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Radha Yadav, batters lead India to 5-0 T20I series sweep over Bangladesh
India extended their dominance over Bangladesh to complete a 5-0 T20I series sweep with a 21-run win in the fifth and final game in Sylhet on Thursday. India posted 156 for 5 after opting to bat, thanks to strong hands from Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and a late cameo from Richa Ghosh. Though Ritu Moni and Shorifa Khatun fought back in the second half of the chase after Radha Yadav’s three-wicket burst, it wasn’t enough for a consolation win for Bangladesh.
Radha, on her comeback for India after being off the national radar for a year, ended the series as the most successful bowler with ten wickets, which got her the Player-of-the-Series award to go with the Player-of-the-Match award for her three-wicket haul on Thursday.
Coming off a 2-1 T20I series defeat at home against Australia, India will be happy to have produced a convincing series victory in Bangladesh, where the T20 World Cup will be held in October. Bangladesh, though, have lost eight T20Is in a row now, five here and three earlier against Australia, all at home.
But, despite losing five wickets by the halfway stage in the chase, Bangladesh went past the 120-run mark for the first time in the series, thanks to Moni’s 33-ball 37 and Shorifa’s unbeaten 28 from 21 balls. However, there was little of note from the other batters.
Titas Sadhu gave India their first breakthrough when she removed Sobhana Mostary for a nine-ball 13 in the third over. In the next over, Radha struck, dismissing Dilara Akter as she miscued a pull to mid-off. Radha’s third double-wicket over of the series came in the ninth of the innings when she knocked out Nigar Sultana’s stump with a loopy delivery that spun in, and three balls later, she trapped Rubya Haider lbw for 20. After that over, she had figures of 2-0-4-3. She finished with 3 for 24 after being targeted by Moni and Shorifa.
After ten overs, Bangladesh were 52 for 5, needing 105 from the remaining 60 balls.
But Moni fought back. She charged down the track against the spinners, used width when it was on offer to score towards backward point, and played a ramp shot to Pooja Vastrakar as well. With Shorifa , she shared a 57-run partnership off 41 balls for the sixth wicket, bringing the equation down to 53 runs from 24 balls. However, S Asha, playing her second T20I, dismissed Moni in the 17th over to end Bangladesh’s hopes. Asha finished with 2 for 25 from her four overs.
With Bangladesh sloppy in the field, India raced to 71 for 2 after ten overs, Mandhana and Hemalatha taking control after Shafali Verma, playing her 100th international game, fell early. Mandhana, in particular, showed good intent in her 25-ball 33, hitting four clean fours and an inside-out six over extra cover off offspinner Sultana Khatun. However, she was given out lbw in the eighth over, with replays suggesting that the ball hit her pad just outside off stump as she missed with an attempted back-foot punch. No DRS meant Mandhana had to go.
Hemalatha, at No. 3, started slowly, scoring 13 off her first 17 balls. She was also dropped when on 8. However, she accelerated, finding her touch soon to score 37 off 28 balls. This included two powerful hits to long-on and long-off for sixes and two fours – a sweep and a swpie over midwicket after charging down the track.
India’s innings really took off when she was joined by Harmanpreet. The two scored 60 off 42 deliveries for the third wicket with the India captain chipping in with a 24-ball 30. After a run-a-ball 12, Harmanpreet picked up her pace, hitting three fours off Moni in the 13th over. However, Harmanpreet’s wicket – trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Nahida Akter when she went across for a sweep shot – triggered a mini collapse as India went from 122 for 2 to 124 for 5 in six balls.
After a few quiet overs, Ghosh injected some impetus into the innings, teeing off to hit an unbeaten 28 off 17 balls, hitting three fours and a six over the bowlers’ head to help India ger past 150, which was well beyond Bangladesh’s reach.
Brief scores:
India Women 156 for 5 in 20 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 37, Smriti Mandhana 33, Harmanpreet Kaur 30, Richa Ghosh 28*; Sultana Khatun 1-26, Rabeya Khan 2-28, Nahida Akter 2-27) beat Bangladesh Women 135 for 6 in 20 overs (Rubya Haider 20, Ritu Moni 37, Shorifa Khatun 28*; Titas Sadhu 1-27, Radha Yadav 3-24, Asha Sobhana 2-25) by 21 runs
President Donald Trump has unveiled plans for sweeping new import taxes on all goods entering the US, in a watershed moment for global trade.
The plan sets a baseline tariff on all imports of at least 10%, consistent with a proposal Trump made on the campaign last year.
Items from countries that the White House described as the “worst offenders”, including the European Union, China, Vietnam and Lesotho, would face far higher rates for what Trump said was payback for unfair trade policies.
Trump’s move breaks with decades of American policy embracing free trade, and analysts said it was likely to lead to higher prices in the US and slower growth in the US and around the world.
The White House said officials would start charging the 10% tariffs on 5 April, with the higher duties starting on 9 April.
“It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said in the White House Rose Garden against a backdrop of US flags.
The Republican president said the US had for years been “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike”.
“Today we are standing up for the American worker and we are finally putting America first,” he said, calling it “one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history.”
On the campaign trail last year, Trump called for new tariffs that he said would raise money for the government and boost manufacturing, promising a new age of American prosperity.
He has spent weeks previewing Wednesday’s announcement, which follows other orders raising tariffs on imports from China, foreign cars, steel and aluminium and some goods from Mexico and Canada.
The White House said the latest changes would not apply to Mexico and Canada, two of America’s closest trading partners.
Goods from the UK are set to face a new 10% tariff, while import taxes on items from the European Union would go to 20%.
The charge for goods imported from China will be 34%, while it will be 24% for Japan, and 26% on India.
Some of the highest rates will be levied on smaller countries, with goods from the southern African nation of Lesotho facing 50%, while Vietnam and Cambodia will be hit with 46% and 49% respectively.
The latter two have both seen a rush of investment in recent years, as firms shifted supply chains away from China following Trump’s first term.
Together the moves will bring effective tariff rates in the US to levels not seen in decades.
Trump also confirmed that a 25% tax on imports of all foreign-made cars, which he announced last week, would begin from midnight.
[BBC]
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IPL 2025: Buttler 73* leads Gujarat Titans past Royal Challengers Bengaluru after Siraj derails former team
Mohammed Siraj’s fiery 3 for 19 against his former team, backed up by Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 73 off 39 balls, helped Gujarat Titans (GT) spoil Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)‘s homecoming and coast to an eight-wicket victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Playing against RCB for the first time after seven years with them, Siraj returned to Bengaluru with a point to prove. Bowling at speeds in excess of 140kph, he rattled the batters in the powerplay and also picked up a key wicket in the death overs. Despite Siraj’s efforts, RCB notched up 169 for 8, riding largely on Liam Livingstone’s fifty and cameos from Jitesh Sharma and Tim David.
With the ball, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were on the mark in the powerplay for RCB. But as the ball got older, the bowling also fizzled away. While Shubman Gill fell cheaply, Sai Sudarshan and Buttler added 75 off just 47 balls to give the chase impetus. Sherfane Rutherford then came in as Impact Sub and added an unbroken 63 off 32 balls with Buttler, as GT romped home with 13 balls to spare.
This was GT’s second win in three games, while RCB’s loss was their first of IPL 2025 after two stellar wins.
Siraj has done his siuuu celebration several times at the Chinnaswamy in the last seven years. Most times, it has been met with a roaring response. On Wednesday, he went on his celebratory run twice in the powerplay to pin-drop silence. Having not been retained by RCB ahead of the auction, Siraj, now playing for GT, had matters to settle. And he did it in style.
It was his spell in the powerplay that stood out. Operating at mid-140kph, Siraj was not just bowling heat but was also precise with his lengths. According to ESPNcricinfo’s data, of the 18 balls Siraj bowled in the powerplay, six of his deliveries landed on a length, off which he picked up two wickets. More importantly, eight of his deliveries finished in line with the stumps, which meant he barely gave the batters any room to work with. RCB managed a control percentage of just 50 against Siraj in the powerplay.
Siraj should have had Phil Salt in his opening over, but Buttler dropped a sitter behind the stumps. Soon after, Siraj had the zing bails flashing when Devdutt Padikkal waltzed down the track, missed, and saw his stumps in a mess. Salt thumped Siraj for a 105m six over midwicket in his next over, to which Siraj responded by flattening Salt’s off stump with a 145.9kph thunderbolt.
Siraj later returned and picked up the key wicket of Livingstone in the 19th over to finish with 3 for 19, sending down 14 dots in his four overs.
At 42 for 4 after 6.2 overs, RCB were in big trouble. Rajat Patidar had just fallen to Ishant Sharma, and the Chinnaswamy was silent. But Jitesh made his intentions clear quite early. He got going with a stylish pull off Ishant before going big. He first brought his wrists into play to loft Ishant over long-on, and dispatched him for two more fours as RCB collected 17 runs off the ninth over.
Livingstone, at the other end, was struggling to get away before finally walloping Rashid Khan over deep square leg. Livingstone was dropped twice, and also survived a missed stumping, and made the best of his luck. Jitesh and Krunal Pandya fell in quick succession to R Sai Kishore, who picked up 2 for 22 in his four overs, which included breaking a flourishing 52-run stand between Jitesh and Livingstone in the 13th over. He tossed one up at Jitesh, who ended up skying it to long-on.
Two overs later, Sai Kishore got Krunal when the ball seemed to hold on the pitch, and a leading edge went right back to the bowler. It was after that that Livingstone took over for RCB. He broke the shackles with a huge six over deep midwicket against Rashid, while David also hit a six and a four. Despite that, RCB were struggling on 129 for 6 after 17 overs. But Livingstone pumped Rashid for three sixes in the 18th to reach his fifty off 39 balls. In all, he smashed Rashid for 39 runs off 17 deliveries, with five sixes.
RCB tonked 64 runs in the last five overs, thanks largely to David’s hitting, as he thumped 32 off 18 balls. But 169 at the innings break looked under-par.
Buttler came into this IPL under pressure. He had just quit the England white-ball captaincy after a disastrous Champions Trophy, and he had not been among the runs either. He was going to a new IPL team after flourishing with Rajasthan Royals, and was going to bat at No. 3, having mostly opened previously.
But in just three innings, Buttler has proved that nothing has changed. He was coming into the game with scores of 70*, 8, 106*, 0, 0 and 100* against RCB since IPL 2022. On Wednesday, he shored up his record further.
Buttler came in to bat with GT struggling a touch. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar were making the ball talk, and not giving much away. Gill struck Bhuvneshwar over long-on but fell the next ball, caught at deep third. At that stage, GT were 32 for 1 after 4.4 overs.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 170 for 2 in 17.5 overs (Joss Buttler 73*, Sai Sudharsan 49, Sherfane Rutherford 30*, Shubman Gill 14; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-23, Josh Hazlwood 1-43) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 169 for 8 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 14, Rajat Patidar 12, Liam Livingstone 54, Jitesh Sharma 33, Tim David 32; Mohammed Siraj 3-19, Arshad Khan 1-17, Prasidh Krishna 1-26, Ishant Sharma 1-27, Sai Kishore 2-22) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
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Food Policy and Security Committee recommends importation of rice to ensure an uninterrupted supply
The Food Policy and Security Committee has recommended the importation of rice in the near future to ensure an uninterrupted supply for consumers.
A notable increase in rice prices has been observed in the market, along with reports of shortages of certain rice varieties, despite the current harvest season.
Given this situation, discussions were held regarding the need for the Cabinet to prioritize the maintenance of sufficient stock, through rice imports.
The Committee, chaired by Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha and Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Vasantha Samarasinghe, convened for the fifth time at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (01). The meeting aimed to formulate policy decisions to ensure food security.
During the discussions, it was revealed that due to excessive rainfall this year, crop damage occurred on two occasions, leading to a significant reduction in the expected harvest.
Furthermore, during the meeting it was stated that the improper use of rice for animal feed is another major reason contributing to the rice shortage. As a result, the Committee also focused on the importation of broken rice for animal feed and the use of alternative feeds to mitigate the impact on livestock production.
Accordingly, the Food Policy and Security Committee approved the formation of a Committee, led by the Director General of Agriculture, to oversee the importation of the required quantity of broken rice through proper mechanisms.
Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, and other members of the Food Policy and Security Committee, including Ministry Secretaries, participated in the discussions.
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