Pant, Hardik Pandya lead India's 60-run win over Bangladesh in T20 WC warm-up match
New York, Jun 1: India ticked multiple boxes during their 60-run victory over Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup warm-up match here on Saturday, but none bolder than a fifty by Rishabh Pant which has all but sealed his place as the first-choice wicketkeeper batter in the ICC showpiece.
Pant’s 53 (32b, 4x4, 4x6), who was making his India comeback after that horrific car accident in December 2022, and Hardik Pandya’s equally pleasing (40 not out, 23b, 2x4, 4x6) led India to a competitive 182 for five after opting to bat first.
India faced little trouble in defending the total as left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh found his bowling wares, leading the restriction of Bangladesh to 122 for nine.
There was a token fightback from Mahmudullah Riyaz (40 retired out; 28b, 4x4, 1x6) and Shakib Al Hasan (28), who milked 75 runs for the sixth-wicket.
But it helped Bangladesh only to reduce the margin of defeat after they were reduced to 41 for five.
Arshdeep, who had a less than satisfactory outing in the IPL for Punjab Kings, struck twice inside the Power Play, ousting Soumya Sarkar, caught behind by Pant, and Litton Das, who was bowled by a lovely in-curler from over the wicket.
Fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj added the wicket of Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (0) as they slipped to 10 for three in 3.5 overs, and it was too deep a hole to claw back against a competent bowling unit, which has good variety through the ranks.
The Indian bowlers also showed excellent skills to exploit a slow pitch which was also aided by an equally sluggish outfield where the ball did not roll along. Pacer Shivam Dube also chipped in with two wickets (2/11).
For Bangladesh, the defeat was a continuation of their gloomy build-up to the World Cup as they had recently lost the three-match T20I series against the USA 1-2.
The insipid batting effort by Bangladesh also provided a better perspective to the innings of Pant and Pandya earlier.
It was their gumption that led India to an above-par score on a slow pitch, and something that will come very handy once India embrace the tournament proper from June 5 with a match against Ireland at this venue.
Pant retired after making 53 but not before nullifying a plethora of Bangladeshi slow bowlers.
But the knock has certainly given him an edge over Sanju Samson in the perceived competition for the wicketkeeper-batter slot.
Samson came in as opener ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal along with skipper Rohit Sharma (23, 19b, 2x4, 1x6) as Virat Kohli, who was expected to open, skipped the match after he arrived here only on Friday.
However, Samson, who had a fine run in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals, was trapped in front of the wicket for a 6-ball 1 by left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam as he struggled to come to terms with the nature of the track.
There were also handy contributions by Suryakumar Yadav (31, 18b, 4x4) and Pandya (40) as India moved to a competitive total despite not having any single big partnership in their innings.
But the primary architect of that fighting total was Pant.
Pant, who returned to competitive cricket during the IPL 2024, had shown excellent touch for Delhi Capitals while making 287 runs from 13 matches with three fifties and at a strike-rate of 155.
The left-hander continued his fine touch here too, carting Bangladesh bowlers around.
There were those typical Pant shots, which are hard to describe, such as a stand-still flick off medium-pacer Soumya to fine-leg for a boundary or that one-handed six while he was out of balance off off-spinner Mahmudullah Riyadh.
Pant, who smashed Shakib Al Hasan for two successive sixes, brought his fifty in 32 balls with a boundary off Shakib before retiring to the pavilion.
Dube, who was dropped on four, could not exploit the let-off and was dismissed for a 16-ball 14 and at that stage India were 130 for four after 14.4 overs.
India were in need of some acceleration and Pandya provided just that.
Pandya, who was dropped on 26, slammed three consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam which were a treat to watch for their power and neat execution.
His innings and confidence might have immensely pleased the team management and himself after a modest outing as Mumbai Indians’ captain in a season where he was subjected to intense professional and personal scrutiny.
Bangladesh also suffered an injury scare as Shoriful walked off just before bowling the final ball of the innings, as Tanzim Hasan completed the over.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
