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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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.
