Kohli moves up in ICC rankings for batters after 85 against Australia in World Cup
Dubai(PTI): India batting mainstay Virat Kohli on Wednesday moved up two places to reach the seventh position in ICC rankings for batters, after hitting a terrific 85 in his team's six-wicket win over Australia in the World Cup in Chennai.
Kohli walked out to bat with India placed in a precarious 2 for 2 which soon became 5 for 3 but he lifted his side with a gritty knock that thwarted Australia's progress while adding a match-winning 165 for the fourth wicket with KL Rahul.
Rahul, who struck 97 not out against Australia, moved up 15 positions to reach the 19th spot while World Cup history's fastest century-maker, South Africa's Aiden Markram reached 21st, as he moved up 11 positions.
The ICC issued the release on Wednesday which did not take into account Kohli's unbeaten 55 against Afghanistan, as India recorded their second straight win by 8 wickets and 15 overs to spare.
"Ten centuries across the opening eight matches at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 have shaken up the top end of the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings," the ICC said on its website.
Among other Indians, Mohammed Siraj slipped to the second spot having shared the top with Australia's Josh Hazlewood for a while. Siraj lost five points after the game against Australia.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up three positions to reach eighth but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja remained outside the top-40 list of bowlers despite his three-wicket haul in Chennai.
At the same time, Quinton de Kock's 84-ball 100 against Sri Lanka in World Cup clash at New Delhi saw the South African move up one spot to reach the sixth position.
England's Dawid Malan, who struck a terrific 140 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, moved up as many as seven spots to reach the eighth in the rankings, while Pakistan's Imam Ul Haq dropped three positions and was placed ninth.
The ICC rankings had New Zealand's Trent Boult moving up two spots to third and Matt Henry rising four spots to reach the fifth position inside the top 10.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
