KKR beat SRH by 54 runs in must-win IPL game
Pune, May 14: Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 54 runs in a must-win IPL game here on Saturday.
Opting to bat, KKR rode on Andre Russell's counterattacking 28-ball 49 not out to post a fighting 177 for six.
In reply, SRH could manage 123 for 8 in their stipulated 20 overs with opener Abhishek Sharma top scoring with a 28-ball 43 and Aiden Markram scoring a 25-ball 32.
Earlier, Russell and Sam Billings (34) shared a 63-run partnership to take KKR across the 150-mark after they were 94 for five in the 12th over.
With Russell going strong, KKR scored 58 in the last five overs.
Ajinkya Rahane (28) and Nitish Rana (26) also got starts but couldn't extend their innings.
For SRH, Umran Malik (3/33) was back in form with a three-wicket haul, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/27), Marco jansen (1/30) and T Natarajan (1/43) also claimed one wicket each.
Russell also chipped in with the ball, taking three wickets for 22, while rest of the bowlers -- Umesh Yadav (1/19), Tim Southee (2/23), Sunil Narine (1/34) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/25) were also among wickets.
Brief Score:
Kolkata Knight Riders: 177 for 6 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 49 not out; Umran Malik 3/33).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 123 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 43; Andre Russell 3/22).
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Jerusalem, Apr 29: Israeli officials appeared increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants against the country's leaders, as international pressure mounts over the war in Gaza. Airstrikes overnight into Monday killed 22 people in a southern city, according to hospital records.
The deaths in Rafah included six women and five children, one of whom was just 5 days old, according to the records and an Associated Press reporter. Israel is planning an invasion of the city — though its closest ally, the United States, and others have repeatedly warned against it, saying an offensive would spell catastrophe for the more than a million Palestinians sheltering there.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials have referred in recent days to an ICC probe launched three years ago into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian Hamas group going back to the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The probe is also looking at Israel's construction of settlements in occupied territory the Palestinians want for a future state.
There was no comment from the court on Monday, and it has given no indication warrants in the case are imminent.
But Israel's Foreign Ministry said late Sunday that it had informed Israeli missions of “rumours” that warrants might be issued against senior political and military officials. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said any such warrants would “provide a morale boost” to Hamas and other groups.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel “will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defence.”
“The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East's only democracy and the world's only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,” he posted on the social media platform X.
It was not clear what sparked the Israeli concerns. A series of Israeli announcements in recent days about allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza appears to be aimed in part at heading off possible ICC action.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said during a visit to the region in December that the investigation is “moving forward at pace, with rigour, with determination and with an insistence that we act not on emotion but on solid evidence.”
Neither Israel nor the United States accept the ICC's jurisdiction, but any warrants could put Israeli officials at risk of arrest in other countries. They would also serve as a major rebuke of Israel's actions at a time when pro-Palestinian protests have spread across US college campuses.
The International Court of Justice, a separate body, is investigating whether Israel has committed acts of genocide in the ongoing war in Gaza, with any ruling expected to take years. Israel has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and accused both international courts of bias.
Israel has instead accused Hamas of genocide over its October 7 attack that triggered the war. Hamas stormed through army bases and farming communities across southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.
In response, Israel launched a massive air, sea and ground offensive that has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
Israel blames the high civilian death toll on Hamas because the group fight in dense, residential areas. The military says it has killed over 12,000 group members, without providing evidence.
The war has driven around 80 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities, and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.
Israel has vowed to expand its ground offensive to Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians have sought shelter from fighting elsewhere. Israel says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold, with thousands of fighters embedded there.
US President Joe Biden's administration, which has provided crucial military and political support for the offensive, has urged Israel not to invade Rafah over fears it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe — concerns he reiterated in a phone call with Netanyahu on Sunday.
The Biden administration faces a May 8 deadline to report to Congress on whether Israel is abiding by international law in its use of American military aid, including by allowing the entry of humanitarian assistance.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel on his latest trip to the region that began in Saudi Arabia on Monday. He said Israel needs to do more to allow aid to enter Gaza, but that the best way to alleviate the humanitarian crisis is for the two sides to agree to a cease-fire.
The US, Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept an agreement they drafted that would free some of the hostages and bring about at least a temporary truce. Hamas is still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of some 30 others after most of the rest were freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners last year.
Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages without an agreement to end the war. Netanyahu has rejected that demand, saying Israel will continue its offensive until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.
At an event in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Blinken called on Hamas to accept what he said was an “extraordinarily generous” offer from Israel. "In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and cease-fire is Hamas,” he said.
