New Zealand restrict Afghanistan to 124 for 8
Abu Dhabi, Nov 7: New Zealand pacers, led by Trent Boult (3/17), dished out a clinical performance to restrict Afghanistan to 124 for 8 in their final Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
Afghanistan, who need to win to keep their semifinal hopes alive, reached the total mainly due to the efforts of Najibullah Zadran (73 off 48 balls), who stood out in a rather tepid display by the rest of his team-mates.
Zadran struck six fours and three sixes during his brilliant innings.
A win by New Zealand will send India out of contention for a semifinal spot.
The Kiwi pace trio of Boult, Tim Southee (2/24) and Adam Milne (1/17) did not give anything away in the initial overs as the Afghan batters struggled to get going and fell in trying to force the pace of their innings.
Ish Sodhi (1/13) and Jimmy Neesham (1/24) were the other New Zealand wicket-takers.
Neesham conceded only two runs from the final over of the Afghanistan innings.
The left-handed Zadran rescued Afghanistan with a 59-run fifth wicket stand with captain Mohammed Nabi (14) from 56 for 4 in 10 overs.
However, there was very little support for Zadran from the rest of the batters with only one half-century partnership which proved be their undoing.
A flurry of wickets after the fall of Nabi, including that of Zadran, ensured that Afghanistan did not get to a middling score. Boult sent back Zadran and Karim Janat (2) in the 19th over as the Kiwis took control of the match.
Afghanistan got off to a poor start, losing the openers inside the first four overs.
Mohammed Shahazad (4) was the first to go in the third over when his uppercut off Milne flew to 'keeper Devon Conway, who leapt high to complete a good catch on the second attempt.
The wily Boult struck the second blow, getting Hazratullah Zazai when the batter's attempted flick took a leading edge for an easy catch to Mitchell Santner to leave Afghanistan at 12 for 2.
Soon, it became 19 for 3 when Rahmanullah Gurbaz was leg-before to Tim Southee for 6.
Zadran and Gulbadin Nabi (15) staged mini recovery for Afghanistan with a 37-run partnership for the fourth wicket during which the former came up with the some good shots.
However, leggie Ish Sodhi broke through for the Kiwis when he had Naib chopped a widish delivery on to his stumps.
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Killing of Khamenei cynical violation of human morality, international law: Putin
Moscow (PTI): The killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in his message to his Tehranian counterpart, the Kremlin said Sunday.
Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Saturday during a joint Israel-US attack on Iran.
“Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,” Putin said in his condolence message.
Putin's condolence message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was published on the Kremlin portal.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia condemned the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran qualifying it as an “unprovoked” aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law and called for immediate return to diplomacy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also described the US and Israeli forces' strikes against the Iranian territory as “a pre-planned” act of aggression against an independent UN member state.
Putin also conducted an emergency meeting of the National Security Council online on Saturday to discuss the emerging situation following the US-Israeli strikes and Iran’s retaliation.
Meanwhile, according to reports more than 2,00,000 Russians are stuck in the region due to closure of their airspaces by Iran and Gulf countries.
The situation in the Middle East and the airport closures have affected not only organised tourists from Russia registered with tour operators, but also those travelling on business trips and independently, state-run TASS news agency reported.
“Approximately 2,00,000 people are unable to leave the UAE or return from vacations in the Maldives and other countries,” Alexey Volkov, president of the National Union of Hospitality Industry, told TASS.
UAE and its airports have become a main hub of access to Russia since the Ukraine conflict and closure of EU air space for civilian air traffic under sanction on Moscow.
“The situation remains complex and unpredictable: drone and missile strikes have hit key tourist locations in the UAE, including its most famous hotels.
“And then there are those who aren't counted as tourists at all, but are travelling around the world for business—the Middle East, for example, is currently a major business hub, home to a significant amount of Russian capital, investment, and business,” Volkov said.
