Harshit Rana picks up four wickets as India limit Australia to 236 in 3rd ODI
Sydney (PTI): Matt Renshaw displayed his newly acquired white ball proficiency with a fine fifty, but Harshit Rana-led India bowlers struck at regular intervals to keep Australia to an underwhelming 236 in the third and final ODI here on Saturday.
Batting by choice, the Aussies failed to construct regular partnerships against a tidy effort by the Indians with the ball and on the field, particularly in the middle overs when spinners choked the run flow.
Pacer Rana was impressive during his four-wicket haul (4/39), a spell in which he generated good pace and bounce off a fresh SCG turf.
The first wicket stand of 61 between skipper Mitchell Marsh (41) and Travis Head, and a 54-run association between Renshaw (56) and Alex Carey kept the hosts afloat, but were not enough to carry them to a bigger total.
Marsh and Head played some typically powerful shots around the wicket, and the former had even smoked Prasidh Krishna for a pulled six. But Head guided a rather innocuous delivery from Mohammad Siraj straight into the hands of Prasidh at backward point.
That sharpness on the field soon became a feature of India’s fielding on the day. The catch Virat Kohli took at backward point to get rid of Matthew Short off Washington Sundar could be counted among the best reflex catches.
But Shreyas Iyer bettered that effort with a running catch to oust Carey. The wicketkeeper batter tried to loft Rana, but a leading edge took the ball to the opposite direction.
Shreyas hared off from point and covered a fair bit of distance to make a diving catch, though he suffered a minor hurt in the attempt.
Axar Patel worked his magic in between to dismiss Marsh, as a delivery that came in with the angle breached the West Australian’s defence to disturb the stumps. But Renshaw batted with assurance at one end, showing that he has eventually come to terms with the demands of white ball format nearly a decade after making his Test debut.
His focus was on taking singles and twos to wriggle out of the squeeze that the Indian bowlers applied in the middle overs, and his first boundary came in the 35th ball.
The left-hander fetched his fifty in 48 balls despite hitting just one four, but he could not extend his stay.
Washington beat his little shimmy with a quicker one and pinged his pads to win a leg-before appeal.
Mitchell Owen and Mitchell Starc did not last long either as Australia slipped to 201 for seven. A couple of cameos down the order gave their a touch of respectability.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
