Prasidh, Reddy restrict Australia to 181, India take 4-run lead
Sydney (PTI): Young pacers Prasidh Krishna and Nitish Reddy more than made up for skipper Jasprit Bumrah’s absence as India bowled out Australia for 181 at tea to take a slender four-run lead on the second day of the fifth Test here on Saturday.
While the lead is minimal, it will certainly give a psychological advantage to India after Siraj (3/51 in 16 overs), Prasidh (3/42 in 15 overs) and Reddy (2/32 in 7 overs) did their bit in the post-lunch session after skipper Bumrah left the venue to undergo precautionary scans.
The captain could bowl only one over before leaving the field handing over the reins to Virat Kohli, who took over from exactly where he had left in January 2022, proactive with bowling changes and animated as ever.
If the turning point was Steve Smith’s (33) dismissal just before lunch, Prasidh came from round the wicket from the Paddington End and removed Alex Carey (21) with an angled-in delivery. Carey was looking good but once Prasidh found his length, he was literally unplayable.
Debutant Beau Webster (57) justified his selection with a half-century but it was Reddy, coming for his second spell, who suddenly sparked a collapse with wickets of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, both done in by subtle movement off the surface.
The final blow was dealt by Prasidh. He used the uneven bounce and cracks off the surface to get one bounce awkwardly at Webster and Jaiswal snaffled the catch.
Earlier, Siraj was menacing during his first spell, grabbing two wickets with perfectly pitched outswingers before Prasidh sent back in-form Smith after he was involved in a nice little 57-run stand for the fifth wicket with Webster.
Prasidh was initially proving to be a weak link, bowling multiple release deliveries in his first spell as he couldn’t find the correct length but Bumrah changed his ends and it proved to be a masterstroke.
He bowled the perfect length to square up Smith and KL Rahul took the leading edge in the second slip.
The day started with Sam Konstas (23 off 38 balls) giving charge to Bumrah (2/27 in 9 overs) with his reverse lap but Marnus Labuschagne (2) was dismissed quickly.
Bumrah got one to rear up from a good length and there was just enough away movement to kiss the right-hand batter’s outside edge before resting in Rishabh Pant’s gloves.
Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoul Ibne Saikat had ruled it not out but TV replays showed a clear spike.
Konstas has the unconventional edge to his game, but his defence isn’t the most compact one.
Finally, Siraj got his perfectly pitched outswingers landing on that five metre length and Konstas’ drive resulted in an edge towards gully where Yashasvi Jaiswal pouched it without much ado.
Travis Head (4) started with a beautiful on-drive but then got one that jagged in (inswinger for left-hander) and as the bat face closed, the leading edge travelled at a good height for Rahul in the slips.
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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.
