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Bangladesh upset India in low-scoring encounter
Bangladesh Women registered their maiden victory of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship 2022-25 – and handed India their first defeat – in a low-scoring rain-affected contest in Dhaka, successfully defending a paltry 152.
They had the 18-year-old Marufa Akter to thank for the upset win, by 40 runs, as the pacer opened her account in ODI cricket with a 4 for 29 that overshadowed a 4-31 from India’s debutant Amanjot Kaur earlier in the day, and leg-spinner Rabeya Khan who carried on from where she left in the T20Is and picked 3-30.
Having opted to bowl first in overcast conditions, India were on the right track when Amanjot first ran out Sharmin Akhter for an 18-ball duck in the eighth over and then returned with the ball in the next to send her opening partner, Murshida Khatun, packing for 13 for her maiden ODI scalp. After a string of 34 dot balls, Fargana Hoque broke the shackles with a cover drive as she forged a vital 49-run partnership for the third wicket with her captain, Nigar Sultana.
Rain interrupted just as Bangladesh began their recovery, and after a nearly two-hour delay, the game was curtailed to 44 overs per side. As India grew desperate for a breakthrough – even though the partnership moved at a sedate pace – Harmanpreet Kaur threw the ball back to Amanjot, who had Fargana edging behind. She picked her third when she trapped Nigar plumb in front, on 39 just after the hosts had crossed the 100-run mark.
From there on, Bangladesh could only crawl to 152/9 by the penultimate over with Shorna Akter retired out due to severe abdominal pain. However, India’s batting implosion meant the revised target of 154 was more than enough for the hosts to shock them.
Smriti Mandhana was quick to punish the two short balls from Marufa early on, but the rookie had the last laugh when she got the Indian vice-captain poking at an outswinger outside off. On her India comeback, Priya Punia failed to impress and became Marufa’s second victim, after contributing 10 off 27. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was in and out in a jiffy, and Rabeya joined the party soon after when she had Yastika Bhatia bowled for 15. She struck again to end Jemimah Rodrigues’s fight on 10. India had slipped to 61/5 at the end of the 16th over.
Deepti Sharma (20), who eventually top-scored in India’s underwhelming batting show, and Amanjot managed to keep Bangladesh at bay for a bit, taking India to 91 in the process. But Marufa returned in the 29th over and struck twice in successive balls to land the decisive blows. Rabeya completed the team hat-trick when she put an end to Deepti’s fight, effectively bringing curtains on India’s chase.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 152 all out in 43 overs (Nigar Sultana 39, Fargana Hoque 27; Amanjot Kaur 4-31) beat India 113 all out in 35.5 overs (Deepti Sharma 20; Marufa Akter 4-29, Rabeya Khan 3-30) by 40 runs (Match reduced to 44 overs per side)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur as part of a regional push to shore up Beijing’s trade relationships.
The diplomatic stop on Wednesday marks the second leg of Xi’s three-nation tour, which also includes Vietnam and Cambodia, and comes amid sharp tariffs imposed by the United States that are reshaping the global economic landscape.
Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Xi in a colourful ceremony at the golden-domed Istana Negara palace before his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the administrative capital of Putrajaya.
Xi touted a “new golden era” of Chinese-Malaysian relations, following the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year. The king announced new cooperation between the countries in various fields, including artificial intelligence.
“This is a hugely significant visit,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Putrajaya. “It takes place during this unprecedented trade war that is developing with the United States, with both Malaysia and China finding themselves in the middle.”
Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor in the department of international and strategic studies at Malaya University, said the visit offered a chance to “test the waters for regional solidarity” amid the US trade disruptions.
“It’s not just about friendship, it’s about realigning the regional centre of gravity towards Beijing,” she said.
Malaysia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, whose members are among the hardest hit by new US tariffs.
ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 percent tariffs, and Cambodia, a significant producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands, was hit with a 49 percent duty.
Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a lower tariff of 24 percent. Though the measures have been paused for 90 days, President Donald Trump has warned that no country is “off the hook”.
[Aljazeera]
Police urge motorists who intend to use the Ella – Wellawaya Road to use alternative roads as there is a severe vehicle congestion due to inclement weather condition.
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously backed the biological definition of “woman” under the 2010 Equality Act.
It marks the culmination of a long-running legal battle which could have major implications for how sex-based rights apply across Scotland, England and Wales.
Judges sided with campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought a case against the Scottish government arguing that sex-based protections should only apply to people that are born female.
Judge Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be seen as a triumph of one side over the other, and stressed that the law still gives protection against discrimination to transgender people.
The Scottish government argued in court that transgender people with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women.
The Supreme Court was asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Britain.
Lord Hodge said the central question was how the words “woman” and “sex” are defined in the legislation.
He told the court: “The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
“But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not.”
He added that the legislation gives transgender people “protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender”.
Campaigners who brought the case against the Scottish government hugged each other and punched the air as they left the courtroom, with several of them in tears.
The Equality Act provides protection against discrimination on the basis of various characteristics, including “sex” and “gender reassignment”.
Judges at the Supreme Court in London were asked to rule on what that law means by “sex” – whether it means biological sex, or legal, “certificated” sex as defined by the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
The Scottish government argued the 2004 legislation was clear that obtaining a GRC amounts to a change of sex “for all purposes”.
For Women Scotland argued for a “common sense” interpretation of the words man and woman, telling the court that sex is an “immutable biological state”.
Outside the Supreme Court, For Women Scotland co-founder Susan Smith said: “Today the judges have said what we always believed to be the case, that women are protected by their biological sex.
“Sex is real and women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women and we are enormously grateful to the Supreme Court for this ruling.”
A UK government spokesman said: “This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the ruling as a “victory for all of the women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious”.
But Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: “This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.
“It could remove important protections and will leave many trans people and their loved ones deeply anxious and worried about how their lives will be affected and about what will come next.”
The Scottish government has not yet commented on the ruling.
[BBC]
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