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Akash Deep, Bumrah ensure India successfully avoid follow-on

Published

2 years ago

2024/12/17

Priyan

Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah shake hands after successfully avoiding the follow-on on Day 4 [Cricbuzz]

Australia, who were down to just two front-line pacers, saw more overs taken out of the game by rain and had their victory push thwarted by solid half-centuries from KL Rahul (85) and Ravindra Jadeja (77) as well as a dogged unbeaten 39-run stand for the last wicket between Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah that helped India avoid the follow-on. India ended the day still 193 adrift of Australia’s 445 but Australia will now have a maximum of 98 overs, weather permitting, to close out India’s innings, build a quick lead and then give their Hazelwood-less bowling attack enough time to push for victory.

In the absence of their fast bowling partner, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc toiled for 18.5 and 16 overs respectively on the fourth day and might have even paved the doors for victory with a little bit of luck. Cummins was denied off the very first ball of the day’s play when Rahul, resuming on 33, edged a length ball only for Steve Smith to put down a regulation chance at second slip.

Viewed with the benefit of hindsight, it turned out to be a pivotal moment in the day for India, whose batting travails in a heavily-truncated third day’s play meant they already faced a tough prospect to get to 246 – the magic number that would force Australia to bat again and ensure further time taken away from the game. India recovered from almost being 51 for 5 before eventually being reduced to 74 for 5 inside that first hour of play.

Captain Rohit Sharma, the other overnight batter, was made to pay for his first mistake after being worked over by Cummins in his probing five-over burst. The Australia skipper played with the out-of-form Rohit’s weight transfers by bowling a sharp, short ball before a follow-up full delivery, which as it turned out wasn’t full enough for the drive. Sensing a rare scoring opportunity, Rohit reached for it and feathered an edge to the ‘keeper with the ball still only 23 overs old.

It was then that Rahul and Jadeja got together to stitch India’s best partnership of the innings. Both batters batted with great control with Rahul, in particular, continuing to make good decisions after getting into good positions with his technique. He picked only the really full deliveries for his shots as well as favouring the square drive to the more expansive variant towards extra cover. He waited for the bowlers to bowl straighter to him, which he then flicked, tucked away or on-drove.

As has been the case through the series, batting got significantly easier once the ball was more than 30-overs-old and Rahul and Jadeja added risk-free runs before the 67-run stand was ended against the run of play by Smith, who atoned for his earlier drop by anticipating and leaping to his right to hold on to Rahul’s attempted cut off Nathan Lyon.

Jadeja set about putting together another half-century stand with Nitish Reddy as Australia now faced a race against time with only 13.2 overs of play possible through the middle session during which time Jadeja, playing his first game of the series, got to his 22nd Test match fifty. The seventh-wicket pair managed to see off a Starc spell after 67-minute rain delay but weren’t as lucky against Cummins, who produced a nip backer to Reddy that dislodged his bails via an inside edge. At that stage, India still needed 51 to avoid the follow on with only the three fast bowlers left to partner Jadeja.

India had Siraj batting at No.9 and Jadeja’s decision to leave him to face six deliveries from Starc proved to be a mistake as the left-arm quick found the outside edge of the tailender for a sharp catch behind the stumps. Jadeja tried to farm the strike with Bumrah and managed to add a six off Lyon followed by a fortuitous four off Cummins before a well laid out short ball plan ended the all-rounder’s innings on 77, with Cummins grabbing his fourth wicket.

At that stage India were still 33 runs away from making Australia bat again, but Deep and Bumrah held firm against a two-man pace attack that was now visibly crumbling under the bowling loads it had undertaken. Bumrah got inside the line to a Cummins bouncer and pulled him for a six before starting to calmly nudge singles in the gaps. Deep added another crucial boundary by slashing Starc over the cordon.

India had come to within 14 runs off the follow-on mark when Cummins was forced to go back to Lyon to replace Starc. The Australia captain willed himself on to keep bowling from the other end in search of the last wicket, which would have brought him another five-fer, and ended up conceding seven runs off his 20th over. In his 21st, he was edged over the cordon for a four by Deep which took India past the important milestone. As if to celebrate the moment, which was marked with much gusto in the Indian dressing room, Deep slogged Cummins for a six over deep mid-wicket before the umpires took the player off for bad light.

Brief scores:
India 252/9 (KL Rahul 84, Ravindra Jadeja 77; Pat Cummins 4-80) trail Australia 445 (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101; Jasprit Bumrah 6-76) by 193 runs.

[Cricbuzz]

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Flood warning issued to the Divisional Secretariat Divisions of Ganga Ihala Korale, Udapalatha, Doluwa, Udunuwara, Yatinuwara, Gangawata Korale, Harispattuwa, and Pathadumbara

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/20

Priyan

Due to heavy rainfall received in the upper catchment areas of the Mahaweli River over the past few hours, there is a risk of minor flooding in the low-lying areas surrounding the Mahaweli River within the Divisional Secretariat Divisions of Ganga Ihala Korale, Udapalatha, Doluwa, Udunuwara, Yatinuwara, Gangawata Korale, Harispattuwa, and Pathadumbara.Residents living in the above mentioned areas and motorists using roads passing through these areas are urged to exercise extreme caution and remain highly vigilant regarding the prevailing situation.

Furthermore, residents living in close proximity to the Mahaweli River in these areas are advised to remain highly alert to the situation and take all necessary precautions to protect themselves from any potential flooding.The relevant disaster management authorities are requested to take all necessary measures in response to this situation.

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Landslide Red Alerts issued to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/20

Priyan

The National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] has issued landslide Red Alerts to the districts of Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya effective from 14:00 hrs on 20.09.2026 To 14:00 hrs on 21.09.2026

Accordingly,
LEVEL III [RED] Land Slide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pasbage Korale in the Kandy district, Dehiowita, Aranayake, Deraniyagala, Mawanella and Yatiyanthota in the Kegalle district and Kothmale West, Kotmale East, Ambagamuwa and Norwood in the Nuwara Eliya district

LEVEL II [AMBER] Land Slide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Padukka in the Colombo district, Nagoda, Thawalama and Neluwa in the Galle district, Bulathsinhala, Palindanuwara, Walallawita and Agalawatta in the Kalutara district, Ganga Ihala Korale in the Kandy district, Bulathkohupitiya and Kegalle in the Kegalle district, Akuressa and Pitabeddara in the Matara district, Thalawakele in the Nuwara Eliya district and Pelmadulla, Ratnapura, Ayagama, Kuruwita and Ratnapura in the Ratnapura district.

LEVEL I [YELLOW] Land Slide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Seethawaka in the Colombo district, Niyagama and Baddegama in the Galle district, Mirigama in the Gampaha district, Ingiriya in the Kalutara district, Udapalatha and Yatinuwara in the Kandy district, Galigamuwa, Warakapola and Ruwanwella in the Kegalle district, Kotapola, Pasgoda and Athuraliya in the Matara district, and Eheliyagoda, Kalawana and Elapatha in the Ratnapura district.

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Shafali dazzles with 49-ball unbeaten 100 and India march into Asian Games final

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/20

Priyan

Shafali Verma raises her bat after scoring her maiden ton in white-ball internationals [BCCI]

A 49-ball unbeaten hundred from Shafali Verma and three-wicket hauls apiece for Nandani Sharma and Deeoti Sharma helped India march into the final of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

Batting first in Nisshin against Bangladesh, India posted 195 for 4, with Shafali bringing up her maiden white-ball international hundred off the final ball of the innings. She pummelled nine sixes and three fours in an innings that left Bangladesh needing a record chase to reach the final.

Smriti Mandhana gave India a rapid start with a 19-ball 37, during which she became the leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is, while Harmanpreet Kaur found some form with a 33-ball 40 from No. 4.

India’s innings began with a 36-ball opening stand of 72, with Shafali setting the pace by smashing 34 off her first 17 deliveries, while Mandhana initially played second fiddle before gaining pace. G Kamalini, at No. 3, failed to make use of another opportunity, while Richa Ghosh made only two. Harmanpreet started sluggishly, as she has tended to in the recent past, but overcame those early struggles to land some lusty blows towards the end of the innings. She added 94 off 55 balls with Shafali for the third wicket.

Bangladesh never seriously threatened the target. Dilara Akter made 27 at the top of the order, but opening partner Juairiya Ferdous was dismissed for a duck and Bangladesh’s Nos. 3 to 5 were unable to get going. Sultana Khatun, batting at No. 9, was their second-highest scorer with just 12.

Nandani got the first wicket in the second over after which fellow new-ball bowler Kranti Gaud delivered a second blow in the third over. Shree Charani then sent Nigar Sultana back in the final over of the powerplay to leave Bangladesh at 38 for 3.

There was no way in as Bangladesh failed to get any partnership going and a double-wicket 11th over from Nandani exposed the tail. Deepti then trapped Marufa Akter lbw and had Sanjida Akter holing out in the 16th over to complete the resounding win.

India will now face Sri Lanka in the gold-medal match, a repeat of the final from 2023. Bangladesh will meet Pakistan for the bronze-medal fixture.

Scores:
India Women 195 for 4 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 37, Shafali Verma 100*, Harmanpreet Kaur 40: Marufa Akter 1-43, Sanjida Akter Meghla 1-25, Rabeya Khan 1-35, Nahida Akter 1-45) beat Bangladesh Women 81 in 15.4 overs (Dilara Akter 27, Sharmin Akhter 10, Sultana Khatun 12*; Kranti Gaud 1-20, Nandani Sharma 3-25. Shree Charani 2-07, Shreyanka Patil 1-22, Deepti Sharma 3-07) by 114 runs

[Cricinfo]