ICC World Cup Qualifier 2018: Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai says his side will target winning tournament

Agencies
March 26, 2018

Harare, Mar 26: Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai said his side will head into next year's World Cup aiming to lift the trophy, after capping a remarkable recovery in qualifying by thrashing the West Indies in Sunday's final.

Both Afghanistan and West Indies had already made sure of their places in the 2019 World Cup by topping the 10-team qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe.

Mohammad Shahzad starred as the Afghans laid down a marker ahead of the tournament in England and Wales by romping to a seven-wicket win.

"This victory will give us the required boost to work extremely hard over the next 14 months and like the other nine sides, will arrive in England and Wales firmly believing we can win the World Cup," said Stanikzai.

Afghanistan had looked set to miss out on a second straight World Cup appearance after slumping to three straight defeats in the group stage of qualifying, but Sunday's final win made it five straight victories as they qualified with help from results elsewhere.

"This is nothing but a miracle that we have won this tournament," added Stanikzai, whose team will also play their first Test match against India in Bangalore in June.

"This is by far Afghanistan's greatest victory. Beating the mighty Windies in the final of a tournament which is no less than a mini-World Cup, is something like a dream come true for all of us.

"The boys have shown what they are capable of. If we have come this far in 10 years, I leave it to you to decide where we can be in the next 10 years."

Leg-spin sensation Rashid Khan became the fastest bowler ever to reach 100 one-day international wickets as the Windies were bowled out for 204, before big-hitting opener Shahzad smashed 84 as Afghanistan knocked off the runs with 9.2 overs to spare.

"I'm proud of my boys. We came here to achieve a target, and various boys put their hands up," said Windies skipper Jason Holder.

"We had a quick turnaround between games, but I'm proud of them for sticking in. Obviously disappointed not to win this final but we had some great performances throughout. I want to thank my team for their support."

West Indies star Chris Gayle capped a poor personal tournament as he was dismissed for only 10 by 16-year-old leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who finished with 4-43.

Rovman Powell hit 44 as the two-time World Cup winners recovered to at least pass 200.

Rashid, 19, dismissed Shai Hope to take his 100th ODI wicket in only his 44th game, beating the previous record held by Australia's Mitchell Starc by eight matches.

Shahzad played some remarkable shots in his 93-ball innings, clubbing 11 fours and two sixes before holing out to the part-time spin of Gayle.

Rahmat Shah struck an assured 11th ODI half-century as Afghanistan cruised to victory.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Geneva, Mar 12: For the global economy, virus repercussions were profound, with increasing concerns of wealth- and job-wrecking recessions. U.S. stocks wiped out more than all the gains from a huge rally a day earlier as Wall Street continued to reel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,464 points, bringing it 20% below its record set last month and putting it in what Wall Street calls a “bear market.” The broader S&P 500 is just 1 percentage point away from falling into bear territory and bringing to an end one of the greatest runs in Wall Street’s history.

WHO officials said they thought long and hard about labeling the crisis a pandemic — defined as sustained outbreaks in multiple regions of the world.

The risk of employing the term, Ryan said, is “if people use it as an excuse to give up.” But the benefit is “potentially of galvanizing the world to fight.”

Underscoring the mounting challenge: soaring numbers in the U.S. and Europe’s status as the new epicenter of the pandemic. While Italy exceeds 12,000 cases and the United States has topped 1,300, China reported a record low of just 15 new cases Thursday and three-fourths of its infected patients have recovered.

China’s totals of 80,793 cases and 3,169 deaths are a shrinking portion of the world’s more than 126,000 infections and 4,600 deaths.

“If you want to be blunt, Europe is the new China,” said Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 12,462 cases and 827 deaths, Italy said all shops and businesses except pharmacies and grocery stores would be closed beginning Thursday and designated billions in financial relief to cushion economic shocks in its latest efforts to adjust to the fast-evolving crisis that silenced the usually bustling heart of the Catholic faith, St. Peter’s Square.

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News Network
January 21,2020

Lucknow, Jan 21: Defending his brainchild, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said the new law will not be scrapped despite the countrywide protests against it.

Addressing a rally here to drum up support for the CAA, Shah also declared that construction of a Ram temple "touching the skies" in Ayodhya will begin within three months.

He said there is no provision in the amended law for taking anyone's citizenship away. "A canard is being spread against the CAA by the Congress, SP, BSP, and Trinamool Congress. The CAA is a law to grant citizenship," he added.

"I want to say that irrespective of the protests this will not be withdrawn," he added.

Shah challenged Congress leaders to hold a discussion with him on CAA at a public forum.

He named Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee while throwing the "challenge".

Congress has become blind due to vote bank politics,"he said. He also blamed the Congress for Partition.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: India on Wednesday reported a spike of 9,985 more COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country's COVID-19 count to 2,76,583, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

279 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total death toll to 7,745.

The total number of active cases has reached 1,33,632 while 1,35,205 patients have recovered. While one person has migrated.

With 90,787 cases, Maharashtra reported the highest number of coronavirus cases in the country followed by Tamil Nadu with 34,914 cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,45,216 samples were tested in the last 24 hours while overall 50,61,332 samples have been tested so far.

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