Mitchell, Williamson take New Zealand to 152/4 against Pakistan
Sydney(PTI): Daryl Mitchell hit a timely unbeaten fifty to help New Zealand post a decent 152 for four against Pakistan in the first semifinal on a slow SCG pitch here on Wednesday.
Opting to bat, New Zealand batters found the going tough on a used SCG track as they struggled to connect the ball because of the slow nature of the surface.
Mitchell (53 not out off 35) and skipper Kane Williamson (46 off 42) resurrected New Zealand's innings after early jolts to take the last edition's runner-up past the 150-run mark.
Finn Allen got his innings off to a confident start, hitting Shaheen Afridi's (2/24) full delivery down the ground past mid-on for a boundary.
Afridi, however, rapped Allen on the pads in the next delivery and onfield umpire Marius Erasmus took time before raising his finger. But the batter got a reprieve as TV replays showed it was an inside edge on to the pads.
But Afridi got his man in the very next ball with another LBW shout and this time it was dead straight, even though Allen went for an unsuccessful review.
Other opener Devon Conway (21) tried to force the innings with three boundaries but was run out by a direct throw from Shadab Khan at mid-off.
But new man Glenn Phillips lasted just eight balls, top-edging left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz straight back to him as New Zealand slumped to 49 for three in eight overs.
Thereafter, Williamson and Mitchell held the innings together and shared 68 runs off 50 balls for the fourth wicket.
While Williamson played the role of anchor, mostly dealing in ones and twos with occasional boundaries in between, Mitchell was at his aggressive best.
The duo brought up their fifty-run stand in just 36 balls but failed to force the pace towards the end as boundaries and sixes were hard to come by.
Williamson fell four short of a half-century, bowled by Afridi in the 17th over with a slower off-cutter as the batter went for a scoop over the keeper's head.
After Williamson's departure, Mitchell kept the Kiwis' innings going and reached his fifty off 32 balls.
With James Neesham (16 not out), Mitchell stitched an unconquered 35 off 22 balls but failed to give the final flourish as Pakistan bowlers made a strong comeback.
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Fake call centre duping foreigners busted in Thane; five detained
Thane (PTI): The Thane police have unearthed a bogus call centre that allegedly cheated foreign nationals, particularly US citizens, under the pretext of selling software, an official said on Wednesday.
Five persons, including the call centre owner, were detained after a raid at the premises in the Ambernath area of Maharashtra's Thane district late Tuesday night, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ambernath division) Shailesh Kale told PTI.
The bogus facility was operating from a business centre and functioned under the garb of providing software services, the official said.
"The call centre staff targeted foreign nationals, especially Americans. They contacted them on the phone, lured them with offers of software services and extracted money from them in different forms," Kale said.
The police received a tip-off about the illegal operations and raided the premises. The search operation continued till Wednesday morning, he said.
The employees used to make hundreds of calls to foreign nationals daily and would eventually succeed in duping a few of them, Senior Police Inspector Shabbir Sayyed said.
"They collected advance payments from the victims and blocked them after receiving the money," he said, explaining the modus operandi.
The employees were provided with a specific script for conversations to gain the victims' confidence and persuade them to transfer funds, he added.
The police have seized electronic gadgets and other accessories used in the alleged racket from the premises.
A case has been registered against five persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Information Technology Act and the Indian Telegraph Act, Kale said.
The police were verifying the victims' credentials and nationality.
