Sri Lanka recover to post 232 for nine against England in World Cup
Leeds, Jun 21: Former skipper Angelo Mathews scored an unbeaten 115-ball 85 to guide Sri Lanka to a modest 232 for nine against hosts England in their World Cup fixture here Friday.
Mathews starred in two crucial partnerships, adding 71 and 57 runs with Kusal Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (29) for the fourth and sixth wickets, respectively, as Sri Lanka recovered from a disastrous start.
Mathews had five hits to the fence and a six in his innings.
Avishka Fernando, too, contributed to the team score with a 39-ball 49.
England dished out a disciplined bowling effort with the pace duo of Jofra Archer (3/52) and Mark Wood (3/40) taking three wickets each. Adil Rashid (2/45) took two wickets, while Chris Woakes (1/22) scalped one.
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka were reduced to 3 for 2 in 2.2 overs after Archer and Woakes struck early, removing Dimuth Karunaratne (1) and Kusal Perera (2) in three balls.
Fernando then blasted six fours and two sixes, sharing some valuable runs with Mendis. But an upper cut gone wrong saw Sri Lanka lose Avishka Fernando (49) and slip to 62 for three in 12.5 overs.
Mathews joined Mendis and brought up the team hundred in 23.2 overs.
However, leg-spinner Rashid struck twice, removing Mendis and new man Jeevan Mendis (0), as Sri Lanka slumped to 133 for five in the 30th over.
Mathews and Dhananjaya then resurrected Sri Lanka and took the team close to the 200-mark.
Once Dhananjaya was removed by Archer in the 44th over, it was a lonely battle for Mathews.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
