Five-star Starc overshadows hat-trick man Boult as Aus crush NZ
Australia beat New Zealand by 86 runs
London, Jun 30: Pace spearhead Trent Boult's historic hat-trick went in vain as Mitchell Starc's brilliant five-for helped Australia crush trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by 86 runs in a World Cup match here and consolidate their spot at the top.
In what was a rematch of the 2015 final between the trans-Tasman rivals at Lord's on Saturday, Kiwi left-arm pacer Boult hogged the limelight with a sensational last-over hat-trick to stop Australia's rebuilding job at 243 for nine.
With his swinging full-pitched deliveries, Boult sent back the well-settled Usman Khawaja (88 off 129 balls), Micthell Starc and Jason Behrendorff, while giving away just two runs of the last over to become the first Kiwi to grab a hat-trick in the World Cup.
But New Zealand, who are yet to qualify for the semifinals, crumbled in front of Starc, tournament's best bowler so far, who returned with brilliant figures of 5 for 26, and were bundled out for 157 in 43.4 overs.
By virtue of the win, defending champions Australia, who are already through to the semifinals, have consolidated their position at the top with 14 points from eight games.
Australia will finish their league campaign against already-eliminated South Africa on July 6.
New Zealand have now dropped to the third spot with 11 points from eight games and are yet to confirm their berth in the knock-out round. They will take on tournament hosts England in their crucial last game on July 3.
Chasing Australia's total, the Kiwis were dealt early blows by Jason Behrendorff (2/31) as he removed both David Warner and Aaron Finch before Starc joined the party.
Skipper Kane Williamson (40) and Ross Taylor (30) tried hard but came out second-best as New Zealand suffered its second loss in the tournament.
Earlier, Boult (4/51 in 10 overs) struck after Khawaja and Alex Carey (71 off 72 balls) scored contrasting fifties to lift Australia from a disastrous start after opting to bat.
Australia lost half their side with less than 100 runs on the board, but a 107-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Khawaja and Carey helped them rebuild.
It was a rare occasion when the opening duo of Warner and Finch, in red-hot from entering this game, failed to fire.
While Finch (8) was the first to go, tapped in front by Boult, Warner departed after making 16 to leave Australia in a spot of bother at 38 for two in the 10th over, and it became worse when Steve Smith was sent back by Lockie Ferguson with the scorecard reading a precarious 46 for three in the 12th over.
Marcus Stoinis (21) and Khawaja attempted a recovery act before Jimmy Neesham derailed it.
Glenn Maxwell flopped again, this time failing to even open his account as Australia stared down the barrel.
Australia were in dire need of a partnership and Carey and Khawaja provided just that with a century stand.
Carey smashed 11 boundaries during his fluent knock, while Khawaja found the fence five times during his sedate innings.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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