India eliminated from Women's T20 World Cup after NZ beat Pakistan to enter semifinals
Dubai, Oct 14: India were eliminated from the Women's T20 World Cup after New Zealand scripted a commanding 54-run victory over Pakistan here on Monday to reach the semifinals for the first time since the 2016 edition.
India's only chance to make the semifinals was depended on a Pakistan win with an inferior Net Run-rate compared to theirs.
Pakistan were very much in the game after restricting New Zealand to a meagre 110 for six in 20 overs.
However, Pakistan's batting crumbled badly as they were shot out for 56 in just 11.4 overs as White Ferns entered the semifinals with three wins from four games in Group A.
Australia topped the group with eight points while New Zealand came second with six points. The loss to New Zealand in their tournament opener effectively cost India a place in the last four.
Spinner Amelia Kerr took three wickets but it was seamers Lea Tahuhu (1/8) and Eden Carson (2/7) who opened the floodgates.
Pakistan were supposed to reach the target in less than 12 overs to qualify but they ended up being all out before that.
Earlier, Pakistan bowlers gave a good account of themselves restricting New Zealand to a modest total.
While openers Suzie Bates (28) and Georgia Plimmer (17) added 41 runs for the opening stand and just when it seemed that the duo has created a solid foundation, the Pakistani spinners suddenly applied the choke on the opposition.
The two spinners -- off-break bowler Omaima Sohail (1/14 in 4 overs) and left-arm orthodox Nashra Sandhu (3/18 in 4 overs) -- were brilliant through the middle overs with 21 dot balls and four wickets between them for only 29 runs.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
