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Mandhana, Voll, bowlers make it four in four for RCB

Published

4 weeks ago

2026/01/18

Priyan

Smriti Mandhana fell four short of a century [BCCI]

Smriti Mandhana became the ninth player to enter the 90s in the WPL. For a large part of her knock, she looked set to end the tournament’s century drought: she needed just four and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were 12 away from their 167-run target. She missed out though, falling for 96 off 61, but RCB went onto seal their fourth successive win.

Lucy Hamilton whose cameo with the bat earlier in the evening got Delhi Capitals (DC) to a total of 166, dived to her right at backward point to deny Mandhana and extend the WPL’s wait for its first centurion.

For a third time in this season, RCB’s new-ball bowlers had a big say in the win. Thanks to Lauren Bell and Savali Satghare, they picked up four wickets in the first nine balls after opting to chase. Shafali Verma then resisted with a half-century and aided by a 19-ball 36 by debutant Hamilton at No. 9, DC managed to get to a respectable total.

But it was never going to challenge RCB, especially with Mandhana being in sublime form. Georgia Voll struck an unbeaten half-century as well and ensured RCB got home with eight wickets and ten balls to spare.

RCB ended the Navi Mumbai leg of the WPL with an unblemished record in four games while DC were dealt their third defeat in four matches.

Playing her first WPL season, Bell has been a revelation for RCB with the new ball. She began with a short ball which Lizelle Lee pulled with disdain through backward square leg. But next ball, she speared in a swinging yorker on leg stump. Lee’s weight was on the back foot expecting another short ball and was bowled behind her legs. Two balls later, Bell got through Laura Wolvaardt’s bat-pad gap to castle her for a two-ball duck. Having bowled outswingers till then, Bell got one to nip back in from a length and had Wolvaardt play down the wrong line.

From the other end Satghare, brought in for Arundhati Reddy who was unwell, produced a double-strike of her own. Her Mumbai team-mate Jemimah Rodrigues greeted her by scooping her for four through fine leg first ball. But Satghare shifted the line to outside off and got it to move in a little. Rodrigues went for the dab but chopped it onto the stumps. On the very next ball, Marizanne Kapp could do little about a length ball that held its line and hit top of off. DC were 10 for 4 in the second over.

While the damage was being done at the other end, Shafali watched helplessly, having faced just the one ball – the first of the game. When her turn to take strike came in the third over, she shimmied down the track and missed a length ball. She looked to pull another but only got an under-edge. She mistimed a double towards midwicket before punching one off the middle of the bat to end the over. That got her going.

Shafali then hit two sixes in the next over from Satghare, followed it with two more fours in the fifth over. She had scored 30 of the 41 DC had after five overs, and was well set by the time Shreyanka Patil came on to bowl. She saw Niki Prasad being dropped on Patil’s first ball, and then got an outside edge for four. When her turn to take strike came, she went dot, six, six to help take 19 from the last over of the powerplay.

DC were 60 for 4 after six overs, but Shafali faced only four balls in the next four overs. She soon got to a 27-ball half-century and fell for a 41-ball 62 when she scythed a Bell slower ball to backward point.

Kapp had dismissed Grace Harris five times in 24 innings before Saturday, and that seemed to play on Harris’ mind. She looked tentative against the new ball, a single coming via an inside edge off Kapp. The DC allrounder got the better of Harris when she toe-ended a loft to wide mid-off. That brought Voll, who came in the XI for D Hemalatha, in at No. 3. While she took her time, Mandhana was at her fluent best.

She hit three fours – two pulls and one square drive – in Hamilton’s first over, then a four and a six off Kapp and Nandani Sharma respectively. Despite that RCB could manage only 37 for 1 in six overs. Mandhana then toyed with spinners N Shree Charani and Sneh Rana, getting back-to-back fours against each of them and got to fifty off 31 balls. She relied more on placement than power. Once Mandhana fell, Voll got to her half-century off 41 balls and sealed the win.

Mandhana and Voll added 142 for the second wicket, the third highest partnership for any wicket in the WPL, setting the tone for the Vadodara leg, which starts on January 19.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women 169 for 2 in 18.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 96, Georgia Voll 54*; Matizanne Kapp 1-21, Nandani Sharma 1-34) beat Delhi Capitals Women 166 in 20 overs (Shafali Varma 62, Niki Prasad 12, Sneh Rana 22, Lucy Hamilton 36, Shree Charani 11*; Lauren Bell 3-26, Sayali Satghare 3-27, Nadine de Klerk 1-31, Prema Rayat 2-16) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions – PM

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the forthcoming two teacher recruitment examinations will be conducted in accordance with the relevant court decisions pertaining to the ongoing legal proceedings and further noted that, taking into consideration the requests received, steps have been taken to make a request to Court’s approval to revise the conditions of the effective date of degree completion.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a meeting held at Monaragala Royal College to brief education authorities of the Monaragala District on the new education reforms.

Under the new education reforms, Smart Boards will be provided to 132 schools in the Monaragala District as part of the program to equip secondary schools with modern technology. As a symbolic step under this initiative, Smart Boards were presented to 10 secondary schools under the Prime Minister’s patronage. This program is being implemented with the intervention of the Digital Task Force operating under the Prime Minister’s Office. It was also emphasized that a new digital policy, formulated with special attention to child protection, will be introduced in April.

As part of her visit to the Monaragala District on the 13 th of February, the Prime Minister observed the implementation of the new learning methodologies introduced for Grade One under the new education reforms. She visited Kumbukkana Sri Shanmugam Tamil Maha Vidyalaya and Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala to observe the educational activities of Grade One students.

Considering the increase of student numbers and the development of infrastructure facilities, the Prime Minister also approved a proposal submitted by the School Development Society to rename Maduruketiya Maha Vidyalaya as Monaragala Dharmaraja Maha Vidyalaya.

Teachers briefed the Prime Minister that the new education system, supported by revised workbooks and activity-based learning methods, has proven to be effective, with students participating enthusiastically.

Addressing education officials further at the meeting held at Monaragala Royal College, the Prime Minister stated:

“Although this will not provide a complete solution to the existing teacher vacancies, these examinations can offer considerable relief. According to the Court’s previous determination, the effective date of degree completion had been set as 30.06.2025. However, considering numerous requests and following the cabinet approval we have sought Court’s consent to revise this date. We will act in accordance with the decision granted.

Funds allocated for school infrastructure must be utilized transparently and in line with proper planning, and progress must be reported accordingly. We cannot move forward by dividing ourselves along national, provincial, rural, or urban lines. As education authorities, you must make swift and accurate decisions based on correct data.

Further, discussions are already underway within the Piriven Committee of the Ministry of Education to develop Piriven education and to address the issues faced by Piriven teachers.”

The event was attended by the members of the Maha Sangha, Uva Province Governor Attorney-at-Law Kapila Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce R.M. Jayawardhana, Member of Parliament Ajith Agalakada, Uva Provincial Education Secretary Nihal Gunarathne, and several officials from the education sector.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

Latest News

Low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around 15th February

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Special Weather Bulletin issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
Issued at 10.30 a.m. on 13 February 2026

A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal around 15th February.

The general public are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard

Latest News

Kolkata the stage as England, Scotland resume auld rivalry

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/14

Priyan

Scotland were comfortable winners against Italy last time out [Cricinfo]

Scotland vs England. The sense of occasion isn’t lost on Scotland captain Richie Berrington. Earlier this week, Berrington dared to dream of the headlines should his side beat England in Kolkata a matter of hours before the Scotland rugby team face England in the Six Nations with the Calcutta Cup on the line.

Both Scotland teams are underdogs but, unlike their rugby counterparts who are licking their wounds after a poor showing against Italy last weekend, Berrington’s men are coming off the back of a resounding 73 run win over an Italian team making their debut at this tournament and ruffling some feathers along the way.

“That rivalry has always been there between Scotland and England, obviously a long history there between the two nations, it’s there in every sport,” Berrington said. “But yeah, next Saturday’s going to be exciting. We’ve also got the Scotland rugby team taking on England the same day, so it would make quite a nice headline if Scotland has two wins on the Saturday.”

As banana skins go, this should be one England back themselves to avoid. But it will be no easy stroll, especially with another unexpected obstacle down the road in Italy, surprise 10 wicket winners against Nepal, who had themselves pushed England to the max in their opening match of this T20 World Cup.

Both of England’s remaining group-stage opponents pose an element of the unknown, a point noted at the start of the tournament by Mark Watt, Scotland’s veteran left-arm spinner making his fifth World Cup appearance. “Quite funny thinking about the England analysis team trying to find club cricket games of some of our youngsters,” Watt said. “We’ve all had a laugh about that.” England have never played Italy and, in their only previous T20I meeting with Scotland – at the last World Cup in Barbados – George Munsey and Michael Jones staged an unbroken opening partnership worth 90 before the match was washed out.

Only Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid remain from the bowling line-up which took the field that day, the latter going at 13 runs an over from his two overs. And while those figures are reminiscent of Rashid’s three wicketless overs at 14.00 against Nepal, he turned that around against West Indies, where he was easily the pick of England’s bowlers in a losing cause on a turning Wankhede pitch.

If they trip up in their first outing in Kolkata, where Scotland have already played their first two matches of this World Cup, England’s last group encounter with Italy becomes crucial. So too does Scotland’s final clash with Nepal. On paper, England’s progression to the Super 8s should be assured, but they absolutely cannot take their Associate opponents lightly.

So far, this campaign has shown England need more consistency from their enviably deep batting line-up. Half-centuries to Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook still required the back-up of Will Jacks’ 18-ball 39 against Nepal and, even then, it took Sam Curran’s sublime death bowling to let them escape with victory. Against West Indies, it was Curran who ran out of partners and captain Brook believed his charges were too careful chasing. For Scotland, they need more than just the few plucky moments they produced in a 35-run loss to West Indies. They need everything to fire, as it did against Italy, and then some, to be in with a shot.

Three consecutive single-figure scores across this tournament and the Sri Lanka series that preceded it leave Tom Banton searching for runs, particularly amid calls for Harry Brook to leapfrog him into the No. 4 spot. An unbeaten 54 in a Player-of-the-Match performance against Sri Lanka in the second of their three games in the lead-up suggests the touch is there. Now he must rediscover it at a time when his side needs it most.

Having managed just one run against West Indies as Munsey too departed cheaply after a promising start, Michael Jones further highlighted the importance of Scotland’s opening duo with a 30-ball 37 in a 126-run stand – Munsey struck 84 off 54 – that set up victory over Italy. With the quality of the opposition now magnified, it is imperative that he supports his partner with an even bigger contribution to a union that could prove critical in getting enough runs on the board against England.

England confirmed an unchanged XI on the eve of the match, with Jamie Overton preferred to Luke Wood in the attack.

England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

Brad Wheal, who replaced Safyaan Sharif for the win over Italy, said Scotland had not made any decisions on their side.

Scotland: (possible) George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (wk), Mark Watt, Oliver Davidson, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie

[Cricinfo]