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Kohli, Jadeja lead India’s revival with century stand
Virat Kohli, playing his 500th international game, led India’s revival along with Ravindra Jadeja following an inspired bowling performance from West Indies in the second session of the second Test in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Half-centuries from Rohit Sharma (80) and Yashavi Jaiswal (57) helped India to a solid start after being asked to bat, as they added 139 in quick time. However, West Indies hit back with regular strikes in the second session as India slipped to 182/4. But thanks to Kohli’s unbeaten 87 and his unbroken 106-run stand with Jadeja, India managed to end the first day’s play at 288/4 on Thursday (July 20).
Kohli and Jadeja went about it watchfully at the start of the third session with West Indies maintaining disciplined lines. Apart from the singles and occasional twos, the two concentrated on mostly defending and leaving deliveries at the start of their association. As the partnership began to develop, Kohli capitalised on a full delivery from Kemar Roach to cream it through covers for a four and he even drove a Roach delivery on the up for a boundary. There was also a thick outside edge for a four off Kohli’s bat while Jadeja got his first four by executing a cover drive off Roach.
Jadeja’s second four also came off a cover drive, this time off Alzarri Joseph, before drove one uppishly off Jomel Warrican to bring up his half-century and extend the partnership past fifty. Jadeja then guided a Joseph delivery between point and gully for his third four and the bowler hit back by attempting short-ball tactics at the left-hander, troubling him a couple of times. But Jadeja did manage to put away one for a boundary, so did Kohli as India crossed the 250 mark. Kohli put away a full ball from Warrican through covers for a four to enter the 80s and stretch the partnership to 100. With their over-rate on the slower side, West Indies operated with spinners and didn’t opt for the second new ball. Both batters went back unbeaten at Stumps, with West Indies bowling only 84 overs in the day’s play despite the 30-minute extension.
Earlier, India rode on a powerful platform provided by Rohit and Jaiswal, who both got past fifty in the first session. They collected 14 fours and three sixes between them before Lunch as India scored at a rate of 4.65. There wasn’t much help for the pacers as well as the spin of Warrican, which made the decision at the toss by West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite questionable. The bowling too was wayward at times, allowing Rohit to pull a couple across the fence, with the second six helping him get to fifty off 74 ball.
Jaiswal, at the other end, was a lot quicker to get to his half-century as he struck two successive fours off Roach to reach the mark off 49 deliveries, shortly after the openers raised their second successive century partnership. Holder created a genuine chance when he got Jaiswal to edge one that seamed away but Alick Athanaze failed to take a low chance diving forward at first slip as the Indian openers walked back unbeaten at Lunch, having scored 121 at a rate of 4.65 in the first session.
West Indies, however, hit back strongly after the break to dominate a session for the first time in this series. Only 61 runs came off 24.4 overs in the second session, with India losing four wickets. Jaiswal fell to Holder as he got an outside edge attempting a big drive, handing a catch to debutant Kirk McKenzie placed at a deep, wide gully position. Shubman Gill cut away a couple behind square for boundaries but his innings was cut short by Roach who had the No.3 out caught behind. To add to India’s problems, Rohit was bowled by a flighted delivery from Warrican which turned away a touch after being angled in.
West Indies were even more frugal in the hour before Tea. Kohli took 21 deliveries to get off the mark, playing a straight drive off Joseph for a boundary, while Ajinkya Rahane also remained watchful as the fourth wicket pair got into damage control mode. Kohli also struck a cover drive for a four off Joseph but was quiet otherwise. India suffered another setback just before the break as Shannon Gabriel, who was included in place of Rahkeem Cornwall, had Rahane bowled off an inside edge.
The second game of the series marked the 100th Test between West Indies and India, with both captains being presented with commemorative plaques before the start of the match. There were two debutants in the game, with India getting in pacer Mukesh Kumar in place of Shardul Thakur while left-handed batter McKenzie replaced Raymon Reifer for West Indies.
Brief scores:
India 288/4 (Virat Kohli 87*, Rohit Sharma 80, Yashavi Jaiswal 57; Jason Holder 1-30, Jomel Warrican 1-55) vs West Indies.
Three prison guards attached to the Welikada Prison have been arrested by Borella Police following the death of an inmate on Monday (04).
Spanish police have seized what is thought to be a national record haul of cocaine from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Between 30,000 to 45,000kg were found when the Civil Guard intercepted a freighter in international waters, the body’s main union, the AUGC, announced. It called the move a “historic blow to drug trafficking”.
The vessel was intercepted off Spain’s Canary Islands on Friday and around 20 people were arrested, the AUGC told the AFP news agency. It had travelled from Sierra Leona and was on its way to Libya.
The Civil Guard has declined to give details of the investigation for legal reasons.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid that the seizure was “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally”.
The Civil Guard shared a photograph on X showing the drugs stuffed into the hold of the intercepted vessel.
“Today history is being written in the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard,” it wrote.
“Intercepted in international waters the largest known seizure: between 30,000 and 45,000 kg of cocaine on board a freighter.”
While the boat was headed to Libya, AFP reported that the pattern of previous operations suggests that it was due to offload the drugs onto smaller vessels for distribution in Europe.
In January, Spanish authorities made its biggest seizure of cocaine at sea from a ship that was carrying almost 10 tonnes.
[BBC]
Three people have died and a UK national is seriously ill in hospital after a suspected hantavirus outbreak on a small cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operator of the MV Hondius ship, tour company Oceanwide Expeditions, said a Dutch husband and wife, as well as a German national, had died but the cause has not yet been established.
However, the Dutch company said hantavirus has been confirmed in the case of the 69-year-old UK national who is in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hantavirus is usually passed to humans from rodents via their faeces, saliva or urine. It can cause severe respiratory illness. Rarely, it can be transmitted between people.
The MV Hondius vessel is currently off the coast of Cape Verde and has 149 people onboard.
Oceanwide Expeditions said there were also two crew members on board “with acute respiratory symptoms, one mild and one severe”.
They were of British and Dutch nationality and both required urgent medical care, it said. It said it had not been established that hantavirus had been confirmed in the pair. And it added that no other persons with symptoms had been identified.
Negotiations are in progress with local authorities following what Oceanwide Expeditions described as “a serious medical situation”.
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s minister of health, said of the British patient that he was critical and had been admitted to a private facility.
“He’s being taken care of. As you know, hantavirus, like all viruses, don’t have any specific treatment, so they are giving symptomatic treatment and support as much as they could.”
He said health workers and anyone who had contact with the patient would now be traced and tested.
Outlining a timeline, the company said a passenger had become unwell while onboard and died on 11 April.
His cause of death could not be determined, and his body was taken off the ship after it docked at St Helena on 24 April.
The passenger’s wife also disembarked on St Helena and the firm said it was told she had become unwell during the return journey and later died.
“At this time, it has not been confirmed that these two deaths are connected to the current medical situation on board,” it added.
On 27 April, the firm said, another passenger – the British national – became seriously ill and was “medically evacuated” to South Africa.
The 69-year-old remains in a critical but stable condition in Johannesburg after it was confirmed a variant of hantavirus had been identified.
The firm added that on Saturday, a third passenger onboard MV Hondius died.
The cause of death has not been established, Oceanwide Expeditions said. It confirmed the passenger was German.
Oceanwide Expeditions said the cause of the deaths were being investigated.
“The disembarkation of passengers, medical evacuation and medical screening require permission from, and co-ordination with, the local health authorities,” it said. “Local health authorities have visited the vessel and assessed the situation.
“The medical transfer of the two ill persons on board has not yet taken place.”
It added that the option of sailing on to Las Palmas or Tenerife was being considered “to be the gateway for disembarkation, where further medical screening and handling could take place”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “acting with urgency” to support the MV Hondius, and thanked South African authorities for taking care of the British patient.
WHO’s regional director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, said: “I am in close contact with our teams to ensure a co-ordinated, science-based response.
“Hantavirus infections are uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents.
“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people. The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”
According to the South African government, MV Hondius departed from Ushuaia in southern Argentina about three weeks ago, before it completed its journey to Cape Verde, where it is anchored outside the capital, Praia.
It is described as a 107.6m (353ft) polar cruise ship, with space for 170 passengers in 80 cabins, along with 57 crew members, 13 guides and one doctor.
One passenger onboard the MV Hondius, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “The latest word is that a plane is on its way and once it gets here three people will be evacuated from the ship and flown straight to Europe.
“Then the rest of us will almost certainly sail to the Canary Islands.
“The Cape Verde authorities clearly want nothing to do with us. This is what we’re hearing from the captain and staff. From what I can see the mood (on the ship) is pretty good.
“Only one person has been tested (the one now in South Africa) and he tested positive for hantavirus. So, we don’t actually know yet if the other cases are that or something unrelated.
“If they are all hantavirus then the transmission is a bit mysterious. We’ve been informed that there are no rodents on board, and person-to-person transmission is difficult/rare.
“Hopefully the other patients on board will be tested soon and then we’ll know better what’s going on.”
President of the Cape Verdean Public Health Institute, Maria Da Luz, said passengers would not be disembarking in Cape Verde in order to protect the local population, Cape Verde’s media outlet A Nacao reports.
Oceanwide Expeditions said strict precautionary measures were in process on board, including isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.
“All passengers have been informed and are being supported,” it said.
“Oceanwide Expeditions is in close contact with those directly involved and their families, and is providing support where possible.”
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles told the BBC the time between people being exposed to hantavirus and showing symptoms could be anywhere from one to eight weeks.
“With this incubation period are we going to see more people coming down with the disease in the next days and weeks?”
The UK Foreign Office told the BBC it was monitoring reports, and ready to support British nationals.
Hantavirus was in the headlines last year after the wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus in March 2025.
[BBC]
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