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MUMBAI :India ended Australia's title defence and booked their place in Sunday's women's World Cup final against South Africa after Jemimah Rodrigues smashed an unbeaten 127 to secure a sensational five-wicket victory in the second semi-final on Thursday.
COLOMBO: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan counterpart Fatima Sana skipped the customary handshake before a women’s cricket World Cup match on Sunday amid ongoing tensions between the rivals that plagued the men’s Asia Cup last month. India-Pakistan relations have significantly deteriorated following military conflicts in May that nearly escalated into a full-fledged war between the nuclear-armed neighbors. India beat Pakistan three times in the men’s Asia Cup, including in the September 28 final in Dubai, but refused to shake hands with their counterparts before or after the matches. They also declined to receive the winners’ trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who is Pakistan’s interior minister. The frosty relations were evident in Colombo too where Kaur and Sana did not shake hands at the toss, nearly ignoring each other’s presence. Sana won the toss and elected to field against India, who have never lost to Pakistan in a women’s one day international. “We’re going to bowl first, looks like there could be some moisture on the wicket,” Sana said. “On this wicket, anything under 250 would be a good total to defend and hopefully we can restrict them.” India won a tri-series in Sri Lanka, also involving South Africa, in May and captain Kaur said that experience would stand them in good stead. “It was a good series for us,” Kaur said. “We played a lot of cricket here and, yeah, we have experience.
Attacking opener Shafali Verma on Thursday returned to India colours after a gap of seven months as she was included in the national T20I squad for the five-match away series against England, starting from June 28 in Trent Bridge. Shafali was out of the Indian team from October 2024 on account of modest form but she could not find a place in the ODI squad for the three-match series against England, which was also announced on this day. Perhaps, her fine outing in this season's Women's Premier League (WPL) for Delhi Capitals where she aggregated 304 runs from nine matches at a strike-rate of 152.
Fifties from Harshita Samawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva helped Sri Lanka defeat India by three wickets in fourth match of the women's ODI tri-series at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday. Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh top-scored with 58 as India made 275/9 in their 50 overs In reply, Harshitha made 53 while Nilakshi turned the chase in the hosts' favour through a blazing 33-ball 56. All-rounder Nilakshi also shared a partnership of 57 off 38 balls with Kavisha Dilhari (35 off 32 balls), before she fell in the 43rd over.
India have been fined five per cent of their match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate against Sri Lanka in the Women's Tri-series opener in Colombo, the ICC announced on Tuesday. India had defeated hosts Sri Lanka by nine wickets in the rain-truncated series opener at the R Premadasa International Stadium on Sunday. Vanessa de Silva of the Emirates ICC International Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after India were ruled to be one over short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. "In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time," the ICC release stated.
Young Indian top-order batter Pratika Rawal added another accomplishment to her growing career, as she became the fastest player to reach 500 women's ODI runs, surpassing England legend Charlotte Edwards, who had held this record since 1997. Pratika reached the 500-run mark in just eight innings, bettering Edwards' nine, during her brilliant knock of 78 against South Africa in the ongoing tri-series in Sri Lanka during the ongoing tri-nation series. Her knock consisted of seven fours and a six and came in 91 balls. Her runs came at a strike rate of 85.71. Having made her ODI debut against the West Indies in December 2024 at Vadodara, Pratika has scored 572 runs in eight matches at an average of 81.71, with a strike rate of 92.70. She has scored a century and five fifties. Her best score so far is 154, which came against Ireland.
Spinner Sneh Rana grabbed three wickets in a single over for her maiden five-wicket haul on WODIs while Pratika Rawal excelled with a well-crafted fifty to shape India's 15-run win over South Africa in the Women's Tri-series on Tuesday. Rawal continued her rich vein of form with a measured 78 off 91 balls, helping India post a competitive 276 for six after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bat first under sunny skies. Rana then snared five wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 261 in 49.2 overs despite Tazmin Brits 109. South Africa lost their last five wickets for 21 runs, giving India their second consecutive victory in the tournament.
The England and Wales Cricket Board should bring on board the BCCI as a "minority ownership partner" of The Hundred in order to attract Indian players to the tournament, Lancashire CEO Daniel Gidney has said, according to a report. Even though Indian men's players are not issued 'No Objection Certificates' to play outside the IPL, the T20 league owners have expanded their footprint across the globe, and have stakes in SA20 (South Africa), ILT20 (UAE) and Major League Cricket (USA). According to ESPNCricinfo, Gidney believes "aligning interests" would be the way to bring Indian players to compete in The Hundred.