World Cup: Shahidi, Omarzai push Afghanistan to 272/8, Bumrah stars for India
New Delhi (PTI): Hasmatullah Shahidi's dogged 80 and the young Azmatullah Omarazai's gutsy 62 took Afghanistan to 272 for eight in their World Cup contest against India here on Wednesday.
Skipper Shahidi walked the talk as Afghanistan put up a much-improved effort with the bat compared to what they had managed in their tournament opener against Bangladesh.
His 121-run stand for the fourth wicket with 23-year-old Omarzai allowed Afghanistan to post a fighting total.
At 211 or four in 40 overs, Afghanistan looked likely to get close to 300 but India bowlers did well to stem the flow of runs. Jasprit Bumrah was by the far the best bowler for the home team, delivering in both the powerplay and the death overs to end with figures of 4 for 39 in 10 overs. This is Bumrah's best figures in a World Cup game.
The ball did not turn much but Kuldeep Yadav ended with tidy figures of one for 40 in 10 overs.
Considering the batting friendly conditions at Feroz Shah Kotla, India would fancy themselves to chase down the target with little difficulty.
It wasn't the smoothest of starts for Afghanistan, who reached 48 for one in the opening Powerplay.
While Bumrah got the ball to talk in his first spell of four overs, Mohammed Siraj leaked 28 runs off his first 24 balls. Siraj ended up conceding 76 runs off his nine overs.
The opening duo of Ibrahim Zadran (22) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (21) collected five boundaries off Siraj, whose ploy of consistently targeting the stumps did not pay off.
Bumrah got the breakthrough with a short of length ball on the off-stump that straightened a shade to take the outside edge off Zadran's bat.
Gurbaz and Rahmat Shah (16) falling in a space of three balls brought Shahdi and Omarzai in the middle.
The much younger Omarzai, promoted up the order, found the odd boundary while Shahidi played second fiddle.
The highlight was Omarzai's innings was the ease with which he played the Indian spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. He dispatched Kuldeep for two sixes on either side of the straight boundary in the 25th over.
His third six off Kuldeep came in the 34th over when he picked the Indian spinner's wrong 'un and deposited it over long on.
Shahidi, on the other hand, was good with cut against the pacers and his stand out shot was the ramp off Hardik Pandya.
Rashid Khan did come up with some crisp blows towards the end but Afghanistan only managed 61 runs in the last 10 overs with the loss of four wickets. PTI
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T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
