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Friday, March 25, 2011

Japan "Land of the Rising Sun" again


What a difference a week makes. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, clean-up workers are already making a difference. These pictures, issued by the Associated Press agency, show a road in Naka, in Ibaraki prefecture, seriously damaged by the quake on March 11 and fully repaired by March 17. The highway company Nexco East said its workers restored the 150m rift in the highway, which runs near the shattered Fukushima nuclear power station through to Tokyo. The feat of engineering and efficiency could be an inspiration for Cantabrians whose lives are still disrupted by their February 22 quake. Large parts of the city centre are still cordoned off and residents and business-owners are forbidden to enter. Roads in the city are also severely affected by diversions and lane closures because of damage. In Japan, fuel shortages and petrol rationing are still in force in large areas, so there is little traffic to use the repaired road. The country faces a huge recovery task. The Japanese Government puts the damage at $414 billion. More than 18,000 buildings were destroyed.

The Second quarter-final India beat Australia

India defeated Australia on Thursday by 5 wickets to set a semifinal against Pakistan in Mohali. Ponding’s 104 took Aussies to 260 runs against India in the crucial quarter final match at Ahmedabad but India, holding their nerves, chased down the target at the loss of 5 wickets in 47.4 overs. Triple fifties by Tendulkar (53), Gambhir (50) and Yuvraj (57*) took India to the semifinal. Lee, Tait, Watson and David Hussey picked one wicket each. Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bat against India in the second quarter final of the ICC World Cup played at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. Haddin and Watson started well, scoring 53 and 25 runs respectively. Indian spinners did allow any Australian batsman to play strokes freely. Captain Ricky Ponting came into much-needed form and made a maiden century in the ICC World Cup 2011, fifth in all world cups and 30th in One Day Internationals. Clarke, Hussey and White could not stay longer at the crease. But, David Hussey and Ponting’s partnership propelled the Aussies to close at a defendable total of 261 runs. David Hussey scored 38 vital runs for his team at the end of the innings. Ashwin, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh picked 2 wickets each. India will play against Pakistan in the semifinal on March 30 in Mohali.