3rd T20I: Rohit's 23-ball fifty guides India to 179/5
Hamilton: Rohit Sharma scored 65 runs off 40 balls as India posted 179 for five in the third T20 International against New Zealand here on Wednesday.
Rohit's blitz included six fours and three sixes as he put on 89 runs for the first wicket with KL Rahul (27 off 19 balls).
This was after New Zealand won a third straight toss, but opted to field this time around. The hosts made one change with Scott Kuggeleijn coming in for Blair Tickner. India remained unchanged.
Rohit and Rahul then teed off immediately as New Zealand bowlers struggled to come to terms with the slow pace of the Seddon Park pitch.
Both Tim Southee (0-39) and Hamish Bennett (3-54) were taken for runs as the Indian openers unleashed a flurry of boundaries. India raced to 69 off the first six overs.
Rohit got to his half-century off 23 balls as he smacked 27 runs off Bennett's second over. It was the third time he had scored a T20I half-century off as many balls, with his fastest coming off 22 balls against West Indies in 2016.
Rahul though fell to Colin de Grandhomme (1-13) at the other end. Surprisingly, Shivam Dube (3) was promoted to number three but the move didn't work out. He was out after facing a laborious seven deliveries, which also sucked momentum out of the Indian innings.
The pressure told at the other end as Rohit was dismissed off Bennett as well. India lost three wickets for seven runs in the space of three overs.
Skipper Virat Kohli (38 off 27 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (17 off 16 balls) then tried to resurrect the innings with a 46-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Both hit a six each.
Iyer's dismissal was the turning point, stumped off Mitchell Santner (1/37) in the 17th over. Two overs later, Kohli was caught at extra cover.
Manish Pandey (14 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (10 not out) pushed the score past 170 but India fell short of a 200-score the openers had set up.
India lead the five-match series 2-0 after winning the first two T20Is in Auckland.
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Viral video claiming Australian PM cancelled Pakistani visas after Bondi Beach attack is fake
New Delhi: A video circulating on social media claiming that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the cancellation of all Pakistani visas following the recent terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been found to be false and digitally manipulated.
The six-second clip was widely shared on X and Facebook. The video allegedly showed Albanese making the announcement in the aftermath of the December 14 attack.
An X user Tyagi (@mktyaggi) had shared the video on December 14. He claimed that the Australian government had decided to revoke all Pakistani visas after the incident and the post received nearly 50,000 views. A similar claim was amplified by another X account, Tiger Raja Satire (@TigerRajaSinggh), whose post garnered over 82,000 views and without verification, the video was also shared by multiple Facebook users
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A closer examination of the clip by Alt News revealed that the visible lip-sync discrepancies and suspicion about its authenticity. No credible reports of any Australian government decision to cancel Pakistani visas following the attack were found on any platforms.
To verify the source of the visuals, a reverse image search was conducted by Alt News, using key frames from the viral video. This led to several news reports published in August 2022 by The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and The Age, which featured Anthony Albanese wearing the same attire and standing against the same backdrop. Those reports related to a parliamentary discussion on the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament and had no connection to the Bondi Beach incident.
There was no announcement regarding Pakistani visa holders during the press conference and authorities have also clarified that no link to Pakistan has been established in connection with the attack.
Police said, with roots in Tolichowki in Hyderabad, the attacker Sajid Akram had Indian lineage and had migrated to Australia in 1998 on a student visa. He had visited India only on a few occasions for family-related reasons. Officials further stated that the factors leading to the radicalisation of Sajid and his son did not appear to have any connection with India or local influences in Telangana. While Sajid held an Indian passport, his children were born in Australia and were Australian citizens.
