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Warner, Marsh, Zampa steer Australia to vital win
David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Adam Zampa steered Australia to a vital win over Pakistan in Bengaluru on Friday (October 20). The result saw the fortunes for the two teams change completely as Australia bounced back in style after suffering defeats in their opening two games to now win two in a row whereas Pakistan suffered the exact opposite fate. In pursuit of a massive target following centuries from Warner and Marsh, Pakistan remained in the hunt for the major part of their innings after Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq laid a solid platform before Zampa’s key strikes hurt them towards the end.
Australia’s intentions were very clear as early as in the first over of the day when Marsh smashed a six straight over Shaheen Afridi’s head. The two openers targeted the pace of Haris Rauf as Warner clipped him for a stunning six over fine leg, which was then followed by Marsh fetching a hat-trick of boundaries in the same over. Quite astonishingly, Rauf conceded 47 runs in his first three overs.
While Warner’s strike rate comfortably hovered over 100, Marsh stepped on the accelerator after going past his half-century as the openers kept Pakistan at bay. Things could have turned out differently had Usama Mir, the World Cup debutant, held onto a simple chance to get rid of Warner early in his innings the veteran made the Asian side pay dearly. By the halfway mark, Pakistan had 172 on the board and the carnage continued with both openers reaching three figures off successive deliveries in the same over.
Even though no wickets fell for the first 33.4 overs of the contest, the next two balls produced wickets in a much-needed relief for Pakistan. Marsh was dismissed for 121 and Glenn Maxwell’s promotion didn’t work. Warner however managed to cut loose and managed to go past 150 for the seventh time in his career as Australia set themselves up for a big finish. At 297/3 after 40 overs. Australia were primed to touch 400. But there was a twist left in the tale as Pakistan staged an impressive comeback at the death once Warner fell for 163. Rauf and Shaheen kept pegging Australia back with regular wickets with the left-arm pacer managing to finish with a five-fer.
Chasing a daunting 368, Pakistan stuck to their template of not taking too many risks in the powerplay. Shafique targeted an erratic Mitchell Starc for a couple of boundaries in an over and Imam repeated the feat off Josh Hazlewood in the following over to give Pakistan a good start. After knocking off 59 runs in the powerplay, the openers stepped it up a bit with Shafique also finding a slice of luck when Sean Abbott dropped him near the boundary.
For the first time in World Cup history, all four batters managed to go past fifty as Pakistan slowly gained upper hand after a 15-run over from Maxwell. While the front line bowlers struggled to give Australia the opening breakthrough, the golden arm of Marcus Stoinis dented Pakistan as Shafique miscued one to depart for 64. Another short ball from the allrounder saw the back of Imam as well and with both the set batters back in the pavilion, Australia seized control.
Zampa bagged the crucial wicket of Babar Azam as Pat Cummins took an excellent catch to get rid of his Pakistan counterpart. After 30 overs, Pakistan still had hopes, having already scored 200 but needed a partnership to steady the ship. Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel provided just that to keep Pakistan in the hunt. At one point, Pakistan appeared to be having momentum on their side with both Rizwan and Shakeel finding the boundary at regular intervals.
Even the wicket of Shakeel didn’t deter the men in green as Iftikhar Ahmed came out and hammered three sixes in the space of five deliveries to stun Australia. At that point, Pakistan needed 103 from 72 deliveries and were firmly in the contest before Zampa crushed their hopes. Both Iftikhar and Rizwan were trapped leg-before-wicket in successive overs by the legspinner and as a result the chase fizzled out. He finished his quota with another wicket off the last ball before Pakistan eventually fell short by 62 runs.
Brief scores:
Australia 367/9 in 50 overs (David Warner 163, Mitchell Marsh 121; Shaheen Afridi 5/54) beat Pakistan 305 in 45.3 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 70, Abdullah Shafique 64; Adam Zampa 4/53) by 62 runs
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Landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
The National Building Research Institute [NBRI] has issued Landslide Early Warnings to the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura valid upto 0900 AM on 23rd May 2026.
Accordingly,
LEVEL I [RED] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Deraniyagala, Ruwanwella and Dehiowita in the Kegalle district and Ratnapura, Ayagama, Kuruwita and Eheliyagoda in the Ratnapura district.
LEVEL II [AMBER] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Seethawaka and Padukka in the Colombo district, Attanagalla in the Gampaha district, Horana, Bulathsinhala, Ingiriya and Palindanuwara in the Kalutara district, Yatiyanthota in the Kegalle district and Pelmadulla, Kiriella, Elapatha, Kalawana and Nivithigala in the Rathnapura district.
LEVEL I [YELLOW] landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Mirigama and Divulapitiya in the Gampaha district, Agalawatta and Mathugama in the Kalutara district, Bulathkohupitiya in the Kegalle district and Ambagamuwa in the Nuwara Eliya district.
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Minor flood situation likely to occur within the next few hours in the low-lying floodplain areas of the Kalu River
Based on the heavy rainfall currently being received in the Kalu River Basin and the analysis of water level data recorded at hydrological gauging stations maintained by the Irrigation Department within the Kalu River Basin, it is hereby warned that a Minor Flood Situation is likely to occur within the next
few hours in the low-lying floodplain areas of the Kalu River.
The affected areas include the Divisional Secretariat Divisions of Ratnapura, Kuruwita, Ayagama, Elapatha, Kiriella in Ratnapura District.
The public residing in these areas, as well as motorists and passengers travelling through the affected regions, are strongly requested to act with utmost vigilance and to take all necessary
precautions. Disaster Management Authorities are requested to take necessary actions in this regard.
A considerable rainfall has occurred in the catchment areas of the Aththanagalu Oya Basin as atb5.00 AM today (22).
By analyzing the current rainfall situation and river water levels of Hydrological Stations on the Aththanagalu Oya, there is a possibility of a flood situation occuring in some low lying
areas of the Aththanagalu Oya and Uruwal Oya valleys situated in Diwulapitiya, Mirigama, Attanagalla, Mahara, Gampaha, Minuwangoda, Ja-ela, Katana and Wattala Div8sional Secretaries Divisions within next 48 hours.
Owing to this situation, there is a possibility of some of the roads running through these lowlying areas being inundated at some places.
The public residing in these areas, as well as motorists traveling through these regions, are requested to exercise extreme caution regarding this situation.
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Landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
Minor flood situation likely to occur within the next few hours in the low-lying floodplain areas of the Kalu River
Flood warning issued to low lying areas of the Aththanagalu Oya and Uruwal Oya valleys
Flood warning issued to low lying areas of the Kelani River valley
Landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Gampaha, Kalutara and Ratnapura
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