Sports
Karan the hero as Nepal beat Scotland in dramatic finish
Nepal beat Scotland in most dramatic circumstances in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Dundee on Monday when, off what turned out to be the last ball of the match, Scotland appeared to have got the last wicket – which would have pushed the game to a Super Over – but a delayed signal for wide from the umpire broke their hearts, and sparked joy in the Nepal camp.
Here’s what happened.
It was Mrk Watt, the left-arm spinner, with the ball, and Karan KC on strike off the penultimate ball of the match. Watt went around the wicket and speared the ball in, but missed his mark. Karan, almost running before the ball had reached him, attempted a flick but missed. Matthew Cross behind the stumps failed to gather – though that would be rendered irrelevant eventually – scrambled around to pick up the rogue ball, and somehow managed to break the stumps even as Nepal’s last man, Rijan Dhakal put in a dive.
The moment the stumps were broken, the Scotland players rushed about the pitch celebrating. It took them a few seconds to realise that the umpire had called the ball a wide. Karan, running towards the umpire, spotted the signal and raised his bat even as Watt and the other Scotland players were also milling about with arms raised. The shoulders drooped immediately. It was the Nepal last pair doing the celebrating now.
Cue, a pitch invasion. The Nepal players were all over Karan, the all-round hero of the win. He was lifted on to shoulders soon after. The Scotland players walked off dejected, knowing that it was, indeed, a wide and they had nothing to challenge.
“What a finish. It was all confusion. I don’t think I even know what happened,” the commentator said on the broadcast. It was that sort of finish.
That it came to that situation was down, to a large extent, because of Karan.
The Nepal reply stuttered after a good start as they lost wickets in clumps. And especially when they went from 152 for 2 to 192 for 7 – right-arm quick Brandon McMullen triggering the slide with the big wickets of Bhim Sharki, Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee – Scotland were clear favourites.
Enter Karan again. He first put on a 60-run stand for the eighth wicket with Gulsan Jha, who scored 42 in 30 balls, and then did it all on his own, finishing with 65 not out off 41 balls with three fours and four sixes.
It was Nepal’s highest successful chase in ODIs, but they are still down at No. 7 on the eight-team table, while Scotland are at No. 4.
Brief scores:
Nepal 297 for 9 in 49.5 overs (Karan KC 65*, Kushal Bhurtel 53, Gulsan Jha 42, Bhim Sharki 40, Rohit Paudel 37; Brandon McMullen 3-47,Michael Leask 2-40, Jack Jarvis 2-42) beat Scotland 296 for 7 in 50 overs (Charlie Tear 80, Finlay McCreath 55, Richie Berrington 40, Matthew Cross 39; Karan KC 2-43, Sompal Kami 2-66, Rijan Dhakal 2-78) by one wicket
[Cricinfo]
With the objective of enhancing the living conditions of the agricultural community and increasing the contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP, ‘Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme’ is being implemented with the financial contribution form the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation is
implementing the program in collaboration with the Regional Development Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. All recoveries from loans provided under the program shall be directed to a revolving fund titled the “Sustainable Agricultural Fund”, which shall be utilized exclusively for the provision of
agricultural loans. Using the said fund, it is proposed to implement an agricultural loan scheme titled the “Sustainable Agriculture Programme” for individuals and institutions engaged in agriculture and related activities.
It is expected that an amount of Rs. 800 million from the funds available in the Sustainable Agriculture Fund will be allocated for the implementation of the Sustainable Agriculture Program in the year 2026.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal made by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to implement the “Sustainable Agriculture Program” loan scheme through the Participatory Finance Institution as an annual program from the year 2026.
The BCCI has raised the match fees in women’s domestic cricket, from INR 20,000 to INR 50,000 per day, for those in the first XIs in senior competitions. The decision was taken at an Apex Council meeting on Monday in Mumbai.
Those in the reserves are entitled to half that amount (INR 25,000 per day). There has also been a revision at the age-group level, with players part of the first XIs set to earn INR 25,000 a day, and reserves earning INR 12,500.
Until now, the age-group players used to take home INR 10,000 a day if they were in the XI, while the reserves made INR 5000. This fee structure totalled to a little more than INR 2 lakh a season if they played all league fixtures, including the final. That figure will now be in the region of INR 5 lakh.
The changes are part of BCCI’s ongoing efforts to elevate the domestic game in the wake of India’s maiden ODI World Cup triumph, amid calls within the system to have a relook at match fees.
ESPNcricinfo understands that several top state coaches and players had requested such a change internally to help expand an existing talent pool that the WPL has helped amplify. The pay revision at the junior level stems from a growing interest in the game among younger women, with India emerging champions in back-to-back editions of the Under-19 World Cup.
In 2022, the BCCI had put the match fees of the women’s national team at par with that of men, meaning those playing a Test took home INR 15 lakh per match, while the corresponding amounts for an ODI and a T20I stood at INR 6 lakh and INR 3 lakh respectively.
There has, however, been no change in central contract figures, with those ranked in the highest grade taking home INR 50 lakh, which is less than the lowest pay slab for the men.
[Cricinfo]
Gede Priandana, Indonesia’s 28-year-old right-arm quick bowler, has become the first to pick up five wickets in an over in an international T20I match (where ball-by-ball data is available), achieving the feat in the first T20I against Cambodia in Bali on Tuesday. He is the first man or woman to achieve the feat.
Indonesia had the upper hand in the game, but Cambodia were not out of it yet at the end of the 15th over of the chase of 168, the scorecard reading 106 for 5. Bowling his first over, Priandana struck off the first three balls to record a hat-trick, sending back Shah Abrar Hussain, Nirmaljit Singh and Chanthoeun Rathanak. A dot ball followed, after which Priandana got rid of Mongdara Sok and Pel Vennak to finish off the match, Cambodia getting just one run in the over, a wide between the last two wickets, to end 60 runs short.
Priandana had earlier scored 6 in 11 balls opening the innings alongside Dharma Kesuma, the wicketkeeper-batter, who led the batting show for Indonesia with an unbeaten 110 in 68 balls with eight fours and six sixes.
The feat has, however, been achieved twice before in men’s T20s. Al Amin Hossain took five wickets in an over against Abahani Limited playing for UCB-BCB XI in the Victory Day T20 Cup in 2013-14. The other was when Karnataka’s Abhimanyu Mithun dismissed five Haryana batters in the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019-20.
While this is the first time a bowler has taken five in an over in an international game, there have been 14 instances of a bowler taking four in an over before today. The most famous of these was when Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga famously took four in four balls in the third over of a T20Is against New Zealand in 2019.
[Cricinfo]
Implementation of the loan scheme, “Sustainable Agriculture Program”
Cabinet nod to implement ‘Suraksha’ Student Insurance Programme in the year 2025 / 26
Establishment of Consultancy Boards for strengthening and promoting local production industries.
Match fees more than doubled for women’s domestic cricketers in India
National progress can be achieved only when everyone fulfills the responsibilities entrusted to them with steadfast determination, unity of purpose and resilience in the face of any challenge – President
Indonesia’s Gede Priandana becomes first to pick five wickets in an over in T20Is
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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