India beat Sri Lanka by 144 runs to win Sixth U-19 Asia Cup title
NEW DELHI: India colts produced a clinical performance to outclass Sri Lanka by 144 runs in the summit clash of the 2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Dhaka on Sunday.
The victory gave India their sixth title in the continental tournament. After batsmen set a competitive target of 305 runs, India bowlers bundled the Lankans out for 160 in 38.4 overs to reclaim the trophy.
Left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi was the pick of India attack as he bamboozled Lankan batsmen to return figures of 6 for 38 in ten overs. India won the first five U-19 Asia Cups, but they failed to reach the semi-finals in the last edition in 2017 which was held in Malaysia.
They have come back stronger this time around to remain unbeaten in the entire tournament. Sri Lanka's run chase began on the wrong foot as they lost skipper Nipun Dananjaya (12) early to pacer Mohit Jangra to be at 20/1 in 6.1 overs.
Indian bowlers squeezed the run flow after that with some tight bowling. Tyagi then gave India their second breakthrough when he dismissed Pasindu Sooriyabandara (31 off 32), who was scoring at a good clip, to reduce Sri Lanka to 66/2 in 15.3 overs. Tyagi did not stop there and struck twice in quick times.
First, he removed Kalana Perera for nought in his next over (18th), before sending Nuwanidu Fernando (4) back to the pavilion with Sri Lanka struggling at 79/4 in 19.2 overs. The left-armer Tyagi continued to wreak havoc in the Lankan camp and dismissed Nishan M Fernando to reduce them to 104/5 in 23.5 overs.
Fernando was holding the fort for his team till then, scoring 49 off 67 balls with the help of two sixes and a solitary four. It was all downhill for Sri Lanka after that, and soon two wickets in two balls left them reeling at 127/7 after 32.1 overs.
Siddharth Desai dismissed Dulith Wellalage (7) with the final ball of the 32nd over, before Nipun Malinga was run out without facing a ball while trying to steal a second run. In the 34th over, Tyagi completed his five-wicket haul by scalping Sandun Mendis (1), before making Kalhara Senarathne's his sixth victim.
Desai took the final wicket to wrap up the Lankan innings, when he trapped Navod Paranavithana LBW. Paranavithana scored a handy 48 off 61 balls but failed to find a reliable partner at the other end. Earlier, India top-order fired in unison and post a big total of 304 for 3 after opting to bat first.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (85) and Anuj Rawat (57) gave the former champions an ideal start by adding 121 runs for the first wicket in 25 overs. Both completed their respective half-centuries, before Rawat was out leg before to left-arm spinner Dulith Wellalage in the first ball of the 26th over.
Rawat smacked three sixes and four boundaries for his 79-ball 57 knock. Jaiswal was then joined by Devdutt Padikkal (31 off 43 balls) and the duo kept the momentum going with another solid stand of 59 runs in 12.2 overs.
India lost both Jaiswal and Padikkal in fairly quick successions and were at 194/3 in 40.5 overs.
Jaiswal was trapped LBW by pacer Kalana Perera in the 38th over, after the India opener scored 85 off 113 balls with the help of a six and eight fours.
While, Padikkal was clean bowled by off-spinner Senaratne in the 41st over.
Captain Simran Singh (65*) along with Ayush Badoni (52*) made sure that India finished off their innings in style, adding an unbeaten 110 runs in just 9.1 overs and took the score over 300-run mark. They capitalised on the solid platform set by the top three batsmen and launched the attack from the word go.
Courtesy: timesofindia
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
