Gill, Buttler propel Gujarat Titans to 209/4 against Rajasthan Royals
Jaipur, Apr 28 (PTI): Skipper Shubman Gill was epitome of class in his 50-ball-84 that took Gujarat Titans to a healthy 209 for 4 against Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match here on Monday.
The Gujarat Titans skipper scored his fourth half-century with help of five fours and four sixes, adding 93 for the opening stand with an in-form Sai Sudharsan (39 off 30 balls).
The Titans were ready to capitalise on a solid platform laid by the duo and Jos Buttler (50 not out off 26 balls) made a mincemeat of Royals' ordinary bowling attack from thereon, smashing four sixes apart from three boundaries.
Buttler executed reverse pulls and ramps at will while using the pace of deliveries to punish his former team Rajasthan Royals, which is one side that completely messed up their auctions with no match-winning bowler in its ranks.
Gill displayed the cricketing smarts by picking the shorter boundary in one of the leg-side and the RR bowlers were guilty of drifting towards his pads.
There were pick-up pulls -- one over square leg and one over wide of mid-on -- but the flicked maximum off Yudhvir Singh stood out.
There was also a perfect off-drive and his opening partner Sudharsan was more than happy to give his skipper bulk of the strike.
Once Sudharsan was dismissed, the dangerous Buttler piled up further misery with a 24-run over off Wanindu Hasaranga, which included three sixes and a boundary.
Till date, the devoted Rajasthan Royals fans are unable to fathom how Royals failed to retain Buttler.
After that 15th over, Riyan Parag, who has been a complete disaster as a stand-in captain, was clueless as to whom he should look up to for getting breakthroughs. Jofra Archer (1/49) has been good in patches but the main issue has been the two Sri Lankan spinners Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekhsana, who have not delivered on expected lines.
Hasaranga though has been better, Theekshana bowled too many loose balls for his comfort. On the night, the duo gave away 74 runs collectively in eight overs and never looked like troubling GT opening pair.
Gill looked set for his fifth IPL hundred but was holed out in the deep off Theekshana, but Buttler, in company of Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia, took GT past the 200-run mark.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
