Sri Lanka put up improved batting effort to reach 275/9
Colombo, Jul 20: Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal led India's decent effort with the ball as a self-destructing Sri Lanka slipped to 275 for nine in the second ODI here on Tuesday.
Pretty much like the series opener, most of the Sri Lankan batsmen got starts but failed to capitalise after the hosts opted to bat.
Avishka Fernando (50 off 71) and Charith Asalanka (65 off 68) struck fine half-centuries but the home team wasn't disciplined enough to post an imposing total.
Chamika Karunaratne (44 not out off 33) came up with another timely cameo to take the team past 270.
Chahal (3/50) was the pick of the bowlers while pacers Deepak Chahar (2/53) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/54) too got wickets primarily due to profligacy of the home team batsmen.
Openers Fernando (50 off 71) and Minod Bhanuka (36 off 42) took Sri Lanka to 59 for loss in the first 10 overs.
The momentum shifted India's way drastically after Chahal removed Minod and Bhanuka Rajapaksa off successive balls in the 14th over. In Minod's case, it was a soft dismissal as the well set southpaw charged down the wicket and flicked an eventual full toss straight to Manish Pandey at mid-wicket.
The next one from Chahal was a beauty which held its line to a take faint outside edge of Rajapaksa's bat and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan managed to clutch onto the catch.
Sri Lanka, who are among the worst performing teams in the middle overs, struggled again in the crucial stage of the game. They took 97 balls to take find their next boundary after the eight over.
From 77 for no loss in the 14th over, Sri Lanka slipped to 134 for four in the 28th over.
Asalanka and skipper Dasun Shanaka tried to resurrect the innings but their 38-run stand ended with the captain falling to a flatter one from Chahal.
Chahar took his second wicket with a perfect knuckle ball that crashed through Wanindu Hasaranga's defences.
Asalanka played some bold strokes alongside Karunaratne to give the innings some impetus towards the end.
Asalanka got to his maiden fifty with a lofted boundary over extra cover off Kuldeep Yadav before sweeping the left-arm wrist spinner for another four in the same over.
The pitch aided India's spinners like the first game.
Bhuvneshar kept things tight but bowled at a slower pacer than his usual.
Considering the form India's young batsmen displayed in the series opener, it should be another comfortable run chase for the visitors.
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BharatPe fraud case: Delhi HC quashes lookout circular against Ashneer Grover, wife
New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi High Court has ordered cancellation of a lookout circular (LOC) issued against Ashneer Grover, the former MD of payment app BharatPe, and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, noting that the FIR lodged against them over allegations of cheating and forgery has already been quashed.
Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on Monday after the court was informed that another bench of the high court quashed the FIR on the same day.
The FIR was quashed by Justice Chandra Dhari Singh after considering a plea moved by the Grovers stating that they have arrived at a settlement with the fintech company.
In his order, Justice Narula said, "Although the copy of the order (quashing the FIR) is not available as of now, the aforenoted fact is not disputed by the counsel for the parties.
"In light of the fact that the underlying FIR has been quashed, the LOC issued by respondent No. 3 (Bureau of Immigration), in the opinion of the court, will not survive."
The LOC was issued by the Bureau of Immigration at the instance of Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in view of the investigation against the Grovers in the cheating and forgery FIR.
The court was hearing a plea moved by Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover seeking quashing of the LOC issued against them in connection with the investigation into the cheating and forgery case.
"Accordingly, the present petitions are disposed of with a direction to the respondents to cancel the LOC against the petitioners in their records," the court noted.
Earlier, the Grovers claimed that they were informed about the LOC for the first time when they were detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on November 16, 2023, while they were scheduled to travel to the US.
After being detained, they were informed that the LOC was operational from November 6, 2023.
In May last year, the EOW filed an FIR against Grover, his wife Madhuri, and others under eight sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467 and 468 (forgery), and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) for an alleged Rs 81 crore fraud after a complaint was lodged by BhartPe, the fintech unicorn.
In its complaint, BharatPe alleged that Grover and his family caused damages to the tune of Rs 81.3 crore through illegitimate payments to bogus human resource consultants, inflated and undue payments through pass-through vendors connected to the accused, sham transactions in input tax credit and payment of penalty to GST authorities, illegal payment to travel agencies, forged invoices by Madhuri, and destruction of evidence.
Madhuri was the head of controls at BharatPe before she was fired in 2022 after a forensic audit revealed several irregularities.
Subsequently, Grover resigned as the chief executive officer of the fintech firm in March 2022.
