Abu Dhabi : A seven-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab ensured Rajasthan Royals maintained their new-found momentum in the ongoing IPL but skipper Steve Smith acknowledged they still “need to do a bit” for keeping their play-offs prospects alive.
A few days before Friday night’s victory over KXIP, RR had beaten defending champions and this edition’s in-from team, Mumbai Indians, by eight wickets.
“The season has ebbed and flowed, yes. Would have been nice to have a couple of wins in the middle. We still need to do a bit to make the playoffs, and we need things to go our way,” Smith said at the presentation ceremony here.
“Having said that, if that happens, we are playing very good cricket,” he added.
The Australian run-machine was a happy man after his side notched up back-to-back wins but said they still have a job at hand as they face Kolkata Knight Riders in their final league match.
On Sanju Samson’s run-out on 48 against KXIP, Smith said, “It was unfortunate, but you take positives from every situation. It gave Jos (Buttler) a chance to bat after a five-day break. He hit them well so this is a good sign.
“Sanju started the tournament really well, then in the middle couldn’t get going, but that is T20 cricket. You have got to keep trusting the process.”
Ben Stokes was the star performer for the team as he smashed a breezy 50 and also claimed two wickets.
On the star England all-rounder, Smith said, “Ben is a class player, plays proper shots, hits balls in weird areas, and did a job with the ball too. One of the best in the world.”
Stokes, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round show, said he came into the game with the same mentality as he did against Mumbai Indians.
“I think when you are in a position like we are, you have nothing to lose. We are still hanging in. That is pleasing. The sixes are always pleasing. I went in the same mentality like I did against MI. Wanted to go hard with the new ball,” Stokes said.
“We had a decent break from the last game. We normally have a quick turnaround. I cut down on the bowling part in the break to remain fresh.” (AGENCIES)
We still need to do a bit to make the play-offs: Smith
Sharma recovers from early shocks to shoot 66, rises to sixth
Paphos (Cyprus), Oct 31: Playing almost at the crack of dawn, Indian ace Shubhankar Sharma recovered from early setbacks to rise to sixth place after finishing with 5-under 66 at the halfway stage of the inaugural Cyprus Open here.
It was his best round since November 2019, when he shot a 64 on the final day of the Turkish Airlines Open, where he finished tied 7th.
At 9-under, Shubhankar was two shots behind the leaders, Jamie Donaldson, who still had one hole from second round to play, and Marcus Armritage, who had three holes left at the stunning Aphrodite Hills Resort.
Meanwhile, India’s other challenger, SSP Chawrasia (71-70), at 1-under, will miss the cut, which will likely fall at 3-under.
Sharma, who had a mid-afternoon finish on the first day, had a horrific bogey-bogey start after a flawless first round.
He steadied himself to an extent and made no more bogeys and instead had a birdie and an eagle on front nine followed by five birdies on the back nine.
Sharma, who sits 151st on the Race to Dubai, needs a few solid results to have a chance to get to DP World Championship.
“I think (the two bogeys at the start) actually made me focus. I was joking with my friend who is on the bag that it opened my eyes – I had an early tee off today and was a little sleepy on the first two holes,” Sharma said.
“The first wasn’t an unforced error. I had a great shot which landed two feet from the pin, it rolled off the green and I missed the up and down from there.
“I made a stupid bogey on the second, but after the second I told my friend (on the bag) I’m playing too well to let this put me down.
“We set a target for ourselves, we wanted to finish 10-under for the first two days. We just came up one shy, but that helped me refocus and put things into perspective.”
Sharma, who has struggled so far this season with a best result of tied 26 at ASI Scottish Open earlier, said he has noticed an improvement in his iron play in recent weeks.
“It was a tough start to the year. I was really struggling to find my rhythm. My iron play wasn’t and that is the strongest part of my game.” (AGENCIES)
One-way traffic resumes on Srinagar-Jammu highway after day-long maintenance
SRINAGAR : One-way traffic was on Saturday resumed on the national highway after remaining suspended on Friday to allow maintenance of the only all weather road connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, the historic 86-km-long Mughal road and 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway are through for traffic, a traffic police official said this morning.
He said after remaining closed on Friday to allow agencies, responsible for the maintenance of the highway to undertake repair work, traffic was resumed this morning. The authorities have already declared Friday a day of maintenance of the highway. No traffic will be allowed on Fridays till November 30 as decided by the authorities, he said.
He said in view of the movement of Darbar Move employees from summer capital, Srinagar, to winter capital, Jammu, only down convoy would be allowed on the highway. No vehicle was allowed from the opposite direction, he said.
The Darbar Move, the seat of the government, including the office of Lt Governor, his advisors and top bureaucrats, was closed in summer capital Srinagar on Friday to reopen in the winter capital, Jammu, on November 9.
A spokesman said travellers are advised to follow Standard Operating Procedure issued by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He said Mughal road, connecting Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region was also through for traffic. However, vehicles will be allowed to ply between 1100 hrs to 1600 hrs on the road, which is seen as an alternative to Srinagar-Jammu highway.
(AGENCIES)
Amit Panghal, Sanjeet strike gold at French boxing tourney
New Delhi : World silver-medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) struck gold in their first competition after a coronavirus-forced break, claiming the top honours at the Alexis Vastine International Boxing Tournament in Nantes, France.
Amit, also an Asian Games champion besides being Commonwealth Games silver-medallist, defeated American Rene Abraham 3-0 with a dominating performance on Friday night.
Sanjeet, a former India Open gold-medallist, too put up a clinical show to get past Frenchman Soheb Bouafia in his summit clash and secure a gold.
In the 75kg category, Asian silver-winner Ashish Kumar also claimed a gold after his opponent, American Joseph Gerome Hiks, gave him a walkover due to injury.
However, Asian silver-medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) settled for a silver medal after going down to local favourite Samuel Kistohurry in a split 2-1 verdict.
India had earlier secured three bronze medals through four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg). All three of them lost in the semifinal stage.
This was the first international competition that Indian boxers featured in since the Olympic qualifiers in Jordan in March.
In that event, nine Indians — five men and four women — qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indians’ competition calendar as well as training schedule has been severely hampered by the shutdown that followed the spread of the pandemic which has caused a bar on sparring at the national camp in Patiala.
The camp resumed in August amid strict health safety protocols and was open to only the Olympic-bound and hopefuls.
The Indians are currently on a 52-day training trip to Europe during which they have been primarily based in Assisi, Italy.
The boxers and their support staff left for the trip on October 15. (AGENCIES)
Tashi Gyaltson is unanimously being elected as CEC/Chairman of the 6th LAHDC Leh general council.
LADAKH: Tashi Gyaltson is unanimously being elected as CEC/ Chairman of the 6th LAHDC Leh general council.
Death toll reaches 26 in quake that hit Turkey, Greek island
Izmir (Turkey) : Rescue teams on Saturday plowed through concrete blocs and debris of eight collapsed buildings in search of survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey’s Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, killing at least 26 people.
More than 800 others were injured.
The quake hit Friday afternoon, toppling buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city, and triggering a small tsunami in the district of Seferihisar and on Samos. The quake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.
Early on Saturday, onlookers cheered as rescued lifted teenager Inci Okan out of the rubble of a devastated eight-floor apartment bloc. Friends and relatives waited outside the building for news of loved ones still trapped inside, including employees of a dentist’s surgery that was located on the ground floor.
Two other women, aged 53 and 35, were rescued from another collapsed two-story building.
At least 24 people were killed in Izmir, including an elderly woman who drowned, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD.
Two teenagers were killed on Samos after being struck by a collapsing wall. At least 19 people were injured on the island, with two, including a 14-year-old, being airlifted to Athens and seven hospitalized on the island, health authorities said.
The small tsunami that hit the Turkish coast also affected Samos, with seawater flooding streets in the main harbour town of Vathi. Authorities warned people to stay away from the coast and from potentially damaged buildings.
The earthquake, which the Kandilli Institute said had a magnitude of 6.9, struck at 2:51 pm (1151 GMT) in Turkey and was centred in the Aegean northeast of Samos. AFAD said it measured 6.6.
It was felt across the eastern Greek islands and as far as Athens and in Bulgaria. In Turkey, it shook the regions of Aegean and Marmara, including Istanbul. Istanbul’s governor said there were no reports of damage in the city, Turkey’s largest.
Authorities warned residents in Izmir not to return to damaged buildings, saying they could collapse in strong aftershocks.
More than 3,000 rescue personnel were sent to Izmir, as well as relief supplies. The Turkish Red Crescent set up kitchens.
In a show of solidarity rare in recent months of tense bilateral relations, Greek and Turkish government officials issued mutual messages of solidarity while the presidents of Greece and Turkey held a telephone conversation.
Relations between Turkey and Greece have been particularly tense, with warships from both facing off in the eastern Mediterranean in a dispute over maritime boundaries and energy exploration rights. The ongoing tension has led to fears of open conflict between the two neighbours and NATO allies. (AGENCIES)
PM pays tributes to Sardar Patel at Statue of Unity
KEVADIYA (Guj) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister, at the 182-meter tall Statue of Unity here on his 145th birth anniversary.
Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary is being celebrated as ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ (National Unity Day) since 2014.
Modi, whose two-day Gujarat visit started on Friday, reached the Statue of Unity at Kevadiya in Narmada district this morning and offered flowers at the feet of the monument of Sardar Patel.
At the same time, rose petals were showered on the statue from helicopters.
Modi then headed to the parade ground and administered ‘national unity pledge’ to the gathering on this occasion.
On Friday, Modi had inaugurated as many as 17 new projects, including new tourist attractions near the Statue of Unity. Some of the major attractions include Arogya Van, Ekta Mall, Children Nutrition Park, Sardar Patel Zoological Park or Jungle Safari, and a boat ride. (AGENCIES)
President, VP, Shah pay tributes to Sardar Patel
NEW DELHI : President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Home Minister Amit Shah paid floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary on Saturday, which is observed as the “National Unity Day”.
The top dignitaries paid their tributes to the first home minister of independent India at his statue located at Patel Chowk here.
Later, Shah also administered the “National Unity Day” pledge to government officials, security personnel and others.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and New Delhi MP Meenakashi Lekhi were also present on the occasion.
Later, in a tweet in Hindi, Shah said Patel’s bold leadership, devotion and patriotism will always guide the nation.
The Centre observes October 31 across the country as a day to foster and reinforce the government’s dedication to preserve and strengthen the unity, integrity and security of the nation by celebrating it as the “Rashtriya Ekta Diwas” or “National Unity Day” to commemorate Patel’s birth anniversary.
The Narendra Modi government has been observing Patel’s birth anniversary as the “Rashtriya Ekta Diwas” since 2014.
Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Gujarat’s Nadiad.
He is credited for the merger of over 560 princely states into the Union of India.
As part of Patel’s birth anniversary celebrations, various programmes are being organised across the country, recalling his contribution to the unification of India.
Prime Minister Modi is attending a special function in Gujarat’s Kevadia, where a giant statue of Patel is located. (agencies)
PM Modi pays tribute to Indira Gandhi on death anniversary
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tribute to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 36th death anniversary.
The then prime minister was assassinated by her bodyguards here in 1984.
“Tributes to our former PM Smt. Indira Gandhi Ji on her death anniversary,” Modi tweeted.
The prime minister had paid tribute to Gandhi in his monthly Mann ki Baat radio broadcast last Sunday as well. “On the 31st of October we lost former Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi. I most respectfully pay my tributes to her.” (agencies)