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Deol, Tryon power Warriorz to first win of season

Published

3 months ago

2026/01/16

Priyan

Harleen Deol and Chloe Tryon added an unbroken 44 runs off 20 balls to seal the deal for UPW [BCCI]

A fired-up UP Warriorz (UPW) side breathed some life into their WPL 2026 campaign by earning their first points of the tournament, and they did it in style against the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI). UPW were playing back-to-back games, but they turned up with a fresh approach to hand MI their second loss in four games.

UPW’s pace bowlers bossed the powerplay, their spinners strangled MI’s batters briefly, and even though Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 65 lifted MI to 161, Harleen Deol smashed an unbeaten 64 off 39 balls, barely 24 hours after she had been contentiously retired out, to lead the UPW chase. She peppered the boundary 12 times and saw Ch;oe Tryon hammer an unbeaten 27 off 11 in her second WPL innings to seal the seven-wicket win.

After Amelia Kerr’s struggles opening the batting in the first two games, MI decided to partner Amanjot Kaur with G Kamalini at the top, but that didn’t pay off either. Kranti Gaud and Shikha Pandey kept swinging the new ball away from the openers, who kept edging and missing in the powerplay of 32 runs, the second-lowest in WPL without losing a wicket. Kamalini barely moved her feet and while Amanjot put away the odd delivery when she got width, she also edged and missed plenty of times.

Amanjot nearly fell in the third over for 6, but her outside edge bisected first slip and the wicketkeeper for four. Her edges became a recurring theme while facing 27 off the 36 balls in the powerplay. An outside and inside-edge fetched her two boundaries in three balls as Gaud bowled her fourth over on the bounce with her tail up. It was Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone who soon had the openers holing out in consecutive overs: Amanjot fell for 38 off 33, whereas Kamalini’s horror night ended on 5 off 12.

Deepti and Ecclestone then looped and turned the ball with such a lack of pace that the experienced duo of Harmanpreet Kaur and Sciver-Brunt also couldn’t put the ball away. The duo started to open up after the halfway mark when Sciver-Brunt found the gap with a reverse sweep and Harmanpreet hit a monstrous six off Asha Sobhana in the 13th over. Asha countered with a wicket immediately, but the credit should go to Tryon, who completed a stunning diving catch at square leg.

An in-form Nicola Carey was all Sciver-Brunt needed for company as she started to find the gaps with ease. She pulled Asha for two fours with a straight six in between to take the run rate towards seven. Carey then hammered Tryon for four fours in an over and Sciver-Brunt’s streak of boundaries brought up her 32-ball fifty, her 10th in the WPL,joint most with Harmanpreet and Meg Lanning. Sciver-Brunt had earlier been put down by a one-handed effort from Lanning and she got another life when Deepti couldn’t hold on to a tough return chance in a 15-run 18th over. UPW pulled back again in the last two overs to keep MI down to a below-par total.

UPW’s powerplay was hardly different from MI’s: one opener – Kiran Navgire – never got going while the other, Lanning, hogged the strike. Even though she found boundaries, she looked far from her usual self. Lanning also got a life on 16, when Sanskriti Gupta put one down at point but MI didn’t have to wait long to send her back. Sciver-Brunt handed UPW a double blow, having both Lanning and Navgire hole out in the space of five balls to leave UPW on a tricky 45 for 2 in the seventh over.

It was almost like the retired-out decision lit a fire in her as Deol came out with intent. She started by collecting three fours off her first three deliveries with a cut, drive and late dab to pierce different gaps on the off side, and the cameras immediately showed coach Abhishek Nayar, who had called her back on Wednesday. With No. 3 Phoebe Litchfield also in good nick at the other end, Deol kept going after MI as they kept offering width on the off side.

She bagged another streak of three fours in four balls and all on the off side off Shabnim Ismail to stamp her name all over the chase to make the equation a gettable 64 from 48. After striking eight fours in her first 20 balls – all on the off side – with timing and placement, she finally collected her first boundary through leg when she pulled Kerr behind square. Kerr, however, dismissed Litchfield for the eighth time in T20s to end that 15th over before Deol brought up a 32-ball fifty and smashed Gupta for three fours in her 15-run over.

Even though the equation became a comfortable 29 off 24, Deol and Tryon kept their foot on the pedal for regular boundaries and finished things off with 11 balls to spare.

Brief scores:
UP Warriorz Women 162 for 3 in 18.1 overs (Meg Lanning 25, Kiran Navgire 10, Phoebe Litchfield 25, Harleen Deol 64*, Chloe Tryon 27*; Nat Sciver-Brunt 2-28, Amelia Kerr 1-42) beat Mumbai Indians Women 161 for 5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 65, Amanjot Kaur 38, Harmanpreet Kaur 16, Nicola Carey 32*; Shikha Pandey 1-25, Deepti Sharma 1-31, Sophie Ecclestone 1-26, Asha Sobhana 1-33) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Israel to hold direct talks with Lebanon but no ceasefire, Netanyahu says

Published

4 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Israel launched a blitz of air strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting over 100 targets in 10 minutes (BBC)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his government to begin direct talks with Lebanon, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Netanyahu said the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese political and militant group, and establishing peaceful relations.

A US State Department official confirmed it would host a meeting next week “to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon”.

Lebanese officials called for a ceasefire before the talks begin, but Netanyahu in a subsequent address to residents of northern Israel said: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.”

The Israeli military continued to strike Lebanon on Thursday – targeting what it described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south. It also issued a new evacuation warning for residents in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that this included the Jnah area, which includes two major hospitals.

“At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,” he said.

Among those being treated at the hospitals, Tedros added, were some of the 1,150 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were wounded in Wednesday’s massive wave of Israeli strikes. At least 303 people were killed.

Tedros also said that the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health, which “hosts five shelters accommodating more than 5,000 people”, is in the evacuation area.

That ceasefire began with confusion over whether Lebanon, Israel’s second front, was to be included. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan said it was, US and Israeli officials said clearly that it was not.

Amid the confusion, the wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon – the heaviest since the conflict began six weeks ago – prompted Iran to declare that Israel was break8ng the terms of the ceasefire, once again halt passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and to threaten retaliatory strikes.

Israel’s military continues to occupy a large part of the south of Lebanon, where it has destroyed villages in recent days. Without a commitment to a temporary ceasefire at least, it is not clear how productive talks could proceed between the two sides.

(BBC)

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Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

13 mins ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

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Mukul Choudhary stuns Kolkata Knight Riders to seal last-ball thriller for Lucknow Super Giants

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Mukul Choudhary celebrates victory after his stunning knock [BCCI]

In the lead-up to IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer believed that rookie <ukul Choudhary had the potential to become the “scariest” finisher in India. The 21-year-old showcased his potential and power in only his third IPL game, bashing a 25-ball half-century, which snatched victory for LSG from Kolkata Knight Riders’ grasp.

When Choudhary came into bat, LSG were 104 for 5 in the 13th over in pursuit of 182. Choudhary watched them slump further to 125 for 6 and then 128 for 7. He was on 2 off eight balls at one point. But with LSG needing 54 off 24 balls, he single-handedly won it for them. Only one other batter – Kieron Pollard in 2013 – has scored more than 50 runs in the last four overs of a successful IPL chase.

It was anybody’s game when LSG required 14 off the final over, with three wickets in hand. After Avesh Khan got a single off the first ball, Choudhary monstered Arora over square leg for six. Arora then responded with two dots, but a barely believable six off the next ball – a near wide yorker – brought the equation to one off one.

Choudhary swung and missed the slower bouncer, but he scampered across for a leg-bye and completed a stunning turnaround for LSG. A new star was born in the IPL.

At the halfway stage of the game, Rovman Powell said this wasn’t a typical Eden Gardens pitch. As the game wore on, the deliveries dug into the surface, especially the slower ones, were difficult to put away. Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant were all done in by steepling bounce.

Arora had bounced out Markram and Marsh with the new ball, but when he tried something similar against Choudhary with the older one, Choudhary muscled him over square leg. When Arora tried to york him next ball, Choudhary helicoptered the seamer over long-on. Of the seven sixes Choudhary hit in 27 balls, this was the pick of the lot. “MS Dhoni, eat your heart out! The helicopter shot is back,” Faf du Plessis said on commentary

But still KKR were favourites with 42 to defend off 18 balls. Until Choudhary intervened again. He tonked Kartik Tyagi for a brace of sixes and reduced the equation to 30 needed off 12 balls.

Cameron Green, who had earlier bested Pant with a slower bouncer, bowled that variation to Choudhary and drew a mis-hit, but it fell into no-man’s land. Choudhary missed another slower bouncer next ball, but struck back to hit Green for 6,4,6 in his next four balls.

Choudhary then whacked another slower short ball from Arora for six in the final over. Arora responded by switching his angle to around the wicket and nailed two wide yorkers. He marginally missed his mark the next ball, but Choudhary scythed it flat and hard over cover with his fast hands to stun KKR.

Earlier Ayush Badoni had laid the platform, from which Choudhary launched, for LSG with a contrasting 54. Coming in at No.4, Badoni helped LSG overcome an early wobble with his calculative approach. He was particularly circumspect against Sunil Narine, who had recovered from an illness that had put him out of KKR’s previous game, scoring only eight off ten balls from him. In all, Narine conceded just 13 runs in his four overs for the wicket of Mohammed Shami.

Badoni found runs from elsewhere. He took 26 off 12 balls from Tyagi and Navdeep Saini, the weaker links in the KKR attack. He brought up his half-century, off 33 balls, when he carted left-arm spinner Anukul Roy over midwicket for six. Next ball, however, Roy hid the ball away from Badoni’s reach and had him holing out to wide long-off.

Prince Yadav had struck in his first over when he had Finn Allen caught at deep third by Digvesh Rathi in controversial circumstances. After a few replays, Allen was given out for 9 off 8, but later another replay suggested that Rathi’s foot was touching the boundary when he was holding the ball with both hands.

KKR captain Ajikya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvansh, who was promoted to No.3 ahead of Green, then countered the early blow with an 84-run partnership off 52 balls. Rahane manufactured swinging room and pumped both Rathi and M Siddharth for fours over cover.

Raghuvanshi was slow to start: he was on 6 off 12 balls at one point, but shifted gears when he lined up Avesh Khan for 4,6,4 in the last over of the powerplay.

LSG’s spinners Rathi and Siddharth then loosened KKR’s grip on the game by taking out Rahane and Raghuvanshi in successive overs.

Green needed 14 balls to find the boundary and in all managed only three fours and a six in the 24 balls he faced. Rovman Powell, who retained his place in KKR’s XI, was more fluent, finishing with an unbeaten 39 off 24 balls.

KKR went 31 balls without a boundary until Powell charged at Siddharth and cracked him over his head for six. Then when Prince missed his yorker, his drilled drive down the ground left both the bowler and the umpire in the firing line.

KKR were firm favourites – they had an 86% chance of beating LSG after 36 overs in the game – but Choudhary flipped the script and overpowered the hosts.

Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants 182 for 7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 15, Aiden Markram 22, Rishbah Pant 10, Ayush Badoni 54, Nicholas Pooran 13, Mukul Choudhary 54*; Anukul Roy 2-32, Vaibhav Arora 2-38, Sunil Narine 1-13, Kartik Tyagi 1-31, Cameron Green 1-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 181 for 4 in 20 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 45, Ajinkya Rahane 41, Cameron Green 32*, Rovman Powell 39*; Prince Yadav 1-47, Manimaran Siddharth 1-34, Digvesh Rathi 1-25, AveshKhan 1-44) by three wickets

[Cricinfo]