Asian Games: India crush Bangladesh to enter final of men's cricket
Hangzhou (PTI): Title favourites India confirmed a medal in men's cricket competition with a crushing nine-wicket win over Bangladesh to storm into the final of the Asian Games here on Friday.
India skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's decision to field first after winning the toss was vindicated by his bowlers, who produced a disciplined effort to restrict Bangladesh to a below-par 96 for nine.
In reply, the Indians hardly faced any difficulty and completed the task in 9.2 overs to storm into the final in their maiden appearance in the cricket competition at the continental showpiece.
India lost the talented Yashasvi Jaiswal for zero in the very first over but that was the only success Bangladesh had as skipper Gaikwad (40 not out off 26 balls; 4x4, 3x6) and Tilak Varma (55 not out; 26b; 2x4, 6x6) sealed the win with 64 balls to spare in the T20I match.
Rising allrounder Varma, who struck a 25-ball fifty, had an emotional celebration after reaching the milestone when he lifted his shirt to reveal a tattoo dedicated to his parents.
India will take on the winners of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the gold medal clash on Saturday.
Sai Kishore was the most successful bowler for India as he finished with excellent figures of 3/12 from four overs, while Washington Sundar also bowled impressively to end with a tidy 2/15 in his full quota of overs.
There was a wicket apiece for Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi and Shahbaz Ahmed.
The duo of Gaikwad and Varma toyed with the Bangladesh bowling and were mostly dealing in fours and sixes at the small Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field.
Bangladesh's bowlers had no answer to the onslaught launched by Ruturaj and Tilak who seemed to be competing with each other in hitting fours and sixes.
Earlier, Sai Kishore and Washington struck in tandem to restrict Bangladesh who struggled against the slow bowlers.
For Bangladesh, Parvez Hossain Emon (23), Jaker Ali (24 not out), and Rakibul Hasan (14) were the notable contributors with the bat.
While Ali remained not out, Shahbaz ended Rakibul's cameo when he had the batter caught in the 17th over. Before that, Tilak cut short Emon's 32-ball stay in the middle.
In Arshdeep, India have surprisingly picked only one seamer in their playing XI, while Shahbaz Ahmed made his T20I debut for India.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh 96/9; 20 overs (Jaker Ali 24 not out, Parvez Hossain Emon 23; Sai Kishore 3/12, Washington Sundar 2/15) lost to India 97/1; 9.2 overs (Tilak Varma 55 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40 not out) by nine wickets.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
China now faces up to 245% retaliatory tariff: White House
Washington, Apr 16 (PTI): China now faces tariffs up to 245 per cent on imports to the United States due to its retaliatory actions, the White House has said, as the trade war escalated between the world's two largest economies.
Separately in a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that China "just reneged on the big Boeing deal, saying that they will “not take possession” of fully committed to aircraft".
He appeared to be confirming reports that China has asked its airlines not to take deliveries of planes from American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
In the post, he also vowed to protect the US and its farmers in a trade war with its adversaries, such as China.
In a fact sheet issued on Tuesday, the White House said President Trump signed an executive order launching an investigation into the national security risks posed by US reliance on imported processed critical minerals and their derivative products.
"On Day One, President Trump initiated his America First Trade Policy to make America’s economy great again," it said.
"More than 75 countries have already reached out to discuss new trade deals. As a result, the individualized higher tariffs are currently paused amid these discussions, except for China, which retaliated," it said.
"China now faces up to a 245% tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions," the fact sheet said, without giving details.
China is the only country to have retaliated with tit-for-tat levies.
China on Friday raised its additional tariffs on imports from the US to 125 per cent in retaliation to the Trump administration's 145 per cent levies on Chinese exports. China also filed a lawsuit with the WTO following the US tariff hikes.
China earlier retaliated with 84 per cent levies and imposed restrictions on imports of some US films, expressing its interest in holding dialogue with Washington to resolve the issue.
The fact sheet accused China of banning exports to the US of gallium, germanium, antimony, and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications.
"Just this week, China suspended exports of six heavy rare earth metals, as well as rare earth magnets, in order to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world," it added.
According to the fact sheet, processed critical minerals and their derivative products are key building blocks of Amercia's defence industrial base and integral to applications such as jet engines, missile guidance systems, advanced computing, radar systems, advanced optics, and secure communications equipment.
"The United States remains heavily dependent on foreign sources, particularly adversarial nations, for these essential materials, exposing the economy and defence sector to supply chain disruptions and economic coercion," it added.
Trump has paused the additional duties on other nations for 90 days.
On Wednesday, China appointed Li Chenggang, who has decades of experience handling international negotiations and also served as China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization, as international trade representative at the Ministry of Commerce.
The move came after President Trump said the ball was in Beijing’s court to work out a deal to end the tariff deadlock.
