defending champions RCB their third defeat in IPL 2026.

Virat Kohli flew out of the blocks for RCB, hitting Kagiso Rabada for four successive fours in the second over after they were asked to bat first by GT. Even Rabada’s traditional hard length was pumped over mid-off. In the next over, Kohli charged at Mohammed Siraj and deposited him over mid-on for four more. However, when Kohli tried to charge at Rabada in the fourth over, the South Africa quick hit the deck harder and drew a top edge to midwicket. Rabada had the last laugh and gave the departing Kohli (28 off 13 balls) a death stare.

Siraj had earlier dismissed Jacob Bethell, who got another game in place of the injured Phil Salt, for a run-a-ball 5. Rabada and Siraj bowled right through the powerplay and kept RCB to 59 for 2.

Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Padidar forged a 44-run partnership for the third wicket before Holder caught the RCB captain at deep square leg in the eighth over. Doubts, however, emerged around the legality of the catch when slow-mo replays suggested that Holder may have grassed it more than once, including while sliding. The TV umpire, Abhijit Bhattacharya, perhaps deemed that Holder was in control of his movements and ultimately ruled Patidar out.

Some of RCB’s players and staff disagreed with the TV umpire’s decision, gesturing that Holder had grassed it. Kohli was seemingly remonstrating with reserve umpire Parashar Joshi after which RCB coach Andy Flower was also spotted having an intense chat with Joshi. Having waited near the boundary, Patidar dragged himself off the field.

Holder was involved in four other dismissals. He had Jitesh Sharma nicking off in the ninth before taking the catches of both Tim David (9) and Krunal Pandya (4) at midwicket. Holder claimed his second wicket when he had his West Indian compatriot Romario Shepherd holing out.

Despite wickets falling around him, Padikkal kept up RCB’s high intent and manufactured scoring opportunities by making swinging room. He top-scored for RCB with 40 off 24 balls before Rashid Khan had him chopping on with a slider.

At 126 for 7, RCB pressed the emergency switch and brought in Venkatesh Iyer as their Impact Player at a cost of a specialist bowler in Rasikh Dar. Venkatesh struggled for fluency and also copped a blow on his unprotected elbow. His 29-run stand for the ninth wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped drag RCB to 155 before they were dismissed with four balls unused in their innings.

Gill kickstarted GT’s chase by whacking Josh Hazlewood for three fours and two sixes in a 24-run over. Hazlewood had not conceded more runs in an IPL over ever. Gill pressed on to score 43 off 18 balls – the most he has scored in an IPL powerplay – before he slapped Bhuvneshwar to cover, where Kohli grabbed the fast-travelling ball with both hands.

Buttler then took over from Gill and attacked both Hazlewood’s pace and Suyash Sharma’s wristspin. Buttler cracked 39 off 19 balls before he exposed his leg stump, only for Bhuvneshwar to knock it out in the eighth over. Bhuvneshwar also removed Sai Sudharsan during his four consecutive overs. While Hazlewood leaked 56 runs in his four overs for no wickets, Bhuvneshwar ended up giving away only half as many while picking up those three wickets.

Shepherd had to step in as their fourth bowler after they had sacrificed a specialist bowler in Rasikh Dar for Venkatesh’s batting. He responded by taking out both Shahrukh Khan and Washington in one over, the 11th of the chase. Holder then diffused the tension that Shepherd had built up by hooking his first ball for six. When Holder fell in the 14th over, GT needed 15 off 37 balls. Tewatia and Rashid got the job done with 25 balls to spare.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 158 for 6 in 15.5 overs (Shubman Gill 43, Jos Buttler 39, Washington Sundar 12, Rahul Tewtia 27*, Jason Holder 12; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-28, Suyash Sharma 1-44, Romario Shepherd 2-30) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 155 in 19.2 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 40, Virat Kohli 28, Rajat Patidar 19, Romario Shepherd 17, Venkatesh Ayer 12, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 15*; Mohammed Siraj 1-38, Kagiso Rabada 1-44, Arshad Khan 3-22, Rashid 2-19, Jason Holder 2-29) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Heat Index at Caution Level at some places in the Northern, North-central, Eastern, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Monaragala district during the day time

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/1

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 30 April 2026, valid for 01 May 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, and North-western provinces and in Monaragala district during the day time.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.