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Bumrah and Ashwin beat England’s bazballers as India draw level
Bumrah’s figures of 3 for 46 in 17.2 overs were less spectacular than his first-innings six-for, but the timing of his breakthroughs was everything on a fraught fourth day – in particular, his priceless extraction of Jonny Bairstow on the stroke of lunch, a dismissal that capped a five-wicket session for India and left England’s chase with too far to run, having bursted out of the blocks with now typical gusto.
The loss was only England’s third in 11 fourth innings chases since the start of the Bazball era, and if a target of 399 had always seemed outlandish, their all-out total of 292 was still higher than the previous successful chase by a visiting team in India – West Indie’s 276 for 5 in Delhi in 1987-88.
For all of their endeavour, England will rue a handful of key moments that derailed their hopes – most particularly a lbw verdict against their most composed chaser, Zak Crawley, moments before the Bairstow extraction, and an atypically lax piece of running from the captain, Ben Stokes, that sawed off his ominously poised innings before it could cut loose. Joe Root, nursing a damaged finger, played a wild knock of 16 from 10 balls that begged several questions too, particularly given how composed England’s tail proved to be in adversity, most notably Tom Hartley, who was last man out for 36 from 47 balls.
The tone of England’s chase was established in the opening moments of the day. At one end, there was Crawley, all poise and calculation as he lined up India’s dangerman Bumrah and committed only to the balls that his 6’5″ frame could drive with impunity. At the other, there was Rehan Ahmed, a blur of ambitious strokeplay as he resolved to live dangerously and burgle his runs before India could get settled, as he did with a brace of boundaries in Axar Patel’s second over.
Rehan was there for a good time, not a long time, and Axar duly had the final word with a plumb lbw from round the wicket, but not before Rehan’s 23 from 31 balls had helped to add 45 runs in 11 overs for the second wicket. Out came Ollie Pope, the second-innings hero in Hyderabad, and as he too launched onto the offensive with a lasered drive for four first-ball, it was clear England weren’t about to go into their shells.
Crawley strode onto the front foot once more to dump Axar through long-off to reach a supremely measured 83-ball half-century, but while he sought to provide a very Bazball definition of an anchor, Pope was business personified in the course of a fleet-footed cameo. His faith in the sweep was a clear indication that the bounce had gone out of the surface, at least while Axar was in his sights, from whom he picked off all five of his boundaries in a 21-ball stay.
Brief scores:
India 396 (Yashaswi Jaiswal 209, James Anderson 3-47, Rehan Ahmed 3-65, Shoaib Bashir 3-138) and 225 (Shubman Gill 104, Tom Hartley 4-77) beat England 253 (Zak Crawley 76, Jasprit Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep Singh 3-71) and 292 (Zack Crawley 73, Jasprit Bumrah 3-46, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-72) by 106 runs
(Cricinfo)
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Lebanon parliament elects army chief Joseph Aoun as president
Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun has been elected as the country’s president after a second round of parliamentary voting, breaking a deadlock that has left the country without a head of state since October 2022.
Aoun only needed a simple parliamentary majority of 65 votes on Thursday afternoon to be elected as Lebanon’s new leader and members of parliament erupted in celebration as Aoun reached the number of votes required to be elected.
Earlier in the day, he fell short of the two-thirds majority of the 128-seat parliament to become president in the first round of voting. During the first round, he received support from 71 parliament members, 15 short of the required 86 votes.
The Mediterranean country has been without a president since the term of Michel Aoun – not related – ended in October 2022.
Tensions between Hezbollah movement and its opponents scuppered a dozen previous votes.
But international pressure has mounted for a successful outcome with just 17 days remaining in a ceasefire to deploy Lebanese troops alongside UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon after a Hezbollah-Israel war last autumn.
[Aljazeera]
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Appropriation Bill (2025) presented to Parliament
The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya presented the Bill entitled “Appropriation”to the Parliament today (Jan. 9th), to provide for the service of the financial year 2025.
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Hollywood Hills blaze rapidly expanding, fire chief says
A fire official says a blaze that broke out in Hollywood Hills is “rapidly expanding” after a mandatory evacuation order was issued in the area following the spread of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
California fire chief David Acuna told the BBC there had been “zero progress” in containing the fires because of high winds and dry conditions. “The wind has been blowing consistently at 60-100mph (95-160km/h) since yesterday morning,” Acuna said. “It actually blew harder last night.”
At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.
Wind speeds have dropped to about 30mph, but Acuna said “it is still significant and because there are a lot of open areas it is extremely dangerous”.
More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities – including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal – have been destroyed.
The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.
As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.
One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.
The fire in the Hollywood Hills – a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city – began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.
Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.
People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others – clearly surprised by the fire – wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.
Many of the roads near the fire – including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame – were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.
Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.
She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly through the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.
She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.
“I can’t believe this,” she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.
Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.
“They just told us to get out and go,” she said.
By Wednesday night Sunset Boulevard, the famous strip in West Hollywood, lay in ruins, according to reports in the LA Times.
Local residents told the newspaper banks, cafes and supermarkets they had frequented for decades were completely destroyed.
Michael Payton, store director of the Erewhon supermarket chain, said the shop, famous for its patronage by Los Angeles A-listers, had survived but that the area was levelled.
“The whole Palisades is done,” he told the newspaper, “The whole town is done. This is complete devastation.”
Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.
Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn’t move quickly enough to hydrants in the affected areas.
The city also doesn’t typically see fires of this magnitude – the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history – and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.
[BBC]
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