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Laura Wolvaardt continues prolific form as South Africa ease to seven-wicket win
Laura Wolvaardt’s third century since taking over the captaincy, and sixth overall, led South Africa to the highest successful chase in a women’s ODI in Kimberley and an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match series against Sri Lanka. In the process, Wolvaardt became South Africa’s leading run-scorer in ODI cricket, in her 94th game.
Crucially, South Africa have secured two more points on the women’s championship to solidify their spot in second place. Sri Lanka remain outside the automatic qualification zone for the 2025 World Cup, in eighth spot.
Wolvaardt was supported by Marizanne Kapp, who brought up her third half-century in seven innings, and shared in a 143-run fourth-wicket partnership with her captain. On a pitch with low bounce at one end, both batters were strong down the ground and Sri Lanka’s attack lacked the threat to cause them any serious problems.
The tone was set in the afternoon, when South Africa’s opening bowlers gave away very little in the opening exchanges and Sri Lanka only scored 15 runs in the first overs before Ayabonga Khaka got an early reward. She removed Vishmi Gunaratne for 7 in the sixth over. Kapp kept the pressure on with an opening spell of 5-0-8-0, including 22 dot balls.
The change bowlers were unable to maintain the same stranglehold, especially against the experience of Chamari Athapaththu. She hit the first ball she faced from Eliz-Mari Marx for four and went on to score five more boundaries off her, including four successive fours in the 14th over. Athapaththu and Hasini Perera, who was dropped by Sune Luus at slip, put on 58 for the second wicket before Perera was caught by Delmi Tucker off Nadine de Klerk’s bowling.
Athapaththu went on to bring up her 16th ODI half-century off 66 balls but was also dismissed by de Klerk, with more than half the Sri Lankan innings remaining. Hansima Karunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari combined for 61 off 69 balls for the fourth wicket, and Karunaratne hit the only six of the innnings, and Sri Lanka were on track for 250-plus on 152 for 3 after 35 overs.
Wolvaardt brought Khaka back and Karunaratne was dismissed and Sri Lanka found the going tough again. Nonkululeko Mlaba took two wickets in her sixth over, and Sri Lanka lost 3 for 20 in less than four overs. A seventh-wicket partnership of 41 off 51 between Oshadi Ranasinghe and Nilakshika Silva pushed them over 200 and they were bowled out with a ball remaining for 229. That left South Africa with the task of completing the highest successful chase in Kimberley, after they claimed the previous best when they hunted down 223 against New Zealand in 2016.
Though scoring rates have increased since then, South Africa had to do it without two of the frontline batters. Opener Tazmin Brits was ruled out of the series with a meniscus tear and sprained ligament on her left knee. She will undergo surgery next week and will be in a race against time to regain fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup. And Anneke Bosch was also forced out of the encounter with a mild concussion after being hit on the head at Friday’s training.
Lara Goodall, who has not played an ODI since September was brought into the XI and looked tentative on her return. She was out lbw to a full Achini Kulasuriya ball in the seventh over. By then, Sri Lanka should have long been rid of Wolvaardt, who was dropped on 0 by Anushka Sanjeewani. The Sri Lankan wicket-keeper who went for the catch off Wolvaardt’s outside edge one-handed while driving to her right and could not hold on.
Sri Lanka’s fielding not only cost them Wolvaardt’s runs but they also allowed Luus – given a life on 11 off a top-edge and went on to score 21 – and Kapp – dropped by Athapaththu in her follow through on 25 – to get away.
Lightning strikes were visible throughout the evening and got closer to the match venue as South Africa’s innings went on. The players were taken off the field after 34.2 overs, with the score at 157 for, with South Africa 25 runs ahead of the DLS. They returned soon afterwards to complete the chase. Wolvaardt brought up her century off 133 balls in the 44th over, with South Africa needing 22 runs to win. They got there with 14 balls to spare.
Scores:
South Africa Women 233 for 3 in 47.4overs (Laura Wolvaardt 110*, Sunee Luus 21, Marizanne Kapp 80*; Achini Kulasuriya 1-35, Oshadie Ranasinghe 1-45, Inoka Ranaweera 1-41) beat Sri Lanka Women 229 in 49.5 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 51, Hansima Karunaratne 33, Kavisha Dilhari 42, Nilakshika Silva 36, Oshadie Ranasinghe 20; Nadine de Klerk 3-23, Ayabonga Khaka 3-28, Eliz-marie Marx 1-38, Masabata Klass 1-50, Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-40) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that talks with Iran are continuing to try to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf, even as the US military announced shooting down an Iranian drone that approached its aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Washington was negotiating with Iran “right now”, but declined to say where the talks were taking place.
“[The talks] are all over. But they are negotiating. They’d like to do something, and we’ll see if something is going to be done,” he said.
“They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn’t work out. And we did ‘Midnight Hammer’, I don’t think they want that happening again,” he added, referring to the operation last June in which the US Air Force and Navy struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump, who has been pushing Teheran to agree to talks over its nuclear programme, has repeatedly threatened to attack the country again over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests. The US president sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf last week, leading to fears of a possible military confrontation.
The carrier strike group, which brought roughly 5,700 additional US troops, joined three destroyers and three littoral combat ships that were already in the region.
Tensions have been easing in recent days amid a push by regional powers for a resolution.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier on Tuesday that he had instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency”, provided that a “suitable environment exists”.
“These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests,” Pezeshkian added
[Aljazeera]
Seven million people’s cancer could be prevented each year, according to the first global analysis.
A report by World Health Organization (WHO) scientists estimates 37% of cancers are caused by infections, lifestyle choices and environmental pollutants that could be avoided.
This includes cervical cancers caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) infections which vaccination can help prevent, as well as a host of tumours caused by tobacco smoke from cigarettes.
The researchers said their report showed there is a “powerful opportunity” to transform the lives of millions of people.
Some cancers are inevitable – either because of damage we unavoidably build up in our DNA as we age or because we inherit genes that put us at greater risk of the disease.
But researcher Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram said “people are surprised to hear” that nearly four in 10 cancers can be prevented as it is “a substantial number”.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the WHO, analysed 30 preventable factors known to increase the risk of cancer.
These include smoking and ultraviolet (UV) radiation which can directly damage our DNA; obesity and too little physical activity which alter inflammation and hormones in the body to raise cancer risk; and air pollution which can wake up dormant cancer cells.
The agency’s report also looked at nine cancer-causing infections including HPV, hepatitis viruses which lead to liver cancer and the stomach bug H. pylori.
The team used data on cancer cases from 2022 and from the 30 risk factors a decade earlier – across 185 countries – to perform their statistical analysis.
The big three contributors to more than 18 million cancer cases around the world were found to be:
- smoking tobacco which caused 3.3 million cancers
- infections causing 2.3 million cancers
- alcohol use leading to 700,000 cancers
However, the overall figures mask a nuanced picture of cancer risk around the world.
There is a stark sex-divide with 45% of men’s cancers being preventable compared with 30% in women, partly down to higher levels of smoking among men.
In women living in Europe, the top three preventable causes of cancer are smoking, closely followed by infection and then obesity.
While in sub-Saharan Africa, infections dominate and account for nearly 80% of preventable cancers in women.
This means any measures to tackle these cancers would need to be tailored to each region or country.
“This landmark study is a comprehensive assessment of preventable cancer worldwide, incorporating for the first time infectious causes of cancer alongside behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks,” said Soerjomataram, the deputy head of the IARC Cancer Surveillance Unit.
“Addressing these preventable causes represents one of the most powerful opportunities to reduce the global cancer burden.”
The report, published in the journal Nature Medicine, showed lung cancer (linked to smoking and air pollution) stomach cancer (linked to H. pylori infection) and cervical cancer (linked to HPV infection) made up nearly half of all preventable cases of cancer.
Dr Andre Ilbawi, team lead for cancer control at WHO, said the study was “good news” as it showed something could be done and he pointed to the success of countries that have introduced policies to tackle smoking or vaccinate against HPV.
“The percentage of preventable cancers can change over time and our goal is to get it as close to zero as possible,” he said.
[BBC]
Spain has become the latest European country to make plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16.
“We will protect them from the digital Wild West,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
The ban, which still needs parliamentary approval, is part of a raft of changes that include making company executives responsible for “illegal or harmful content” on their platforms.
Australia became the world’s first country to bring in a ban last year, with others watching – and judging – its success.
France, Denmark and Austria have also announced that they are considering their own national age limits.
The UK government has launched a consultation on whether to implement a ban for under-16s.
Social media companies have argued that the bans would be ineffective, difficult to implement and could isolate vulnerable teenagers. Reddit is challenging Australia’s ban in the High Court.
“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” Sánchez said, describing social media as a place of “addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation [and] violence. “We will no longer accept that. We will protect them.”
Sánchez first mooted a possible ban in November, but on Tuesday, the plan was fleshed out.
Under the changes, social media platforms would be required to have effective age verification systems, “not just check boxes, but real barriers that work,” the prime minister explained, in a possible reference to the loopholes Australian children use to bypass checks – including simply using a photo of an adult.
The new laws would also criminalise manipulating algorithms to amplify illegal content.
“This is something created, promoted, and disseminated by certain actors whom we will investigate, as well as the platforms whose algorithms amplify disinformation in exchange for profit,” Sánchez said.
“Hiding behind code and claiming that technology is neutral is no longer acceptable.”
There would also be a new system designed to track “how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate”. No further details were given on how this would work.
Another measure, Sánchez said, would be to “investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by Grok [X’s AI tool], TikTok, and Instagram”.
The European Commission has launched an investigation into Grok over concerns it was used to create sexualised images of real people.
The UK has announced its own investigation into Grok and on Tuesday in France, the offices of X were raided by the Paris prosecutor’s cyber-crime unit as it looked into allegations of offences including unlawful data extraction and complicity in the possession of child pornography.
X is yet to respond to either investigation – the BBC has approached it for comment. It has previously characterised the French investigation as an attack on free speech.
[BBC]
Trump confirms talks with Iran as US military shoots down Iranian drone
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House erupts over suspension of Deputy Secretary General
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Colombo-Kandy railway line to be fully restored this year – Minister Bimal
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