Jadeja spins web as India restrict England to 304 in 2nd ODI
Cuttack, Feb 9 (PTI): Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continued his stranglehold over English batters with brilliant figures of 3 for 35 as India bowled out the visitors for a sub-par score of 304 in the second ODI here on Sunday.
On a good batting surface, Jadeja’s crucial breakthroughs came against the run of play as he dismissed an aggressive Ben Duckett (65 off 56 balls) and a well-set Joe Root (69 off 72 balls), preventing England from building on their strong start.
Electing to bat, England laid a solid foundation with contributions from Duckett, Root, and skipper Jos Buttler (34 off 35 balls).
At 200/3 in 35 overs, England seemed on course for a 330-plus total, but Jadeja’s disciplined bowling stifled their momentum, denying them the extra 15-20 runs.
England would have struggled to reach 300 if not for Liam Livingstone’s brisk 41 off 32 balls (2x4, 2x6) and Adil Rashid’s explosive five-ball 14, which included three consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Shami.
However, three run-outs in the final couple of overs saw them bowled out with a delivery to spare.
This is in fact the lowest total at Barabati Stadium since 2011 as 350-plus has been the average first innings score since then.
Jadeja's tactical awareness first undid Duckett, tempting him with a widish delivery out of his hitting arc which the southpaw miscued straight to mid-on.
Jadeja then removed Root for the fifth time in ODIs, slowing it down and tossing it up, only for Root to loft it straight to Kohli at deep extra cover.
Jadeja capped off his spell with a final-ball dismissal of Jamie Overton, who tried to create room but ended up skying it to Shubman Gill at cover.
It was a third catch for Gill who was simply phenomenal on the field on a day India made some poor judgments, burning two reviews, both against Root off mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who had figures of 1/54 on ODI debut.
Harshit Rana (1/62 in 9 overs) proved expensive, conceding 14 runs in his two overs as Duckett capitalised on his pace, finding gaps with ease.
Duckett was in sublime touch, flicking anything on his pads and threading the off-side field with finesse. The small boundaries aided his fluency as he raced to a 36-ball fifty.
Salt joined the charge, launching the first six of the innings, dispatching Hardik’s slower ball over long-on.
England’s raced to 75 for no loss in 10 overs without taking undue risks.
From 81 for no loss, England were suddenly 102/2, with Root and Harry Brook at the crease, it was India’s perfect opportunity to seize control.
Root and Brook steadied England’s innings. They rotated strike well, blending control with intent, and kept the scoreboard moving at six runs per over.
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Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
