Latham, Will Young hundreds power NZ to 320/5 against Pakistan in CT opener
Karachi, Feb 19 (PTI): Fluent hundreds by opener Will Young and skipper Tom Latham powered New Zealand to a competitive 320 for five against hosts and defending champions Pakistan in the Champions Trophy opener here on Wednesday.
Young compiled an important innings of 107 off 113 balls, while Latham remained unbeaten on 118. Glenn Phillips then blazed away to a 39-ball 61 to prop up the Kiwi innings at the National Stadium.
Young struck 12 fours and one six, while Latham batted through the innings to strike 10 boundaries and three maximums.
Young played anchor after Pakistan elected to field first and had New Zealand reeling at 40 for two and then 73 for three in the 17th over.
Young fast bowler Naseem Shah got the prized wicket of Kane Williamson who was caught behind for a single digit score for the first time in his last 35 ODI outings.
Making a comeback to the team after an injury that had kept him out of the recently-held tri-series, Haris Rauf had Daryl Mitchell mistiming a pull shot to leave the visitors in trouble.
Opener Devon Conway was the first wicket to fall on a pitch which clearly has some grip in it for the spinners, as Abrar Ahmed, brought in the eighth over, used a carom ball to beat the southpaw.
With three wickets gone with not many runs on the board, Young, who is playing only because of an injury to Rachin Ravindra, steadied the ship in partnership with Latham as they put on 118 runs for the fourth wicket.
Pakistan, depending on one specialist spinner, three pace bowlers, and two part-time spinners in Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha, just didn't have the penetration to break the partnership.
After Young fell while looking to open up after sweeping his way to his fourth one-day hundred, Latham and Phillips went after the Pakistan bowling in the final 10 overs.
Latham, who scored his eighth ODI hundred, and Phillips walloped Abrar and Haris for 32 runs in the 44th and 45th overs. In the 47th over, Shaheen Shah Afridi was smashed for 18 runs.
Phillips, who fell in the final over to Haris while trying a reverse scoop shot, did the maximum damage with four sixes and three fours.
Rauf was the most expensive bowler, conceding 83 runs in his 10 overs for two wickets.
Earlier, President Asif Zardari opened the tournament and was introduced to both teams by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi and ICC officials.
The crowd turnout at the start of the match was not as high as anticipated but as the weather improved, the stadium was getting packed with spectators eager to watch a major ICC event in the country for the first time since 1996.
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Delhi HC asks Jaideep Sengar to surrender in Unnao custodial death case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Jaideep Sengar, brother of Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Sengar, to surrender before jail authorities in connection with his conviction in the custodial death case of the survivor's father.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja was hearing a plea by the convict for further extension of interim bail upon suspension of the 10-year sentence.
It observed that the interim bail granted to Jaideep Sengar in July 2024 was last extended in April 2025 and since then, in spite of five dates, no order of any further extension or suspension of his sentence has been passed by the court.
As the senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar urged the bench to extend the period of his release on account of his health, the bench said, "You surrender and then we will see."
"Although there is no extension of interim suspension of sentence granted, we find he has still not surrendered. Before we proceed to consider his application for further extension of suspension of sentence, we require the appellant to first surrender," the bench ordered.
The senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar assured the court that he would surrender by Saturday.
The court listed the matter for hearing next week.
Jaideep Sengar, 50, sought the bail extension on the grounds that he is suffering from oral cancer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) counsel had earlier said it was not a fit case for extension of interim bail, and the prescription given by Jaideep Sengar in support of his plea was fabricated.
In his application, Jaideep Sengar said he was suffering from stage IV oral cancer, a life-threatening condition, and had developed clinical signs of recurrence.
The condition, the plea said, required continuous and specialised medical care.
The plea also informed that Jaideep Sengar has spent about four years in custody.
The high court had granted interim bail to Jaideep Sengar on July 3, 2024, for two months on medical grounds.
Kuldeep Sengar was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life on December 20, 2019, for raping the minor in 2017.
On March 13, 2020, Kuldeep Sengar, along with Jaideep Sengar, was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by the trial court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh, in the custodial death case of the rape survivor's father.
The survivor's father was arrested, allegedly at the behest of the accused, under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018, owing to police brutality.
The trial court said no leniency could be shown for killing a family's sole breadwinner.
