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USA outclass sloppy Pakistan in thrilling Super Over finish
USA muzzled an experienced Pakistan top order, brought their hitters to heel, then produced a measured batting performance that tied the scores at 159-all.
Mohammad Amir, Pakistan’s most experienced bowler, bowled three wides in his Super Over, the US batters stealing another run every time, and Mohammad Rizwan conceded another extra run on an overthrow off the last of these wides.
Thanks to the extras and other acts of fielding indiscipline from Pakistan, USA made 18 off their Super Over
If this already seemed a tough ask for Pakistan to better, Saurabh Netravalkar made their job even more difficult. He had been outstanding for USA in regular play, taking 2 for 18 from his four overs. His Super Over was outstanding too, as he conceded just one boundary.
Thanks to four leg byes off the penultimate delivery, Shadab Khan had the opportunity to send the match into a second super over if he clobbered a six off the last ball. He could only hit it to deep point, all along the ground.
The USA were jubilant, having taken down the biggest opposition they had ever faced. Pakistan, ahead of their massive match against India, had been subjected to one of their greatest World Cup setbacks. It’s not as if Pakistan had had it in their grip and let it slip – USA had actually been in control of this match for much of its duration.
Pakistan made only 35 in the powerplay, and Netravalkar bowled three overs for just eight runs in that phase. Kenjige came back in the middle overs and made crucial incisions, dismissing Shadab Khan, who looked the most fluent of Pakistan’s batters, for 40 off 25 balls, before getting Azam Khan first ball with a fast slider. All up, these two took 5 for 48 in eight overs between them.
This forced the game into a Super Over, and here is when USA really seemed like the veteran team on the circuit while Pakistan went into high-pressure-meltdown mode.
Although this would turn out to be USA’s first major act of giant-killing on the global stage, their measured batting performance gave no sense of being a bolt from the blue. Their openers were not parted for five overs, but they only made 36 together.
Then the second-wicket partnership, between captainMonak Patel and Andries Gous, brought 68 runs in 48 balls, and formed the backbone of the chase.
Monank provided most of the highlights in this partnership, making 50 off 38, hitting seven fours and one glorious six down the ground to get to his half-century, off Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was out soon after, but had left USA in a potentially winning position.
Even with Monank and Gous out with 35 balls to go, Pakistan still had to bowl well, with USA only needing 49. Naseem Shah, Shaheen and Amir shone through the death overs to leave USA needing 15 off the last over. Haris Rauf, landing his yorkers there or thereabouts, brought the equation down to 12 off 3.
But then, Jones smashed a six off a low full-toss on the stumps, then with five required off the last ball, Nitish Kumar crashed a four over mid-off to tie the game.
It was at this point, though, that the more experienced international team lost their heads, and USA kept theirs. Both teams hit a four each in their Super Overs. But Pakistan’s waywardness in terms of wides and overthrows cost them. USA won the Super Over 18 to 13.
Brief scores:
USA 159 for 3 in 20 overs (Monank Patel 50, Aaron Jones 36*, Andries Gous 35; Mphammed Amir 1-25, Naseem Shah 1-26, Haris Rauf 1-37) beat Pakistan 159 for 7 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 44, Shadab Khan 40, Shaheen Shah Afridi 23; Nosthush Kenjige 3-30, Saurabh Netravalkar 2-18, Ali Khan 1-30, Jasdeep Singh 1-37) via Super Over (USA 18, Pakistan 13)
[Cricinfo]
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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