Indian spinners restrict England to 165/9 despite Buttler's fluent 45
Chennai, Jan 25 (PTI): Jos Buttler showed semblance of fight but other English batters didn't follow skipper's suit while succumbing to Indian spinners, as the visitors were restricted to an underwhelming 165/9 in the second T20I here on Saturday.
Buttler (45, 30b, 2x4, 3x6) played some delectable shots, including a sequence of 4, 6, 4 off pacer Arshdeep Singh, who got rid of Phil Salt in the first over itself.
Salt pulled the left-arm pacer, who was earlier on the day named as the ICC Men's T20 Player of the Year, but could not find the distance to get caught by Washington Sundar, who replaced injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in the XI, near the square leg boundary.
Washington had a moment of success for himself when Ben Duckett's reverse off him fell easily into the hands of Dhruv Jurel, who came in for injured Rinku Singh.
However, the pull shot continued to haunt the English batters for the rest of the night as Buttler and later Liam Livingstone perished playing that shot.
India vice-captain Axar Patel (2/32) was the beneficiary of England batters' adventurous intentions.
The left-arm spinner bowled into the pitch and the inherent grip on the surface did not allow the batters to impart force and direction to their shots.
Buttler, whose aggression helped England to reach 58 for two in the Power Play overs, was caught by Tilak Varma, while Livingstone ended in the hands of substitute Harshit Rana.
All-rounder Brydon Carse, who came in for Gus Atkinson, used the long handle to good effect, making 31 off 17 balls including three sixes but a moment of misunderstanding with Jofra Archer snapped his promising knock.
But the highlight of the England innings was the dismissal of Harry Brook, who began well, smashing a six off spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/38).
But soon a back of the hand delivery breached Brook's defence to rattle his off-stump, as the English right-hander could not read it despite Chennai not having any smog.
A couple of beefy blows by lower-order batters helped England go past the 150-run mark but they will be left pondering their approach against the Indian spinners.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
234 held in anti-drug operation in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 15 (PTI): The Kerala police on Saturday said as part of its special drive to crack down on individuals suspected of drug trafficking, 234 people were arrested, and varying quantities of several deadly narcotics, including MDMA, were seized.
The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) stated that on March 14, as part of the drive, D-Hunt, authorities inspected 2,362 individuals suspected of drug trafficking and arrested 234 of them.
The operation was carried out across the state to identify and take strict legal action against those involved in the storage and distribution of banned drugs.
Police registered 222 cases related to the possession of various prohibited substances, according to a statement issued by the SPMC.
Additionally, authorities seized 0.0119 kg of MDMA, 6.171 kg of cannabis, and 167 cannabis 'beedis' from those arrested.
Operation D-Hunt is being jointly implemented by the Range-based NDPS Coordination Cell and District Police Chiefs under the leadership of State Anti-Narcotics Task Force Head and ADGP (Law and Order) Manoj Abraham, following the instructions of State Police Chief Dr Sheikh Darvesh Sahib, the statement said.
The SPMC also announced that a 24-hour Anti-Narcotics Control Room (9497927797) has been set up to receive information from the public regarding drug-related activities.
The details of individuals who contact this number will be kept confidential, it added.
Furthermore, the operation will continue in the coming days through sustained surveillance and the creation of a database of individuals regularly involved in drug-related activities and transactions.
