Sri Lanka beats Pakistan in Asia Cup's dead rubber match
Dubai, Sep 9: Opener Pathum Nissanka slammed an unbeaten half-century to complement a superb bowling show as Sri Lanka overcame a shaky start to beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final Super 4 clash of the Asia Cup here on Friday.
Chasing a paltry 122 in the dress rehearsal ahead of Sunday's summit clash, Sri Lanka were reduced to 29/3 inside five overs but the 24-year-old Nissanka held the innings together with his unbeaten 55 off 48 balls.
Mystery spinner Wanindu Hasaranga led Sri Lankan's brilliant bowling effort with a three-wicket haul as Pakistan were bundled out for 121 in 19.1 overs.
Hasaranga returned with 3/21 including two in successive balls in his last over as the Sri Lankan spin troika accounted for 5/60 in 12 overs.
The spinner, who also took two catches in the deep, iplayed a fine cameo smashing two boundaries off three balls in his 10 not out from three balls to take them over the line with three overs to spare.
Defending a below par total, Pakistan's pace and swing was on full display inside the powerplay as the duo of Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain claimed three wickets between them.
Hasnain gave them a perfect start dismissing Lankan leading run-getter Kusal Mendis for a golden duck with a fiery outswinger.
His pace partner Rauf struck twice in two overs to tighten the noose around Sri Lanka but it was Hasan Ali who was the weak link in their pace armoury in absence of Naseem Shah.
His slower pace failed to trouble the batters and the duo of Nissanka and Rajapaksa were happy to go all out against him to rebuild their innings.
The duo put together a crucial stand of 51 runs before Bhanuka Rajapaksa (24) fell victim to Usman Qadir before skipper Dasun Shanaka chipped in with 21 from 16 balls to take them near the finishing line.
Needing 15 runs from the last four overs, Hasnain dismissed the Lankan skipper with a slower ball before Hasaranga hitting the winning four.
Earlier, the off-spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana (2/21) and Dhananjaya de Silva (1/18) were at their tidy best restricting Pakistan to a below-par score after birthday 'boy' Dasun Shanaka opted to field.
The wily Hasaranga deceived Babar Azam with a slower one when the Pakistan skipper stepped out only to be cleaned up. Hasaranga also took two catches in the deep.
The stage was just perfect for Azam to get back into form.
But the star batter, who has just 33 runs from four innings in the Asia Cup, looked under pressure after Mohammad Rizwan (14) and Fakhar Zaman (13) got out cheaply and got out for a 29-ball 30.
The spinners then stymied the flow of runs in the middle overs and it was a big ask for the tailenders to take Pakistan near the 150-run mark.
Debutant Pramod Madushan started it all, claiming the prized wicket of in-form Pakistani opener and No 1 T20I batter Mohammad Rizwan (14) inside the power-play.
It was almost two in two balls for Madushan when out-of-form Azam mistimed the next delivery but the ball just flew over the cover region. Madushan finished with a memorable 2/21 from his 2.1 overs on debut.
With the pressure mounting, Fakhar Zaman tried to break free only to hole out at sweeper cover region. Pakistan lost their last five wickets for 30 runs.
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 not just removed clothes at AI Summit but exposed its intellectual bankruptcy: PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday came down heavily on the Congress for the shirtless protest by its youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit recently, saying the opposition party can tear as many clothes as it wants, but his government will continue to work for the country's progress.
Addressing the News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Modi also said that the Congress did not just remove its clothes in front of foreign guests but also exposed its intellectual bankruptcy, asserting that the millennials have already taught the country's oldest party a lesson, and now Gen-Z is ready to do the same.
In an apparent jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Modi said the opposition was unhappy seeing the statue of "Babbar Shers" (lions) installed atop the new Parliament building, but their own “Babbar Shers" were running away after facing the "shoes" of the general public.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had said on February 24 that he was proud of the "Babbar Shers" of the Indian Youth Congress, who "fearlessly" raised their voice at the AI Summit.
"Congress ke Babbar Sher logon ki jute kha ke bhaag gaye (The 'lions' of Congress ran away after being hit by shoes by the public)," Modi said.
The prime minister was apparently referring to the protesting Youth Congress workers being heckled by some people at the AI Summit.
On February 20, a group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue in Delhi by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with anti-government slogans, triggering a political slugfest between the BJP and the Congress.
“Congress can tear as many clothes as it wants, but we will continue to work for India's development. Congress not just shed clothes at the AI Summit, it also exposed its incapabilities in front of foreign guests,” Modi said in his nearly 45-minute speech.
He said the AI Summit was a moment of pride for the entire nation, but unfortunately, Congress attempted to tarnish this national celebration.
"When the frustration and despair of failure weigh on the mind, and arrogance makes one's head spin, such a mindset emerges to defame the country," he said.
The prime minister also alleged that the Congress always takes refuge in Mahatma Gandhi to hide its failures, but tries to give credit to one family for anything good.
"People of our country welcomed every good step taken by our government, but the Congress only knows how to oppose everything. The votes of Congress are not stolen; rather, people do not consider Congress worthy of their votes. Millennials first taught a lesson to Congress, now Gen-Z is ready to do the same," he said.
Modi also said that in a democracy, the role of the opposition is not just about blindly opposing every move of the government, but presenting an alternative vision, and that is why the "enlightened public" of the country is "teaching a lesson" to Congress now.
In 1984, the Congress got 39 per cent of the votes and more than 400 seats. But its votes declined consistently in the subsequent elections, Modi said.
"Today, the condition of the Congress is such that it has more than 50 MLAs in just four states. Over the past 40 years, the number of young voters in the country has increased, but the Congress has clearly diminished," Modi said.
On the recent trade deals that India signed with foreign countries, Modi said the country has discovered its inherent strength and strengthened its institutions, which prompted developed nations to come forward and sign deals with India.
He also said that even after Independence, some people ensured that the colonial mindset remained for their own benefits.
"No country would have done trade deals with us had we not discovered our inherent strength and strengthened our institutions. Because of this, developed nations have come forward to sign trade deals (with India)," he said.
Modi also said that even after Independence, India was unable to break free from the mentality of slavery, for which the country is still paying the price.
"The latest example of this can be seen in the ongoing discussions on trade deals. Some people are shocked – ‘what has happened, how did this happen? Why are developed countries so eager to do trade deals with India?’ The answer is – a confident India is emerging from despair and frustration," he said.
Over the long span of history, centuries of slavery had instilled a feeling of inferiority, while the ideology imported from other countries deeply ingrained in society the notion that Indians were uneducated and subservient, the prime minister said.
"If the country was still mired in the despair of the pre-2014 era, counted among the 'Fragile Five', and gripped by policy paralysis, who would strike a trade deal with us?
"Over the past 11 years, a new surge of energy has flowed into the nation's consciousness. India is now striving to reclaim its lost potential," Modi said.
The prime minister also said that due to the recent series of reforms initiated by his government, the world's most powerful nations are now coming forward to sign trade deals with India.
"There was a time when India was only a consumer of new technology. But now we are not just developing them, but also setting standards," he said.
The prime minister also said that India's digital public infrastructure has become a subject of global discussion today, and every move India makes is closely watched and analysed across the world.
"The AI Summit was a clear example of this," he said.
The government's 'Viksit Bharat by 2047' is not a political slogan but an effort to correct the mistakes of the previous Congress governments by making India self-reliant, he said.
“So far, in every industrial revolution, India and the Global South largely remained followers, but in this age of artificial intelligence (AI), India is not only participating but is also shaping it. India now has its own AI startup ecosystem,” Modi said.
He also said the world is astonished that India, where around 30 million families lived in darkness until 2014, has now risen to become one of the top countries in solar power capacity.
India, where many cities had no hope of improving their public transport system, has now become the country with the world's third-largest Metro network, Modi said.
“The Indian Railways was known only for chronic delays and sluggish speeds, yet semi-high-speed connectivity like Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat has now become possible,” he said.
Nation-building never happens through short-term thinking; it is shaped by a long-term vision, patience and timely decisions, the prime minister added.
