Chakravarthy makes memorable return as India beats Bangladesh in first T20

GWALIOR, India (AP) — Leg-break bowler Varun Chakravarthy took 3-31 on his return to international cricket as India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets with 49 balls remaining in the first Twenty20 on Sunday.

Chakravarthy, who last played T20Is in 2021, returned to the Indian lineup and helped bowl out Bangladesh for 127 runs in 19.5 overs. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh also took 3-14.

In reply, India finished the game with 8.1 overs to spare. Its 132-3 in 11.5 overs was powered by Hardik Pandya's 16-ball 39 not out. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav hit 29 off 14 as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

India won the toss and opted to bowl in Gwalior’s first international match since 2010. The hosts fielded two debutants in pacer Mayank Yadav and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Singh struck early in Bangladesh’s innings — he bowled Parvez Hossain Emon for eight and Litton Das was out caught for four.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 27 and added 26 runs with Towhid Hridoy (12), before Chakravarthy pegged back the middle order. He had Hridoy caught for 12, and then bowled Jaker Ali for eight with Bangladesh down to 57-5 in 9.2 overs. The leg spinner took his third wicket – and his best return in T20s – by dismissing Rishad Hossain for 11 in the 14th over.

Mayank Yadav took 1-21 in four overs on debut – his first over in international cricket was a maiden. He claimed Mahmudullah’s wicket, who was out caught in the eighth over for one run.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz top scored for Bangladesh with 35 not out off 32 balls, including three fours, and helped Bangladesh cross the 100-run mark.

In reply, India openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 25 off only 12 balls. Sharma (16) was run out.

Samson, who has been moved up the batting order for this series, scored 29 off 19. He hit six classy boundaries, before throwing away his wicket in search of a first six. He was out caught in the eighth over.

India’s Suryakumar Yadav smacked three sixes in his brief stay. He put on 40 off 21 balls with Samson for the third wicket, before he was out caught off Mustafizur Rahman.

India was down to 80-3 after Samson’s dismissal, but Bangladesh didn’t get a chance to come back.

Pandya and debutant Reddy put on 52 off 24 balls for the unbeaten fourth wicket, regaling the Sunday crowd at the newly built Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium.

Pandya smacked five fours and two sixes – hitting a strike rate of 240-plus – taking India across the finish line in a canter.

The second T20 will be played in Delhi on Wednesday.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

India's Hardik Pandya, right, and teammate Nitish Kumar Reddy celebrate India's win in the first T20 cricket match against Bangladesh in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India's Hardik Pandya walks to collect his bat from the umpire after it slipped from his hands while he was playing a shot during the first T20 cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, left, gets his left eye examined by teammate Litton Das after some foreign body entered his eye during the first T20 cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India's Varun Chakravarthy bowls a delivery during the first T20 cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India's Hardik Pandya plays a shot during the first T20 cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

India's Varun Chakravarthy bowls a delivery during first T20 cricket match between India and Bangladesh in Gwalior, India, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/ Manish Swarup)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly a week after verbal stumbles in the only vice presidential debate, Democrat Tim Walz used his debut campaign appearance on a Sunday news show to try to fend off criticism of his stand on abortion rights and “own up” to past misstatements.

The interview on “Fox News Sunday” reflected a broader media blitz by presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate as the Democrats seek to garner public attention in the final 30 days of the campaign against Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Harris has taped an interview with CBS' “60 Minutes" that will air Monday night. She is booked Tuesday on Howard Stern's satellite radio show, ABC's “The View” and “The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Her interview on the podcast “Call Her Daddy" is scheduled to be released later Sunday. Walz will be on Jimmy Kimmel's ABC show on Monday.

In an excerpt released from the “60 Minutes” interview, Harris tried to avoid the question of whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close ally,” saying that "the better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”

Walz's Fox appearance also touched on the turmoil in the Middle East, with anchor Shannon Bream pressing the Minnesota governor on whether Israel has a right to preemptively attack Iran's nuclear and oil facilities in response to Tehran's firing of missiles against Israel. It was a question that Walz did not fully answer during his debate this past week with Vance, an Ohio senator.

Walz said Sunday that “specific operations will be dealt with at the time” and he spoke of ”consequences for what they do."

He said Israel has a right to defend itself and that Harris worked with Israel this past week to repel the Iranian attack. President Joe Biden said last week he would not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

Walz defended a law that he signed as governor to ensure abortion protections, saying it "puts the decision with the woman and her health care providers.”

Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, and during the interview Sunday, Walz was asked whether he was calling that “a flat-out lie.”

“Yes ... of course,” Walz said.

On the economy, Walz said Harris' proposals would make life more affordable for the middle class by helping with the construction of 3 million new homes and expanding tax credits for parents. He said tariffs floated by Trump could increase costs by an estimated $4,000 a year on a typical family.

Walz also faced questions in the interview about misstatements pertaining to his military service, drunken driving arrest, infertility treatment for his family and claims to have been in Hong Kong before the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

“I will own up when I misspeak,” Walz said. “I will own up when I make a mistake.”

He said he believes voters are more concerned by the fact that Vance could not acknowledge during their debate that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden and that there could be restrictions on the infertility treatment of intrauterine insemination that his wife, Gwen, received.

“I think they’re probably far more concerned with that than my wife and I used IUI to have our child and that Donald Trump would restrict that," Walz said. "So I think folks know who I am.”

Bream noted that Trump has come out in support of fertility treatments, even as he has said that abortion questions should be decided by states.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force Two at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., after a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event in York, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)