India beat Sri Lanka by 144 runs to win Sixth U-19 Asia Cup title
NEW DELHI: India colts produced a clinical performance to outclass Sri Lanka by 144 runs in the summit clash of the 2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Dhaka on Sunday.
The victory gave India their sixth title in the continental tournament. After batsmen set a competitive target of 305 runs, India bowlers bundled the Lankans out for 160 in 38.4 overs to reclaim the trophy.
Left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi was the pick of India attack as he bamboozled Lankan batsmen to return figures of 6 for 38 in ten overs. India won the first five U-19 Asia Cups, but they failed to reach the semi-finals in the last edition in 2017 which was held in Malaysia.
They have come back stronger this time around to remain unbeaten in the entire tournament. Sri Lanka's run chase began on the wrong foot as they lost skipper Nipun Dananjaya (12) early to pacer Mohit Jangra to be at 20/1 in 6.1 overs.
Indian bowlers squeezed the run flow after that with some tight bowling. Tyagi then gave India their second breakthrough when he dismissed Pasindu Sooriyabandara (31 off 32), who was scoring at a good clip, to reduce Sri Lanka to 66/2 in 15.3 overs. Tyagi did not stop there and struck twice in quick times.
First, he removed Kalana Perera for nought in his next over (18th), before sending Nuwanidu Fernando (4) back to the pavilion with Sri Lanka struggling at 79/4 in 19.2 overs. The left-armer Tyagi continued to wreak havoc in the Lankan camp and dismissed Nishan M Fernando to reduce them to 104/5 in 23.5 overs.
Fernando was holding the fort for his team till then, scoring 49 off 67 balls with the help of two sixes and a solitary four. It was all downhill for Sri Lanka after that, and soon two wickets in two balls left them reeling at 127/7 after 32.1 overs.
Siddharth Desai dismissed Dulith Wellalage (7) with the final ball of the 32nd over, before Nipun Malinga was run out without facing a ball while trying to steal a second run. In the 34th over, Tyagi completed his five-wicket haul by scalping Sandun Mendis (1), before making Kalhara Senarathne's his sixth victim.
Desai took the final wicket to wrap up the Lankan innings, when he trapped Navod Paranavithana LBW. Paranavithana scored a handy 48 off 61 balls but failed to find a reliable partner at the other end. Earlier, India top-order fired in unison and post a big total of 304 for 3 after opting to bat first.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (85) and Anuj Rawat (57) gave the former champions an ideal start by adding 121 runs for the first wicket in 25 overs. Both completed their respective half-centuries, before Rawat was out leg before to left-arm spinner Dulith Wellalage in the first ball of the 26th over.
Rawat smacked three sixes and four boundaries for his 79-ball 57 knock. Jaiswal was then joined by Devdutt Padikkal (31 off 43 balls) and the duo kept the momentum going with another solid stand of 59 runs in 12.2 overs.
India lost both Jaiswal and Padikkal in fairly quick successions and were at 194/3 in 40.5 overs.
Jaiswal was trapped LBW by pacer Kalana Perera in the 38th over, after the India opener scored 85 off 113 balls with the help of a six and eight fours.
While, Padikkal was clean bowled by off-spinner Senaratne in the 41st over.
Captain Simran Singh (65*) along with Ayush Badoni (52*) made sure that India finished off their innings in style, adding an unbeaten 110 runs in just 9.1 overs and took the score over 300-run mark. They capitalised on the solid platform set by the top three batsmen and launched the attack from the word go.
Courtesy: timesofindia
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
