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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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
