Pacers, Root set up England's overwhelming eight-wicket win over West Indies
Southampton, June 14: Joe Root hit his second century of the tournament after England pace battery tormented the West Indies batsmen to set up a thumping eight-wicket win in their World Cup match here Friday.
West Indies got a taste of their own medicine -- they had troubled the Pakistanis with bouncers in their only win thus far as the England pace battery unleashed fiery spells to bundle them out for 212 in 44.4 overs.
England overhauled the target with remarkable ease, completing the win in 33.1 overs as Root remained unbeaten on 100, which came off 94 balls.
In his 16th ODI hundred, Root found the boundary rope 11 times.
West Indies owed their total to Nicholas Pooran (63), who chose the biggest stage to strike his maiden ODI fifty, and Shimron Hetmyer's (39) sensible batting on a pitch which had no demons.
They added 89 runs for the fourth wicket but West Indies' big guns failed to fire.
Extravagance, when the situation demanded patience, resulted in Chris Gayle (36) and Andre Russell (21) throwing their wickets away. The T20 style batting in the longer format cost their side dear.
Young pacer Archer (3/30) had the West Indies batsmen dancing on the pitch, troubling them with the steep bounce.
Archer, Mark Wood (3/18), Chris Woakes (1/16) and Liam Plunkket (1/30) delivered the goods for the home favourites after home skipper Eoin Morgan opted to field.
For defending 212, West Indies needed early wickets but openers Root and Jonny Bairstow (45) punctured all their hopes with a commanding 91-run stand.
It seemed the two batsmen were competing to hit most the elegant shots one can hit. Their cover and straight drives were like unrestrained stream of a river.
Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell did ask a few tough questions to the English duo but Root and Bairstow were up for the task.
Bairstow departed when his square cut off Shannon Gabriel landed straight into the big hands of Carlos Brathwaite.
Root and Woakes (40), promoted to number three, then added 104 runs for the second wicket to push the side to the doorstep of a comfortable win.
The result catapulted England (6) to the second spot in the table behind New Zealand (7).
Earlier, the ball was hurrying on to the batsmen and whether it was a Shai Hope (11) or the big-hitting Gayle, the Caribbeans found the going tough as timing the ball was a challenge. They had already lost Evin Lewis (0), bowled by Woakes off a yorker.
Gayle, out of frustration, pulled one from Woakes, just managed an edge but escaped as Wood grassed a sitter. The marauding batter did hit a few big shots, including a massive straight six off Woakes, but did not last long, edging one straight to Jonny Bairstow off Plunkett.
Hope's torturous stay was ended by Wood when he had him trapped after reviewing the umpire's not out decision.
Pooran and Hetmyer then chose restrain over flamboyance, steading the innings.
The duo did all the hard work, working the ball around to keep the scoreboard going in their partnership, which got broken when Joe Root had Hetmyer caught off his own bowling.
The part-time off-spinner struck in his next over too, dismissing the rival captain Jason Holder (9) in similar fashion.
In came Russell and the ball was soon flying into the stands. He twice dispatched leg-spinner Adil Rashid into the crowd after being dropped but was dismissed, attempting another big shot off Wood.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress promises Rs 2,500 to women per month if voted to power in Delhi
New Delhi, Jan 6: Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, the Congress on Monday announced 'Pyaari Didi Yojana', promising a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to women if voted to power in the national capital.
The scheme would be rolled out on the lines of the model adopted by the Congress government in Karnataka.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in December last year announced the launch of the 'Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna' to give a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to women in Delhi, and promised the amount would be raised to Rs 2,100 after the elections.
During a public rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the people of Delhi that no welfare scheme will be discontinued if the BJP forms the government and made a strong appeal to them to get rid of the Kejriwal-led party.
Announcing the scheme, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said it aims to financially empower women, promising that it would be implemented at the first Cabinet meeting of the new government.
"Today, I have come here to launch the Pyaari Didi Yojana. We are confident that a Congress government will be formed in Delhi, and on the first day of the new Cabinet, we will implement the scheme to provide Rs 2,500 to every woman in the capital," Shivakumar said.
"Whatever and wherever Congress has promised in the nation or state level, we have delivered and we are going to deliver," he said.
Within three months after coming to power, all the guarantees were implemented in Karnataka.
Women in the entire state travel free in buses, 10 kg of rice is being given to every household, about Rs 3,000 given to the unemployed youth, 200 unit of electricity, and Rs 2,000 is being to every women. Additionally, 1.22 crore women are getting Rs 2,000 every month, he said.
After implementing the guarantees of Congress in Karnataka, every family there is saving Rs 4,000 to 5,000, which has brought a big change in the lives of crores of people and on the basis of the same success, Congress party will work to bring a change in the lives of people in Delhi too, he said.
While addressing media, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said that their tag line would be "Hogi har jarurat puri, Congress hai jaruri" (every need will be fulfilled, Congress is needed).
Yadav claimed that there is an an impostor in Delhi who is continuously working to show people dreams.
It is been 11 years and the condition of Delhi is deteriorating, he said.
"I am happy that we have announced the scheme through Shivakumar. In coming days, we will come with many such schemes which are very important for Delhi," the Congress leader said.
After the formation of the Congress government in Delhi, in the first Cabinet, a decision will be taken to give Rs 2,500 per month to each woman under women empowerment and social welfare for the half of the population of Delhi and this amount will be deposited in their accounts every month, Yadav said.
"We assure the people of Delhi that when Congress party comes to power here, we will implement the Congress schemes with the same faith and determination as we had implemented in Karnataka, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and earlier in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan," he claimed.
Yadav later concluded his address to media by saying that "Karnataka ne ki hai umeedein puri, Delhi ne kaha hai Congress hai jaruri" (Karnataka has fulfilled all the expectations, Delhi said that Congress is needed).
Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due in February.
Yadav, the party's Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin, and other senior leaders were present during the announcement.
