West Indies beat Afghanistan by 23 runs in World Cup
Leeds: In an inconsequential match between Afghanistan and West Indies here on Wednesday West Indies team registers their second victory in the campaign by 23 runs.
While chasing Afghanistan wicket keeper Ikram Ali Khil has scored 86 runs off 93 balls with eight boundaries.
West Indies bowlers Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach swept four and three wickets respectively.
Pooran (58 off 43 balls) and Holder (45 off 34 balls) added 105 runs in 71 balls to take the total past 300-run mark.
This was after Shai Hope (77 off 92 balls) and Evin Lewis (58 off 78 balls) set the platform with an 88-run second wicket partnership.
For Afghanistan, seamer Dawlat Zadran was the most successful bowler but was hammered during the last few overs. He ended with figures of 2 for 73.
Afghan spin troika of Mujeeb ur Rahman (0/52 in 10 overs), Mohammed Nabi (1/56 in 10 overs) and Rashid Khan (1/52 in 10 overs) were once again steady as the Caribbean batsmen couldn't push the run-rate up during middle overs.
Hope and Lewis both hit six fours and two sixes each as they built a foundation after Chris Gayle's early dismissal. Shimron Hetmyer (39) also got a start but was out after being set. He added 65 runs with Hope for the third wicket.
Hope and Hetmyer were out within 20 runs off each other and West Indies weren't exactly comfortable at 192 for 4 in the 38th over.
But it was Pooran and Holder, who attacked the bowling during the last 10 overs.
Pooran, after his hundred in a lost cause against Sri Lanka, was once again in his elements, reaching his half-century off only 40 balls. His flat-batted six off Zadran was a delight to watch.
His skipper wasn't far behind as he muscled the bowlers over the ropes with his big strides.
Pooran hit six fours and a six while Holder had four maximums apart from a boundary to his credit.
Chris Gayle while speaking to TV broadcasters said that,"this Would be definetly my last World Cup I would have loved to lift the trophy, but it didn't happen. It was fun ... Life goes on. Words can't really explain what I am going through at the moment. The future definitely looks bright with Hetmyer, Hope, Pooran. They will take the flag forward. They have a young captain in Jason Holder as well. Next for me is to play ODIs against India, a few T20s like the CPL and the Canada T20s".
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Modified scheme to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 8: The government will come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
According to Gadkari, the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc.
The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference.
The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
The road transport and highways minister also said the government is studying labour laws to frame a policy for fixing working hours for commercial drivers, on the lines of pilots, as driver fatigue is resulting in fatal road crashes, Gadkari said, adding that India is facing a shortage of 22 lakh drivers.
MoRTH organised a two-day workshop on January 6, and 7, 2025 to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector.
During the two-day workshop, accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0, timelines for introduction of BS-VII norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.
Gadkari also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.
The minister stressed on the introduction of specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety, given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country.
Gadkari said deliberations were done for introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks and strict enforcement of retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety.
Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) for safety of women and children were also discussed.
The meeting also discussed the launch and integration of all faceless services by the end of March 2025.
"Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration," he added.
