KL Rahul justified his selection in the Indian ODI team ahead of more in-form players as he scored an unbeaten fifty to seal a four-wicket win in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Kolkata on Thursday.
Rahul hit 64 from 103 balls to help India reach 219-6 at the Eden Gardens in what became increasingly challenging conditions for batting. Victory thus gave India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Most of India's top order managed starts but then lost their wicket as the ball stopped on the surface and also offered movement in the air throughout a hazy day.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya took the team to safety in the company of Rahul, scoring 36. Their partnership of 75 took 20 overs to put together but was exactly what the team needed.
All-rounder Axar Patel scored a run-a-ball 21 to take the score close to 200 and effectively put the game beyond Sri Lanka.
Rahul finished with six fours in an innings that should give him immense confidence, as he had kept wicket in the Sri Lanka innings. He also justified the team's faith in him, with Ishan Kishan sitting on the bench despite scoring a double ton in the previous series, and also Suryakumar Yadav.
The match was set up perfectly by spinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, who took three wickets each as India bowled out Sri Lanka for 215.
The tourists lost wickets at regular intervals to survive just 39.4 overs, despite a 50 from debutant Nuwanidu Fernando.
Siraj got things rolling as he bowled Avishka Fernando for 20 after Sri Lanka elected to bat first. Nuwanidu put on 73 runs for the second wicket with Kusal Mendis before Kuldeep, coming for Yuzvendra Chahal as the only change in the team, broke through with his left-arm wrist spin.
Kuldeep trapped Mendis lbw for 34 on the final delivery of his opening over and two balls later left-arm spinner Axar Patel bowled Dhananjaya de Silva for a duck.
Nuwanidu raised his fifty but was soon run out after a 63-ball knock. Kuldeep struck twice in two overs including captain and previous match centurion Dasun Shanaka, bowled for two.
Sri Lanka slipped to 152-7 when tearaway quick Umran Malik cut short Wanindu Hasaranga's breezy knock on 21. Number eight Dunith Wellalage made 32 and resisted along with the other lower-order batsmen to take the total past 200 before Siraj struck twice in three balls to wrap up the innings.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5