KL Rahul sizzles with 77 as DC make 183/6 against CSK
Chennai, Apr 5 (PTI): KL Rahul mixed his trademark elegance with brute force during a 51-ball 77 as Delhi Capitals posted 183 for six against Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
Rahul struck six fours and three sixes to anchor DC's innings after they opted to bat first.
Tristan Stubbs chipped in with an unbeaten 12-ball 24 before Matheesha Pathirana (1/31) bowled a brilliant final over to prevent DC from finishing their innings on a high.
The Capitals suffered a jolt at the start of their innings thanks to an excellent first over from Khaleel Ahmed (2/25), who had big-hitting opener Jake Fraser-McGurk caught after putting him under pressure with four dot balls.
Credit to Khaleel for plotting Fraser-McGurk's dismissal by banging the ball on the good length instead of allowing him to play in the 'V', something the young Australian is good at.
Notwithstanding the early jitter, DC managed to score 51 runs in the power play and that was largely because of the enterprise shown by Abhishek Porel (33 off 20 balls), who collected 19 runs from left-arm fast-medium bowler Mukesh Choudhary's first over.
Playing this game in place of Rahul Tripathi, Choudhary struggled to get his length right and was bowling either too full of too short, and Porel took full advantage of some wayward bowling.
Khaleel returned to bowl another fine over and Choudhary too did much better in his second over.
KL Rahul broke the shackles with a six over deep square leg off Khaleel before CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad introduced spin in the form of the seasoned Ravichandran Ashwin in the sixth over, hoping for a wicket.
The much-needed breakthrough, however, came in the next over as Porel ended up giving an easy catch to Matheesha Pathirana after driving Ravindra Jadeja uppishly in the left-arm spinner's first over.
It was a soft dismissal, and Porel would be frustrated with it as he was looking good for a big one after having settled down nicely at Chepauk.
Axar Patel began his innings with a six over long-on off Jadeja but, like Porel, the DC skipper too got out after getting his eye in, for a 14-ball 21.
On either side of Axar's dismissal, Rahul struck two sixes off Noor Ahmad and Jadeja respectively, before reaching his 38th IPL fifty off 33 balls.
Rahul found an able ally in Sameer Rizvi (20 off 15 balls) as the duo added 56 runs for the fourth wicket in quick time.
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Strong rooms, unsealed rooms should not be opened under any circumstance: EC
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The EC on Tuesday issued clear directions to all district election officers and returning officers in Kerala not to open any strong rooms or unsealed rooms in counting centres under any circumstances before the day of counting.
The direction was issued by Kerala Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U Kelkar following reports that a strong room storing EVMs in the Perambra constituency in Kozhikode was opened on Monday, and that there were reported plans to open another in the Nenmara constituency in Palakkad.
“It has been reiterated that under no circumstances shall any strong rooms or unsealed rooms be opened or accessed for the purpose of preparing Index Cards or verifying data on the ENCORE portal.
“All concerned officers have been directed to ensure strict compliance with these instructions to safeguard the integrity, transparency, and security of the electoral process,” a statement issued by Kelkar’s office said.
Responding to a TV channel’s query on the matter, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan said that, according to election laws and rules, no one is supposed to go near strong rooms.
“So, why was the material room kept close to the strong room? There is something suspicious about it. The party and the UDF are looking into the matter very seriously. There has to be a proper probe into the matter,” he contended.
“Overall, it appears that steps are being taken by the state and central governments to sabotage the people’s verdict. That is what we understand from these incidents,” he claimed.
Later in the day, Palakkad District Collector Madhavikutty M S, in a statement, termed reports that the strong room containing electronic voting machines used in the Nenmara constituency had been opened as incorrect.
The collector said the returning officer had informed representatives of all candidates that a room where election documents were kept would be opened to prepare ENCORE data before the counting of votes.
This room was in the same building as the strong room, and representatives of the candidates and videography teams were present at the centre in the morning, the statement said.
However, in view of the spread of false news that the strong room had been opened, the collector, as instructed by the chief electoral officer, directed the RO not to open the room containing election documents, it said.
The collector also instructed all returning officers not to open any rooms at counting centres where EVMs are kept before counting begins, without instructions from the CEO.
On Monday, the Kozhikode district administration had clarified that no strong room was opened.
Collector Snehil Kumar Singh, who is also the district election officer, had said that an unsealed “material room” at JDT Islam Higher Secondary School was opened in the presence of candidates’ agents to verify and update polling records.
He said in a statement that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPATs were securely stored in a sealed strong room on the first floor of the building under the supervision of central observers and candidates’ agents, and that the strong room had not been opened.
However, leaders of the Congress and the party-led UDF alleged that the incident amounted to a violation of election rules.
The results of the April 9 Assembly polls in 140 constituencies in the state will be declared on May 4.
