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Lee, Shafali and Rodrigues fire Delhi Capitals into their fourth straight final
An explosive opening stand from Lizelle Lee and Shafali Verma combined with an excellent bowling effort from Chinelle Henry propelled Delhi Capitals (DC) past Gujarat Giants (GG) in the Eliminator, securing their fourth straight WPL final. DC will now face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final in Vadodara on February 5.
In the 169 chase, Lee and Shafali laid the platform, clearing off more than half the target with an 89-run opening stand. Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt then combined for a 68-run partnership, as DC completed the chase with 26 balls remaining.
Put in to bat, GG had historically thrived in this scenario, winning all their five games this season batting first. But their innings never got off the ground., starting with Sophie Devine, their most impactful player this season, departing in the second over. After being squared up by a Henry delivery that curved away late, Devine went for a big shot against a back-of-a-length ball outside off, only to edge it to Lee, who took a sensational one-handed catch to her right.
Nandani Sharma then inflicted more damage, removing Anushka Sharma and Ashleigh Gardner off back-to-back deliveries in the sixth over. With that, Nandani went past Saika Ishaque for most wickets by an Indian in a WPL edition. She now has 16 wickets, just one shy of Devine’s 17, the most this season. Minnu Mani then struck to leave GG tottering at 59 for 4.
GG found their footing despite the early damage with Beth Mooney, who had been a spectator as wickets tumbled at the other end, taking control. After GG went 33 balls without a single boundary, she broke free by hitting N Shree Charani for a four.
Georgia Wareham offered timely support, rotating the strike and picking off the occasional boundary, before providing a momentum boost by striking the first six of the match, a crisp flick over mid-off, again off Charani. The pair carried GG’s total past 100 and brought up a 50-run partnership. But Henry returned to bowl the 17th over and Wareham sliced her straight to Wolvaardt at deep cover, and Bharti Fulmali was then bowled for a duck.
Mooney, though, batted on, and alongside Kashvee Gautam, struck six boundaries in the final three overs to lift GG to 168. Her 62 not out off 51 balls, spanning from first ball to last, once again underlined her value under pressure.
DC’s opening pair of Lee and Shafali had fired in isolation this season, but in the Eliminator, they clicked in tandem. Giants thought they had Lee caught behind in the second over and burned a review, only for UltraEdge to show a flat line as the ball passed the bat. Within the first three overs, the duo had clattered four boundaries.
Shafali then capitalised on a chaotic over from Devine, which swung the momentum DC’s way. After swinging and missing at a full delivery that raced away for four byes, Devine then sprayed one down the leg side to concede five wides. Shafali made them pay soon after, first easing a slot ball through the covers, and then, driving another over mid-off. Then followed a 21-run over, with Shafali and Lee hitting a combined five boundaries off Renuka Singh. They took DC to 64 in five overs – a stark contrast to Giants’ 64 for 4 at the 10-over mark.
Lee kept the tempo high, taking Rajeshwari Gayakwad for a four and a six, as DC surged to 75 in the powerplay. The openers continued to find the fence, until Wareham struck in the eighth over, removing both in quick succession to finally halt Giants’ momentum.
Wolvaardt and Rodrigues then made sure there were no more hiccups. Wolvaardt got going immediately, with a fluent drive through the covers, as the duo played one classy shot after the other, getting DC’s equation down to less than run-a-ball.
When Gardner served one right into the slot outside off, Rodrigues unfurled her arms and sent it over mid-off for a massive six. Wolvaardt also joined in on the fun, producing a moment of pure elegance against Gayakwad, skipping down the track to a flighted delivery and swinging cleanly to send it over long-on for a six.
By the time Rodrigues got out, after scoring 41 off 23, DC needed just nine runs off 31 balls. Marizanne Kapp finished it off in the 16th over, launching Wareham back over her head for four to send Capitals into yet another final.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals Women 169 for 3 in 15.4 overs (Lizelle Lee 43, Jemimah Rodrigues 41, Laura Wolvaardt 32*, Shafali Verma 31; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 1-33 Georgia Wareham 2-28) beat Gujarat Giants Women 168 for 7 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 62, Anushka Sharma 16, Georgia Wareham 35, Kashvee Gautam 18; Chinelle Henry 3-35, Nandani Sharma 2-44, Minu Mani 1-23) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Kegalle, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 28 April 2026, valid for 29 April 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Kegalle,
Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
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US press gala shooting suspect charged with attempting to kill Trump
Federal authorities in the United States have charged the suspect who allegedly shot a US Secret Service agent as he tried to breach security at a press gala attended by Donald Trump with attempting to assassinate the US president.
Cole Thomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, also faces firearms charges in a three-count complaint, prosecutors announced on Monday.
In the case of a conviction, the attempted assassination of Trump carries out a sentence of up to life in prison.
Allen wore a blue prison jumpsuit at his first appearance in Washington, DC, federal court, two days after authorities said they foiled an attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians in the US capital.
“He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump”, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine said in court.
Allen has not yet responded to the allegations. Seated at the defence table flanked by US Marshals, Allen said he would answer all questions truthfully and that he had a master’s degree in computer science.
US Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh ordered Allen detained while the case moves forward. Sharbaugh scheduled another hearing over Allen’s continued detention for Thursday.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, DC, said further charges could be filed against Allen as the investigation proceeds.
“Make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the president of the United States, with the defendant making clear what his intent was – and that intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking cabinet officials as he could,” Pirro told reporters on Monday.
She cited an alleged manifesto written by the suspect, saying that his targets were administration officials “prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest”.
Pirro added that Allen allegedly had a semiautomatic pistol, a shotgun and three knives. She said authorities believe the guns were purchased in California.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Allen travelled via train from his home near Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington.
[Aljazeera]
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Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar lead rout of Delhi Capitals
On Saturday, Delhi served up a belter of a pitch on which 265 played 264. Two days later, the adjacent surface produced a passage of play straight out of a spicy Test-match session. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood maximised the swing and bounce on offer in the early exchanges to raze through Delhi Capitals. DC crumpled to 8 for 6 – their powerplay score of 13 was the lowest in a full IPL game – and were in danger of being dismissed for the lowest total in the league.
Contributions from the lower order helped them avoid that ignominy and dragged them to 75. Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed the demolition job with nine wickets and 81 balls to spare. They narrowed Punjab Kings’ lead at the top of the table to just one point and boosted their NRR.
The carnage began with Bhuvneshwar yorking IPL debutant Sahil Parakh for a two-ball duck in the first over and ended with DC being decimated for the lowest powerplay score.
The Delhi pitch didn’t misbehave, but offered swing and bounce throughout the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood made the most of it to return figures of 3-0-5-3 and 3-0-8-3 respectively in the first six overs. At the innings break, Bhuvneshwar said that he was surprised that the ball swung for so long. Safe to say so were the DC batters.
Parakh, picked ahead of Prithvi Shaw, came in as a player with considerable reputation for an 18-year old. DC’s director of cricket Venugopal Rao believes he can play for India one day, but on Monday, his IPL debut lasted all of two balls. Bhuvneshwar hit his edge first ball with an outswinger and knocked out his middle stump with an inswinger next ball.
In the second over, Hazlewood hit the perfect length – neither short or full – with his first ball to KL Rahul and had him top-edging a pull to the wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Hazlewood pushed his length and line fuller and wider next ball and found late away movement to have Sameer Rizvi nicking to Jitesh for a golden duck.
Tristan Stubbs denied Hazlewood a hat-trick, but in the next over he too edged behind, off Bhuvneshwar. With two slips in play, including a wide one, Rajat Patidar ramped up the pressure on DC and empowered his bowlers to keep attacking. When Bhuvneshwar also kissed Axar Patel’s edge, DC were 7 for 5 in the third over.
It soon became 8 for 6 when Hazlewood dug a snorter into Nitish Rana’s arm pit from around the wicket. Rana took his eyes off the ball and ended up fending it to Padikkal.
Even RCB couldn’t believe what had just transpired. Tim David covered his face in disbelief.
A dust storm, which caused a brief stoppage, and a 35-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Abhishek Porel and David Miller then gave DC some respite.
DC had pressed the emergency switch and brought Porel in as an Impact Player following the fall of the fifth wicket. The first shot of authority came from Porel when he swatted Rasikh Dar over midwicket for four soon after the powerplay.
Miller also seemed fairly comfortable against RCB’s change bowlers before Rasikh drew a top edge with a short ball that stopped on the batter. Batting at No.8 for the first time in his 565-match T20 career, Miller was dismissed for 19 off 18 balls.
Kyle Jamieson hit the first six of the game when he launched Romario Shepherd over square leg in the 11th over, but two overs later, Krunal Pandya pinned him lbw for 12 off 13 balls.
Porel hung around for 33 balls for 30 runs before he was the last man dismissed. He was also the only DC batter to pass 20 and took them past the lowest IPL total of 49. Hazlewood made a mess of his stumps with a searing yorker that tailed in from around the wicket.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77 for 1 in 6.3 overs (Jacob Bethell 20, Virat Kohli 23*, Devdutt Padikkal 34*; Kyle Jamieson 1-42) beat Delhi Capitals 75 in 16.3 overs (AbishekPorel 30, David Miller 19, Kyle Jamieson 12; Josh Hazlewood 4-12, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-05, RasikhnSalman 1-21, Suyashb Sharma 1-07, Krunal Pandya 1-09) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
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