South Africa beat New Zealand by 7 wickets
Ahmedabad (PTI): South Africa rode on skipper Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen's batting and bowling exploits to beat New Zealand by seven wickets and all but qualify for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup here on Saturday.
Jansen recorded career-best figures of 4/40 as South Africa restricted New Zealand to 175 for 7 after opting to bowl in the crucial match.
Mark Chapman missed his personal milestone by a narrow margin when he fell for 48 to Jansen in the 14th over, but none of the other New Zealand batters could push on after making starts.
Finn Allen (31) and Daryl Mitchell (32) were also among the runs for the Blackcaps but they just could not find any momentum to push towards a big total.
Chasing, Markram made unbeaten 86 off 44 balls, which equalled his career-best T20I score, and Quinton de Kock scored 20 off 14 as the duo shared 62 runs off 28 balls for the opening stand, while Ryan Rickelton made 21 off 11 balls.
Dewald Brevis (21 off 17) made useful contribution before the duo of Markram and David Miller (24 not out of 17) closed out the contest, reaching 178 for 3 in 17.1 overs overs.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand: 175 for 7 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 31, Daryl Mitchell 32, Mark Chapman 48; Marco Jansen 4/40).
South Africa: 178 for for 3 in 17.1 overs (Aiden Markram 86 not out, David Miller 24 not out; Rachin Ravindra 1/9).
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.
No confusion in BJP-JD(S) alliance: Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
_vb_63.jpeg)
