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Italy earn late win over Argentina
Striker Cristiana Girelli came off the bench to head an 87th-minute winner in Italy’s Women’s World Cup opener against Argentina.
It looked as though Italy were going to be frustrated in Auckland by a gritty defensive performance from Argentina before substitute Girelli came good to earn the 1-0 victory. The experienced Juventus attacker had replaced Giulia Dragoni in the 83rd minute, taking over from the midfielder who at the age of 16 years and 259 days became one of the youngest players in the tournament’s history.
“Cristiana is a leader, a captain of this group,” said Italy manager Milena Bertolini of the match-winner. “She is always there and we know what she can give. “We are very happy. We know how important it is to start such a tournament well.”
Bertolini had no hesitation in giving a start to youngster Dragoni who only made her debut for the senior side on 1 July, but ultimately it was the 33-year-old Girelli who made the difference. “Giulia is a talent of Italian football,” said Bertolini of the teenager. “She was ready and she did well playing in a big stadium. If they are here, it is because they deserve it.”
Come the crunch moment of an often tetchy game, Girelli got on the end of Lisa Boattin’s cross and looped the ball over Vanina Correa. In front of a crowd of 30,889 spectators, Italy had earlier seen goals by Arianna Caruso and Valentina Giacinti ruled out for offside.
Italy also included 18-year-old forward Chiara Beccari from the start. They go to Wellington next to play Sweden, who also have three points in Group G, on Saturday (kick-off 08:30 BST).
Argentina’s next match is against South Africa in Dunedin on Friday (01:00 BST).
(BBC Sports)
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Shafali, Renuka close in on top five in ICC T20I rankings
India’s opening batter Shafali Verma and swing bowler Renuka Singh have moved up to sixth spots in the ICC’s T20I batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Shafali is the leading scorer in the ongoing bilateral series against Sri Lanka by a distance, her 236 runs nearly twice as many as second-highest scorer Smriti Mandhana’s 120. Renuka is also the leading wicket-taker, her four wickets level with team-mates Deepti Sharma, Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
Shafali went up four places with back-to-back scores of 69*, 79* and 79 in the second, third and fourth T20Is. Renuka, meanwhile, climbed eight places to reach the joint-sixth position along with South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba, particularly through her 4 for 21 in the third game of the series. Deepti leads the bowlers’ rankings after taking that position last week. Both Shafali and Renuka have also bagged one Player-of-the-Match award each in the series that India lead 4-0, with the last match scheduled for Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram.
If India win today (30), this will be their third 5-0 series win in T20Is. They won by that scoreline in the West Indies in 2019 and in Bangladesh last year. Sri Lanka have, however, never before lost a T20I series 5-0.
(Cricinfo)
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S. Achchudan appointed as Director General of the Sports Development Department.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted their concurrence to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Youth Affairs to appoint S. Achchudan of Special Grade of Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who is currently serving as an Additional Commissioner of Elections at the Elections Commission who is
recommended by the panel of interviewers to the post of Director General of the Sports Development Department with effect form 01.01.2026.
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Amendment of the National Environment Act No. 47 of 1980
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal furnished by the Minister of Environment to publish the draft bill of the National Environment (Amended) Act in the government gazette notification and subsequently to submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
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