February 2023 – Page 79 – Newswire Pakistan

February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari says that the establishment of international partnership in the maritime domain is inevitable for national security and economic independence of Pakistan

Karachi, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):Chairman Pakistan People’s Party and Federal Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has emphasized the importance of the vision to meet maritime security challenges of Pakistan and the common goals of peace and stability. Speaking at the opening ceremony of Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference held at Expo Center Karachi, he said that the establishment of international partnership in the maritime domain is inevitable for Pakistan in terms of national security and economic independence.

PPP Chairman said that in order to promote of blue economy and curb the threats posed by terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking, human trafficking and arms; international partnership is essential to maintain the security of maritime communication lines.

He said 95% of our trade is carried out by sea, adding that the geo-economic vision of Pakistan has been created keeping in mind the country’s ideal location to act as a hub for trade and energy links and relations between Asia, Europe and Africa.

He said that Pakistan has been playing an active role in the Combined Task Force 151 against terrorism, piracy and other illegal activities while Pakistan Navy also has the honour of commanding the said multinational task force on several occasions.

The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan, as a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is committed to upholding the rights and responsibilities of States in relation to the governance of the seas, their resources, navigation, rights and freedoms.

The current global security environment is full of enormous challenges and there is a need to avoid such geopolitical constructions which are not compatible with the local historical, cultural or geographical realities in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

He added that humanity today cannot afford a divisive approach to the common challenges we all face adding that the challenges of environmental pollution, climate change, global warming and sea level rise have increased. He was sure that the platform of the Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference will be used effectively to consider the above issues in depth.

For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

In the by-elections, the people will take revenge for Imran Khan’s poor and anti-people policies of the last four years: Syed Sabt ul Haider Bukhari

Karachi, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):In-charge Central Secretariat People’s Party and nominated candidate NA-53 Syed Sabtal ul Haider Bukhari has said that in these by-elections the people will take revenge for Imran Khan’s poor and anti-people policies of the last four years.

Yes, he has always worked for this country and the people, whether it is strengthening national security and national defense or the rights of government employees. Work will be done. Syed Sabbatul Haider Bukhari said that the people of my constituency remember such faces who were forced to win, but they never came to their constituency after winning the election, nor did they do a single dehle for the people of this constituency.

What is the work? He further said that I am the resident of this constituency and my life, death, grief and happiness are with the people of this constituency. Will be gifted and the people of my constituency have now come to know all the faces making empty slogans and fake narratives, they will no longer fall for them and retaliate for their previous poor anti-people policies by defeating them in the elections.

February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

Sri Lanka’s Athapaththu praises perfect team performance

Dubai, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):Chamari Athapaththu hailed the power of youth and the value of experience as Sri Lanka stunned hosts South Africa at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Athapaththu has long been her side’s star player, owning seven of the top eight scores by Sri Lankan batters at the tournament.

She reached new heights on opening night at Newlands, smacking a superb 68 from 50 balls, the highest-ever score by a Sri Lankan batter at the World Cup.

But she knew that in order to beat the Proteas for the first time in six years, she couldn’t do it all on her own.

A record-breaking second-wicket stand of 86 with 17-year-old Vishmi Gunaratne laid the groundwork for a winning total of 129.

Spin trio Sugandika Kumari, Oshadi Ranasinghe and Inoka Ranaweera took nine wickets in 12 overs between them to script a historic victory.

Player of the Match Athapaththu said: “I always try my best to lead from the front. I want to be a role model for the whole team.

“But this is not an individual performance, it all depends on the team performance and the bowling attack. They all did very well today.

“Vishmi is the young superstar of our team. Her attitude is exactly what I want to see and she handled the fast bowlers very well. She has a very bright future.

“We have a good culture in the team, a lot of youngsters and the senior players share knowledge with them.

“We all know South Africa are one of the best teams in the world and they are playing in their home conditions. But we played good cricket today and finally, we won.”

Sri Lanka had not played a T20 international in five months coming into this pressure-cooker.

They have never progressed past the first round of the T20 World Cup in seven campaigns – Athapaththu has featured in all of them – and she is now aiming higher with Bangladesh up next.

She said: “We have upset some big teams a few times, and we’ve done it again. This time we will try to play good cricket and go to the semi-finals, that’s our aim.

“We don’t fear any team. The rankings are just a number.”

Proteas strike bowlers Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail operated well to restrict Sri Lanka to a par score.

But they failed to build partnerships with the bat, captain Sune Luus top-scoring with 28, falling flat in front of a bumper home crowd.

“Sri Lanka had a good partnership in the middle and we lacked those partnerships in our batting innings,” said Luus, whose side face New Zealand next.

“We felt 129 was a par score. I don’t feel like they ran away with the game, I thought we were always going to be able to chase that. We felt 140, 150 was achievable on that wicket.

“One game doesn’t define a team. There’s a long way to go in this World Cup.

“There are a lot of positives to take from today. The way Marizanne and Shabnim bowled in the power play was excellent and a few innings with the bat chipping in. There’s a lot to take into the coming games.”

For more information, contact:
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February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

Knight: England cannot afford another slow start

Dubai, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):England captain Heather Knight knows her side must hit the ground running when they take on West Indies in their first game of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.

The 2009 champions lost the opening match of the previous edition of this tournament in 2020 before recovering to reach the semi-finals.

They also suffered three defeats at the start of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 before bouncing back to reach the final.

Knight will be leading her side for a third time in T20 World Cups and their campaign begins tomorrow at 15h00 local time in Paarl.

“With T20 World Cups, we have learned previously, you don’t have enough time to make any slip-ups,” she said.

“And obviously, we didn’t start particularly fast in that last World Cup in Australia, so it’s been a key focus for us all the time any series that we start.

“We want to really start fast, hit the ground running and almost go over the top in how we want to do things.

“We’ve talked about having a clear plan about how we want to do things, and being really brave with it.”

England previously faced the West Indies in a five-match series last December, with Knight’s side strolling to a clean sweep.

However, the Windies will be able to call on more of their experienced players and Knight knows they will be a force to be reckoned with.

She added: “It’s really important that we don’t think too much about that five-match series, I think this is quite a tough game for us.

“We’ve had a lot of success against them recently so we have to see it as a completely fresh game.

“The main thing that we’re going to do is do things how we want to do them. We’ll obviously have slightly different plans for different players, but I think our mentality wants to be about doing what we do best and then shifting slightly if we need to.”

The West Indies will be led by Hayley Matthews, the hero of the 2016 final when the Maroon Warriors won their only title.

Matthews took over from long-serving skipper Stafanie Taylor last year and has looked to bring the team forward in her own way.

The all-rounder said: “I think over the last couple of months it has been quite challenging, but with those challenges, I was able to learn a lot myself.

“I think with any team, we’ve tried to help shift the culture a little bit, to really try to take on a bit more professionalism about our game.”

Taylor is facing a race against time to be fit, but Matthews is able to call on experienced players like Chinelle Henry and Britney Cooper.

“It’s going to be really good for us that we can get out there and have a strong group of players to pick from.

“The prospect of Staff, hopefully, coming back in that first game tomorrow is going to be something really good to see.

“We’ve had a couple of injuries over the last couple of weeks, but we know that we can go there, hopefully with a much stronger side and put on a good performance.”

February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

Inspired Sri Lanka sink South Africa on opening night

Dubai, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):Sri Lanka claimed a famous three-run victory over hosts South Africa at Newlands on opening night of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.

Captain Chamari Athapaththu led from the front with a wonderful 68 from 50 balls, her nation’s highest-ever individual score at the showpiece tournament.

Having set South Africa 130 to win, Athapaththu’s spinners took control with guile and discipline to secure a first T20I victory over the Proteas since 2016.

Sri Lanka made a slow start, eking four runs out of the first three overs, but Athapaththu soon hit her stride and carved back-to-back fours off Nonkululeko Mlaba.

Opener Harshitha Samarawickrama was far less fluent and her struggles came to an end when she chipped Nadine de Klerk to midwicket to depart for eight from 20 balls.

Now joined by 17-year-old Vishmi Gunaratne, Athapaththu didn’t take a backward step and took De Klerk for five boundaries in nine balls.

Vishmi took time to settle but matched her skipper’s stroke play, lap-sweeping Mlaba to the rope and then hacking Shabnim Ismail for three fours in an over on her return to the attack.

Athapaththu and Vishmi put on 86 for the second wicket, Sri Lanka’s highest partnership for any wicket at the T20 World Cup, but they departed abruptly in successive balls.

Vishmi took a single to short cover that wasn’t there, run out by Tazmin Brits for 35, before Athapaththu perished to long leg for a superb 68 to leave her side on 114 for three.

Ismail yorked Nilakshi de Silva in the penultimate over to slow Sri Lanka right down and Marizanne Kapp conceded only five from the last as South Africa were set 130 to win.

The hosts made a steady start, stymied when Tazmin Brits was struck on the helmet by the fifth ball of the reply, twice passing concussion tests from team doctors.

Off-spinner Oshadi Ranasinghe joined up four dot balls in the penultimate power play over and Brits found extra cover to depart for 12.

Marizanne Kapp offered stability but Sri Lanka claimed the Proteas’ prize scalp in the eight over when she holed out to Nilakshi de Silva at long leg off Inoka Ranaweera, dismissed for 11 at 44 for one.

Ranaweera struck again and the South African slide continued when Laura Wolvaardt top-edged a sweep onto her shoulder, pouched by Ranasinghe to go for 18.

Chloe Tryon curbed her natural attacking instincts early on and chose the wrong ball to climb into, mistiming a leg-side slog and De Silva was steady under the catch once again.

Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari struck once more in the same over when Anneke Bosch dragged on, leaving South Africa in disarray at 72 for five.

Proteas captain Sune Luus was left standing amid the wreckage and as the required rate climbed north of 10, she launched Ranasinghe over the long-on boundary.

Two balls later De Klerk tried the same but could only find the grasp of that fielder De Silva again, the hosts with it all to do at 95 for six.

The superb Ranaweera got the crucial wicket in the penultimate over, enticing Luus out of her crease for Anushka Sanjeewani to whip off the bails.

Sinalo Jafta and Ismail were both run out in the closing stages to sink South African hopes.

Scores in brief

Sri Lanka beat South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town by three runs

Sri Lanka 129 for four in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 68, Vishmi Gunaratne 35; Nadine De Klerk 1/38, Marizanne Kapp 1/15)

South Africa 126 for nine in 20 overs (Sune Luus 28, Laura Wolvaardt 18; Inoka Ranaweera 3/18, Oshadi Ranasinghe 2/20)

Player of the Match: Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)

February 10, 2023February 12, 2023

Lanning: We know what it takes to win the World Cup

Dubai, February 10, 2023 (PPI-OT):Captain, Meg Lanning, is under no illusions of what it will require to lift the trophy again as Australia begin the defense of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title.

Lanning’s side take on New Zealand in their opener in Paarl tomorrow evening and the top-order batter is raring to go as she continues her return from a mental health break.

The 30-year-old has skippered her side to three World Cup titles but will face a new test as this Australia squad play in South Africa for the first time.

“I’m super excited to be here,” Lanning said.

“World Cups are always very special to be a part of, there’s a very different energy and a really great energy around these sorts of tournaments.

“We come into this World Cup on level pegging with everybody else and we’re coming here to win and we know how difficult that is.

“I’m just excited about the challenge that brings, as is the team. We are also really pumped to be playing here in South Africa for the first time, which is something new.”

As well as Lanning’s return, Australia will also be able to call on Alyssa Healy who has recovered from a calf injury picked up in their tour to India.

Lanning has confirmed that Healy will slot back into the side to give head coach Shelley Nitschke another selection headache.

She added: “Obviously, Midge [Healy] comes back in so someone, unfortunately, has to miss out from the team that played in the Pakistan series.

“It’s a very difficult decision, but at the same time, it’s really nice to have Midge back. She looks like she’s really strong and fit and is ready to come into this tournament to play well.”

Healy’s last act in the T20 World Cup was to hit 75 in the final against India to secure Australia’s fifth trophy, but New Zealand captain, Sophie Devine, insists her White Ferns side are ready to take her on.

She said: “We know the threat that Midge brings and she will have been waiting in the wings for a while.

“I think her record speaks for itself in World Cups in particular. We know that she’s fit and available and that she will probably be fronting up at the top of the order.

“And for us, it’s about how we keep her quiet and even better try and get her out early.”

Devine is also raring to go having recovered from an injury of her own, with the all-rounder looking to guide New Zealand to their first T20 title.

“It’s certainly something that we’re still managing,” Devine said. “I feel like come tomorrow I’m going to be 100%.

“I know, and particularly the support staff know, that I’m not going to be able to hold back and I don’t want to either.”