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Nepal fall short by one run as Shamsi leads South Africa into Super Eight with spotless record
It was heartbreak for Nepal and their fans in Kingstown as they fell short by only one run against South Africa in a final-ball nail-biting encounter.
Fans and players alike were in tears since the result also eliminated Nepal from Super Eight contention at theT20 World Cup 2024. South Africa made a clean sweep of the group stage with four wins in four, riding on Tabraiz Shamsi’s 4 for 19 that dragged his side back into the contest with a stunning 18th over.
But for so very long, the game seemed Nepal’s to lose. Their spinners had spun a web around South Africa to limit them to a subpar 115 for 7 – even on a difficult, turning track – and then with the bat they had reduced the equation down to 25 needed off 30 with seven wickets in hand.
Shamsi though, in for Keshav Maharaj, turned the game with a double-wicket 18th over, including that of the set Assif Sheikh (42 off 49). The dots that followed raised the required rate, but two powerful late strikes from Sompal Kami and 18-year-old Gulsan Jha took the game down to two off two balls. But Ottneil Baartman bowled two dots as Nepal failed to get bat on ball both times, and a desperate attempt at a last-gasp run left them inches short in the end.
Possibly scarred by their earlier outings in the tournament, South Africa began the game a touch too cautiously, and in the process quite possibly wasted the best of the batting conditions.
While their score of 38 for 1 in the powerplay was their best of the tournament, South Africa were guilty of waiting for loose deliveries as opposed to putting the bowlers off their lines early on. Nepal for their part, rarely strayed in their lines and lengths and once the spinners took hold never looked back.
Sandeep Lamichhane’s first delivery spat 6.2 degrees as it gripped and turned past Reeza Hendricks’ defence, and that set the tone as South Africa rarely looked comfortable against the turning ball from that point on. While Lamichhane would end wicketless, his probing spell went for just 18 runs in what was his first outing of the tournament in Nepal’s first game outside the USA. But in Dipendra Singh Airee (3 for 21) and Khushal Bhurtel (4 for 19), Nepal had enough spin bowling to exploit the conditions, with the pair accounting for all seven South African wickets.
South Africa did their best to negotiate the conditions with a steady approach, but despite run-a-ball stands of 22 and 46 for the first two wickets, they weren’t able to up their gears. Only Tristan Stubbs, who scored 27 in 18 balls from No. 8, scored at a strike-rate of over 100.
In all, Nepal bowled spin for 14 overs, including the final over of the innings. There Bhurtel grabbed two wickets for nine runs, and the end meant Nepal had conceded only 58 runs in the back end for six wickets, after conceding only 57 in the first ten.
Nepal were provided an early reprieve when Kagiso Rabada dropped a catch. After that, Nepal opted for risk-free cricket as they lumbered to 32 at the end of the powerplay without losing a wicket. With spin playing such a pivotal role though, Shamsi’s introduction was always going to prove critical in the game and so it proved.
In just his first over he disturbed the stumps of both Bhurtel and Rohit Paudel to bring South Africa roaring back into the game. After seeing out Shamsi’s next over, both Aasif and Anil Shah sought to rebuild. Sah was the first to raise the ante as a pair of boundaries off Anrich Nortje boosted their rate, before a six off Shamsi brought about genuine belief of a win. Sheikh joined in an over later taking Rabada for six and four, with the pair reaching their fifty partnership off just 36 deliveries.
With just one frontline spinner in the XI, South Africa knew they’d have to time Shamsi’s reintroduction perfectly. Aiden Markram, with his part-time offbreaks, had ended the Sah-Sheikh stand, but Airee was determined to stick in with the set Sheikh.
But enter Shamsi. His third delivery of the 18th turned down the leg side, but Airee’s attempted pull got a feather touch to Quinton de Kock. So light was the touch that Airee reviewed thinking he hadn’t touched it. Shamsi then grabbed the big fish off his final delivery, ripping one through Aasif’s bat and pad to clatter into the stumps. By the time he was done, Nepal needed 16 off 12.
Shamsi’s over was backed up by Nortje, who sent down four consecutive dot deliveries to start the penultimate over – including one which took off the top of Kushal Malla’s middle stump. That left Nepal needing 16 off eight, with them needing at least one big hit before it got too late.
And so delivered Kami, unleashing a monstrous 105-metre pull that sent the ball sailing out of the stands. It meant Nepal needed eight off the final over, and when the young Jha found a boundary over cover to make it four runs off three balls, the Nepal fans took their cameras out in hope of capturing a potentially historic moment.
A hard-run two off the next delivery showed they’d understood the brief precisely, but a pair of expertly executed slower bouncer by Baartman off the final two deliveries proved too good to get away. A desperate run off a bye off the final ball might have led to a Super Over, but as the ball deflected off Jha, it was picked up by Klaasen lurking near the stumps, and flicked to the non-striker’s end. Jha was short and Nepal were out.
Brief scores:
South Africa 115 for 7 in 20 overs (Reeza Hendricks 43, Tristan Stubbs 27*; Kushal Bhurtel 4-19, Dipendra Singh Airee 3-21) beat Nepal 114 for 7 in 20 overs (Aasif Sheikh 42, Anil Sah 27; Anrich Nortje 1-27, Tabraiz Shamsi 4-19, Aiden Markram 1-08) by one run
[Cricinfo]
The Philippine House of Representatives has voted to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte for a second time, threatening her plan to run for president in 2028.
Monday’s vote moves the impeachment process to the Senate for trial, where if convicted, the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte will be disqualified from holding public office.
The 47-year-old is leading early surveys to replace her ally-turned-bitter foe, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The case against the vice-president stemmed from her alleged misuse of public funds and public threats against Marcos, his wife and his cousin, the former House speaker.
Duterte was impeached on the same grounds in 2025, but the Supreme Court blocked it on a technicality before the
senate trial could start.
The case was revived this year. Last week, a House committee that looked into the evidence against the vice-president ruled that there was sufficient grounds to impeach her.
Duterte described the case as “nothing more than a scrap of paper” in a formal written response. She refused to appear in the committee hearings which she said had been politically motivated.
After the impeachment vote on Monday, Duterte’s defence counsel said in a statement that “the burden now rests on the accusers to substantiate their claims” according to the law.
Monday night’s impeachment vote served as a barometer of Marcos’ support in the House. 257 of the 290 lawmakers in attendance voted to impeach Duterte, more than the one-thirds required to advance the case to trial.
But unlike in the House, a conviction in the Senate is uncertain, if a trial does start and runs its course.
In Philippine politics that is dominated by patronage and dynastic alliances, House members, who are elected per legislative district are friendlier to the incumbent president, compared to senators.
The country’s 24 senators are elected on the national level and the Senate is a traditional springboard for those hoping to run for president or vice-president in the future.
In the 2025 mid-term vote, where half of the Senate was elected, candidates allied with Duterte fared better than those who ran under Marcos’ coalition.
But the outcome of an impeachment vote will be difficult to predict under the country’s multi-party system with shifting alliances.
Duterte announced her intention to run for president in February, much earlier than expected. Marcos is limited by the constitution to a single six-year term.
She holds a 17-point lead over her nearest rival based on a survey in March by Manila pollster WR Numero.
In the 2022 elections, Duterte was the survey frontrunner to succeed her father, but she formed an alliance with Marcos and ran for vice-president instead to consolidate their support bases and fend off a reformist wave. The pair won by a landslide.
But the alliance soon unravelled as they pursued divergent political agendas.
Marcos’ allies in the House, led by cousin, then speaker Martin Romualdez, investigated allegations of fund misuse in Duterte’s office.
At the height of public scrutiny, Duterte hosted a late night online press conference, where she said she told one person that “if I get killed, go kill BBM [President Marcos], [First Lady] Liza Araneta, and [House Speaker] Martin Romualdez”.
Then in March last year, Marcos allowed theInternational Criminal Court to arrest Rodrigo Duterte and detain him at The Hague, where he now awaits trial for crimes against humanity over the hundreds who died in his so-called war on drugs.
[BBC]
An American and a French national who have returned to their home countries having left a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of hantavirus have tested positive, authorities say.
In total seven cases of hantavirus linked to the MV Hondius have been confirmed, with two other cases suspected, the World Health Organization [WHO] said on Monday.
The US health department said a second American national on the repatriation flight had also shown mild symptoms, adding that both passengers had travelled back in “biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution”.
French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said a woman was isolating in Paris and her health was deteriorating, with 22 contacts traced.
Three passengers have died after travelling on the ship, two of whom were confirmed to have had the virus.
The WHO said the person who is believed to have been the first to be infected in the outbreak died before he could be tested.
Two other British nationals with confirmed cases are currently being treated in the Netherlands and South Africa.
Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain – which the World Health Organization (WHO) believes was contracted by some of the Dutch ship’s passengers while in South America – is possible.
Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath.
Officials say the risk of a major outbreak is very low.
More than 90 passengers of the MV Hondius ship, currently docked in Spain’s Canary Islands, are being repatriated.
In its latest update from Tenerife on Monday, Spanish officials said 54 passengers and crew were still on board the ship. Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said six of those were passengers: four Australians, one Briton and one New Zealander.
Some 22 people would disembark the ship to fly to the Netherlands on Monday, she said – including the Australians who had been expected to be flown home directly but whose plane could not be guaranteed to arrive on time.
The MV Hondius was then expected to leave for the Netherlands later on Monday, she said.
In its statement early on Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services said all 17 US citizens on Sunday’s flight would undergo “clinical assessment” at a medical facility in Nebraska. A British national living in the US was also repatriated alongside them.
Seven other US passengers had already returned home and were being monitored in their home states.
Before the American case was confirmed, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the decision by the US not to follow his organisation’s guidelines over the hantavirus outbreak “may have risks”.
The WHO has recommended 42 days of isolation for those leaving the MV Hondius.
But Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said he did not want to cause public panic, insisting that human-to-human transmission was rare and it should not be treated like the Covid virus.
Cruise ship passengers were pictured wearing blue gowns, bouffant caps, and medical face masks as they disembarked on Sunday at the port of Grandilla de Abona in Tenerife.
On Sunday, a plane carrying 20 British nationals arrived in the UK.
The passengers flew into Manchester Airport on a chartered flight from Tenerife and were taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, to isolate for 72 hours. None of them have reported symptoms.
In Spain, 14 Spaniards flown to Madrid now face mandatory quarantine at a military hospital. Another two evacuation flights are scheduled for Monday afternoon.
A separate flight with 26 passengers and crew – including eight Dutch nationals – arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine said four of its citizens would remain on board the MV Hondius as part of the crew to ensure the ship’s transfer to the Netherlands. Upon arrival, the foreign ministry said, they would be expected to quarantine at a medical facility.
Another Ukrainian national was expected to leave the ship as part of the partial crew evacuation on a flight to the Netherlands.
At present, no signs of illness have been recorded among the Ukrainians, the ministry added.
In a video message released on Monday by Oceanwide Expeditions, which operates the MV Hondius, the captain said the crew’s thoughts were “with the ones that are now longer with us”.
Jan Dobrogowski also said that “the past few weeks have been extremely challenging to us all”, while praising the patience, discipline and kindness shown on board the vessel.
During her update, the Spanish health minister also said that one of the police officers involved in the ongoing repatriation operation had died of cardiac arrest.
An elderly Dutch man was the first passenger who died on board the MV Hondius on 11 April. He had earlier developed symptoms – but is considered a probable case as no tests have been carried out.
His wife – a 69-year-old woman – left the ship on the island of St Helena on 24 April and flew to South Africa. She died two days later in a clinic in Johannesburg.
A German woman died on board the cruise ship on 2 May.
The two women are both confirmed cases.
The MV Hondius departed Argentina’s southern city of Ushuaia on 1 April, and is currently docked at the port of Grandilla, southern Tenerife.
[BBC]
For a man who spent most of the past 20 years in exile, and the past eight months in jail, the figure of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra still looms large over Thailand.
His release from prison at the age of 76 after serving part of a one-year sentence for corruption and abuses of power during his terms as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was headline news in Thailand.
Hundreds of supporters wearing red cheered as Thaksin emerged from Bangkok’s Klong Prem jail on Monday, wearing a white shirt and short cropped hair.
Thaksin told reporters soon after his release that he was in good health and was “relieved”.
He was greeted outside Bangkok’s Klong Prem prison by family members, including his daughter and protege, former prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Thaksin’s party Pheu Thai’s insistence that from now on he will remain in the background could not stop feverish media speculation over what role he might still play in Thai politics.
This is hardly surprising.
From the moment he swept to power in January 2001 Thaksin, a brash, self-made billionaire, has sought to reshape his country, winning devoted supporters and bitter opponents in equal measure. His parties kept winning elections, even after he was deposed by a coup in September 2006, but fear of his vaunting ambition in the powerful royalist establishment led to multiple court rulings against his allies, years of violent street clashes, and another coup in 2014.
Yet he refused to step back. He continued to run his party from abroad, and, after an apparent “grand bargain”, his conservative opponents allowed him to come home in 2023, to direct it once it was back in government again.
His continued popularity was evident outside the prison where his supporters had gathered.
One of them – Maysa Lombuarot – had driven 700km (435 miles) to see him released.
“Today I brought him 20kg of lychees. I know he likes them. Now that he’s free, I want him to eat something good,” she told the BBC, adding that she hoped he would continue his political career.
“I want him to help the country, to help the people who are suffering so much right now… only he can deliver what he promised,” she said.
And Thaksin does seem incapable of taking a back seat, whatever he may say about spending more time with his grandchildren.
This time, though, it really could be different.
Thaksin was jailed ;ast September, after the Supreme Court ruled that the six months he spent in a police hospital after his return to Thailand had been a ruse to avoid serving his sentence.
This verdict followed the collapse of the Pheu Thai-led coalition government less than two weeks earlier, when the Constitutional Court dismissed his daughter Paetongtarn as prime minister over a leaked phone conversation she had had with the Cambodian leader Hun Sen over how to handle the border dispute between the two countries. Once again, the powerful, conservative courts were determining his party’s fate, as they have so often in the recent past.
While Thaksin was behind bars, Pheu Thai had its worst-ever result in the February general election. It was pushed down to third place behind the reformist People’s Party, and eclipsedby the conservative Bhumjaithai party, which benefited from a surge of nationalist sentiment after the border war with Cambodia. Pheu Thai has been forced to accept being a junior coalition partner in the new government.
“Thaksin emerges from prison to a new political environment”, says political analyst Ken Lohatepanont.
“Pheu Thai has been sidelined as just a mid-sized party. You can never count Thaksin out, but the challenge that he and his Party face is of a different magnitude to those he has faced in the past. Pheu Thai will have to decide whether a public comeback for Thaksin will boost the party, or whether the party might be better served by placing the spotlight on their newer generation leaders.”
The jury is still out in Thailand over why the “grand bargain” with royalist forces which had allowed Thaksin to end his long exile in 2023 collapsed so quickly.
Had the conservatives always intended to use the courts to cripple the governments his party led? His first choice of prime minister was also dismissed by the courts on a seemingly trivial pretext.
Or were they provoked into moving against him by his refusal to stay in the background, his determination to drive his party’s agenda and to explore new and controversial areas of business?
Either way, the mistrust between Thaksin and Thai conservatives is now probably insurmountable. Even if he does still hanker after a prominent political role, he will almost certainly be barred from getting one.
The past 25 years in Thailand could reasonably be called “the Thaksin era”. That era is almost certainly over.
[BBC]
Philippine VP Sara Duterte impeached for a second time
US and French nationals test positive for hantavirus after leaving ship
Thailand’s divisive ex-PM is out of jail, but is the Thaksin era over?
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