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Carty 170 headlines West Indies’ massive series-levelling win

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Keacy Carty scored back-to-back centuries [Cricinfo]

Keacy Carty’s career-best 170 and supporting acts from Shai Hope and Justin Greaves helped West Indies hammer Ireland by 197 runs via the DLS method in the third ODI to draw the three-match series 1-1.

Carty hit his second hundred in as many games while Hope and Greaves scored half-centuries to power West Indies to their second highest ODI total before a fiery opening spell from Jayden Seales all but sealed the win for West Indies in the first eight overs of Ireland’s chase, which was shortened to 46 overs due to rain delays, with the target reset to 363.

Barry McCarthy was once again the star with the new ball for Ireland as he removed both openers by the fifth over. But Carty and Hope, for the second match in a row, stood firm for West Indies. Carty began with a flurry of confident cover drives and flicks, in contrast to his nervous start a couple of days ago.

Once the first ten overs were done, Carty was happy to slip into a support role, with Hope the aggressor in their 137-run partnership for the third wicket. Hope and Carty brought up half-centuries in consecutive overs, picking regular boundaries off debutant seamer Jordan Neill, before rain stopped play.

Neill, meanwhile, injured his shoulder while trying to make a diving stop at the boundary a couple of overs before the rain break, cutting his debut short.

When play resumed after a short rain delay, Harry Tector was brought into the attack and Hope welcomed him with a six over square leg.

Liam McCarthy created a few chances with his extra bounce. Carty’s cut off him went low to Tector at backward point but he was slow to react. Two balls later, Hope got an outside edge through the vacant slips cordon.

Hope kept the tempo up during his run-a-ball 75 before he tried to pull one that wasn’t short enough from McBrine and substitute fielder Thomas Mayes took a good catch diving in front from long-on.

There was a period of pressure from Ireland that saw them give away just 18 runs in five overs. But Amir Jangoo, who was stuck on 7 off 23 till then, lofted Liam McCarthy over his head for a six to release some pressure before Carty top-edged a pull for a six that took him into the 90s.

A cover drive off Tector in the next over took him to 97 before he edged a cut to bring up his hundred in the 38th over.

Carty kept going and milked Barry McCarthy for two boundaries in the next over. But Jangoo’s struggles came to an end as he tried to take on an arm ball from George Dockrell and holed out to long-off.

There was another rain delay with eight overs left. When play resumed, Carty dispatched Dockrell back over his head for a six first ball and lofted the next ball over long-on to reach his highest ODI score.

McBrine nearly had Greaves caught at deep midwicket, but Dockrell lost his balance and went over the boundary rope as he grabbed the catch. A sliced boundary over short third rubbed salt in the wound for McBrine.

A pulled four from Greaves took West Indies to 300 with five overs to go. Carty reached 150 off the first ball of the 46th over as Greaves kept attacking from the other end with two more boundaries off Liam McCarthy.

Carty smashed sixes off three consecutive legal deliveries off Barry McCarthy after Greaves hit one of his own in a 28-run 47th over. The last of those, by Carty, injured a cameraman at long-off, forcing another break in play.

When play resumed, Carty tried to go big again but picked out the deep-midwicket fielder, giving Liam McCarthy a much-deserved wicket.

Greaves continued to attack, reaching his half-century off 22 balls but chipped one to cover next ball to give Barry McCarthy his third wicket. While Barry McCarthy finished the series as the leading wicket-taker, he became the first Ireland bowler to concede 100 runs in a men’s ODI.

From there, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase delivered a few more blows to take West Indies to a mammoth total. West Indies scored 132 runs in the last eight overs, the third-most by any team in a men’s ODI, where ball-by-ball data is available.

More rain delayed the restart, but once the chase did begin with a revised target, Seales made immediate impact. With movement on offer, he got an inswinger to sneak in the gap between Andy Balbirnie’s bat and pad to crash into the stumps.

Paul Stirling continued to attack, hitting Forde for two sixes in the fifth over amid a flurry of boundaries, reaching 6000 ODI runs in the process.

Two overs later, however, Seales drew a top edge off an attempted cut to end Stirling’s cameo before getting the ball to seam in from well outside off as Harry Tector looked to leave, only to hear the death rattle. The double-wicket maiden all but ended any hopes of a fightback from Ireland.

Cade Carmichael and Lorcan Tucker put on a 72-run stand, with the former impressing in his second ODI innings, and he looked especially good pulling away the short balls, but Alzarri Joseph and Greaves sent them both back in the space of ten balls. From there on, it was just a formality for West Indies as they avoided back-to-back series defeats against Ireland, who were also two batters short with Neill and Little injured during the first innings.

Brief scores:
West Indies 385 for 7 in 50 overs (Keacy Carty 170, Shai Hope 75, Justin Greaves 50, Amir Jangoo 22, Barry McCarthy 3-100, Liam McCarthy 2-93) beat Ireland 165 in 29.5 overs (Paul Stirling 26, Cade Carmichael 48, Lorcan Tucker 29, GeorgeDockrell 23, Andy McBrine 28; Jayden Seales 3-26) by 197 runs (via DLS method)

[Cricinfo]



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Pakistan quicks seal win after Salman Agha ton sets tone

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Salman Agha celebrates reaching his fourth ODI hundred [Cricinfo]

Pakistan withstood a middle-order counterattack from Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage to see off Sri Lanka by 37 runs. In the first match of a tri-series that also includes England, the pair appeared to have put Sri Lanka on course with a 119-run fifth wicket partnership, with the visitors well in front and requiring just 55 from the last seven overs. Liyanage’s wicket, however, saw the bottom fall out of the side, with Sri Lanka losing their last five wickets for 15 runs to allow Pakistan to breathe a sigh of relief.

The win had been set up by Salman Agha, who marked his return to the Pakistan side with his fourth ODI hundred to hold off a collapse and steer the hosts past 300. By the 22nd over, Pakistan had lost four wickets, and looked vulnerable with a relatively long tail. However, Salman’s 90-ball 107 navigated Pakistan expertly out of danger with sizeable partnerships with Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas.

Sri Lanka deprived Shaheen Afridi’s side of a big finish, though, with Eshan Malinga and Asitha Fernando striking multiple blows in the death overs to ultimately bowl Pakistan out for 305. Those runs they had left on the table looked set to cost them dear at the climax of the context. The dew had set in, and Rathnayake and Liyanage were beginning to reverse Pakistan’s early dominance that had seen them skittle Sri Lanka’s top four with few dents made to the chase.

Afridi rotated his cast of bowlers, but aside from Naseem Shah, there appeared no remedy to the free flow of runs. Haris Rauf, Minhas, Saim Ayub and Afridi himself were all worked over, particularly by Rathnayake, who was especially methodical in the way he timed his innings to dance in tune to the required rate. Afridi was sensationally blown out of the attack with a pair of pulled sixes off the hips, in stark contrast to Pakistan’s own struggles against the short ball.

A pair of tight overs from Faheem Ashraf finally induced Rathnayake into a false stroke as he spooned one to Salman at short cover, only for Dasun Shanaka to pick up the slack. But with 53 runs to go, Liyanage chipped Rauf to long-on, and Pakistan blew the house down. Afridi prised Shanaka out the following over, and though the tail limped on briefly, it was only a matter of time.

Pakistan will look back fondly at their dominance in the first 25 overs, which closely mirrored Sri Lanka’s own success in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s top order was ineffective in keeping pace with the asking rate, and Naseem bowled a tidy spell up front, which included the wicket of Avishka Fernando. Ashraf took a sharp catch after Saad Baig dropped the skier, the allrounder showing good reflexes to scoop the ball up. It was, all told, a difficult evening behind the stumps for the debutant, and, in truth, a poor day out for Pakistan’s fielders throughout the innings.

Sri Lanka’s fortune with the toss had carried over to the ODI series, and they inserted Pakistan in Rawalpindi. There was early swing on offer, but it was the extra pace from Dilshan Madushanka that accounted for both openers. Ayub and Fakhar Zaman were both undone by the short delivery, leaving Babar Azam and Baig to rebuild.

The duo put on 74 and were beginning to get the asking rate ticking upwards. However, Babar’s frustrating recent knack of giving away auspicious starts reared its familiar head once more. Malinga was Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler through the innings, and he landed one short that rushed onto Babar, who was late on the pull just five shy of a half-century. Soon after Baig, who had shown promise as well as a willingness to pull rather than back away from bouncers, miscued one himself, holing out to deep fine leg.

It was precisely the sort of situation Salman – dropped from both the Test side and T20 captaincy in the last two months – thrives in, rebuilding during the middle overs of an ODI. He did so flawlessly, halting Sri Lanka’s momentum while staying on top of the run rate, keeping the strike ticking along, and adeptly covering for Nawaz, who had made a more sluggish start. He capitalised when Sri Lanka erred by turning prematurely to Kamindu Mendis’ spin, taking 11 off the 25th over to turn momentum around.

Sri Lanka began to look more toothless with the ball through those middle overs as Salman’s comfort grew. He dominated the stand and brought up his half-century off 48 balls. Nawaz had begun to loosen his shoulders too, illustrated by a six off legspinner Sachindu Colombage, but Asitha rooted him out the following over, ending the fifth-wicket stand ay 97. Salman played a similar shepherding role with Minhas for the sixth wicket, the pair putting on 64, with Salman once again taking on the lion’s share.

Twenty-six runs came off the 44th and 45th overs, but just as Pakistan looked for a big finish, Sri Lanka’s bowlers hit back. Minhas and Salman fell trying to hit sixes, and Pakistan’s lower order soon followed, with Malinga getting rid of Ashraf and Naseem off successive balls. A pair of lusty blows from Afridi allowed Pakistan to scratch past 300.

For long stretches of Sri Lanka’s chase, it appeared as if Pakistan’s unproductiveness in those death overs would cost them. Instead, on a dewy early autumn night in Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s pace attack – which shared nine wickets between them – ensured Salman’s efforts would not be wasted.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 305 in 49.5 overs (Babar Azam 45, Salman Agha 107; Eshan Malinga 4-46, Asitha Fernando 3-59, Dilshan Madushanka 2-67) beat Sri Lanka 268 in 48.1 overs (Kamindu Mendis 44, Pavan Rathnayake 79, Janith Liyanage 60; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-55, Naseem Shah 2-43, Haris Rauf 2-48, Faheem Ashraf 2-49) by 37 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Half a million people join protests in France, but some turn violent

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An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.

Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.

“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.

But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.

According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested.  Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall.  In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire  and shops were damaged.

French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.

Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.

(BBC)

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Deadly fire breaks out at Canada military base

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Defence Minister David McGuinty says there are casualties but did not go into details (BBC)

A large fire near a Canadian military base in Alberta has killed and injured some people, the defence minister said, without confirming the number of casualties.

The Canadian Armed Forces were working with local authorities to manage the fire and were looking into what caused it, David McGuinty said, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred, adding his “thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected”.

Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, where the fire broke out, is one of the country’s busiest military training bases.

The blaze “spread rapidly due to high winds” and had torn through the fences of the base, the Municipal District of Wainwright said.

McGuinty told reporters he “cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory”.

It is unclear when the fire broke out, but the district first posted about the incident at about 17:30 local time.

Local authorities have urged residents to avoid the area and give all emergency vehicles right of way.

(BBC)

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