India coast to seven-wicket win over spirted Ireland
Malahide(PTI): Ireland put up a spirted fight but India proved too strong for the home team to win the rain-hit opening T20I by seven wickets here on Sunday.
Harry Tector's counter-attacking 64 not out off 33 balls took Ireland to 108 for four after the rain reduced the game to 12 overs a side.
India were always ahead of the run rate in the chase and with contributions from Ishan Kishan (26 off 11), Deepak Hooda (47 not out off 29) and skipper Hardik Pandya (24 off 12), cruised to victory in 9.2 overs.
Kishan continued his good form to get India off to a quick start. The first over of the innings went for 15 runs as Kishan collected couple of fours and a six off Joshua Little.
In a rather surprising move, Deepak Hooda came to open alongside Kishan in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad. He found his rhythm after a scratchy start and put up a match winning 64-run stand with Hardik.
Just when it seemed Indian were running away with the contest, Craig Young got rid of Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav (0) in successive deliveries to raise hopes for his team.
Kishan's stumps were rattled in another attempt to get a full ball out of the park. Returning to the side after an injury break, Suryakumar got a beauty first up that seamed back to trap him in front of the stumps.
However, Hardik and Hooda kept going for their strokes and a 21-run over from Andy Mcbrine put India back in control.
While Hardik departed after hitting three sixes, Hooda stayed till the end to hit the winning four. His innings comprised two sixes and half a dozen boundaries.
Earlier, India opted to bowl in overcast conditions but soon after the rain arrived, delaying the start of play by more than two hours and 20 minutes.
The conditions were ripe for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to make the ball talk and he did just that in the opening over of the match.
The wily operator got the ball to swing both ways before an inswinger breached the defence of Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie. Skipper Hardik Pandya got himself into the attack in the second over and took two balls to dismiss the dangerous Paul Stirling.
After hitting the first ball over cover, Stirling went for the same shot but mistimed to be caught at mid off. Avesh Khan then had Gareth Delany caught behind in his first over to leave Ireland at 22 for three.
India were expected to run through the opposition but Ireland staged a spirited recovery through Tector, who went for the offensive against the Indian pacers, including debutant Umran Malik.
All eyes were on the Indian pace sensation but he had a rather nervous start to his international career.
He dragged his third ball down the leg side and it raced to the boundary off Lorcan Tucker's (18 off 16) pads. Two balls later, Tector played a beautiful straight drive off a full delivery. Malik dragged the next one short but Hector was ready to pull it for a six.
Tucker smashed two successive sixes off Hardik to give further impetus to the innings.
The last over of the innings yielded 17 runs and pushed the total past 100 with Tector collecting a boundary from a reverse hit off Avesh before smashing a full toss for six over deep cover.
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No stubble burning now, why air pollution crisis in Delhi: Mann takes dig at BJP
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the BJP saying its leaders used to "defame" Punjab farmers over stubble burning and blame them for Delhi's poor air quality and questioned why is there pollution crisis in national capital despite no farm fires now.
Mann said that as soon as paddy harvest takes place, BJP leaders blame Punjab and its farmers for Delhi's poor air quality.
He said they used to claim that stubble burning by Punjab farmers causes Delhi's pollution.
Mann said at present, the Air Quality Index in major Punjab cities is between 70 and 130.
"At present, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500 and no smoke is coming from Punjab. But the situation in Delhi is worse. At least now they should agree that there is no role of Punjab for Delhi's poor air quality," Mann said in a video message.
Mann's remarks came on a day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the air pollution crisis in the national capital and acknowledged its impact on children's health.
Sirsa, however, asserted that it was the result of the policies pursued by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.
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Last month, the BJP had trashed the Punjab CM's previous claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".
Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last month said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).
Meanwhile, Mann in his video message said, due to severe floods which Punjab witnessed this year, paddy harvesting got delayed, "despite this, many Delhi ministers had already started blaming Punjab".
"I want to praise Punjab farmers, NGOs and efforts of the Punjab government have also paid off in controlling stubble burning this time. The cases of stubble burning in Punjab have reduced by 70-80 per cent and this has been acknowledged by the Central Government and the Union Agriculture Minister," Mann said.
The CM further said that after paddy harvest even the wheat crop has been sown and now, there is no incident of stubble burning.
He said BJP leaders used to claim that Punjab's smoke from stubble travels to Delhi.
"Now, there is no stubble burning, but Delhi is facing very poor air quality. This proves that earlier too Punjab's smoke had no role for Delhi's poor air quality. Only accusations were made by the BJP to defame Punjab. At least now the Centre should praise the farmers of Punjab," he said.
"Meanwhile, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500, flights are being cancelled, and breathing has become difficult," said Mann.
He asked both the BJP government in Delhi and the BJP led Centre to address Delhi's air pollution, saying citizens cannot even venture out for a walk due to air pollution.
He also asked the BJP that Punjab should not be dragged into this political battle, instead, Punjab's farmers should be appreciated, and the Delhi and Central governments should focus on addressing Delhi's air pollution.
Mann further said that farmers of Punjab are 'anndatas' (food providers) and they meet the country's food needs, they should not be defamed.
