Hardik, Rahul power India to 208/6 in first T20I
Mohali, Sep 20: K L Rahul and Hardik Pandya's audacious strokeplay helped India post a daunting 208 for six in the first T20 International against Australia here on Tuesday.
With his strike rate under scanner, Rahul made a statement with a high-quality 55 off 35 balls before Hardik smashed an unbeaten 71 off just 30 balls, including five sixes.
Suryakumar Yadav also played some breathtaking strokes in his 46 off 25 balls.
Expecting dew, Australia opted to bowl and handed debut to Tim David. Jasprit Bumrah, who was picked for the series after recovering from a back injury, was surprisingly not selected for the series opener. Dinesh Karthik was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant.
Umesh Yadav got a game after more than three years while Deepak Chahar, who is in the scheme of things for the World Cup, sat on the sidelines.
After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli fell cheaply, Rahul and Suryakumar shared a 68-run stand off 42 balls. It was raining sixes when they were in the middle.
Rahul's walk across the stumps to dispatch Josh Hazlewood over the cow corner made his intent clear before he whipped Cameron Green for a massive six over deep square leg.
Suryakumar's style of play is often awe-inspiring and the Mohali crowd got to see him at his lethal best.
Out of his four sixes, his swat over fine leg off a good length ball from Cummins stood out.
India were able to maintain their tempo in the middle overs as Suryakumar picked up leggie Adam Zampa for two successive sixes in the long on and deep midwicket.
Hardik then took over and pushed India past 200. He was quick to punish anything short from the pacers and his pick up shot off Cummins in the 18th over was the highlight of his entertaining knock.
He smashed three consecutive sixes off Green in the 20th over including a flat one in the mid wicket region. The last five overs yielded 67 runs.
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Two officials booked in UP; for showing elderly man dead, missing file
Ballia (UP) (PTI): Police registered separate cases against a village development officer and an assistant accountant for showing an elderly dead and disposing of a file related to documents of staff, respectively, an official said on Thursday.
In the first case, an FIR has been lodged at Bhimpura police station against the then village development officer (secretary), Savita, on charges of falsely showing an elderly man as dead during a verification, leading to the stoppage of his old-age pension.
According to police, a case was registered on Wednesday, based on the complaint of Assistant Development Officer Siyar block, Manoj Kumar Singh, under Section 198 (public servant disobeying law with intent to cause injury to any person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The complainant alleged that Umashankar, a resident of Govindpur Dubauli village, was shown dead despite being alive, resulting in the discontinuation of his pension.
District Magistrate Mangala Prasad Singh ordered the registration of a case against the verification officer, police said.
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Police are probing the matter, Rasra Circle Officer Alok Gupta said.
In a separate incident, an FIR has been registered at Ballia city Kotwali against Manish Kumar Ojha, assistant accountant at Kasturba Gandhi Residential Girls’ School, Belhari, under Section 316(4) (criminal breach of trust) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The case was registered based on the complaint of the District Basic Education Officer Manish Kumar Singh, police said.
According to the complainant, the assistant accountant had allegedly made files related to discrepancies in PAN cards of some teachers and staff working in government-run council schools in the district go missing.
Police officials said investigations are underway in both cases.
