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Major General Lasantha Rodrigo and Rear Admiral Kanchnna Banagoda appointed as new Army and Navy Commanders
President Anura Kumar Disanayake has appointed Major General Lasantha Rodrigo as the new Commander of the Army and Rear Admiral Kanchnna Banagoda as the new Commander of the Navy.
The official appointment letters were presented to the newly appointed commanders today (30) by Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat.
Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Vikum Liyanage and Commander of the Navy Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera are scheduled to retire from their respective positions tomorrow (31).
(PMD)
Defending champions Argentina will face England in the semifinals of FIFA World Cup 2026 after beating ten man Switzerland 3-1 after extra time thanks to a decisive long-range effort by Julian Alvarez.
Alexis Mac Allister headed in a 10th-minute cross by Lionel Messi to hand Argentina the lead at Kansas City Stadium on Saturday.
It was far from the dominant display that the South Americans would have hoped for thereafter, and the Europeans deservedly levelled in the 67th minute when Dan Ndoye slotted home from close range.
The Swiss controversially lost Breel Embolo to a second yellow in the 72nd minute for simulation. VAR had to intervene, however, to request the referee to review whether the booking given to Argentina’s Leandro Paredes was a case of mistaken identity – a new VAR rule for this tournament.
Embolo appeared to dive to win the free kick and Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro changed his decision, which resulted in an inconsolable Embolo given his marching orders.
Argentina pressed for the winner in normal time and nearly found their reward with virtually the last kick of the period when Lisandro Martinez flung himself at a loose ball in the box, but his scissor-kick didn’t have the power to beat the keeper.
Messi had himself come close when through, one-on-one, but his chip was saved. The referee’s assistant raised his flag to suggest the effort would have been offside anyway, although replays show a goal may well have stood – it would have been Messi’s ninth in six appearances at the tournament.
It was Alvarez who stole the show on this occasion, however, with a fizzing effort from 25 yards which rifled into the top right corner of the goal in the 112th minute
As the Swiss threw bodies forward in the dying seconds, there were huge holes left at the back and Lautaro Martinez capitalised deep into stoppage time in extra time to slot home a third after a counterattack led by Thiago Almada, whose initial shot deflected kindly into his teammate’s path.
Argentina will now face England in the semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta. Spain play France, the team Argentina defeated in the final at Qatar 2022, on Tuesday in the other last-four clash.
Only two nations have previously defended a World Cup title, Italy and Brazil.
The taxing nature of the competition, which saw Argentina also pushed to extra time in the round of 32 by Cape Verde, may play a part.
England, though, also needed extra time to beat Norway on Saturday, and 39-year-old Messi seems determined to defy time and can’t be ruled out from finding yet more magical moments.
(Aljazeera)
Iran claims attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and Oman as UAE also reports intercepting Iranian missiles and drone threats.
The attacks came after the US announced a third round of strikes on Iran this week, accusing it of attacking a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state media say explosions were heard in the port cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Bandar-e Deyr, Jask and Asaluyeh
The hostilities come after Iran’s IRGC declared the Straot of Hormuz temporarily closed and said it had fired a warning shot at a ship attempting to transit through what it called an unapproved route.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei pledges to avenge the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, by US and Israeli forces, saying “revenge is the will of our nation”.
(Aljazeera)
It took India an hour and a half to reach the Utilita Bowl on Saturday lunchtime and they must have wished that they had never made it. Jos Buttler and Harry Brook, England captains past and present, clouted 233 in just 103 balls – a record second-wicket partnership – to secure a 4-0 series win that took England top of the ICC’s T20I rankings, displacing the world champions.
India’s six-mile journey from their Southampton hotel to the venue took them 90 minutes due to heavy traffic, delaying the toss by 45 minutes. They spent the early afternoon stuck on roads and Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl first on another. He has now won seven tosses but nothing else as India’s captain; England started fast and got even faster to post their third-highest T20I total.
Buttler had not reached 40 in 18 T20I innings since last September, but roared back to form with a 51-ball century that felt like a throwback to his 2018-22 peak: his first 50 took him 34 balls, his next just 17. He celebrated with a thumbs-up towards the England dressing room and a look towards the heavens, after thumping Axar Patel over square leg for six to reach 100.
Brook’s ball-striking was even more outrageous. He reached 50 in 19 balls, his fastest in T20Is, and his hitting over the off side was incredibly pure: five of his eight sixes flew over deep extra cover and long-off. From 85 off 35 balls after 16 overs, the only surprise was that he failed to reach three figures, as India’s seamers finally found the blockhole.
India fell behind the required rate immediately and never caught up with it. Ishan Kishan made 56 but could not get beyond fourth gear, and Thilak Varma’s bright 53 was too little, too late as Sam Curran closed a clinical win out. India’s most productive over, the 18th, brought 16 runs, after England had shown their ruthlessness with five overs of 20-plus.
Buttler endured a wretched T20 World Cup earlier this year and while he scored runs consistently at the IPL, his highest score for losing finalists Gujarat Titans was only 60. He is much closer to the end of his career than the start and will be 38 when the next T20 World Cup is played in late 2028, prompting doubts over his place in T20Is for the first time in his career.
He showed a glimpse of his form with 36 off 21 at Trent Bridge in the third T20I, but this felt like a statement innings from the moment that he got down to scoop his seventh ball for four off Prasidh Krishna. He reverse-slapped Arshdeep Singh for four then swatted his next ball for six, before passing Brook the baton as England accelerated through the middle overs.
Buttler had 72 off 44 when Prince Yadav returned to bowl the 15th over, and reached his hundred seven balls later; he crunched four consecutive boundaries – 4, 6, 6, 4 – off Prince, then hauled Axar for a towering six. He was dropped on 101 by Suryansh Shedge at deep cover and made him pay, drilling back-to-back sixes off Shivam Dube before holing out for 131.
Brook’s brilliance
It is hard to believe that Brook ever batted as low as No. 5 in T20Is, let alone as recently as mid-February. He gave Brendon McCullum credit for his promotion to No. 3 midway through the T20 World Cup but it is Brook himself who has made it work so well: across seven innings in the role, he has averaged 72.4 with a strike rate of 192.55.
Brook played with relentless attacking intent after Phil Salt’s early dismissal; when he charged at his first ball, India burned a review on an optimistic caught-behind appeal. He had a life of sorts off his fourth ball, as a back-tracking Dube made a total hash of a high chance at short third, then belted Prince’s next two balls over the square-leg boundary for six.
He punished both Axar and Shedge whenever they missed their length – and several times when they didn’t – and it took some excellent death-bowling from Arshdeep and Prasidh to deny him a second T20I hundred. He was dropped again on 91 by Ishan Kishan at deep square leg, but could only manage twos off the final two balls to finish 95 not out.
Access is a long-standing issue at the Utilita Bowl, which is served by a single-lane road and struggled to cope with Saturday’s capacity crowd on a sweltering summer’s day. Hampshire did not comment, but the delayed toss was both a source of embarrassment and a warning sign ahead of the venue’s first Ashes Test next summer.
India’s preparation was clearly disrupted by their abbreviated warm-up, but Iyer’s warning shot at the toss – that he did not want to see any players “sulking” – was a reflection of a team whose confidence has been dented by recent results. They were a mess in the field, with three drops and several misfields, and needed to pull off the second-highest chase in T20I history.
It was always a long shot. Sanju Samson, recalled after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s false start in international cricket, cracked two early sixes but chipped to cover-point; Kishan holed out to give Adil Rashid a wicket in his 150th T20I; and Varma edged behind the ball after reaching 50. It meant that, for the first time in a T20I series of four or more games, India ended winless.
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