West Indies beat Afghanistan by 23 runs in World Cup
Leeds: In an inconsequential match between Afghanistan and West Indies here on Wednesday West Indies team registers their second victory in the campaign by 23 runs.
While chasing Afghanistan wicket keeper Ikram Ali Khil has scored 86 runs off 93 balls with eight boundaries.
West Indies bowlers Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach swept four and three wickets respectively.
Pooran (58 off 43 balls) and Holder (45 off 34 balls) added 105 runs in 71 balls to take the total past 300-run mark.
This was after Shai Hope (77 off 92 balls) and Evin Lewis (58 off 78 balls) set the platform with an 88-run second wicket partnership.
For Afghanistan, seamer Dawlat Zadran was the most successful bowler but was hammered during the last few overs. He ended with figures of 2 for 73.
Afghan spin troika of Mujeeb ur Rahman (0/52 in 10 overs), Mohammed Nabi (1/56 in 10 overs) and Rashid Khan (1/52 in 10 overs) were once again steady as the Caribbean batsmen couldn't push the run-rate up during middle overs.
Hope and Lewis both hit six fours and two sixes each as they built a foundation after Chris Gayle's early dismissal. Shimron Hetmyer (39) also got a start but was out after being set. He added 65 runs with Hope for the third wicket.
Hope and Hetmyer were out within 20 runs off each other and West Indies weren't exactly comfortable at 192 for 4 in the 38th over.
But it was Pooran and Holder, who attacked the bowling during the last 10 overs.
Pooran, after his hundred in a lost cause against Sri Lanka, was once again in his elements, reaching his half-century off only 40 balls. His flat-batted six off Zadran was a delight to watch.
His skipper wasn't far behind as he muscled the bowlers over the ropes with his big strides.
Pooran hit six fours and a six while Holder had four maximums apart from a boundary to his credit.
Chris Gayle while speaking to TV broadcasters said that,"this Would be definetly my last World Cup I would have loved to lift the trophy, but it didn't happen. It was fun ... Life goes on. Words can't really explain what I am going through at the moment. The future definitely looks bright with Hetmyer, Hope, Pooran. They will take the flag forward. They have a young captain in Jason Holder as well. Next for me is to play ODIs against India, a few T20s like the CPL and the Canada T20s".
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
