Sri Lanka v India: Death bowling and all-rounders shine in India's T20 series win


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India carried the superb form they had shown during their T20 World Cup win in the Caribbean into the series against Sri Lanka, taking a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series which was the first assignment under new leadership.

India eased to a seven-wicket win in the rain curtailed second match in Pallekele, marking a successful start to a new era following the T20 International retirements of stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

All eyes were on Gautam Gambhir – the hugely successful former opener who took over from Rahul Dravid as coach – and new captain Suryakumar Yadav.

Captaincy does not seem to have affected Yadav’s batting. He and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal powered India to victory chasing a rain-revised target of 78 in eight overs, reaching home with nine balls to spare.

Yadav made 26 from 12 balls and Jaiswal 30 from 15 in another one-sided win. India had scored 213-7 in the first T20 which was enough for a 43-run win. Yadav (58) and Jaiswal (40) had made an impact in that victory, too.

“We spoke about this before this tournament, what brand of cricket we want to play,” Yadav said. “Even though it was a shorter target, this is the template we want going ahead.”

The win was, however, set up by the bowlers who once again prospered in the death overs.

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and all-rounder Hardik Pandya shared five wickets between them to limit Sri Lanka to 161-9.

Sri Lanka collapsed from 130-2 to 140-6 and lost three further wickets, including two in the final over by spinner Axar Patel.

Bowlers had dragged India back into the contest in the first T20 as well after the hosts were on top at 140-1 after 14 overs

On Sunday, rain interrupted India's chase after just three balls and six runs without a wicket lost.

Play resumed with revised playing conditions and Yadav put on 39 with left-handed Jaiswal after Sanju Samson, brought in for Shubman Gill, fell for a duck.

Pacer Matheesha Pathirana snared Suryakumar and Wanindu Hasaranga dismissed Jaiswal but the job was already done.

Pandya finished with three fours and a six in his unbeaten 22 to complete another dominant win.

Big positives for India

More than the series result, the plans executed by the Indian team after the T20 World Cup win were of prominence, providing a glimpse into the mindset of the new management.

It is now clear that India will have a deep batting line up with at least two all-rounders. Pandya is the most important member of the squad while spinner Axar Patel has also turned into an indispensable part of the T20 team, having proven his worth in the World Cup with bat and ball.

Riyan Parag has received the full backing of the management with his wide range of mystery spin bowling to go with traditional middle order batting.

Parag was the most difficult bowler to hit against in the first two T20s, which should put him in the playing XI almost every time.

Young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi was equally good, picking up four wickets against the Sri Lankans despite getting a cut under the eye in play.

In batting, the superb form of the entire top order is a positive. However, batting conditions in Pallekele have been extremely friendly, which must be taken into account.

Areas of concern

Wicketkeeper remains a problematic area for India. Rishabh Pant continues to blow hot and cold in the format, despite playing 76 matches. His career strike rate is less than 130, which is far from ideal.

He has been the preferred keeper ahead of enticing options like Samson and Dhruv Jurel. If Pant remains on the same path, he will struggle to hold on to his spot under Gambhir’s unforgiving management style.

Also, the batting position of a finisher like Rinku Singh is worrisome as he is getting pushed further down the order to accommodate more established names, which means he is not getting enough balls to face.

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Sector: FinTech
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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

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Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.

The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

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3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Scoreline:

Everton 4

Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', ​​​​​​​Digne 56', Walcott 64'

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Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

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Updated: July 29, 2024, 1:18 PM`