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New Zealand brush Nepal aside, Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe in rain-hit game

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Snehith Reddy hit 11 fours and six sixes (Cricinfo)

Snehith Reddy slammed an unbeaten 147 off 125 balls, the highest score of the 2024 Under-19 World Cup so far, as New Zealand began their campaign with a comfortable win over Nepal in East London.

Reddy, who turned 17 last November, hit 11 fours and six sixes during his knock. Captain Oscar Jackson gave Reddy good company, contributing 75 in a 157-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The stand, however, ended in the 42nd over when Jackson was bowled by Aakash Tripathi. Lachlan Stackpole and Zac Cumming then fell for ducks, but Reddy’s knock took New Zealand past 300.

In response, Nepal had a shaky start with Deepak Bohara being dismissed in the first over for a duck. Arjun Kumal the other opener, led Nepal’s fight with 90 off 104 balls, including 12 fours, but he lacked support from the other end – the next-best score in Nepal’s chase was captain Dev Khanal’s 36 off 34 balls. Jackson was impressive with the ball as well, returning 2 for 25 in his seven overs. Mason Clarke was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, taking 3 for 25 in ,his eight overs.

At 176 for 8 in the 38th over, and 201 for 9 in the 44th, Nepal were in danger of being bowled out, but the tail frustrated New Zealand and helped their team bat out full 50 overs.

“To get off this competition with a win is something we were trying to do,” Jackson said after the game. “It’s very exciting to be one from one and looking forward to the next game. “Being three down for 50-60, it was never ideal. It was just a reassessment phase in the middle, just acknowledging it was tough and just working around that. I think the way we set up the back end of the innings is our strength and owning the middle period was important for us.”

Brief scores:
New Zealand Under-19 302 for 8 in 50 overs (Snehith Reddy 147*, Oscar Jackson 75, Tom Jones 33; Gulsan Jha 2-61, Subash Bhandari 3-60) beat Nepal Under-19 238 for 9 in 50 overs (Arjun Kumal 90, Dev Khanal 36, Subash Bhandari 33*; Mason Clarke 3-25, Ewald Schreuder 2-54, Oscar Jackson 2-25) by 64 runs

Dinura Kalupahana followed up his punchy half-century with a top-order wicket to help Sri Lanka trump Zimbabwe in a rain-hit fixture in Kimberley. Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 129 in 22 overs, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 89 in 21.2 overs.

Zimbabwe had dominated the early exchanges, reducing Sri Lanka to 88 for 5 in 31 overs. Kalupahana and wicketkeeper-batter Sharujan Shanmuganathan a prodigy, then counterattacked to help their side regain some lost ground. They added 80 off only 71 balls for the sixth wicket to give Sri Lanka’s bowlers something to bowl at.

Kalupahana wasn’t done yet. He took the new ball and removed Zimbabwe’s No.3 Panashe Taruvinga for 8. Legspinner Malsha Tharupathi damaged Zimbabwe’s chase even further with 4 for 17 in his four overs. Captain Mathew Schonken was the only Zimbabwe batter to pass 25.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Under-19 204 in 48.3 overs (Ravishan de Silva 31, Rusanda Gamage 31, Dinura Kalupahana 60, Sharujan Shammuganathan 41*; Kohl Eksteen 3-40, Newman Nyamhuri 2-50) beat  Zimbabwe Under-19 89 in 21.1 overs (Mathew Schonken 27; MalshaTharupathi 4-17, Vishwa Lahiru 2-12, Ruvishan Perera 2-02) by 39 runs (via DLS method)

(Cricinfo)



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Edgbaston takes center stage as England, Sri Lanka kick off T20 World Cup

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Chamari Athapaththu will once again be key to SL's success [Cricinfo]

Hosts England will take on Sri Lanka at Edgbaston. The match is set to begin at 6.30pm local time (5.30pm GMT).

England hold an advantage in this contest, having won 10 out of the 12 T20Is between the sides. Sri Lanka though will draw confidence from recent history, having won the last two T20Is against England in 2023. This will be just the fourth time these two sides meet in the T20 World Cup.

England arrive at the tournament having won four out of the six matches since the start of the year, while Sri Lanka come in with momentum on their side, riding on five consecutive T20I wins that include series wins against West Indies and Bangladesh.

England (probable): Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Alice Capsey,  Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell

Sri Lanka (probable): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (capt),  Hasini Perera,  Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hansima Karunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari,  Nilakshika de Silva,  Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Malki Madara, Sugandika Kumari, Kawya Kavindi/Chetana Vimukthi

Lauren Bell has been in spectacular form all year, starting with the WPL where she finished with 12 wickets in nine games and was often a handful with the new ball. After picking three wickets in two games against New Zealand, she bagged seven wickets in three matches in the T20I series win against India. She’s bowled at an economy of 7.4 this year, and the home conditions are likely to suit her perfectly.

All eyes will once again be on Chamari Athapaththu for Sri Lanka. In what will be her 10th T20 World Cup the 36-year old will be expected to do the heavy lifting for her side. She heads into the tournament in excellent touch, highlighted by a blistering 94 off 58 balls in the warm up against Pakistan. Her contributions with the ball could prove just as important – she picked up four wickets in three matches in the series against Bangladesh in May.

Weather and conditions

The forecast points to clear skies in Birmingham on Friday evening. There was however some rain in the area on the eve of the match.

[Cricinfo]

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Trump says US will hit Iran ‘very hard tonight’

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President Donald Trump says that the US will strike Iran “very hard tonight” in a new post on Truth Social.

Here’s what the president says:

“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT

“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”

Since the beginning of the conflict, Trump has repeatedly threatened to seize Kharg Island, a small island off the coast of Iran that is home to a major oil terminal.

[BBC]

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Firefighters on scene at Pentagon during ‘hazardous materials incident’

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[file pic] The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, US, [Aljazeera]

Firefighters are investigating a hazardous materials incident at the Pentagon, the sprawling facility that houses the US Department of Defense, according to authorities.

In a statement on Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the “department is executing standard protection ⁠protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area”.

“The Pentagon has sophisticated systems to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants,” Parnell said.

“Those systems have detected an air quality ⁠issue necessitating precautionary measures ⁠until we determine its significance.”

In a post on X Arlington County fire and rescue said its “units, including our Hazardous Materials Team, are currently operating at the Pentagon in support of PFPA’s Hazmat Team during a hazardous materials incident”.

Further details were not immediately available.

The 600,000 square meter Pentagon is the world’s largest low-rise office building. Nearly 30,000 military and civilian personnel work at the facility each day.

[Aljazeera]

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