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Boland takes four as India fold for 185 after batting on green top
India’s restraint-filled batting approach did not pay dividends as they were bowled out for 185 after opting to bat on a green-top in Sydney. Scott Boland was the most successful of the Australian bowlers picking up figures of 4-31 with his metrnomic lines and lengths accentuated by the seam movement that the surface had on offer.
India had their moment in the sun when Jasprit Bumrah got Usman Khawaja (for the sixth time in the series) nicking behind after verbal exchange with non-striker Sam Konstas. The dramatic end gave India some joy on an otherwise tough day out with the bat.
There were testing questions to be asked of India right from the start when Bumrah walked out for the toss instead of Rohit Sharma. The pacer, who had led India in Perth, mentioned that Rohit had ” opted to rest” for this match, and proceeded to put his batters up for tough questioning. KL Rahul, who moved back to the top in Rohit’s absence, began watchfully along with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the conditions demanded and remained tight in defence and in the corridor outside off to begin with.
But against the run of play, Rahul flicked a legstump half-volley from Mitchell Starc straight into the hands of square leg, pushing India behind. Jaiswal tried to counter Scott Boland’s relentless lines and lengths by walking towards the bowler, but ended up nicking one into the hands of debutant Beau Webster in the slip cordon.
Boland nearly did an encore with Virat Kohli nicking the first ball he faced to the right of Steve Smith, who got fingers underneath and pushed it to Webster to the right of him. But replays appeared to show that that the ball might have touched the ground as Smith was doing his acrobatic effort. Third umpire Joel Wilson ruled this in Kohli’s favour.
With that slice of luck, the out-of-form senior batter pushed ahead with much of the discipline he had showcased in the first innings at Melbourne. Pat Cummins used his four frontline pace options in short spells and each of them posed tough questions, giving little in terms of scoring options for both Kohli and Shubman Gill, who was back to his No. 3 spot.
Gill had some close shaves with an inside edge missing the stumps and another outside edge flying over the cordon. But he too, like Kohli, was intent on minimising the unforced errors for large part of the 40-run partnership of 106 balls. But at the stroke of Lunch, he danced down to Nathan Lyon and nicked to slip pushing India further back.
Kohli’s vigil did not last too long either for he poked outside off and was out caught in the slip cordon for the seventh time in the series. The metronomic Boland could have had Ravindra Jadeja early as well if not for a dropped catch by Smith.
At the other end, an uncharacteristically orthodox Rishabh Pant copped several blows on the body but did not attempt anything out of the ordinary in a fighting knock. With the Australian pacers offering no freebies, Pant’s boundary opportunity had to be manufactured when he danced down the ground and struck Webster down the ground for a six.
A hit off a short ball from Lyon at the stroke of Tea gave him another boundary in an otherwise grind which eventually ended in the final session when he miscued a pull off Boland to midwicket. No sooner had he walked off berating himself on the way back that he was joined by Nitish Reddy who was caught in the slip cordon first ball. Ravindra Jadeja, who had fought his way to a 95-ball 26 then played across to Starc to be caught plumb in front. Washington Sundar hit a couple of welcome boundaries before he was adjudged to have gloved his attempted pull by the third umpire on Australia’s review, leaving the lower-order to carry on the fight. Bumrah swung his bat to get to 22 before he became the last man dismissed. It continued India’s poor run of scores in the first innings of Tests, being bowled out in less than 80 overs for the seventh time in the last eight Tests.
Brief Scores:
India 185 (Rishabh Pant 40, Shubman Gill 20, Ravindra Jadeja 26, Jasprit Bumrah 22; Scott Boland 4-31, Mitchell Starc 3-39, Pat Cummins 2-37) lead Australia 9/1 (Sam Konstas 7*; Jasprit Bumrah 1-7) by 176 runs
The Election Commission of Sri Lnka [ECSL] taking another step forward in ensuring free and fair elections, launched a Mobile Application for the speedy resolution of disputes arising during elections.
The Election Disputes Resolution (EDR) App a simple and efficient way to report election issues instantly will be put to test during the forthcoming Local Authorities Election
It can be downloaded on Appstore and Google Play
US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other top former officials.
The move comes after Trump said in February he was revoking security clearance for his predecessor Joe Biden. He confirmed that move in the latest announcement, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of “any other member” of the Biden family.
“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump’s memorandum read.
Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy.
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were also on the list of those who lost their security clearances – as well as Fiona Hill, a former Russian affairs adviser in the first Trump administration.
The other names were: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann and Alexander Vindman.
Trump had earlier pulled security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of meddling in the 2020 election in Biden’s favour without providing evidence.
In 2021, Biden – serving president at the time – barred his defeated rival Trump from having access to intelligence briefings citing his “erratic behaviour”.
[BBC]
Flights at the United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport have resumed after a fire knocked out its power supply and shut Europe’s busiest airport for the day, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos.
London’s main airport said late on Friday that its teams had worked tirelessly to reopen after it suffered a power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility.
The flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 earlier said the closure would affect at least 1,351 flights.
Heathrow said there would be a limited number of flights on Friday, mostly focused on relocating aircraft and bringing planes into London.
“Tomorrow morning, we expect to be back in full operation, to 100 percent operation as a normal day,” Heathrow Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye said. “What I’d like to do is to apologise to the many people who have had their travel affected. … We are very sorry about all the inconvenience.”
Counterterrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation into the cause of Thursday night’s fire. The force said there was “no indication of foul play” but “we retain an open mind at this time.”
The London Fire Brigade later said police believed the fire to be nonsuspicious.
Heathrow is one of the most globally connected airports and regularly ranks among the top five busiest gateways worldwide.
The airport serves more than 200 destinations in nearly 90 countries and territories and last year handled about 84 million passengers, the largest number on record.
Geoffrey Thomas, an aviation analyst, told Al Jazeera that about a quarter of a million passengers were expected to be diverted across Europe and the United Kingdom because of Friday’s shutdown.
“There’s going to be mayhem for 24 hours, or probably more like 48 or 72 hours. There are other airports around the United Kingdom that do handle the diverted flights, but their ability to handle this number would be very problematic,” he said.
“So a lot of these flights would divert into Europe. But there again, the problem for airlines is, all of a sudden, you’ve got a flight in Frankfurt where it’s supposed to be in Heathrow, you’ve got crew that are in the wrong place. It’s a chaotic situation,” Thomas added.
Ellen, a traveller from the British county of Surrey, was planning to fly to Venice on Friday on British Airways but had to change her trip due to the shutdown.
“We were supposed to fly to Venice this morning from Heathrow for a day trip for my 30th birthday present. It was a surprise booked by my cousin for the two of us. We have been offered a full refund by the airline so won’t be travelling now this weekend but will try to rearrange for another weekend soon,” she told Al Jazeera.
Lloyd, 34, said he was planning to travel from the Scottish city of Glasgow to the United States via Heathrow to visit his partner but he received an email while he was still en route to Glasgow Airport on Friday morning informing him that his 6:35am flight had been rebooked to a later time and to a different US airport.
By the time he got to the airport, his flight had been cancelled and he was advised not to travel to Heathrow. While disappointing, he said, it was better than being stuck at the London airport.
Footage shared on social media showed an inferno several storeys high, lighting up the night sky and emitting huge plumes of black smoke.
The London Fire Brigade said it had deployed 10 engines and about 70 firefighters to a fire at an electrical substation near the airport in Hayes, west London, and brought the blaze under control.
“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said. “Thanks to their efforts and coordinated multiagency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”
[Aljazeera]
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