England beat Sri Lanka by four wickets, qualify for T20 World Cup semifinals
Sydney, Nov 5: England rode on the experience of Ben Stokes as they scampered their way to the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka, the result ending reigning champions and hosts Australia's campaign in the tournament.
Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka gave them an explosive start with a 45-ball 67 but the English bowlers roared back to restrict them to a modest 141 for eight.
Chasing a tricky target on a dry SCG wicket, Alex Hales (47; 30b) and skipper Jos Buttler (28; 23b) produced a ruthless opening partnership of 75 runs from 43 balls.
From there, they just needed 67 from 77 balls but in no time, half of the English side were down with crafty spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (2/23) once again triggering a collapse.
He dismissed the English openers in addition of just seven runs, before the likes of Dhananjaya de Silva (2/24) and Lahiru Kumara (2/24) got into the act.
With their designated No. 3 Dawid Malan injured (groin), England had a rejigged batting order and looked shaky, needing 31 runs in 33 balls when Moeen Ali became Dhananjaya de Silva's second victim.
But English Test skipper Stokes, looking to find form in this tournament, held his nerves and closed out the chase with a composed 42 not out from 36 balls. He was associated in a nervy 15-run partnership with Chris Woakes.
After rain proved to be a dampener in the Australia-England clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground earlier in the Super 12, the Aussies ended their group stage campaign with seven points, and their semifinal hopes rested on a Lankan win over the Englishmen.
England finished second behind New Zealand in Group 1 and will take on the Group 2 toppers in the last-four.
It was a rollicking start for England as Hales played the role of the aggressor while Buttler took time to settle down.
Gradually, the English skipper also got into the act as he smashed the wily Hasaranga for consecutive fours and a six.
Earlier, Nissanka provided the perfect start as he blazed his way to a 33-ball fifty after his team elected to bat.
The stylish opener took the English attack to the cleaners and slammed five sixes and two fours, but leg-spinner Adil Rashid (4-0-16-1) brilliantly turned it around by taking his maiden wicket of the tournament in the form of Nissanka.
Seamer Sam Curran (4-0-27-1) also bowled a tidy spell in the middle overs as Sri Lanka, who were going at over eight runs an over at the halfway mark, faltered in the back-end.
The lack of power-hitters cost the Lankans dear as boundaries dried up, and they could manage just 25 runs in the last five overs, a phase where they also lost five wickets.
England pacer Mark Wood also overcame a woeful start and hit his straps at the back end to return with 3 for 26 as England denied their opposition about 15-20 extra runs.
Buttler brought in his pace ace Wood in the third over and Mendis took him on in the very first ball with a six over deep square leg. Taking a cue from his opening partner, Nissanka finished the over with another maximum as the over yielded 17 runs.
Rashid's entry slowed down their run-rate and wickets kept falling at the other end, but Nissanka continued his counter-attacking approach en route to his ninth fifty, and second of this World Cup. Rashid and Curran then pegged the Lankans back with their smart variations.
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Congress not just removed clothes at AI Summit but exposed its intellectual bankruptcy: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on the Congress for the shirtless protest by its youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit recently, saying the opposition party can tear as many clothes as it wants, but his government will continue to work for the country's progress.
Addressing the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Modi also said that the Congress did not just remove its clothes in front of foreign guests but also exposed its intellectual bankruptcy, asserting that the millennials have already taught the country's oldest party a lesson, and now Gen-Z is ready to do the same.
In an apparent jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Modi said the opposition was unhappy seeing the statue of "Babbar Shers" (lions) installed atop the new Parliament building, but their own “Babbar Shers" were running away after facing the "shoes" of the general public.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had said on February 24 that he was proud of the "Babbar Shers" of the Indian Youth Congress, who "fearlessly" raised their voice at the AI Summit.
"Congress ke Babbar Sher logon ki jute kha ke bhaag gaye (The 'lions' of Congress ran away after being hit by shoes by the public)," Modi said.
The prime minister was apparently referring to the protesting Youth Congress workers being heckled by some people at the AI Summit.
On February 20, a group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue in Delhi by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with anti-government slogans, triggering a political slugfest between the BJP and the Congress.
“Congress can tear as many clothes as it wants, but we will continue to work for India's development. Congress not just shed clothes at the AI Summit, it also exposed its incapabilities in front of foreign guests,” Modi said in his nearly 45-minute speech.
He said the AI Summit was a moment of pride for the entire nation, but unfortunately, Congress attempted to tarnish this national celebration.
"When the frustration and despair of failure weigh on the mind, and arrogance makes one's head spin, such a mindset emerges to defame the country," he said.
The prime minister also alleged that the Congress always takes refuge in Mahatma Gandhi to hide its failures, but tries to give credit to one family for anything good.
"People of our country welcomed every good step taken by our government, but the Congress only knows how to oppose everything. The votes of Congress are not stolen; rather, people do not consider Congress worthy of their votes. Millennials first taught a lesson to Congress, now Gen-Z is ready to do the same," he said.
Modi also said that in a democracy, the role of the opposition is not just about blindly opposing every move of the government, but presenting an alternative vision, and that is why the "enlightened public" of the country is "teaching a lesson" to Congress now.
In 1984, the Congress got 39 per cent of the votes and more than 400 seats. But its votes declined consistently in the subsequent elections, Modi said.
"Today, the condition of the Congress is such that it has more than 50 MLAs in just four states. Over the past 40 years, the number of young voters in the country has increased, but the Congress has clearly diminished," Modi said.
On the recent trade deals that India signed with foreign countries, Modi said the country has discovered its inherent strength and strengthened its institutions, which prompted developed nations to come forward and sign deals with India.
He also said that even after Independence, some people ensured that the colonial mindset remained for their own benefits.
"No country would have done trade deals with us had we not discovered our inherent strength and strengthened our institutions. Because of this, developed nations have come forward to sign trade deals (with India)," he said.
Modi also said that even after Independence, India was unable to break free from the mentality of slavery, for which the country is still paying the price.
"The latest example of this can be seen in the ongoing discussions on trade deals. Some people are shocked – ‘what has happened, how did this happen? Why are developed countries so eager to do trade deals with India?’ The answer is – a confident India is emerging from despair and frustration," he said.
Over the long span of history, centuries of slavery had instilled a feeling of inferiority, while the ideology imported from other countries deeply ingrained in society the notion that Indians were uneducated and subservient, the prime minister said.
"If the country was still mired in the despair of the pre-2014 era, counted among the 'Fragile Five', and gripped by policy paralysis, who would strike a trade deal with us?
"Over the past 11 years, a new surge of energy has flowed into the nation's consciousness. India is now striving to reclaim its lost potential," Modi said.
The prime minister also said that due to the recent series of reforms initiated by his government, the world's most powerful nations are now coming forward to sign trade deals with India.
"There was a time when India was only a consumer of new technology. But now we are not just developing them, but also setting standards," he said.
The prime minister also said that India's digital public infrastructure has become a subject of global discussion today, and every move India makes is closely watched and analysed across the world.
"The AI Summit was a clear example of this," he said.
The government's 'Viksit Bharat by 2047' is not a political slogan but an effort to correct the mistakes of the previous Congress governments by making India self-reliant, he said.
“So far, in every industrial revolution, India and the Global South largely remained followers, but in this age of artificial intelligence (AI), India is not only participating but is also shaping it. India now has its own AI startup ecosystem,” Modi said.
He also said the world is astonished that India, where around 30 million families lived in darkness until 2014, has now risen to become one of the top countries in solar power capacity.
India, where many cities had no hope of improving their public transport system, has now become the country with the world's third-largest Metro network, Modi said.
“The Indian Railways was known only for chronic delays and sluggish speeds, yet semi-high-speed connectivity like Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat has now become possible,” he said.
Nation-building never happens through short-term thinking; it is shaped by a long-term vision, patience and timely decisions, the prime minister added.
