Day 4: Another flop show by Rahane, Pujara as India in trouble at lunch
Kanpur, Nov 28: Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and his temporary deputy Cheteshwar Pujara's saga of failures continued as India were put on the mat by New Zealand bowlers, primarily Tim Southee, reducing the hosts to 84 for five at lunch on the fourth day of the opening Test here on Sunday.
First innings centurion Shreyas Iyer (18 not out off 51 balls) and the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin (20 not out off 35 balls) were trying to stem the rot as India's overall lead extended to 133. They have so far added 33 runs for the sixth wicket.
While the pitch is still not an unplayable one, India's spinners might be able to defend anything in the range of 180 as it is expected that a lot of balls will keep low even if there won't be much turn on offer.
However on the fourth morning, Southee, a practitioner of conventional swing bowling, took a master-class on how to bowl on an unresponsive Indian track classically setting up batters.
But before Southee got into the act, Kyle Jamieson (8-3-21-2) targeted Cheteshwar Pujara's (22 off 33 balls) ribcage, getting one to rear up on this dead track and it brushed India no 3's gloves into the hands of keeper Tom Blundell.
Rahane (4 off 15 balls) is out of form and the world knew that. The best way to create pressure was to cut down on singles and for 13 balls, he struggled to get a run.
Then a gorgeous inside out cover drive off Ajaz Patel (9-2-29-1) seemed like helping him break the shackles.
However Patel, who has looked way below Test class, produced his best delivery of the match. An arm ball that was fired in with the angle caught Rahane plumb in-front trying to play a forward defensive prod.
Mayank Agarwal (17) did all the hardwork in the first hour but then Southee (10-2-27-2) set him up with deliveries that came into him from good length spot as he played with a closed bat-face.
Then he pitched on on the same spot only to Agarwal's horror, it shaped slightly away and he had committed to a closed bat face. The result was a regulation catch to Tom Latham in the second slip.
For Ravindra Jadeja (0), Southee used width of the crease with an angular delivery that wrapped him on the pads.
At 51 for five, Ashwin joined Iyer and played some attacking strokes including a straight drive off Southee to calm the tense dressing room.
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Pak cancels nearly 184 international flights to West Asia after Iran attack
Karachi (PTI): At least 184 international flights of different airlines from Pakistan to the West Asia have been cancelled since Saturday owing to the escalating situation after the US and Israel attacked Iran.
A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Sharjah, Riyadh, Jeddah from Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Sialkot, Peshawar, Faisalabad had all been cancelled.
“The flights were on the schedule of different airlines,” Hafeez Khan said.
International flights in the West Asia have all been badly disrupted or suspended after the closure of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports which serve as a major hub for connecting flights to Europe, USA, Canada, South America etc.
Airline authorities have suspended all air traffic in the region because of the increase in missile and drone attacks by Iran on the US bases in the region.
The spokesperson said at least 40 flights were cancelled from Islamabad and another 46 from Lahore.
The Pakistan airspace remains open for domestic flights, he said.
The attack on Iran by the US and Israel disrupted flights across the West Asia and beyond as countries around the region closed their airspace and key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia were directly hit by strikes.
