Shubman Gill's fifty takes KKR to 171/4, seasons' highest score at Sharjah
Sharjah, Oct 7: Shubman Gill hit a second consecutive fifty as Kolkata Knight Riders registered the highest score at the venue this season, posting a competitive 171 for four against Rajasthan Royals in their final IPL league match here on Thursday.
Gilll (56 off 44) and Venkatesh Iyer (38 off 35) got KKR's innings to a rollicking start after being put into bat, stitching 79 runs for the opening stand.
Rahul Tripathi (21), Dinesh Karthik (14 not out off 11) and skipper Eoin Morgan (13 not out off 11) also played good hands towards the end to take KKR to past the 170-run mark.
Young left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya was the pick of the bowkers for RR with figures of 1/23.
Riding on Gill and Iyer's impressive start, KKR reached 50 in the eighth over.
Iyer didn't curb his natural instinct and first clobbered Jaydev Unadkat over the deep midwicket boundary and then straight over the bowlers's head two bowler's later to accumulate 14 runs off the 10th over as KKR reached 75 for no loss at the halfway mark.
Inspired by Iyer's power-hitting, Gill then joined the party and welcomed Rahul Tewatia with a maximum.
But Tewatia had the last laugh as he gave his side the important breakthrough when he went through the defence of Iyer between his legs as the left-hander went for an extravagant reverse sweep.
RR skipper then introduced Glenn Phillips into the attack but the off-spinner went for 17 runs, albeit he picked up the wicket of Nitish Rana in the process.
Rahul Tripathi was lucky to get a reprieve as he was dropped by Samson when he outside edged a full delivery off Mustafizur Rahman in the last ball of the 13th over.
Tripathi cashed in on the chance and struck Shivam Dube for back-to-back boundaries in the next over.
Nitish Rana played a 5-ball 12-run cameo before Karthik and Morgan joined hands to end KKR's innings on a high.
Brief scores: 171/4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56; Chris Morris 1/28, Chetan Sakariya 1/23).
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
