Mount Maunganui (PTI): Suryakumar Yadav produced another T20 batting masterclass on way to a sensational 111 not out off 51 balls, firing India to 191 for six in the second game against New Zealand here on Sunday.

Surya toyed with the bowlers to lift India to a challenging total after New Zealand put the visitors in to bat. Rain stopped play at the Bay Oval for 26 minutes but no overs were lost.

While Surya was once again in a league of his own, other batters who showed intent but could not go on were opener Ishan Kishan (36 off 31) and number four Shreyas Iyer (13 of 9).

The experiment to open with Rishabh Pant did not work as he fell after a sluggish six off 13 balls.


India's powerplay approach was in focus before the game but not much was delivered on that front, with the team reaching 42 for one in six overs.

Surya came at number three in Virat Kohli's absence and smashed boundaries and sixes at will, his last 64 runs coming off just 18 balls.

It might not look simple to the naked eye but in his own words, Surya kept it "simple" and executed his amazing range of strokes as per the field placements.

If the spinners pitched it full on off stump, he was happy to play the inside out shot over cover and when the faster bowlers targeted his stumps on good length, he helped the ball sail past fine leg for a bunch of sixes. In total, Surya collected 11 fours and seven sixes.

He brought up his second century off 49 balls with an aerial drive that went wide of sweeper cover.

Surya went berserk in the penultimate over bowled by Lockie Ferguson, hammering four boundaries and a phenomenal six over deep point. The fast bowler had clearly run out of ideas with Surya on song.

The last five overs yielded 72 runs. Tim Southee bowled a brilliant 20th over and stemmed the free flow of runs by taking a hat-trick. He dismissed Washington Sundar, Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya on the trot.

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New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to respond on the possibility of framing a policy over the adverse effects, including deaths, of COVID-19 vaccination after being informed about the absence of any such scheme on compensation.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was informed by the Centre, represented by additional solicitor general Aiashwarya Bhati, that the pandemic was declared a disaster and the adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI) including the deaths were not covered under it and there was no policy for compensation in such cases.

The bench, however, said that COVID-19 deaths and vaccine-related deaths should not be viewed in isolation.

"Ultimately, the entire vaccination drive was a response to the pandemic. You cannot say they are not interlinked," it said.

The law officer said there was no policy under the Disaster Management Act to deal with the AEFI following the COVID-19 immunisation.

"The COVID-19 was declared a disaster, but the vaccination drive was conducted as per the medical protocol. The AEFI mechanism assesses whether a death is directly linked to the vaccine," she said.

Bhati sought three weeks to respond to the court’s suggestion which was allowed by the bench, which posted the appeal of the Centre against a Kerala High Court order for hearing on March 18.

One Sayeeda K A, whose husband died allegedly due to the side effects of COVID vaccine, moved the Kerala High Court seeking compensation.

It was alleged that there was no specific policy to deal with the AEFI.

The high court had ordered the National Disaster Management Authority to frame a policy for identifying cases of death due to the after-effects of the COVID-19 immunisation to pay the compensation to the kith and kin of the deceased.

The top court took note of the appeal of the Centre and stayed the high court’s decision in 2023.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactured one of the COVID-19 vaccines, has also filed a transfer petition.