Bairstow, Stokes power England to 337/7 despite Shami’s 5-wicket haul
Birmingham, Jun 30: Ton-up Jonny Bairstow's scathing attack on spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Singh headlined a dominant English batting performance, leaving India with a tough 338-run chase in a World Cup encounter here Sunday.
Bairstow (111 off 109 balls), along with fit-again Jason Roy (66 off 57 balls), added 160 for the first wicket on a track where Kuldeep (1/72 in 10 overs) and Chahal (0/88 in 10 overs) had a forgettable day.
Ben Stokes (79 off 54 balls) then used the platform to give the total an imposing look in a do-or-die game for the hosts.
Mohammed Shami (5 for 69) got his maiden five-wicket haul but even he lost his bearings in the last two overs.
Jasprit Bumrah (1/44 in 10 overs) was amazing as ever, being the only Indian bowler to finish with a sub-5 economy rate and the only maiden of the innings.
Bairstow, who stoked a controversy by taking an indirect dig at former England skippers Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen for their criticism, channelized his anger in a positive manner scoring his eighth ODI hundred.
Chahal and Kuldeep were hit for 12 fours and as many as nine sixes as they hardly got any purchase from the Edgbaston track. Incidentally, Sunday's pitch was not the one which was used during Pakistan's game against New Zealand where Kane Williamson's part-time off-breaks turned right angles.
The two spinners, who have been India's trump card were read well by Bairstow and Roy, who did not play like some of the other batsmen in the tournament have played them.
From the start, they used big strides to reach to the pitch of the deliveries and smothered the spin for the big hits. If Bairstow targeted the arc between long-on to deep mid-wicket, Roy hit the straighter sixes.
In the second Power Play with the field spread, one shot that England batsmen used to good effect was the reverse sweep as they exploited the short boundary on one side.
It took an impressive diving effort from substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja in the deep to dismiss Roy off Kuldeep in the 23rd over but the platform was set by then.
Bairstow lost a bit of sting after Roy's dismissal and finally was out for 111 that had 10 fours and half a dozen sixes.
Joe Root (44 off 56 balls) dropped anchor during a 70-run stand before getting out as Stoke hit six fours and three sixes to boost the total.
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Modified scheme to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 8: The government will come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
According to Gadkari, the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc.
The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference.
The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
The road transport and highways minister also said the government is studying labour laws to frame a policy for fixing working hours for commercial drivers, on the lines of pilots, as driver fatigue is resulting in fatal road crashes, Gadkari said, adding that India is facing a shortage of 22 lakh drivers.
MoRTH organised a two-day workshop on January 6, and 7, 2025 to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector.
During the two-day workshop, accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0, timelines for introduction of BS-VII norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.
Gadkari also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.
The minister stressed on the introduction of specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety, given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country.
Gadkari said deliberations were done for introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks and strict enforcement of retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety.
Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) for safety of women and children were also discussed.
The meeting also discussed the launch and integration of all faceless services by the end of March 2025.
"Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration," he added.
