India amass highest total against England in T20 series decider
Ahmedabad, Mar 20: Rohit Sharma's sensational 64 and skipper Virat Kohli's well-crafted 80 powered India to a massive 224 for two, their best ever total against England, in the winner-takes-all fifth Twenty20, here on Saturday.
After losing the toss for the fourth time in the series, India were predictably put in to bat by Eoin Morgan.
Preparing themselves for success in all conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup, India thrived under the pressure of a series-decider to produce their best total of the series.
Jofra Archer and Mark Wood had troubled the Indians with their extra pace in earlier games but Rohit and Kohli sent them to the cleaners on way to their 94-run stand.
The other major contributions came from Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 17 balls) and Hardik Pandya (39 not out off 17 balls).
The hosts hammered 67 runs in the last five overs to give the innings a perfect finish.
Barring Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid, all England bowlers leaked more than 10 runs per over with Chris Jordan (0/57) being the most expensive.
India decided to drop opener K L Rahul to accommodate an extra bowling option in left-arm pacer T Natarajan for the all important game.
With no Rahul at the top, Virat Kohli moved himself up the order to open with Rohit. The move worked wonders with Kohli and Rohit sharing a 94-run stand off 54 balls.
Rohit did the bulk of the scoring in their partnership as Kohli was more than happy to enjoy a sensational display of stroke-making from the other end.
Rohit, who was rested for the first two games and did not get much in the next two, enhanced his reputation of a big match player on Saturday.
Most of his five sixes were his trademark shot, the seemingly effortless pull over deep square leg. Also a treat to the eye were his rasping straight drives off a seriously quick Mark Wood in his first over.
Kohli too pulled Wood into the stands, a shot that got him fully pumped up.
It was not entirely a surprise that Rohit got to his fifty with a maximum before playing one on to his stumps off Stokes.
As Kohli paced his innings beautifully at the other end, he had the company of a supremely confident Suryakumar, who carried on from where he left in his debut game.
The Mumbai batsman further increased the intensity of the innings with two consecutive sixes off leggie Adil Rashid. Then he toyed with pacer Jordan with three fours in a row with his scoop shot reminding of his exploits in the IPL. That over went for 19, taking India to 133 for one in 12 overs.
Kohli then partnered with Hardik to get India past 200.
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The Kerala Story 2: Slow ticket sales on first day of film's release
Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi/Kozhikode (PTI): A day after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the release of the 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film, ticket sales of the movie are slow, but are expected to pick up in the coming days, theatre owners said.
In some theatres in the state capital, according to figures on the online movie ticket booking app, BookMyShow, ticket sales are very low.
In the PVR theatre at the Lulu Mall in Thiruvananthapuram, there were only 68 bookings till 10 am for the four shows scheduled for the day, according to BookMyShow figures.
In Kochi, Suresh, the owner of the popular Shenoy theatre, said there were around 50 per cent bookings for the four shows scheduled during the day.
"The bookings are more for the evening and night shows," he told PTI.
He said that the number of shows to be screened in the coming days will be decided based on the first day's ticket sales.
At the same time, Suresh also said that it was a slow start when the first movie -- 'The Kerala Story' -- was released in 2023.
"The bookings had slowly picked up, and there was a good collection," he said.
At Kozhikode city's Crown Theatre, a similar trend was seen last time in 2023, its owner Vinod Iyer said.
This time, the bookings are "very poor" for the four shows scheduled in his theatre for the day, Iyer told PTI.
He said that the reasons for it might be that the bookings were opened late on Friday, and people might be waiting for the reviews before making a decision.
Even in various other theatres in the city, bookings are very low, and some have cancelled shows as a result, he said.
"Hopefully, things will improve in the coming days as they did the first time," Iyer said.
A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday had paved the way for the release of 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film by staying the single judge order, which had put on hold the movie's screening for 15 days.
The bench had said that the single judge's finding that guidelines for certification have not been borne in mind by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) were "merely on the basis of a few clippings and without viewing the movie" and therefore, it "cannot be countenanced".
It had further said that once a certificate has been issued, there is, prima facie, a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines, including public order.
"In the light of the afore discussions, we are of the view that the impugned order dated February 26, 2026 interdicting the release of the movie is only to be stayed and we do so. Ordered accordingly," the bench had said on an appeal moved by the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah against the single judge's order.
The single judge, on Thursday, held that prima facie there was a manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law by the censor board, CBFC.
The judge also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", and its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.
The court had further said that the content of the film's teaser has "a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony".
