India complete Lankan series-whitewash with massive 238-run win in second Test
Bengaluru, Mar 14: India extinguished whatever little spark Sri Lanka showed and wrapped up the second Test inside three days for a comprehensive 238-run win, completing a 2-0 whitewash of the Islanders, here on Monday.
Two wins against Sri Lanka fetched India 24 points but Rohit Sharma's men remain in fifth position in World Championship table due to 'low percentage points' (54.16). They have 77 points in their kitty.
A herculean task at hand, Sri Lanka took the field on the third day with a lot of determination but it was always going to be tough to negotiate the Indian attack on a track that has been offering turn and uneven bounce from day one.
Resuming at 28 for one in pursuit of an improbable 447-run target, the Sri Lankan batters, led by skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (107), resisted the Indian attack for some time before folding for 208 in the post-tea session.
Left-handed Karunaratne, one of the most consistent performers for Sri Lanka in recent times, raised his 14th Test century with a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah. He took some time to settle but worked the ball around swiftly, consistently placing them in the gaps.
Bumrah (3/23) eventually sent him back with slightly seaming ball that beat his bat to shatter the stumps. The lethal Indian fast bowler, who consistently made life tough for the Lankans, returned with match figures of 8 for 47, having taken a fifer at home for the first time in the first innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4/55), Axar Patel (2/37) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/48) did their bit in wrapping up the Lankan innings.
India now have won all three pink-ball Tests at home, having beaten beating Bangladesh (in Kolkata, 2019) and England (in Ahmedabad, 2021) before.
Visitors' early positive intent, something which has not been witnessed much in this series, resulted in a rare productive batting session for the Lankans who collected 123 runs for loss of three wickets.
Adopting a positive yet cautious approach, both Kusal Mendis (54 off 60 balls) and Karunaratne used their feet with confidence to counter the Indian spinners.
Mendis was impressive on both front and back foot as he pulled and cut the short-pitched stuff and used his feet to cut down the spin.
Karunaratne too charged down the wicket, following a similar plan but Mendis was more expressive.
Mendis completed his fifty with a single off Jadeja but was beaten by flight on an Ashwin delivery and was stumped by Rishabh Pant.
That brought about the end of their fighting 96-run stand for the second wicket.
From there on, it was a downward slide for the visitors. Jadeja cleaned up Angelo Mathews (1) and Ashwin had Dhananjaya de Silva (4) caught at forward short-leg.
Karunaratne was ruled caught behind by umpire off Jadeja but the Lankan skipper survived, using DRS with replay showing that the ball had kissed the thigh pad and the bat before reaching Pant's gloves.
He completed his fifty with a single off Axar, who replaced Ashwin from the pavilion end.
A small partnership began to develop between Karunaratne and Dickwella (12) even as Mohammed Shami troubled the batters with his pace.
Axar broke the 55-run stand when he had Dickwella stumped and also sent back Charith Asalanka (5) by having him caught in backward short leg, where skipper Rohit Sharma took simple catch.
Like the first innings, Dickwella did not build on a start.
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'Engineered narratives': West Bengal guv on alleged molestation charges against him
Kolkata, May 2: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by “engineered narratives” and the "truth shall triumph” after TMC leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.
In a statement, the Governor said, “Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,”
To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.
The Governor’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed this evening in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.
Though police sources said they received a verbal complaint, there was no official word on whether a formal complaint had been registered.
“BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.
Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.
West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is “shameful” that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to “torture a woman”.
“It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women’s rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue,” she said.
According to sources in the Governor's House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.
"When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease," a Raj Bhavan official said.
The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.
The BJP said it has to be seen whether this a “conspiracy by the TMC” or has an “iota of truth in it”.
“We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it,” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024
Shameful that a constitutional office holder should try to prejudice an impartial investigation by attacking the motive of the complainant. We have seen this happen in that infamous Saturday Hearing of the Supreme Court. Respect women! https://t.co/E6eJLQvFXO
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) May 2, 2024
