Indian women lose second T20, series to England
Guwahati: The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format.
Chasing 112 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, England completed the task in 19.1 overs, holding nerves after losing a few quick wickets.
Opener Danielle Wyatt was Engalnd's star performer with the bat, top-scoring with an unbeaten 64 off 55 balls. During her stay in the middle, Wyatt struck six boundaries, and was ably supported by Lauren Winfield (29).
While Wyatt held one end firm on the way to her fourth T20 half- century, England needed three back-to-back boundaries by Winfield to take the game away from India.
Opting to bowl, England produced a brilliant performance to prevent the hosts from putting up a big score at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, with Katherine Brunt emerging as the most successful bowler.
The veteran seamer returned figures of 3/17, sending back stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues to put India on the backfoot.
The wicket of Mandhana was important for England as the opener had powered India to 24 for no loss in 2.3 overs before Brunt had her caught behind.
Coming in to bat at one drop, the young Rodrigues (2) did not last long, getting bowled by Brunt.
In the next over, the dismissal of Harleen Deol by left-arm spinner Linsey Smith (2/11) left the hosts in a spot of bother at 34 for three.
The experienced Mithali Raj, in the last leg of her career, top-scored with 20 off 27 balls, while Deepti Sharma and Bharati Fulmali contributed 18 each.
England were off to a steady start but slow left-armer Radha Yadav did not let the opening partnership flourish, disturbing Tammy Beaumont's stumps in the fifth over.
Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav had Amy Jones caught and bowled in a soft dismissal and Ekta Bisht picked up two wickets, including the
big one of skipper Heather Knight, to leave the visitors in trouble at 56 for four.
But Wyatt and Winfield saw England through with their 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
India bowled tightly and conceded just three extras in comparison to England's 18.
England won the first match by 41 runs.
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Karnataka Cong pays tributes to Manmohan Singh at the venue planned for convention
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Congress on Friday paid tributes to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday, at the site where they planned mega convention here for the centenary celebrations of the 1924 Indian National Congress session presided by Mahatma Gandhi.
Several Congress leaders including its President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, attended the extended Congress Working Committee meeting planned as part of the centenary celebrations, here on Thursday.
They were scheduled to address a mega convention named 'Jai Bapu- Jai Bhim - Jai Samvidhan' here today, but the event was cancelled following Singh's demise. Kharge, Gandhi and several AICC leaders have rushed back to Delhi.
Other leaders including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar, state ministers and legislators paid floral tributes to Singh's portrait at the venue planned for mega convention.
Siddaramaiah in his address said, Manmohan Singh was a great economist and a very humble human being.
"He was soft natured, soft and less spoken. I had the opportunity to meet him several times as the Leader of Opposition and Chief Minister of Karnataka. He treated and spoke to everyone respectfully and heard everyone patiently and used to say directly whether something told or requested of him will either happen or not," he said.
Singh was an honest Prime Minister, the CM said, he had occupied various positions in his career and did justice to them, and tried to find solutions to various problems faced by the country.
Recalling his tenure as finance minister in Narasimha Rao government and as prime minister for ten years, Siddaramaiah said, he opened up the economy, lifted the country financially, and the nation cannot forget his contribution.
It was Singh who brought in the food security act, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Right to Education, Right to Information, Siddaramaiah said, "He tried to lift the people of the country socially and economically. He was a cultured, gentlemanly politician. His death is a loss to the entire world..."
Shivakumar lauded Manmohan Singh's economic policies and contribution for the country's progress. He asked the Karnataka Higher Education Minister to explore the possibility of setting up a big research centre on Singh's economic policy at the Bengaluru University.
"We will make necessary decisions on this at the government level and in the cabinet," he said, noting that Singh's policies touched upon all sections of the society. "He might have passed away, but his programmes are still alive. We shall all walk in the path that he has laid down."
Shivakumar said, K C Venugopal asked him to try and connect Manmohan Singh to the extended Congress Working Committee meeting virtually but former prime minister's office informed him that he was unwell and about to be moved to AIIMS in New Delhi.
"When the AICC president was hosting a dinner on Thursday night, Rahul Gandhi received a phone call informing that Singh's condition had deteriorated. We immediately halted the dinner at 9.50 pm and I was officially asked to halt all the events including the mega convention scheduled for Friday," he said.
Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, died in New Delhi on Thursday night. He was 92.
Singh's death was announced by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, where he was admitted in the Emergency ward around 8.30 PM in a critical condition.
