PKL 7: Bengaluru pip Patna 34-32 in campaign opener
Hyderabad, July 20: Defenders Amit Sheoran (5 points) and Ashish Sangwan (4 points) were the main reason for Bengaluru’s narrow win. Also, their ace raider Pawan Sehrawat scored nine points.
For Patna, skipper Pardeep Narwal scored a Super 10 and Mohammed Maghsoudlou came up with nine points. However, it wasn’t enough to help them cross the line.
Bengaluru forced multiple super tackles to begin their campaign with a win.
In the first few minutes of the match, it was all Bengaluru as captain Rohit Kumar scored consecutive raid points to give his team 5-1 lead , even as Maghsoudlou put in a tremendous super tackle to revive Patna.
Patna’s famed “record breaker” raider Narwal got going as he scored his first raid point in the ninth minute.
On the other hand, Bengaluru high-flier Sehrawat had a quiet beginning to the match as Patna’s defence did a fine job on him.
Patna led 9-7 after 12 minutes when Bengaluru put in a super tackle through Sangwan to show their brute strength.
In the 16th minute, Patna inflicted the first all out of the match to lead 14-11. At the end of the first half, they held a slender four-point advantage to lead 17-13.
Bengaluru’s defence showed their mental and physical toughness in the second half as they piled on super tackles to make a comeback in the match. Sangwan and Sheoran marshalled the defence brilliantly and in the 32nd minute, they only trailed 23-24.
In the 34th minute, Bengaluru inflicted an all out to lead 30-26 and Patna were staring at a defeat in their first encounter of season.
Bengaluru showed tremendous teamwork in the 37th minute to send Narwal to the bench to lead 32-27.
Maghsoudlou made two quick raid points in a minute as Patna trailed 30-33 in the 39th minute, while Narwal attained a super 10 but it wasn’t enough as Patna crashed to a defeat in their first match of the season.
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Sri Lanka recovers 87 bodies from Iranian warship sunk off its coast by US submarine
Colombo (AP): A US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's navy said Wednesday it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
The Iranian vessel that was sunk in the Indian Ocean was the Islamic Republic's “prize ship,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. Hegseth said it was the first sinking of an enemy ship with a torpedo by the US since World War II.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that its navy received information that the IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking. The island nation sent ships and air force planes on a rescue mission, he said.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship and “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water.”
He said the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital in the seaside town of Galle on the Sri Lanka's southern coast. The bodies recovered were being brought to land, he said.
Dr Anil Jasinghe, a top health ministry official, said one of those rescued is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are being treated for minor injuries.
The IRIS Dena — one of Iran's newest warships — is a Moudge-class frigate that patrols in deep water for the Iranian navy. It is armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It also carries one helicopter.
The frigate was the centerpiece of a two-ship international tour in 2023 that included port calls in countries including South Africa and Brazil. It was accompanied by the support ship IRIS Makran, a converted oil tanker.
The US Treasury Department included both ships on a sanctions designation in February 2023 along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied the weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said US Adm Brad Cooper, who leads the American military's Central Command.
“We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy,” he said in a video message.
