ICC Cricket World Cup: Williamson's ton virtually knocks South Africa out of World Cup
Birmingham, Jun 19: Skipper Kane Williamson struck a composed unbeaten century as New Zealand virtually knocked South Africa out of the World Cup with a four-wicket victory in a last over finish here Wednesday.
Chasing a target of 242 in 49 overs in rain-truncated match, New Zealand recovered from a mini slump at 137 for five riding on a 91-run stand between Williamson (103 not out off 138 balls) and Colin de Grandhomme (60 off 47 balls) to reach home with three balls to spare.
Needing 12 off last seven balls, Williamson steered a Lungi Ngidi slower delivery to third man boundary to bring down the equation to 8 off the last over.
With Ngidi (1/47), Kagiso Rabada (1/42) and Chris Morris (3/49) all bowling their full quota, Faf Du Plessis had no option but to use their weakest link Andile Phehlykwayo.
Williamson promptly hit the second delivery for his first six of the match to close the encounter.
With this win, New Zealand for a day went on top of points table with nine points from five games while South Africa after their fourth defeat in six games have little chance of making it to the last four.
Williamson's innings had eight fours and a six, while De Grandhomme was the aggressor during the stand with five fours and two sixes.
Earlier, New Zealand's bowling unit fired in unison as they restricted South Africa to 241 for six in the rain-truncated encounter.
The match was reduced to 49-a-side affair after wet ground outfield delayed the start.
Despite half centuries from Hashim Amla (55 off 83 balls, 4x4s) and Rassie van der Dussen (67 not out off 64 balls, 2x4s, 34x6s), the Black Caps managed to keep the South African batsmen under tight leash.
Lockie Ferguson (3 for 59 in 10 overs) was the most successful bowler for New Zealand, while Colin de Grandhomme (1/33 in 10 overs) turned out to be the most economical.
De Grandhomme and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (1/45 in 9 overs) maintained tight discipline during the middle overs and did not allow any opposition batsmen to get away.
Van der Dussen and David Miller (36 off 37 balls) added 72 runs for the fifth wicket in 12.2 overs but facing a must-win situation, South Africa could never really up the ante.
Van der Dussen hit two fours and three sixes while Miller hit two boundaries and a six.
The last nine overs produced 72 runs after Faf Du Plessis (23) added 50 with Amla, who completed 8000 ODI runs and became the second fastest to complete the feat.
Trent Boult castled Quinton de Kock early in the innings and Matt Henry (0/34 in 10 overs) bowled tight lines from the other end after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Du Plessis was yorked by Ferguson and Amla was bowled by a classical left-arm spinners delivery that hit the top of off stump.
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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.
