Latest News

Shanaka and Rathnayake blow Oman away with frenetic half-centuries

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/12

Priyan

Dasun Shanaka hit five sixes in his 20-ball 50 [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka’a powerful middle order blew Oman away in Pallekele, helping them sweep to a 105-run win. In perhaps the most one-sided game of the T20 World Cup so far, Dasun Shanaka struck Sri Lanka’s fastest ever T20I half-century, in 19 balls, while a 28-ball 60 from Pavan Rathnayake and 61 by Kusal Mendis propelled Sri Lanka to 225, this World Cup’s highest score and Sri Lanka’s second-highest in T20 World Cups.

Oman did strike early when Jay Odedra cleaned up Kamil Mishara, but the wickets they took never stymied the flow of runs. Pathum Nissanka was trapped up front off the first ball of the sixth over by Sufyan Mehmood, but it still went for 16. And the middle overs saw Mendis ensure the run rate only ever kept rising. The fireworks from Rathnayake and Shanaka in the second half of the innings powered Sri Lanka well beyond Oman’s batting capabilities.

The total was never likely to be challenged, and while Oman tried damage limitation, even that was less than successful. Dushmantha Chameera cleaned up Jatinder Singh first ball, and Oman went on to lose two more wickets in a powerplay where only 36 runs were scored. Maheesh Theekshana was sensational throughout his four-over spell, conceding just 11 runs, and made the task much easier for his fellow bowlers. Much of what followed was both sides largely going through the motions. Oman limped to 120, largely thanks to Mohammad Nadeem’s half-century – which makes him the oldest half-centurion at a men’s T20 World Cup. But it was little more than a footnote as Sri Lanka romped to victory in Pallekele’s first match at this World Cup.

In the overs when a bowling side might generally be expected to rein in the scoring, Oman’s disciplines wavered, and Sri Lanka made them pay. The three overs after the powerplay produced just 21 for Sri Lanka, but as Wasim Ali was wrapping up another tidy over, he overstepped, and then overstepped on the free-hit ball again. The over ended up leaking 17, and kicked off a four-over spell where 54 runs were scored. It set up the perfect platform for Rathnayake and Shanaka to exploit at the death.

By the 15th over, Sri Lanka were on course for a total beyond Oman’s reach, but the carnage was only just starting. Shanaka had made a sedate start, with seven in his first seven balls, but would need just 12 more to get to 50, beating his own Sri Lankan record for the fastest T20I half-century. It began with a six and a four off Jiten Ramanandi before Nadeem Khan was carted around for a 20-run over, and Sufyan for 19 more. The last five overs fetched the hosts 79, comfortably the highest at the death at this World Cup.

His wicket-taking days weren’t done, though, and he demonstrated a willingness to come on anytime the batters clawed the slightest momentum back. Dushan Hemantha was hit for two sixes in the 11th by Wasim Ali, and Theekshana was straight back on, and had Wasim caught behind before the over was out. He rounded out his spell with a miserly one-run over, finishing with 2 for 11, comfortably the most economical four-over spell this World Cup.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 225 for 5 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 13, Kusal Mendis 61, Pavan Rathnayake 60, Dasun Shanaka 50, Kamindu Mendis 19-; Jay Odedra 1-14, Sufiyan Mahmood 1-60. Jiten Ramanandi 2-41) beat Oman 120 for 9 in 20 overs (Mohammad Nadeem 53*, Wasim Ali 27; Maheesh Theekshana 2-11, Dushmantha Chameera 2-19, Dunith Wellalage 2-17, Dushan Hemantha 1-45, Kamindu Mendis 1-10) by 105 runs

[Cricinfo]

All News Advertisement

Foreign News

Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul

Published

53 mins ago

2026/02/12

Priyan

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his heir, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday.

Little is known about Kim Ju Ae, who in recent months has been pictured beside her father in high-profile events like a visit to Beijing in September- her first known trip abroad.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it took a “range of circumstances” into account including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events” in making this assessment.

The NIS also said it would keep close tabs on whether she will attend the North’s party congress later this month – its largest political event that is held once every five years.

The party Congress is where Pyongyang is expected to give more details about priorities like foreign policy, war planning and nuclear ambitions for the next five years.

On Thursday lawmaker Lee Seong-kwen told reporters that Ju Ae, who was previously described by the NIS as being “trained” to be a successor, was now at the stage of “successor designation”.

“As Kim Ju Ae has shown her presence at various events, including the founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army and her visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, and signs have been detected of her voicing her opinion on certain state policies, the NIS believes she has now entered the stage of being designated as successor,” Lee said.

Ju Ae is the only known child of Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The NIS believes Kim Jong Un has an older son, but this son has never been acknowledged nor shown on North Korean media.

News of Ju Ae’s existence first emerged through an unlikely source: the American basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to The Guardian newspaper back in 2013 that he “held baby Ju Ae” during a trip to the secretive state.

Ju Ae – who is believed to be 13 – made her first appearance on state television in 2022. She was shown inspecting North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile while holding her father’s hand.

She has since made frequent appearances on on state media, softening her father’s image of a ruthless dictator. She accompanied him to Beijing for China’s largest-ever military parade, where she was seen stepping off his armoured train at Beijing Railway Station.

She is often seen wearing her hair long, which is forbidden for her peers, and wearing designer clothes, which are out of reach for most in her country.

Another lawmaker, Park Sun-won said the role Ju Ae had taken on during public events indicated that she has started to provide policy input and is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader.

The North Korean power had passed down the three generations of the Kim family, and it is widely believed that Kim Jong Un will pass on the throne to Ju Ae.

In recent months, she was shown standing taller than her father, walking beside him, rather than following him.

In North Korea, where photos published by the state media are believed to carry a great symbolic weight, it is rare for individuals other than Kim Jong Un to be positioned equally prominently in the frame.

Although the South Korean spy agency now believes Ju Ae is the designated heir, it still raises questions.

It is puzzling why Ju Ae, a daughter, would be selected as the heir above an older son in North Korea’s deeply patriarchal society.

Many defectors and analysts had previously dismissed the idea of a woman leading North Korea as an unlikely scenario, referring to the country’s entrenched traditional gender roles. But Kim Jong Un’s sister – Kim Yo Jong – does offer a precedent for female authority in the regime.

Kim Yo Jong currently holds a senior position in the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and is reported to have influence over her brother.

However, it is also a mystery why Kim Jong Un, who is still young and appears relatively healthy, is already designating a 13-year-old child as his heir now.

It is unclear what changes Ju Ae’s succession may bring to North Korea.

Many North Koreans hoped that Kim Jong Un, a Western-educated young man, would open their country up to the outside when he succeeded his father.

Yet such hope was unfulfilled. Whatever plans this teenager may have for her country, she would likely have the singular power to shape it however she likes.

[BBC]

Latest News

Namibia look to make a splash with India battling injury and illness

Published

8 hours ago

2026/02/12

Priyan

India will look to make a statement after surviving a banana-peel contest against USA [Cricinfo]

February is usually a wonderful time in Delhi, when winter starts giving way to spring, but people are already complaining of a missed spring with temperatures hitting the late 20s as early as the second week of February. Even amid the climate change of the last decade or so, there has been one pattern: a late hailstorm typically brings back another week of chilly weather. An Indian Winter, if you will, Delhi’s response to Indian Summer, which is the term the English give to a late spell of hot weather when it should be autumn.

The fans, who will sell out the Feroz Shah Kotla even with schools turning down offers for free tickets for students to non-India matches because of looming board exams, will hope for a similar storm of sixes after a dry run in India’s tournament-opener. The anticipation for 300 in the Indian media has come in for some mockery, with the pitches not turning out as flat as they are in bilaterals, but at a venue with small boundaries that has turned high-scoring in recent IPL seasons, India will hope to get back to big-scoring ways after navigating a banana peel against USA on a gripping Wankhede surface.

Against them are Namibia who managed just 156 in Delhi against Netherlands and lost quite comfortably. They might still sense a chance as India struggle with fitness and health issues around Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharama and Washington Sundar, and will themselves be gunning to go big with the bat in a World Cup. What an opportunity for Namibia to make a name for themselves by stretching the strongest-ever contenders for a T20 World Cup.

When India were struggling against USA in the unfamiliar conditions laid out by Mumbai, it was Suryakumar Yadav’s blinder that gave them a match-winning score. That wretched year of 2025, during which he didn’t score a single fifty, seems well and truly behind him now. Suryakumar now has more match awards for India than anyone, having gone past Virat Kohli’s 16.

Namibia, another Associate side that like to open the bowling with a spinner, will hope Bernard Scholtz can repeat what he did against Netherlands. In defence of a paltry 156, the left-arm spinner took out opener Max O’Dowd and conceded just 27 in his four overs.

Washington has joined the Indian squad, but they have other health troubles in the side. Bumrah missed their first match with illness, and while he seems to have recovered and bowled full-tilt at the nets on Tueday, Abhishek has been struggling with a stomach issue. He reportedly played in Mumbai with fever, and it turned worse by the time the team reached Delhi, where he was hospitalised. Tilak Varma said on Wednesday that he has been discharged, but India will take a call on his availability on the day of the match. India might want to take their time with the big names, and in the process give some game time to the reserves.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma/Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah/ Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy.

Seventeen-year-old fast bowler Max Heingo bowled only two overs and went for 22 against Netherlands. Namibia could replace him with the more experienced Ben Shikongo.

Namibia (possible): Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (capt), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

US House votes to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada

Published

11 hours ago

2026/02/12

Priyan

[pic BBC]

The US House of Representatives has voted to rescind US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

In a 219 to 211 vote, six Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to back a resolution that seeks to end the tariffs Trump imposed on Canada last year.

The vote is largely symbolic as it will still need to be approved by the US Senate and then approved by Trump, who is very unlikely to sign it into law.

Since his re-election, Donald Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on Canada, recently threatening a 100% import tax in response to Canada’s proposed trade deal with China.

As the vote was taking place on the House floor, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time.”

“TARIFFS have given us Economic and National Security, and no Republican should be responsible for destroying this privilege,” he added.

The vote came after US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally in Congress, unsuccessfully tried to block discussion on the chamber’s floor by lawmakers on Trump’s tariffs.

With Republicans holding a thin majority in the US House, the six Republican defections along with a near-united front from Democrats was enough to secure the votes.

The measure had been introduced by Democrat Gregory Meeks who said that Trump had “weaponized tariffs” against allies and destabilized the global economy.

“Not only have these tariffs done immense harm to our relationship with Canada, pushing them closer to China, they have driven up prices here at home,” he said before the vote.

Representative Don Bacon from Nebraska was one of the six Republicans who crossed the aisle to join Democrats in approving the measure. Before the vote, he said “tariffs have been a ‘net negative’ for the economy and are a significant tax that American consumers, manufacturers, and farmers are paying.”

The bill now heads to the US Senate where Republicans also hold the majority. Even if it cleared that hurdle, it is unlikely to be signed into law.

Separately, Trump’s tariffs are also facing legal scrutiny as the US Supreme Court is set to rule soon on a case questioning the president’s legal authority to impose the levies.

Meeks, the top Democrat on the US House Foreign Affairs committee, said the measure on Canada is the first of several bills he plans to introduce that aim to roll back Trump’s signature trade action.

“Our fight doesn’t stop here,” he said in a video posted online before the vote. “I have resolutions also to end trump’s tariffs on Mexico, on Brazil, and on his Liberation Day global tariffs.”

[BBC]