New Zealand gain upper hand in first Test as Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah continue to struggle


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New Zealand finished the third day of the first Test against India in Wellington in control, still ahead of the visitors after taking four second-innings wickets.

Left-arm seamer Trent Boult was the star of the show for the hosts as his quickfire 38 off 24 balls at number 11 helped the Kiwis score 348 to gain a substantial lead of 183.

He then turned up the heat with the ball, picking up 3-27 including the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli for 19 as the Indians finished the day on 144-4, trailing by 39 runs with six wickets in hand.

India's hopes now rest with vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who was batting on 25, and Hanuma Vihari, batting on 15, with Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin to follow.

India fell behind in the match after star players Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah failed once again. Both were unable to make any meaningful contributions in the final two matches of the ODI series and in the three innings so far in the first Test, which has resulted in India – the No1 Test team in the world – struggling to stay in the match.

Bumrah picked up just one wicket from his 26 overs and it was left to veteran seamer Ishant Sharma, who was battling severe jet lag, to save the day with 5-68. Kohli fell cheaply in both innings, which has all but extinguished hopes of an India win.

Boult said his main aim now is to ensure New Zealand are not chasing too big a total in the final innings.

"I hope I don't have to bat again," he said.

"If I do my job we won't be chasing too much. It's a very good wicket (and) we know that we have to be on the ball. We can't be walking around feeling we're well ahead of the game because there is a lot of cricket to be played."

Boult said dismissing Kohli early was an important part of putting pressure on India.

"Almost every time we miss, he hits and he hits it well and gets boundaries," Boult said.

"From our point of view, we were trying to dry that up and for me personally using the wicket and the shorter ball was a good plan to try and control his run rate."

The Blackcaps were 225-7 early in the morning session but fighting knocks by lower order batsmen Colin de Grandhomme (43), debutant Kyle Jamieson (44) and Boult ensured a massive lead.

India spinner Ravi Ashwin said lower order players now routinely make good contributions as they "put a price on their wickets".

However, Ashwin said it was too early to talk about a result.

"There's six sessions to go in the game and we're not even at the stage where we can think about what's a good score to defend," he said.

"If you can get as close to the first innings score as they did then we might present ourselves an opportunity to do something, but that's very far away in the game."

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“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

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Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

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HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED

Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.

Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.

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MATCH INFO

 

Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)

Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no

Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)

Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9

Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs

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Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')

Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

Uefa Champions League play-off

First leg: Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Ajax v Dynamo Kiev

Second leg: Tuesday, August 28, 11pm (UAE)
Dynamo Kiev v Ajax

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1) The liquid nanoclay is a mixture of water and clay that aims to convert desert land to fertile ground

2) Instead of water draining straight through the sand, it apparently helps the soil retain water

3) One application is said to last five years

4) The cost of treatment per hectare (2.4 acres) of desert varies from $7,000 to $10,000 per hectare 

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500 People from Gaza enter France

115 Special programme for artists

25   Evacuation of injured and sick

Playing records of the top 10 in 2017

How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season

1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)

2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)

3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)

4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)

5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)

6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)

7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)

8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)

9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)

10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)

About Krews

Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Founded: January 2019

Number of employees: 10

Sector: Technology/Social media 

Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support

 

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
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