Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni star in series-levelling win for India against Australia

Agencies
January 15, 2019

Jan 15: M S Dhoni pulled off a tight finish for India just like old times to silence his critics after captain Virat Kohli laid the foundation for a series-levelling six-wicket win against Australia with his 39th ODI hundred here on Tuesday.

Chase master Kohli could not take his team to the finishing line this time but Dhoni (55 off 54) and Dinesh Karthik (25 off 14) rose to the occasion with an unbeaten 57-run stand off 34 balls, taking India home with four balls to spare. Australia scored 298-8 after opting to bat.

Man of the match Kohli was dismissed in the 44th over after making 104 off 112 balls with five fours and two sixes. Dhoni, who has been coping a lot of criticism for his waning finishing skills, turned back the clock and took India past the finish line with a final over six.

The third and final ODI will be in Melbourne on Friday.

India got off to a frantic start with Shikhar Dhawan hitting five boundaries in his 28-ball 32 runs. He put on 47 runs for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma (43).

The latter had another strong outing, adding 54 runs with Kohli for the second wicket as India crossed 100 in the 18th over. But just when things were going smoothly, he mishit a pull off Marcus Stoinis (1-46) and was caught in the deep.

Ambati Rayudu (24) then came to the crease, and while he added 59 runs with Kohli for the third wicket, it was plain obvious that the number four batsman struggled for timing.

Kohli meanwhile was in cruise mode, rotating strike and picking the odd boundary with ease, as he reached fifty in 66 balls. The star batsman stayed in the same mode as the asking rate climbed.

But it was Rayudu who tried attacking the bowling and perished instead, caught in the deep off Glenn Maxwell (1-16) in the 31st over.

Dhoni then joined Kohli, and the duo put on 82 runs for the fourth wicket, with clever rotation of strike as India crossed 200 in the 37th over to keep pace with the asking rate.

Kohli changed gears as he hit two immaculate sixes through pure timing, and reached his hundred off 108 balls. It was his sixth ODI hundred against Australia.

The turning point came in the 44th over though, when Australia masterminded Kohli's dismissal through some clever field placement in the deep. He holed out to Maxwell off Jhye Richardson (1-59).

Dhoni then took over and put on match-winning partnership with Karthik. In doing so, he turned back the clocks to lead India to a tense finish, and completed his second consecutive half-century in as many matches, 69th overall, off 53 balls.

The veteran's running between the wickets, laced with two sixes as the only boundaries, finished things off in style for India.

Earlier, Shaun Marsh scored his seventh ODI hundred to take Australia to a challenging total.

Marsh arrived at the crease at 26-2 and scored 131 runs and added 94 runs off 65 balls with Glenn Maxwell (48 off 37 balls).

The hosts were unchanged from the previous game, while India brought in debutant Mohammed Siraj in place of Khaleel Ahmed.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-45) and Mohammed Shami (3-58) exerted themselves on proceedings with the new ball, and didn't let the Australian openers get away quickly.

Kumar bowled Aaron Finch (6) through the gate in the seventh over, in a near-similar replay of his dismissal in the first ODI. At the other end, Alex Carey (18) looked set once again before getting out two overs later, a top-edge off Shami's quick bouncer caught at midwicket as Shikhar Dhawan took a skier.

It brought Marsh and Usman Khawaja (21) together, and they put on 56 runs off 65 balls. Their partnership threatened to turn the game away, but Ravindra Jadeja affected a brilliant run-out in the 19th over to dismiss Khawaja with a direct throw from backward point.

Marsh was able to manoeuvre the middle overs very well, as Mohammed Siraj (0-76) was proving expensive in every spell. The debutant sprayed the ball all over and was never able to hit a consistent line.

India were forced to bowl Kuldeep Yadav (0-66) and Jadeja (1-49) earlier in the innings than planned, and even Shami came back for a spell before the 25th over as the lack of a sixth bowling option started to show.

Australia did them a favour by losing wickets at regular intervals. Peter Handscomb (20) was stumped off Jadeja in the 28th over with MS Dhoni affecting another quick dismissal. But he had added 52 runs with Marsh for the fourth wicket carrying Australia past 100 in the 22nd over.

Marsh reached his half-century off 62 balls, and added 55 runs with Marcus Stoinis (29) for the fifth wicket.

Their partnership threatened to change the pace of scoring but Shami struck in the 37th over, an inside edge caught behind, to dismiss Stoinis.

Maxwell hit five fours and a six as Australia accelerated after reaching 200 in the 39th over. Marsh, meanwhile, had reached his hundred off 108 balls.

Siraj had a woeful day as he missed out twice on Maxwell's wicket as the hard-hitting batsman survived on 26 and 41. First, DRS overturned an lbw decision in the 44th over with the ball going down leg, and then Rohit Sharma dropped a tough chance at extra cover in the 47th over.

Kumar returned to account for both Maxwell and Marsh in the 48th over and it dented momentum towards 300, as Australia lost a flurry of wickets.

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News Network
October 25,2024

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A recent survey has exposed a troubling rise in anti-Muslim racism across Europe, fueled by heightened conflicts in West Asia and Europe’s increasingly hostile climate for Muslims. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) revealed on Thursday that nearly half of European Muslims faced discrimination in the past five years, with the situation worsening notably over the last year as violence flared in Gaza.

Nicole Romain, a spokeswoman for FRA, confirmed reports of intensified anti-Muslim hate across several EU countries. "Even before the current escalation, it was already becoming increasingly challenging to live as a Muslim in the EU," she said, pointing to dehumanizing rhetoric and profiling practices that target Muslims based on religion, ethnicity, and even physical appearance.

The survey, conducted prior to Israel’s large-scale assault on Gaza, included data from over 9,600 Muslims across more than a dozen EU nations between October 2021 and October 2022. The results highlighted Austria as having the highest rate of discrimination against Muslims at 71 percent, followed closely by Germany (68 percent) and Finland (63 percent). France, home to Europe’s second-largest Muslim population, reported a rate of 39 percent.

Women and children are disproportionately affected, particularly those wearing religious attire such as the hijab. FRA's report sheds light on the pervasive racial profiling Muslims face, from random police checks to discrimination in employment despite high qualifications. Director Sirpa Rautio warned that as conflicts continue to escalate, the impact on Muslims in Europe is likely to worsen, compounding challenges for the EU’s 26 million-strong Muslim population, which makes up more than 5 percent of the bloc's residents.

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News Network
October 29,2024

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At least 60 people, including children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on several areas in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese Health Ministry says.

The ministry said at least 58 people were also wounded in the attacks on 12 areas in the Bekaa Valley on Monday.

Of the 60 killed, at least 16 deaths were recorded in al-Alaq, west of Baalbek city, the ministry added.

The casualty figures were preliminary and are expected to rise as rescue efforts were still ongoing, according to to the ministry.

Baalbek governor Bachir Khodr denounced the attacks on the area as the "most violent" since the start of the Israeli aggression.

Israel has been targeting Lebanon since October 2023, when it launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah has been responding to the aggression with numerous retaliatory operations, including one with a hypersonic ballistic missile, targeting the occupied Palestinian territories.

Since late September, Israel has escalated its strikes against Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and a number of its senior figures.

At least 2,710 people have been killed by Israeli fire, and 12,592 others wounded since the clashes began last year, the health ministry says.

The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its operations against Israel as long as the Israeli regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 43,020 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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News Network
October 27,2024

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The death toll from the overnight Israeli aggression against a number of military positions across Iran has risen to four.

Earlier the Iranian Army had announced the martyrdom of two of its forces in the Israeli attack, who lost their lives “while confronting the projectiles of the criminal Zionist regime in order to safeguard the security of Iran and prevent harm to the Iranian nation and interests.”

Media reports identified the two martyred Army forces as Major Hamzeh Jahandideh and Sergeant Mohammad-Mehdi Shahrokhifar.

Major Sajjad Mansouri and Sergeant Mehdi Naghavi, who had been injured in line of duty, also succumbed to their injuries, reports said.  

The strikes targeted parts of military sites in the capital Tehran as well as the western and southwestern provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan, with Iran’s air defense saying the attacks were “successfully intercepted and countered.”

The attacks caused “limited damage” in some locations and the dimensions of the incident are under investigation.

Despite Israeli media reports overplaying the Israeli attack by circulating fake images, the Iranian public returned to their routines and daily life continued smoothly across the country.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization announced that flights had resumed after a short interruption and footage from Mehrabad Airport in western Tehran showed operations running normally, with passengers moving through as usual.

The Tehran Oil Refining Company also dismissed rumors of an Israeli attack on its facilities.

On October 1, Iran responded to the Israeli assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and senior IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan by launching as many as 200 ballistic missiles toward the occupying regime’s military and intelligence bases all over the occupied Palestinian territories.

Dubbed Operation True Promise II, the retaliatory strike dealt a severe blow to the illegal regime all the more ruinous than its prequel in April, with Tel Aviv having so far declined to reveal the extent of loss it suffered despite vowing to respond on several occasions.

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