Billionaire populist Andrej Babis' party wins Czech parliamentary election
Prague (AP): Populist Czech billionaire Andrej Babiš won a parliamentary election on Saturday in a a political comeback that put the country on a course away from supporting Ukraine and toward Hungary and Slovakia, which have taken a pro-Russian path.
With the votes from almost 98 per cent of polling station counted by the Statistics Office, Babiš's ANO (YES) movement captured 35 per cent of the vote followed by the pro-Western coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala with 23.0 per cent. The coalition defeated him in the 2021 election.
The two-day election filled 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech parliament. A group of mayors known as STAN, also a member of Fiala's government, had 11.1 per cent of the vote, with another ally of Fiala, the Pirates party, reaching 8.7 per cent.
The major anti-migrant force, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, got 7.9 per cent while a right-wing group calling itself the Motorists received 6.8 per cent. The two are potential partners for Babiš if he wants to have a majority government.
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Allen, Raghuvanshi, Green power KKR to 29-run win over GT
Kolkata (PTI): Finn Allen blasted a 35-ball 93, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit an unbeaten 44-ball 82 as Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-run win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Saturday.
Sent in to bat, Allen went on a six-hitting spree, smashing 10 maximums and four boundaries to add 95 off 41 balls with Raghuvanshi (82).
Raghuvanshi then shared another 108 off 53 balls with Cameron Green (52 not out) to power KKR to a challenging 247 for 2.
In reply, GT could manage 218-4, riding on skipper Shubman Gill's 49-ball 85 and a 35-ball 57 from Jos Buttler. Opener Sai Sudarsan was retired hurt but returned to make a 28-ball 53 not out.
Sunil Narine (2/29) claimed two wickets and Saurabh Dubey snapped one for KKR.
For GT, Mohammed Siraj (1/50), Sai Kishore (1/38) were the wicket-takers.
Brief Score:
KKR: 247 for 2 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 93, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 82 not out, Camero Green 52 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/50).
GT: 218 for 4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 85, Sunil Narine 2/29).
