Williamson, Mitchell power New Zealand to eight-wicket win
Chennai (PTI): Kane Williamson marked his return to international cricket with an elegant half-century while Daryl Mitchell blazed away to a 67-ball 89 as New Zealand crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in the ICC World Cup here on Friday.
This was the Kiwis' third win in as many matches, completing the chase of 246 with plenty to spare.
Playing in his first match of the ongoing showpiece after finally recovering fully from the knee injury he had sustained during the IPL in April and the ensuing surgery, Williamson showed his class with an old-fashioned calculative ODI batting that fetched him 78 runs from 107 balls.
At the other end, Daryl Mitchell looked in a hurry as he smashed fours and sixes at will to seal the issue in his team's favour with 43 balls left.
Having found two good-looking boundaries at the start of his innings, Williamson decorated his knock with eight fours and a six, while the Mitchell hammered six fours and four sixes during his breezy, unbeaten stay in the middle.
Restricted to 245 for nine after being asked to bat first, Bangladesh bowlers had no answer to the Kiwi response but they did a few things wrong, including their skipper and biggest weapon with the ball Shakib al Hasan completing his quota of overs instead of keeping them for the end overs.
The New Zealand dressing room, however, was not happy to see an exhausted Williamson walking back retired hurt after attempting a flashy drive. This was after he had taken a blow to his left thumb.
New Zealand, by then, had done enough to ensure victory
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 66 as Bangladesh battled hard in the face of New Zealand's disciplined bowling effort to post 245 for nine.
Mushfiqur's 75-ball knock, alongside valuable contributions from Shakib (40 off 51 balls) and Mahmudullah (41 off 49), lifted Bangladesh after they were reeling at 56 for four in the 13th over.
The Tigers began on a disastrous note, losing Litton Das (0) off the very first delivery of the game to pacer Trent Boult, as his attempted flick was collected by Matt Henry in fine leg.
Tanzid Hasan (16 ) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (30) tried to put up some resistance before the former fell prey to pacer Lockie Ferguson, offering a catch to Devon Conway in square leg.
Notably, Tanzid was dropped when he was yet to open his account by Tom Latham in the opening over itself. It was a tough chance, nonetheless.
When the score read 56, Bangladesh lost Miraz to Ferguson, followed by Najmul Hossain Shanto (7) to spinner Glenn Phillips.
Losing two wickets in a space of three balls was a body blow for Bangladesh, only for Shakib and Mushfiqur to take control for some time with a 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
However, Shakib appeared to be struggling in the hot and humid conditions here, taking a medical break before eventually being dismissed by Ferguson in the 30th over.
The pitch appeared to be assisting the pacers, and Ferguson looked to capitalise with his 'bowl short and quick' strategy.
Also, the strip utilised was different from the one that helped the spinners during the India-Australia contest on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mushfiqur brought up his 48th ODI half-century and was cleverly attacking the loose deliveries, while spinners Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra bowled tight lines.
In the 36th over, pacer Matt Henry gave the Kiwis relief as he bowled Mushfiqur with a beautiful slower off-cutter that stayed low and uprooted the off-stump, leaving Bangladesh at 175 for six.
After losing the seventh wicket in Towhid Hridoy for 13, Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed (17) added 34 runs for the eighth wicket before the latter gave a catch to Daryl Mitchell off Santner.
While Mustafizur Rahman was the ninth man out in the 48th over, the final pair managed to bat out the remaining deliveries.
Ferguson took 3 for 49, while Boult grabbed 2 for 45, including his 200th ODI wicket. Meanwhile, Santner was the most economical of them all, finishing with figures of 1/31 in 10 overs.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
