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Bavuma, Harmer and Jansen script sensational South Africa win at treacherous Eden Gardens
South Africa started the day staring at defeat, only 63 ahead with three wickets in hand, but registered a stunning win, their first in India in 15 years and the second-smallest successful defence in Asia. The whooping and cheering among the South Africa players echoed amid a shocked Sunday crowd at Eden Gardens as the visitors bowled India out for 93 in the absence of their injured captain Shubman Gill.
Temba Bavuma was ever present, scoring the only half-century of the match and taking South Africa to a formidable lead of 123 on a pitch with extravagant sideways movement and variance in bounce. He was helped a little by some ordinary spin bowling on the third morning, but he had earned the errors after defending resolutely on the second evening.
The target of 124 was always going to be tricky with Simon Harmer outbowling India’s spinners in the country where he had a forgettable tour in 2015-16. The uneven bounce made Marco Jansen a handful, causing the double jeopardy you need to defend small totals.
Brief scores:
South Africa 159 in 55 overs (Aiden Markram 31; Jasprit Bumrah 5-27, Mohammed Siraj 2-47, Kuldeep Yadav 2-36) and 153 in 54 overs (Temba Bavuma 55*, Corbin Bosch 25; Ravindra Jadeja 4-50, Mohammed Siraj 2-2, Kuldeep Yadav 2-30) beat India 189 in 62.2 overs (KL Rahul 39: Marco Jansen 3-35, Simon Harmer 4-30) and 93 in 35 overs (Washington Sundar 31, Axar Patel 26; Simon Harmer 4-21, Marco Jansen 2-15, Keshav Maharaj 2-37) by 30 runs
[Cricinfo]
The computer system at the Department of Registration of Persons has been rectified and the services are back to normal.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has lost a key referendum on a constitutional reform which had turned into a vote on her government.
The result gives around 54% to the “No” campaign and 46% to the “Yes” vote which Meloni had backed.
In a video posted on social media even before all the ballots were counted, Meloni said Italians had voted “with clarity” and she would respect their decision, but she regretted a “lost chance to modernise” the country.
It is the first significant defeat for Meloni and her right-wing coalition, which has overseen a rare period of political stability for Italy. Opposition parties are hailing the result as a sign that voters are looking for change, with a general election due next year.
When the two-day referendum ended on Monday afternoon, exit polls initially showed the “No” vote leading by a small margin, but that grew to a substantial lead as the count progressed.
Despite the complex question on the ballot paper, turnout was almost 60%. A high figure had been expected to favour the government, but it was not enough to swing the vote.
The reform voters rejected would have inscribed a firm separation between judges and prosecutors into the constitution. It also proposed distinct bodies to govern them and a new disciplinary court.
The government argued the change was critical to improving judicial independence.
The opposition countered that it would shatter a careful balance of powers established following the defeat of fascism, and increase political influence over the courts.
Many Italians struggled to understand the technical details – perhaps a communication failure by Team Meloni – and the vote quickly morphed into a plebiscite on her near-record three and half years in office.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump announced that discussions are ongoing with Iran to “determine whether a broader agreement can be reached”, saying that “this time, Iran means business; they want to settle. They want peace”.
But Teheran denied that talks with the US are taking place, with Iran’s parliamentary speaker saying such claims are “fake news” and being “used to manipulate financial and oil markets”.
Oil prices dropped by about 11 percent after Trump announced a delay to attacks on Iran’s power plants for five days amid his claims of talks.
Despite Trump’s comments, US Central Command says US forces “continue to aggressively strike” targets in Iran, as Iranian missiles and drones continued to target Gulf countries – including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – overnight.
Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut’s southern neighborhood as the Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll from Israel’s attacks on the country had reached 1,039 people, with 2,786 people injured, since March 23.
[Aljazeera]
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