Buttler's magnificent 101 not out takes England to 163/4 after early setbacks
Sharjah, Nov 1: Jos Buttler smashed his maiden T20 century and together with skipper Eoin Morgan shared a century stand to take England to a challenging 163 for four after early setbacks against Sri Lanka in a Group 1 Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup here on Monday.
Sent into bat, England lost three wickets for 35 runs before Buttler (101 not out off 67 balls) and Morgan (40 off 36) joined hands to stitch a crucial 112 runs for the fourth wicket that came off 78 balls.
England lost Jason Roy (9) in the second over. Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (3/21) followed up his hat-trick against South Africa by castling the English opener's stumps with his second ball of the day.
The script went from bad to worse for England as they lost two more quick wickets.
First Dawid Malan (6) was cleaned up by Dushmantha Chameera in the third over and two overs later Jonny Bairstow (0) was out LBW to de Silva after Sri Lanka successfully asked for a review.
In between, Buttler found the fence on a few occasions to keep England's scoreboard ticking, managing a meagre 47 runs in the first 10 overs.
The onus was on Buttler to up the ante and he did try his best after the 10th over, piling up 14 runs of medium pacer Chamika Karunaratna in the 13th over.
Buttler first muscled the bowler to the mid-on fence and then clobbered him over the deep midwicket boundary for a maximum.
Buttler notched up his fifty off 45 balls, the slowest of his T20 career, with a single off de Silva in the 14th over.
The partnership between Buttler and Morgan grew in confidence as time progressed.
The 15th over bowled by fast bowler Lahiru Kumara yielded 22 runs with Buttler hitting two sixes, while Morgan clearing the fence once.
Morgan's dismissal had no effect on Buttler who continued his attacking game and finished off the innings with a six off Chameera to notch up first T20 ton.
Buttler decorated his innings with six boundaries and as many sixes.
England batters took Sri Lanka bowlers to task in the final five overs, scoring 58 runs for the loss of just one wicket.
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Karnataka police constable arrested for forging passport verification records
Mangaluru: A police constable attached to the Vitla Police Station has been arrested for allegedly forging documents and manipulating passport verification records to obtain a clearance certificate from the authorities.
Police said on Tuesday that a person identified as Shakti Das, who claimed to be residing within the jurisdiction of the Vitla Police Station, first applied for a passport in February 2025.
During police verification, it was found that the address mentioned in the application did not match official records, following which the application was not recommended.
In June 2025, Shakti Das reportedly submitted a second passport application. Police alleged that Pradeep, a staff member at the Vitla Police Station, processed the reapplication without informing the concerned beat constable, Sabu Mirji, who was responsible for verifying the applicant’s address.
Pradeep allegedly prepared a verification report in the name of the beat constable, forged his signature, secured approval from senior officers, and forwarded the report. He is also accused of destroying verification-related documents to conceal the irregularities.
As per the report, the matter came to light on December 19 during a scrutiny of records. Police said the acts amounted to criminal breach of trust, as a crucial identity document issued by the Central government was fraudulently obtained.
Police further said that Shakti Das claims to hail from West Bengal, and his address is currently being verified.
Based on the findings, Vitla Police have registered a case against Pradeep and passport holder Shakti Das under Sections 336, 337, 316(5), and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
Pradeep has been arrested and produced before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody. Further investigation is underway, police said.
