India use short-ball tactics to dismiss Pakistan for 147
Dubai, Aug 28: Hardik Pandya showed his high value under extreme pressure as his well-directed short balls helped India limit Pakistan to 147 all out in their Asia Cup opener here on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma decided to chase after winning the toss and the bowlers, led by Hardik, set up the game nicely for India.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) was at his skilful best and his four wicket haul included the prized scalp of Babar Azam (10). However, Hardik's envious figures of 3 for 25 in four overs, during the middle phase, triggered a Pakistani batting collapse.
Young seamer Arshdeep Singh also returned decent figures of 2 fo 33 in his first ever appearance in an Indo-Pak clash as all 10 wickets were snapped by speed merchants, a first for India in shortest version.
The first over of the game bowled by Bhuvneshwar was a rather eventful one as it included two DRS calls going in favour of Mohammad Rizwan (43 off 42) and a straight drive from Babar.
The umpire adjudged Rizwan leg before wicket off second delivery but ball tracking showed it was going over the stumps.
Four balls later the Indians thought Rizwan got a faint edge on way to the wicketkeeper but the 'ultra edge' showed a flat-line on review.
There was not much movement around for both Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep Singh as they managed to keep things tight in their two over opening spell.
Babar straught drove Arshdeep in the second over, showing the sublime touch he has been in over the past 12 months.
Bhuvneshwar, however, surprised the Pakistan skipper with a bouncer in his second over and he went for the pull only to top edge to Arshdeep at short fine leg.
India went in with Avesh Khan as the third pace option and he struck in his opening over after Rizwan smashed him for a six and four towards the midwicket region.
His fifth ball of the over was faced by left-handed Fakhar Zaman who decided to walk after edging a short and wide ball to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik who was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant for the big game.
With the crowd making a lot of noise, the Indians did not hear the edge but Zaman decided to walk, leaving Pakistan at 43 for two in six overs.
Rizwan then shared a 45-run stand for the third wicket with Iftikhar Ahmed (28 off 22) to give the innings some momentum.
However, Hardik changed the course of the game removing the well set Iftikhar and Rizwan with well directed short balls --- the former edged it to Karthik and latter, not sure of what he was doing, ended up giving a regulation catch to third man.
Soon after, Hardik removed Khushdil Shah with another short ball to leave Pakistan at 97 for five in the 15th over.
Number 11 Shahnawaz Dahani hammered two big sixes in the death overs to take Pakistan closer to 150.
India took five wickets in the last 30 balls but also ended up conceding 45 runs.
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Nurse found murdered in Bengaluru’s Kumaraswamy Layout; police suspect she resisted robbery
Bengaluru: A 39-year-old nurse was found murdered at her residence in Kumaraswamy Layout in south Bengaluru, with police suspecting that she was killed while resisting a robbery.
The victim, identified as Mamatha, hailed from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district and was working at Jayadeva Hospital. She had been staying at a house in Pragathipura along with a colleague for the past two years, Deccan Herald reported.
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According to police, the incident occurred on Wednesday when Mamatha was alone at home. The assailants allegedly barged into the house, overpowered her, slit her throat with a sharp weapon and fled after robbing her gold chain.
Citing preliminary investigations, an officer said Mamatha likely resisted the robbery, as a broken piece of her gold chain was found at the crime scene suggested a scuffle at the crime scene.
The incident came to light the next evening after her family members asked the landlord to check on her when she did not answer phone calls.
The incident came to light on Thursday evening after Mamatha failed to respond to repeated phone calls from her family. Concerned relatives asked the landlord to check on her. Using a spare key, the landlord entered the house and found her lying in a pool of blood in the bedroom. He called the police.
Police have shifted the body for post-mortem and are undertaking further investigations to identify and trace the killers.Based on a complaint lodged by her brother Shankar, police have registered a case of murder.
