Haris Rauf takes 4/22 as Pakistan restrict NZ to 134 for 8
Sharjah, Oct 26: Pacer Haris Rauf led a clinical bowling show with four wickets for 22 runs as Pakistan restricted New Zealand to a small total of 134 for eight in their ICC T20 World Cup Super 12 match here on Tuesday.
The Kiwis were in all sorts of trouble after they were invited to bat in the face a disciplined Pakistani bowling attack with opener Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway top-scoring with 27 each and captain Kane Williamson contributing 25.
New Zealand could not have one substantial partnership with their highest being the 36-run opening stand between Mitchell and Martin Guptill (17).
Shaheen Afridi, Imad wasim and Mohammad Hafeez also took one wicket each for Pakistan.
Afridi, who rattled the Indian top-order in Pakistan's 10-wicket win on Sunday, got the swing in the opening over which was a maiden one. But Mitchell hit a four off his second over which yielded eight runs.
Mitchell then hoisted Hasan Ali for a six as New Zealand looked to take the initiative. But they were unable to come out of the power play unscathed as Rauf uprooted Guptill's timbers after the ball took a deflection off the batter's pads.
Mitchell paid the price of going for one too many as he holed out to Fakhar Zaman near the ropes after he smashed a six off Imad in the ninth over.
New batter James Neesham did not last long as he was out for 1 in the next over off Hafeez as New Zealand reached 60 for three at halfway mark.
The Kiwis stepped on the gas and took 25 runs from the 12th and 13th overs together with Williamson smashing Hafeez for a six and a four, even as Conway clobbered Shadab Khan for three successive boundaries.
But the Kiwi innings took a turn after Williamson was run out in the 14th over as Hasan Ali's brilliant direct throw off his own bowling dislodged the bails.
New Zealand could only reach the 100-run mark at the end of the 15th over and as runs were hard to come by, they got a four after four overs, only to see Conway and Glenn Phillips (13) getting out in the space of three balls in the 18th over bowled by Rauf.
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Madhya Pradesh: BJP leader assaults blind woman in Church
Jabalpur: Anju Bhargava, vice-president of BJP's Jabalpur city unit, has come under sharp scrutiny, creating the ripples of political controvery in Madhya Pradesh, after a video surfaced online showing her physically assaulting a visually impaired woman inside a church.
The New Indian Express has reported that the said incident reportedly took place on Saturday (20 Dec) at a church in the Hawa Bagh area, which comes under the limits of Gorakhpur police station.
The video footage that has circulated widely on Monday shows Anju Bhargava, assaulting the blind woman in the presence of a police officer. In the video, Bhargava is seen shouting at the woman, twisting her arm and forcibly grabbing her face. The victim can be heard pleading to Bhargava to speak to her rather than resorting to physical violence. Also, we can hear Bhargava screaming, “will be blind in her next birth too”
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According to The Indian Express reports, Bhargava entered the church, with members of several Hindutva affiliated organisations, alleging that the visually impaired children were being forced into religious conversion; But, the students present at the church have flatly denied all the allegations.
An unnamed police officer cited in media reports states that there was no evidence to support claims of forced religious conversion. The incident has since intensified political debate in the state, with opposition parties demanding accountability and action against those involved.
