South Africa restrict India to 148/6 on difficult Barabati pitch
Cuttack, Jun 12: Indian batters found it tough to get going against some tight bowling display from South Africa to be restricted to a modest 148 for 6 on a tacky Barabati track in the second T20I here on Sunday.
Shreyas Iyer (40) was the top-scorer for India while Ishan Kishan provided some early sparks (21-ball 34) but the hosts lost the momentum in the middle-overs on a two-paced track.
That in-form finisher Dinesh Karthik was sent way down at No 7, behind Axar Patel, also made it difficult for the Rishabh Pant-led India, who are trailing 0-1 in the series.
Karthik, team's designated 'finisher ' (30 not out from 21 balls) smashed two sixes and two fours to give the total some semblance of respectability.
Harshal Patel (12 not out from nine balls) gave him a good company as the duo improved the Indian run-rate stitching together 36 runs from the last three overs to give them some respite. Put into bat on a challenging track, the Indian batters struggled barring a small 45-run second wicket partnership between Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.
Opening the bowling, Kagiso Rabada set the tone early on, giving a breakthrough straightway in his first over.
He brilliantly set up Ruturaj Gaikwad
(1) with a barrage of short balls before mixing up a fuller one to cleverly deceive the opener en route to a miserly spell 4-0-15-1 that included 13 dot balls.
After the sedate start, it was Kishan (34 from 21 balls) who provided the firepower in the power play, smashing Nortje for two sixes to improve their run-rate.
Fresh from his fiery fifty in the Kotla T20I, Kishan relied on his pick-up shots through the square leg region to hit three sixes and two fours.
But just when the duo looked to consolidate, Nortje won the battle against the diminutive Mumbai Indians opener, by pitching it short and offering pace as the lefthander mistimed his hook this time to be caught at deep square leg.
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SC adjourns hearing on Prashant Bhushan's plea challenging provision in passport law
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned till after summer vacations a petition challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of passport law and a notification providing for issuance of passport for only a year to an accused on receipt of a 'no objection certificate' from a court.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhyan deferred the matter after it was informed that senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, was not available.
The summer vacations of the top court will commence on May 20 and the court will resume its sitting on July 8.
The apex court had earlier issued notices to the Centre and Regional Passport Office at Ghaziabad on the plea filed by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who gets passport for a period of only one year on account of some FIRs lodged against him for allegedly taking part in protests and 'dharna'.
Bhushan has filed an appeal in the top court against the Delhi High Court's January 2016 verdict which had rejected his plea against the provision of the Passport Act.
"Petitioner had challenged the constitutional validity of section 6(2)(f) of the Passports Act, 1967 which states that passport shall not be issued/reissued to a person accused of committing any offence," the plea has said.
"The blanket prohibition in section 6(2)(f) has been partially lifted vide a notification issued in 1993 which states that passport may be issued/reissued if the applicant produces an NOC from the court concerned and if no period is mentioned in the NOC, then the passport shall be issued/reissued for only one year.
The petitioner had also challenged the constitutional validity of this notification," it said.
Bhushan's counsel had told the top court that the provision concerned does not make distinction between serious and not so serious offences and puts equal restriction on accused in getting new or renewed passport and it is violative of the right to equality.
