Khaleel, Bairstow shine as SRH outclass Punjab Kings by nine wickets
Chennai, Apr 21: Fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed led an impressive bowling effort before Jonny Bairstow smashed an unbeaten fifty as Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped their three-match losing streak with a convincing nine-wicket win over Punjab Kings in an IPL game here on Wednesday.
Asked to bowl first, Sunrisers Hyderabad's pace-spin duo of Khaleel (3/21) and Abhishek Sharma (2/24) did bulk of the damage to bundle out Punjab Kings for a below-par 120 in 19.4 overs.
Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/16), star Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (1/17) and Siddarth Kaul (1/27) also picked up a wicket each as Punjab never gained momentum.
Chasing the total, SRH openers Jonny Bairstow (63) and David Warner (37) pummelled Punjab into submission, adding 73 runs off 60 balls to set the foundation.
Bairstow and Kane Williamson (16) then knocked off the remaining runs as SRH romped home with 8 balls to spare.
Bairstow and Warner smashed five boundaries and two sixes during their 50-run stand in the powerplay, while Punjab had managed nine fours and two maximums in their entire innings.
Warner picked up the first boundary when he sent Mohammed Shami across point in the third ball of the innings. Bairstow then welcomed Fabian Allen with a four and a six in the next over.
A low full toss by Shami was then sent across the mid-wicket by Bairstow before Warner hit the Indian through backward point.
Bairstow also pulled Moises Henriques over long leg, while Warner swatted Arshdeep Singh over the backward square leg.
Warner sent Deepak Hooda sailing over extra cover for a six but in the next over he holed out to Mayank off Allen, who bowled a wicket maiden, as SRH were 73 for 1.
Bairstow found an able ally in Williamson, who was playing his first match of the season, as they added an unbeaten 48 runs to help SRH log their first win of the season.
Earlier, Shahrukh Khan (22) and Mayank Agarawal (22) were the top scorers for Punjab Kings, who came into the match after two losses.
In an innings when clearing the boundary seemed to be a tall task, Khan managed two sixes, while Agarwal, who was dropped on 0 in the very first over by Rashid, hit two fours.
Opting to bat in their first game at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Punjab lost their in-form skipper KL Rahul (4) early on.
Agarwal and Chris Galye (15) stitched 24-run partnership. However, at the end of the seventh over, Khaleel got rid of the Indian with Rashid making no mistakes this time at midwicket.
West Indian Nicholas Pooran (0) was out for a diamond duck as Sunrisers skipper David Warner effected his run out in the eighth over. Gayle followed his compatriot in the next over as he was adjudged leg before.
Punjab was reeling at 53 for 4 at the halfway mark as wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals.
Deepak Hooda (13) and Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques (14) got starts but were unable to capitalised on them. Spin all-rounder Fabian Allen (6) also struggled on his debut.
Local star Khan tried to inject some hope into the Punjab camp but a slower ball by Khaleel ended his cameo.
Murugan Ashwin (9) hit a boundary but Kaul accounted for the spinner in the last over which was followed by the dismissal of Shami (3), who was run out.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
