1st T20I: Australia pip India by three-wickets in an exciting finish
Visakhapatnam, Feb 24: A profligate Umesh Yadav undid all the good work done by Jasprit Bumrah as Australia edged out India by three wickets in a last-ball thriller in the first T20 International here Sunday.
With 14 required off the last over, Umesh was hit for a boundary each by Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins, who had identical scores of 7 not out as they reached the target of 127 off the last delivery of the match.
This was after Jasprit Bumrah (3/16 in 4 overs) bowled an incredible 19th over to bring India back in the match just when it was looking that Australia would canter home.
He got Peter Handscomb with a short ball and then yorked Nathan Coulter-Nile after having dismissed Aaron Finch in his first spell.
However, it was Australia;'s tail-enders, who held the nerve getting the couple required a couple of runs off the final delivery of the innings.
But till the 15th over, Australia was in a cruise control mode as Glenn Maxwell (56 off 43 balls) and Darcy Short (37 off 37 balls) added 84 runs for the third wicket to almost seal the match,
India's wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (1/28 in 4 overs) and debutant Mayank Markande (0/31 in 4 overs) couldn't much of make an impact on Maxwell, who blasted both of them for towering sixes.
But things changed when Chahal finally got Maxwell with a flighted delivery wide outside the off-stump and the batsman failed to clear Rahul at long-off.
Short was run-out after a mix-up with Peter Handscomb and after Ashton Turner was removed by Krunal Pandya, Australia were in a spot of bother at 102 for 5.
But Richardson and Cummins kept their calm to give Australia a 1-0 lead going into the second and final game in Bengaluru on February 27.
Put into bat, opener Rahul's half-century on comeback but an inexplicable batting collapse found India restricted to a paltry 126 for 7 in 20 overs.
Back in the senior team after two-month wilderness due to his trash talk on a TV show, Rahul showed why he is rated highly during his 36-ball-50 but some indiscreet shot selection from his teammates meant that only 46 runs were scored in the back 10.
From a comfortable 80 for two in 9.5 overs, India lost four wickets for 20 runs by the 15th over to be reduced to 100 for six.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, played one of his signature dogged innings as he stemmed the rot with an unbeaten 29 off 37 balls but the total was definitely sub-par in the end.
The best partnership was 55 for the second wicket between Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli (24, 17 balls).
Looking in his element, Kohli didn't get the required elevation as he stepped out to leg-spinner Adam Zampa only to find Nathan Coulter-Nile at long-on.
In the very next over, Rishabh Pant misjudged a single and Jason Behrendorff dived to his left and released the ball quickly for keeper Peter Handscomb to effect a run-out.
The Indian innings was all about Rahul's flair as he repeatedly played the inside out lofted shot off pacers and the only six was a down the ground hit off Adam Zampa.
Rahul however could not convert his start and got out immediately after reaching his fifty in an over where Coulter-Nile (3/26) also breached Dinesh Karthik's defense with an off-cutter.
At the start of the innings, Behrendorff dismissed Rohit (5) as early as in the third over with the Indian vice-captain trying the lap shot but only to give Zampa a simple catch at fine leg.
But things started to go in India's favour from the next over with Rahul and then Kohli scoring a flurry of boundaries.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
