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Bumrah and Ashwin beat England’s bazballers as India draw level

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Rohit Sharma took a sharp catch to dismiss Ollie Pope in the first session (Cricinfo)
Jasprit Bumrah the fast bowler of our times, completed the job that he had begun in England’s first innings as India weathered a predictably ferocious fourth-innings challenge from a team that never knows when it is beaten, to close out a 106-run victory in Visakhapatnam and square an enthralling series at 1-1 with three Tests to come.

Bumrah’s figures of 3 for 46 in 17.2 overs were less spectacular than his first-innings six-for, but the timing of his breakthroughs was everything on a fraught fourth day – in particular, his priceless extraction of Jonny Bairstow on the stroke of lunch, a dismissal that capped a five-wicket session for India and left England’s chase with too far to run, having bursted out of the blocks with now typical gusto.

The loss was only England’s third in 11 fourth innings chases  since the start of the Bazball era, and if a target of 399 had always seemed outlandish, their all-out total of 292 was still higher than the previous successful chase by a visiting team in India – West Indie’s 276 for 5 in Delhi in 1987-88.

For all of their endeavour, England will rue a handful of key moments that derailed their hopes – most particularly a lbw verdict against their most composed chaser, Zak Crawley, moments before the Bairstow extraction, and an atypically lax piece of running from the captain, Ben Stokes, that sawed off his ominously poised innings before it could cut loose. Joe Root, nursing a damaged finger, played a wild knock of 16 from 10 balls that begged several questions too, particularly given how composed England’s tail proved to be in adversity, most notably Tom Hartley, who was last man out for 36 from 47 balls.

The tone of England’s chase was established in the opening moments of the day. At one end, there was Crawley, all poise and calculation as he lined up India’s dangerman Bumrah and committed only to the balls that his 6’5″ frame could drive with impunity. At the other, there was Rehan Ahmed, a blur of ambitious strokeplay as he resolved to live dangerously and burgle his runs before India could get settled, as he did with a brace of boundaries in Axar Patel’s second over.

Rehan was there for a good time, not a long time, and Axar duly had the final word with a plumb lbw from round the wicket, but not before Rehan’s 23 from 31 balls had helped to add 45 runs in 11 overs for the second wicket. Out came Ollie Pope, the second-innings hero in Hyderabad, and as he too launched onto the offensive with a lasered drive for four first-ball, it was clear England weren’t about to go into their shells.

Crawley strode onto the front foot once more to dump Axar through long-off to reach a supremely measured 83-ball half-century, but while he sought to provide a very Bazball definition of an anchor, Pope was business personified in the course of a fleet-footed cameo. His faith in the sweep was a clear indication that the bounce had gone out of the surface, at least while Axar was in his sights, from whom he picked off all five of his boundaries in a 21-ball stay.

Brief scores:
India 396 (Yashaswi Jaiswal 209, James Anderson 3-47, Rehan Ahmed 3-65, Shoaib  Bashir 3-138) and 225 (Shubman Gill 104, Tom Hartley 4-77) beat England 253 (Zak Crawley 76, Jasprit Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep Singh  3-71) and 292 (Zack Crawley 73, Jasprit Bumrah 3-46, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-72) by 106 runs

(Cricinfo)



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Dharshana fit for Asian Athletics Championship 

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The official letter of appointment was presented to her on Tuesday (20) afternoon  at the Presidential Secretariat by Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.

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President directs officials to promptly renovate the canals and drainage system in Colombo

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With the rapid increase in dengue and chikungunya cases in the Colombo district, President Anura Kumara Disanayake has directed the relevant officials to promptly address the urgent maintenance of the canals and drainage system

The President gave these directives during a meeting held on Tuesday (20) at the Presidential Secretariat with officials from the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, along with other relevant institutions.

The President questioned the officials regarding the inadequate maintenance of the canals and drainage systems, directing the Urban Development Authority to devise a plan that includes sustainable solutions for the improper disposal of waste and wastewater. The President also informed the relevant officials to submit the relevant plans promptly.

During the meeting, attention was also drawn to address the issue of improper waste disposal by enhancing the active involvement of Police Environmental Protection Division and Community Committees.

Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing Anura Karunathilaka, Governor of the Western Province Hanif Yusoof, the Chairman of the Urban Development Authority, the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation and senior officials of relevant institutions were present at the meeting.

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