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Devine’s 95 trumps Lee, Wolvaardt fifties in see-saw thriller

Published

1 month ago

2026/01/12

Priyan

Sophie Devine missed out on a WPL hundred for the second time [BCCI]

Gujarat Giants (GG) put on a commanding 209 and would have thought they were well ahead when Delhi Capitals’ (DC) equation read 48 off 18. But Laura Wolvaardt turned things around – almost – for DC with a 19-run over to make it 29 off 12 and then seven from six. But GG turned the tables again when Sophie Devine , who had smashed a belligerent 95 off 42, removed the two set batters in the last over and conceded just two runs to snatch a four-run victory to help GG top the table.

GG’s second win in a row became DC’s second loss on the bounce and placed them at the bottom even though their batters buried the ghosts of being bundled for 145, under 24 hours before this game. The run-fest that swung wildly throughout at the DY Patil Stadium saw a total tally of 414 – the second highest in WPL – and was the second day in a row that GG posted a 200-plus total.

Their total could have been a lot more had DC not pulled things back through Nandani Sharma’s hat-trick after Devine’s demolition of the bowlers. DC, however, came agonisingly close, within seven runs of sealing the highest WPL chase. But Devine took the pace off the ball and the steam out of DC’s chase.

Devine came out all guns blazing and muscled the ball to all sides of the park as the DC bowlers failed to keep it outside her hitting arc. After a thick edge off her bat fell short of the keeper in the first over, Devine got going with a couple of fours in the next, off Chinelle Henry, and took off properly in the fourth by smashing Nandani for a 16-run over. The real damage came in the sixth over with the introduction of spin, when Devine smoked Sneh Rana for 32 in an over, which became the most expensive in WPL history.

After starting the over with two consecutive fours – the second nearly taken by a one-handed Marizanne Kapp at cover point – Devine bludgeoned Rana for four sixes, all on the leg side as the ball was aimed for the stumps again and again. By the time the over ended, Rana had lost her length so horribly that she bowled a full toss and Devine lapped it up for her fifth six, soon after her 25-ball fifty.

N Shree Charani and Henry managed to pull things back briefly by conceding just 15 off the next 14 balls and also sent back Beth Mooney, but there was no stopping Devine. She hammered another three sixes in four balls even as Charani took the pace off the ball and Devine raced into the 90s, looking set to become the first centurion of the tournament.

But Devine’s wait for a century continued; she had also scored 99 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru a couple of seasons ago. Nandani, who made her WPL debut on Saturday, sent down a back-of-the-hand variation which Devine top-edged behind the wicket and Charani, running back from short fine leg, hung on to a catch that nearly touched the sky before coming down. Charani got her second wicket when Rodrigues flung to her right at cover in the next over to send back Georgia Wareham and the promising Anushka Sharma soon holed out for 13.

Gardner then took charge after getting a life on 22, even as DC exposed GG’s inexperienced lower order, and peppered the boundary regularly. She went after both pace and spin alike before finding long-on to finish on a quick 49 off 26 before DC conceded just eight runs in the last two overs. GG suffered a collapse of 4 for 8 in the end with Nandani striking thrice in a row in the last over to take the fourth hat-trick and the first by an uncapped player in the WPL

Renuka Singh put down Lizelle Lee’s tough return catch on the second ball of the chase, and the DC opener showed how costly the drop was. She crashed the next ball through the covers and finished the over with a no-look six straight down the ground. She continued to pepper the boundary even as Shafali Verma struggled for rhythm. Though DC’s powerplay score read 47 for 1 compared to GG’s 80 for 0, Lee ensured they weren’t too far behind.

If Devine’s innings was about brute force, Lee combined her well-timed drives with the odd aerial shot to keep the run rate close to nine an over. She went 4, 4 and 6 against Wareham for her 33-ball fifty as Wolvaardt played second-fiddle with GG still needing 120 from the last 10. The equation became a lot stiffer when GG’s spinners conceded just 23 in the three overs after the halfway mark before Lee tore into Wareham again.

Wolvaardt was on 28 off 20 when Lee eventually found Devine at long-on for 86, which left DC to get 79 of 34. DC promoted the big-hitting Henry ahead of Jemimah Rodrigues and Kapp, but she also holed out after just one six. Rodrigues eventually walked out at No. 5 and crashed her first ball wide of long-on for a 17-run 16th over.

GG were still well ahead with the equation reading 60 off 24. Wolvaardt then used her long limbs to attack the spinners, especially going after Gardner in the 18th over when they needed 48 from 18. She often went straight down the ground when she had the length and otherwise found the gap square or through the covers to find the boundary regularly. After three fours and a six off Gardner, she dispatched Kashvee Gautam, who started the 19th over with two no-balls, for a six over midwicket which swung the game further for DC.

When Rodrigues ended the penultimate over by lofting Gautam over the covers, DC would have thought they had it in the bag with just seven to get from six. But Devine, who had earlier leaked 19 in two wicketless overs, first had Rodrigues glove one behind off a slower ball, kept Kapp to just one run off two balls, and then had Wolvaardt caught at deep midwicket with five to get off two. Rana walked out for the last ball and could’t even connect, and GG scraped through

Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants Women 209 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 19, Sophie Devine 95, Ashleigh Gardner 49, Anushka Sharma 13, Kashvee Gautam 14; Chinelle Henry 2-43, Nandani Sharma 5-33, Shree Charani 2-42, Shafali Verma 1-21) beat Delhi Capitals Women 205 for 5 in 20 overs (Lizelle Lee 86, Shafali Verma 14, Laura Wolvaardt 77, Jemimah Rodrigues 15; Kashvee Gautam 1-48, Sophie Devine 2-21, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-34) by four runs

[Cricinfo]

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya extended

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

The landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation have been extended till 0600 hrs on 15th February 2026.

Accordingly,
The Level II [AMBER] warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Walapane and Nildandahinna in the Nuwar Eliya district and the
Level I [YELLOW] warning issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Pathadumbara in the Kandy district have been extended.

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre at 11.30 a.m. 14 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 14 February 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces and in Badulla and Nuwara-Eliya districts after 1.00 p.m. There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

The General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Tucker 94* headlines Ireland’s thrashing of Oman

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Lorcan Tucker goes big [Cricinfo]

Ireland muscled the highest score of the 2026 T20 World Cup en route to a dominating win over Oman in Group C to keep their Super Eights hopes alive, at least mathematically.

Lorcan Tucker, standing in for the injured Paul Stirling, muscled 94 not out as Ireland walloped 235 for 5. They hammered eight sixes in the last three overs alone – more than Oman had in the tournament until then – and the last five overs produced 93 runs.

In response, Oman were bowled out for 139 with two overs left unused, the innings characterised by a rush of wickets following an early turbocharge from 44-year-old Aamir Kaleem, who muscled 50 off 29 balls.

Playing his first game of the competition, left-arm spinner Shakeel Ahmed struck thrice in the powerplay to leave Ireland in trouble at 45 for 3 after five overs. Each of the three wickets had a different skill at play: Tim Tector was dismissed with an arm-ball, Ross Adair was beaten in flight as he skied one to mid-off, and Harry Tector was bowled, done in by dip and turn.

There was more trouble for Ireland as Kaleem, also a left-arm spinner, struck to remove Curtis Campher in the eighth over. Two balls later, he should have had Tucker on 18, but for a missed stumping by Vinayak Shukla. Deceived in flight, Tucker seemed to have been stumped down leg, but third umpire Ahsan Raza deemed Shukla to have broken the bails with the hand in which he didn’t have the ball. Replays, though, seemed to indicate both gloves were in contact with each other. Had it been given, Ireland would have been 65 for 5.

For the first 14 overs, Oman’s mantra was pace off. And that meant Tucker had to adjust to a slow surface. Out went the agricultural heaves, out came the scoops and paddles. Tucker and Gareth Delany raised their half-century stand off just 33 deliveries, with Tucker getting to his half-century first with a ferocious sweep behind square off Kaleem. This was only the second half-century by an Irish captain, after Andy Balbirnie, in a men’s T20 World Cup.

With their spin options exhausted by 14 overs, Oman turned to their seam options in a bid to restrict Ireland. This is when Delany chose to leave his imprint on the game, muscling Jiten Ramanandi for two sixes off his first two deliveries in an 18-run over. Then he went after Faisal Shah, flat-batting a six off a slower-length ball to raise a 28-ball half-century. That was to be the start of the carnage that saw Ireland muscle 93 off the last five overs.

Tucker began the 18th over on 60 and ended it on 86 as he took apart Mohammad Nadeem with three sixes and two fours. Suddenly, a first century by an Irish batter at a men’s T20 World Cup loomed, but George Dockrell’s cameo – 35 not out off nine – provided the perfect finish. Ireland had smashed an incredible 156 off their last ten overs.

Jatinder Singh fell for his third low score, while Ashish Odedara, playing his first game, was run out taking a casual stroll. After two ordinary outings, Kaleem showed what he is capable of in a sensational powerplay take-down, reminiscent of his half-century against India at last year’s Asia Cup. When he got to a half-century, off just 28 deliveries, he became the oldest half-centurion in men’s T20 World Cup history. At 97 for 2 in the 11th over, Oman were well on track.

Then from 107 for 3, they slumped to 108 for 5 before Josh Little, the left-arm seamer, picked up the wickets of Ramanandi and Nadeem Khan to inflict further damage. By then, it looked increasingly likely Oman wouldn’t even bat their overs. And they didn’t, the margin of defeat of 96 runs, much bigger than it seemed when Kaleem set them up in the first half.

Brief scores:
Ireland 235 for 5 in 20 overs (Ross Adair 14, Harry Tector 14, Lorcan Tucker 94*, Curtis Campher 12, Gareth Delany 56, George Dockrell 35*; Shakeel 3-33) beat Oman 139 in 18 overs (Aamir Kaleem 50, Hammad Mirza 46, Sufiyan Mehmood 10; Mathew Humphreys 2-27, Barry McCarthy 2-32, Josh Little 3-16, George Dockrell 1-06) by 96 runs

[Cricinfo]