T20 WC: England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets
Abu Dhabi, Oct 27: England dished out a thoroughly clinical display with both the bat and the ball to steamroll Bangladesh by eight wickets in a Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Explosive opener Jason Roy anchored the paltry 125-run chase, with a 38-ball 61 (5x4, 3x6) to make his 50th T20I appearance memorable as England cantered home in just 14.1 overs to give their net run rate a huge boost.
Dawid Malan remained unbeaten on 28, while Jonny Bairstow (8 not out) finished off the chase, pulling Shoriful Islam for a boundary.
With two wins in a row, England now lead Group 1 table with four points.
Defending a below-par total, Bangladesh never showed any aggressive intent and their bowlers lacked discipline.
On a two-paced pitch, their pacers, led by Mustafizur Rahman, were guilty of bowling short as the England opening duo of Roy and Jos Buttler (18) never had any trouble, cruising to 37 for no loss in four overs.
Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed gave the much needed breakthrough by dismissing Buttler but Roy kept up the rampage as England cruised to 90/1 at the halfway mark -- needing just 35 off 60 balls.
Roy was in full control of the innings and reached to his fifty -- his second in T20 World Cup -- off just 33 balls, hammering Nasum Ahmed over the rope.
Shoriful dismissed Roy in the 13th over but by that time the explosive opener had made the equation completely in favour of his side as England needed 11 runs from 43 balls.
Earlier, England bowlers capitalised on a fine start given by off-spinner Moeen Ali to restrict Bangladesh to a paltry 124 for 9.
Opting to bat, Bangladesh were sloppy and failed to apply themselves as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
Moeen took two wickets in two balls inside the powerplay en route to another fine outing (2/18 from 3 overs) with the ball.
Pacer Chris Woakes was also on the job inside the powerplay as he dismissed star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, reducing Bangladesh to 27/3 in first six overs.
On a day leg-spinner Adil Rashid -- fresh from his match winning figures of 4/2 against the West Indies -- returned wicketless and was their most expensive bowler, utility spinner Liam Livingstone did the job in the middle middle overs by taking 2/15.
Pacer Tymal Mills later wreaked havoc at the death with figures of 3/27 as Bangladesh could never recover.
Livingstone, who is capable of bowling both leg and off-spin, grabbed the crucial wickets of Bangladesh top-scorer Mushfiqur Rahim (29) and skipper Mahmudullah (19).
Livingstone trapped Rahim with a successful use of DRS.
It particularly hurt Bangladesh in the middle overs as Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah were looking to rebuild their innings with a 37-run partnership from 32 balls.
But Livingstone had Rahim plumb in front of wicket with his leg spin to break the partnership.
Afif Hossain departed after a comical run out for the addition of 10 runs to leave Bangladesh tottering at 83/6 with five overs to go.
Earlier, Liton Das, who looked ultra aggressive by smashing Moeen for two boundaries, took a top edge in the England off-spinner's second over.
Moeen then grabbed a second with Mohammad Naim falling tamely with a mis-hit to once again take two wickets inside the powerplay.
Woakes claimed the prized scalp of Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan with Adil Rashid taking a brilliant catch running backwards.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
