Arshdeep Singh records career-best 4/9 as India restrict USA to 110/8 in T20 WC
New York, Jun 12: Arshdeep Singh hardly took his foot off the pedal enjoying career-best figures of 4/9 as India restricted co-hosts United States of America to a manageable 110 for 8 in a Group ‘A’ encounter of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
After a couple of gallant batting performances in their back-to-back victories, the USA batters found Indian pace attack a few notches above in terms of class and quality.
There was hardly a phase of play when the hosts would have felt the noose being loosened around their necks.
However, after scoring 42 in the first 10, USA with useful contributions from Nitish Kumar (27), Steven Taylor (24) and former New Zealand international Corey Anderson (15) added another 68 in the back-10.
Once Arshdeep got a couple of breakthroughs in the opening over including a first-ball wicket of Shayan Jahangir, there was no looking back for the Indians.
They never had a slip up in terms of intensity, mixing up fuller deliveries with ones that were pitched on back of length.
The left-arm pacer was fantastic both at the start and at the death bowling an incredible 17 dot balls.
Arshdeep had a dream first delivery of the game as he got one that was pitched on a length and darted back enough to catch Jahangir (0) plumb in-front.
The last delivery of the same over accounted for Andries Gous (2), who was late on a pull-shot off a delivery that was dug in short.
The Powerplay yielded only 18 runs and skipper on the day Aaron Jones (11) could hit one six off Mohammed Siraj as he was forced to block most deliveries before
Hardik Pandya (2/14 in 4 overs) ended his misery with a short delivery which he top-edged to Siraj at deep fine leg.
The quality of opposition also gave skipper Rohit Sharma a chance to check out Shivam Dube (0/11 in 1 overs), the weakest link in both batting and bowling department.
Opener Taylor, who survived the Powerplay, hit a big six off Axar Patel only to drag the next one back to the stumps.
However, Nitish (27 off 23 balls) proved to be a thorn in India's flesh with some lusty hits including a picturesque straight drive after a maximum off Pandya while his able ally Anderson slog swept Axar for a maximum in the cow corner region.
But a superb catch by Siraj at the mid-wicket boundary brought Nitish's downfall as half of the side was back in pavilion for 81.
Once Nitish was gone, USA's dreams of scoring 120 were also dashed.
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Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
