Brief scores:
Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first
Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)
Watson 42; Munaf 3-20
Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)
Shahzad 74 not out
Mohammed Shahzad’s astonishing opening salvo in T10 League Season 2 showed that a batsman scoring a century in the format could be possible.
That is the view of Tom Moody, the coach whose Sindhis side were on the receiving end of the brutal assault by the Afghan batsman.
Shahzad struck an unbeaten 74 in 16 balls to set up a 10-wicket win for Rajputs, one the new teams in the expanded second campaign of the 10-over competition.
He and Brendon McCullum, who contributed 21 to the stand, hit 96 in four overs, meaning remarkably they had six of the 10 overs to spare when victory was sealed.
The 36 balls left unused matched the number of runs Shahzad was short of a century, suggesting it might have been on if the innings had run its full course.
Moody said he had not believed reaching three-figures would be possible for a batsman in such an abbreviated format, but Shahzad’s feats had altered his view.
“If you had asked me that question before tonight, I would have said ‘No, there is no chance’,” Moody said.
“This is my first experience of a T10 game. Looking at the wicket, looking at the size of the ground, looking at the striking by Shahzad, there is no reason a batsman couldn’t reach a hundred.
“It would be an extraordinary performance if someone did. I would be surprised if we saw an innings like that again in the next two weeks.
“I think we have been treated to something pretty special.”
Of the 16 balls Shahzad faced, half went for six, and another six went for four. It was the latest in a catalogue of eye-catching displays by him in the UAE so far this season.
He scored a century that was similarly one-sided when Afghanistan tied with India in the Asia Cup in Dubai, and was also sparkling in the Afghanistan Premier League that followed in Sharjah.
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Herschelle Gibbs, the former South Africa batsman who is now the Rajputs coach, was full of praise for his side’s match-winner.
“I haven’t seen such clean hitting for a long time,” Gibbs said. “His wrists went through the ball beautifully and, everything they tried, he had an answer to.
“It can happen in these sort of formats, but that was on another level of striking. There weren’t any slogs, it was just proper hitting.”
Shahzad’s display entirely overshadowed a fine start to the format by one of the league’s new Indian players. Munaf Patel took 3-20, as Rajputs restricted the Sindhis to 95-6 from their 10 overs.
Captain Shane Watson was the only Sindhis player to reach double figures. The Australian opener made 42 off 20 balls, but his side’s effort with the bat was never going to be enough.
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Read more:
Kerala Knights prove they are still T10 League kings with win
Smooth start to T10 League 2.0 proves lack of time a speciality
Day 1 predictions: Kerala off to flier as Rajputs also triumph
Team-by-team guide ahead of Season 2 of Sharjah tournament
T10 2.0 set to build on first year despite lingering issues
Stephen Fleming embraces 'refreshing' role as Bengal coach
Rashid hopes Arabians' Afghan connection can light up league
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
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Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Brief scores:
Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first
Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)
Watson 42; Munaf 3-20
Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)
Shahzad 74 not out
