Jaiswal slams fastest fifty in IPL history as Royals demolish KKR
Kolkata (PTI): Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his sensational run in the IPL by smashing the fastest fifty in tournament history as Rajasthan Royals cruised to a nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders to resurrect their playoff hopes here on Thursday.
Records tumbled at the Eden Gardens as Yuzvendra Chahal became IPL's leading wicket-taker before completing a brilliant 4/25 to restrict KKR to a below-par 149/8.
On a day KKR batters struggled to time the ball, 21-year-old Jaiswal showed the way by bringing up fastest fifty in the history of IPL in just 13 balls, bettering the previous record held by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins (14 balls each).
Jaiswal remained two runs shy of a century (98 from 47 balls), a knock studded with 12 fours and five sixes as RR cantered to victory 13.1 overs.
Samson gave fine support to the southpaw with a 48 not out from 29 balls as the duo shared an unbroken match-winning partnership of 121 runs off just 69 balls. The win with 41 balls to spare also took them to third spot (12 points from 12 matches), giving a massive boost to their net run-rate (0.0633) as the play-off race heats up.
It is all but over for KKR who slipped to seventh place (10 points, 12 matches). Jaiswal made his intention clear in the first over itself when KKR skipper Nitish Rana made a bold move to bowl himself.
Wasting no time, Jaiswal seized on the opportunity and smashed Rana for two sixes and two fours in a row in a 26-run over.
He hit Shardul Thakur with a hat-trick of fours to race to his fifty in the third over itself as RR virtually sealed the issue scoring 78/1 inside powerplay. To pile on the KKR misery, Sunil Narine dropped an easy catch when Samson was on 16.
The skipper then came on his own when he smoked Jharkhand leftarm spinner Anukul Roy for three sixes in a 20-run over.
On a day RR dished out an eye-grabbing fielding display, Chahal (187 wickets) eclipsed Dwayne Bravo (183) to become the all-time leading wicket-taker of the IPL when he struck off his second ball to dismiss KKR skipper Rana (22; 17b) in the 11th over.
Chahal's breakthrough came just when KKR looked to step up after a pathetic start when two astonishing catches of Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma set the tone.
Both came in Trent Boult's successive overs as the Kiwi leftarm pacer returned with 2/15 from his three overs on his return. After an expensive second over when he leaked 15 runs, Chahal came back in the death overs and dismissed KKR topscorer Venkatesh Iyer (57; 42b) and Shardul Thakur (1) in four balls.
He ended his spell dismissing the the latest KKR sensation Rinku Singh (16) in the penultimate over to also become the leading wicket-taker this season (21). Put in on a dry Eden wicket, KKR frontline batters came a cropper, as Venkatesh held the fort and returned to form with a fighting fifty.
From being two off 12 balls, Venkatesh paced his innings well and raced to a 39-ball fifty. But he slashed a wide delivery from Chahal to be brilliantly caught by Boult. Andre Russell (10) failed to make it big after he was promoted to No 5 and fell to KM Asif (1/34).
KKR, who were 58/2 after nine overs, looked to seize the momentum after taking a strategic time out in the 10th over. Venkatesh finally broke free smashing Ashwin for back-to-back sixes, while Rana ended the over with an elegant four through extra-cover to take them to 76/2 at the midway mark.
KKR looked on course for a decent total before Chahal triggered a mid-innings collapse.
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
