3rd ODI: Gill, Rohit tons propel India to 385/9 against NZ
Indore, Jan 24: Rohit Sharma scored his first ODI century in three years while Shubman Gill continued his explosive run to power India to 385 for nine in the third and final game against New Zealand here on Tuesday.
The two put up a belligerent 212-run opening stand as Rohit (101 off 85 balls) got to the three-figure mark for the first time since January 2020. Gill (112 off 78) got his fourth ODI hundred.
Rahul Dravid joked on the eve of the match that bowlers don't want to bowl as soon as they land in Indore because of the batter-friendly conditions. The batting great had a point.
The New Zealanders rolling over their arms during the first 25 overs would have shared Dravid's sentiment. At one point every ball that Rohit and Gill's bat touched was either flying to the boundary or over it.
Gill hit four fours and a six to plunder 22 runs off Lockie Ferguson in the eighth over, symbolising the kind of form the 23-year-old has been in lately. The youngster didn't have to even time the ball for it to run to the boundary. After three fours, he launched the short ball for an upper-cut six.
He reached his half-century when he drove the ball square off extra cover for a stylish four. A couple of overs later Rohit, too, brought up his fifty with a flat six over Mitchell Santner's head.
With the outfield quick and the wicket flat, the rather inexperienced New Zealand bowling unit had no answers to the Indian openers' carnage.
India raced to 200 with Rohit and Gill sharing 22 fours and 11 sixes between them.
Matching each other's strike rates, the 26th over saw both Rohit and Gill getting their centuries. Rohit pulled away to deep square to get to his century. Three balls later, Gill got to the triple-figure mark, his third in four innings.
New Zealand skipper Tom Latham used as many as six bowlers and it was his sixth option -- spinner Michael Bracewell -- who provided the tourists their first breakthrough.
Trying to slog one out of the park, Rohit missed the ball as it kept low and turned to eventually hit the stumps. His wicket was met with a roar by the partisan crowd, welcoming Virat Kohli (36).
A miscued shot in the next over spelt the end of Gill's innings as New Zealand struck twice in quick succession.
Ishan Kishan (17) didn't look too comfortable and took nine balls to open his account. A yes-no with Kohli, who had sprinted halfway, marked the end of the wicketkeeper batter's stay in the middle.
New Zealand were able to bring down the boundaries and sixes and, looking to play a big shot, Kohli couldn't beat Finn Allen at mid-off.
Looking on course for a 400-plus score, India endured a familiar middle-order batting collapse, before Hardik Pandya (54) provided the final flourish.
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Trump rushed out of dinner event after shots fired; one arrested
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.
The incident took place at around 8:34 PM local time when dinner was served. At that time, Trump was seen having a conversation with Weijia Jiang, the President of the White House Correspondents' Association, and mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to present a show at the marquee event at the Washington Hilton here.
Secret Service officials and other security personnel covered the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance, and the Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table, and escorted them out of the ballroom.
Several guests at the dinner, including leaders across the political spectrum, journalists and other invitees, ducked under the table, apparently as a reflex reaction.
Putting up a brave face, President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom is all that I heard, and many guests ducked under the table,” a C-SPAN reporter at the dinner said.
Hours later, Trump addressed a press conference at the White House and announced that the security personnel had captured one person who hails from California.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times. It was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away. He (the attacker) hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him,” Trump told reporters, recalling the incident.
Trump said one security officer was shot at but saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several protestors had lined up on the road outside the hotel, raising slogans against the Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A CNN reporter who was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton said he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed the venue.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California.
Asked how Saturday’s incident impacts him as the US president, Trump told reporters he is in a dangerous job but that he is no “basket case.”
“I like not to think about it. I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I handle it as well as it can be handled,” Trump said.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts over the past two years – first at a presidential election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and later in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024.
“I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals, and progressives...everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd,” he said.
“We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
