Manish Pandey takes India to 165/8 in fourth T20
Wellington: Manish Pandey led India's recovery with an unbeaten 50 off 36 balls, taking the visitors to 165 for eight against New Zealand in the fourth T20 International here on Friday.
Put into bat, India were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.
This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle. Tim Southee is the stand-in skipper with the Black Caps making two changes.
India also made three changes with Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja rested. Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini came into the playing eleven respectively.
Samson (8) opened the innings with Rahul, but lasted only five balls before holing out. Virat Kohli (11) too was out cheaply, the ball looping up to extra cover and out caught off Hamish Bennett (2-41).
Ish Sodhi then got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.
India seemed intent on destroying this experimentation opportunity, while New Zealand fielded well and caught everything that came their way. The alarm bells came on when Rahul was caught off Sodhi at midwicket in the ninth over.
Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.
Pandey came to India's rescue thereafter as he marshalled the innings along with Shardul Thakur (20 off 15 balls) and Navdeep Saini (11 not out).
He put on 43 runs with Thakur for the seventh wicket and then added another 22 with Saini. In doing so, Pandey brought up his half-century off 36 balls, inclusive of three fours, and helped put on a defendable score on the board.
India have an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series after consecutive victories in Auckland and Hamilton.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
