Nat Sciver Brunt brought up her 15th T20I half-century – the most by any non-opening batter in the women’s game – and ensured England took the opening honours on their tour of South Africa. She eclipsed an excellent allround effort by Nadine de Klerk, who scored a 19-ball 29 to push South Africa over 140 and took 2 for 20 to keep South Africa in it, but their bowling inexperience showed.
In an XI without Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, who are both being rested for this series, South Africa’s discipline was under the microscope. Sune Luus opened the bowling for the first time in a T20I, and was one of three bowlers to concede at more than six runs an over. South Africa may also be disappointed with their batting effort. While six of their top seven got starts, no-one kicked on and they had no half-century stands.
England, despite a sometimes messy effort in the field, put it together where it mattered most. Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones put on 50 for the fifth wicket, which was the key to their successful chase.
Wolvaardt starts well but England get the openers early
South Africa’s opening pair of Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits picked up from where they left off at the T20 World Cup, with a typically industrious start. Wolvaardt found the boundary off the second ball when Sciver-Brunt strayed down leg to be clipped behind square, where a misfield gave her four. She went on to cream Lauren Bell through the covers and smear Sophie Ecclestone over midwicket for two more boundaries in successive overs while Tazmin Brits only faced five balls in the first three overs. Wolvaardt looked dangerous until she advanced on Charlie Dean, missed a straight one and was bowled. Brits started to find her touch and took on Ecclestone with a confident sweep but her ambition got the better of her. Like Wolvaardt, Brits danced down the track and was beaten for pace, which gave Jones a simple stumping.
England’s fielding: The ridiculous and the sublime
Perhaps it was not quite that extreme but England’s full range was on display in the mid-section of South Africa’s innings. There were shades of their drops against West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-final when an Anneke Bosch chance slipped through Sciver-Brunt’s fingers at deep backward square. Bosch, on 13, swung at a Sarah Glenn delivery and hit it with the wind, which may have been what foxed Sciver-Brunt despite being in a good position to take the catch. That only cost England five runs before Bosch was bowled by Freya Kemp. In the next over, Ecclestone timed her movements well to take the catch that dismissed Sune Luus for a duck. Luus, who only has one 50 from her last 15 T20I innings, hit Dean in the air to mid-off, where Ecclestone had to move left and jump to take a sharp catch, and did so with ease.
De Klerk’s cameo
South Africa’s hundred came up in the 16th over, when the 36-run stand between Annerie Dercksen and Nondumiso Shangase was broken, which gave de Klerk four overs to show off her finishing skills. Her first boundary was a strong sweep off Bell but she was kept quiet until the last ball of the penultimate over when she hit Ecclestone’s final ball to fine leg. De Klerk took control in the last over when she hit Bell for two more boundaries in an 18-run over, to finish unbeaten on 29 off 16 balls. Her 42-run sixth-wicket partnership with Dercksen was South Africa’s highest of the match and pushed them over 140.
It is only Ayanda Hlubi’s third T20I match so it’s difficult to be too harsh on her but she seemed to struggle with her run-up and rhythm immediately. Her first ball was short and down leg and Maia Bouchier helped it on its way for four. Then, she overstepped. Bouchier popped the free hit up to mid-off (who dropped it, though it didn’t matter), but two balls later, Hlubi overstepped again. And then again. Bouchier could not take advantage of any of the free hits and the over finally ended after nine deliveries with England 11 without loss. Hlubi’s second over was more disciplined but her third cost 22 runs, including another no-ball that was hit for four by Jones, who launched the resultant free hit for the innings’ only six.
How low can you go?
Buffalo Park is not known for its bounce and tends to get slower and lower as matches go on. That’s exactly what happened through England’s innings as Eliz-Mari Marx on comeback, took full advantage. When Bouchier premeditated a switch-hit of sorts over backward point, in the fifth over, and missed, Marx bowled her but her coup de grace came when she was brought back on in the 11th over. Marx stunned England captain Heather Knight, who stayed back in her crease to a full delivery, and inside-edged onto her stumps. England were 65 for 4 in the 11th over, and needed 78 runs inside 10 overs to win.
No getting past Nat Sciver-Brunt
Some of the others may have looked rusty but Sciver-Brunt was in fine touch as early as the second ball she faced. She punched it off the back foot through the covers to get going. Her ease against South Africa’s spinners saw her score 33 runs off the 31 balls she faced against them and her dominant on-side play meant South Africa could not plug the gaps quickly enough. Sciver-Brunt scored 48 of her 59 runs in the on-side, including five of her seven boundaries. She scored 20 runs off 15 balls in the last five overs, to keep England in touch with the required run-rate and clear the path for a win.
Brief scores: England Women 143 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 59, Amy Jones 31,Maia Bouchier 20; Eliz-Mari Marx 3-19, Nadine de Klerk 2-20, Nondumiso Shangase 1-20) beat South Africa Women 142 for 5 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 22, Annerie Derecksen 26*, Nadine de Klerk 29*; Sophie Ecclestone 1-18, Charlie Dean 2-21, Sarah Glenn 1-23, Freya Kemp 1-15) by four wickets
Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasooriya in her Environment Day message said that the environment is the foundation of our livelihood and called upon all Sri Lankans to come forward with the responsibility in mind to bequeath a secure a secure, prosperous and green planet to future generations.The PM’s Environment Day message:
“The environment is the foundation of our livelihood. It is the responsibility of the government to bequeath a secure, prosperous, and green planet to future generations.
In line with the global theme, “Urgent Climate Action,” and guided by the vision of “A Sustainable Biosphere – An Evergreen Life,” Sri Lanka commemorates World Environment Day this year at a critical moment. Drawing lessons from the climate-related challenges we have recently experienced, special attention has been directed toward protecting the water catchment areas of the central highlands and restoring ecosystems.
Under the theme “Dalulanna Idadenna” ( Let it Bloom), the Ministry of Environment has organized a series of programmes across the island to mark World Environment Day. These initiatives include environmental conservation inspired by religious values, awareness programmes on climate change, the protection of the Diyawanna Oya, the development of infrastructure in the wildlife sector, the conservation of water resources, and the promotion of medicinal plant cultivation, and through these efforts, it is evident that environmental conservation has evolved beyond a mere concept and become a practical and active commitment.
At this significant moment in our nation’s history, as more than 63,000 hectares of forest land have been gazetted as protected reserves through the “Wanaspathi” National Programme, which was launched last year, every citizen must resolve to live in harmony with the environment.
Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) were ordered to shelter in an attached spacecraft after the structure suddenly started leaking more air.
Five of the seven crew were directed to go into the docked SpaceX shuttle Dragon “Freedom” on Friday afternoon and were braced for a potential evacuation.
Meanwhile, two remaining personnel – a pair of Russian cosmonauts – attempted to repair a part of the Russian segment of the ISS, where the leaks had started increasing on Monday.
The repairs were paused and the crew ordered back onto the ISS by Nasa on Friday afternoon.
Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived on the ISS in February, had been sheltering on the docked ship, along with another astronaut Chris Williams.
They had been told to put on their spacesuits so they were ready to undock and return to Earth at short notice.
The Dragon effectively functions as a lifeboat – attached to the station but ready to detach the moment the order is given.
The trigger for the order was a worsening air leak in the transfer tunnel, known as PrK, leading to a section of the Russian segment of the station called the Zvezda service module.
Russian cosmonauts, station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, attempted to fix the problem. Their escape route was the separately docked Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.
It is not the first time the station has had to deal with this problem – the cracks responsible have persisted on and off for around six years.
However, following the arrival of a Russian cargo ship last month, the Russian space agency Roscosmos noticed a fresh slow pressure drop in the tunnel, prompting the decision to move beyond patchwork fixes and attempt a more extensive repair operation on Friday.
(Left to right) Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, Nasa astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot [BBC]
But it was the method they were planning to use that prompted the order to take shelter, according to news agency Reuters.
Kud-Sverchkov and Mikayev were said to be using a saw to try and get into an area to access the crack that was leaking air.
Nasa disagreed with the method they were using and mission control in Houston ordered five crew to take “safe-haven” procedures on the Dragon ship.
When Roscosmos told their crew to pause repairs, Nasa instructed the astronauts to return to the station.
Nasa spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said on X: “Given this development, Nasa has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station.”
Russian news agency Tass, citing Roscosmos, reported that nothing had been threatening the safety of the crew or the ISS’s onboard systems.
The ISS, which spans the length of a football field, is the largest human-made object in space.
It has been continuously operated by a US-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries since 1998.
Maja Chwalinska lost in the Wimbledon second round (2022) and Australian Open first round (2025) in her only two previous Grand Slam appearances (BBC)
Qualifier Maja Chwalinska is one win away from a fairytale French Open triumph after setting up a final showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The Polish world number 114, who had only ever won one match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, continued her astonishing run at Roland Garros by beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three weeks and nine matches after her French Open campaign began, Chwalinska dropped to the ground after firing in the 32nd and final winner of another scintillating display.
With that, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and the crowd chanted her name as she spoke in her post-match interview.
On Saturday, she will attempt to become only the second qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam after Britain’s Emma Raducannu at the 2021 US Open.
It would be a fitting conclusion to a French Open filled with spectacular shocks from the outset.
But, on the evidence of her dominant victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the in-form Andreeva will provide the sternest test of her credentials to date.
A beaten semi-finalist in 2024, the 19-year-old was hugely impressive in a 6-1 6-3 victory that made her the third-youngest woman to reach the Roland Garros showpiece this century, after Coco Gauff and Kim Clijsters.
Should she prevail in her first major final, eighth seed Andreeva would become the third-youngest first-time Grand Slam champion this century, after Maria Sharapova and Raducanu.
