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The Women’s 100: Kapp, Capsey cap crushing win for Oval Invincibles
Fine all-round performances from Marizanne Kapp and Alice Capsey helped Oval Invincibles to a convincing win over Welsh Fire at the Kia Oval, despite a great knock from Sophia Dunkley.
Winning the toss and choosing to bat on her 35th birthday, Invincibles skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill chopped on first ball of the innings off Shabnim Ismail, not the birthday present she would have wanted.
Capsey countered, hitting Ismail for three consecutive fours. Meg Lanning soon joined the party, timing the ball sweetly against Freya Davies as Invincibles reached 41 for 1 after the 25-ball powerplay.
Lanning fell soon after, sweeping across the line to Katie Levick. However, replays suggested the ball hit her glove before her pad and she’d have been saved if she reviewed.
Capsey was joined by Kapp as Invincibles continued to accelerate. Capsey launched Jess Jonassen for a straight six followed by a slog-swept four, the England right-hander bringing up her 50 from 32 balls. She fell soon after, caught and bowled by the returning Ismail for 55 before Paige Scholfield top-edged Hayley Matthews into the hands of Sarah Bryce.
Amanda-Jade Wellington came out full of innovation, but it was Kapp who held the latter part of the innings together, helping Invincibles reach 150 – a target that felt above par on a surface that wasn’t all in the batters’ favour.
Dunkley hit the first ball of Fire’s chase for four before Matthews twice found the boundary in the first 10 balls of the innings bowled by Kapp.
Dunkley then hit Rachel Slater for four boundaries before Matthews found the rope off Sophia Smale. But the West Indies star fell to Wellington for 12, perfectly picking out Phoebe Franklin in the deep.
Kapp (2-24) returned and struck twice in two balls, getting Tammy Beaumont lbw for 5 before clean-bowling Georgia Elwiss. Jonassen was then caught at mid-off off Capsey (2-16), Fire in trouble at 67 for 4 with 84 still required from 48.
Dunkley brought up her half-century from 36 balls, Fire’s first of this year’s competition, but Bryce fell from the next delivery to further worsen their position. With 30 balls remaining, Fire still needed 61 and when Dunkley finally fell for 56 from 41, with her went the Fire’s chances.
Kapp, the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “We didn’t start off this tournament like we wanted to, but it feels like we’ve got a bit of momentum now.
“We started the same way last year, in the first two games we probably weren’t too far off our best and luckily it looks like things are improving.
“It was a different pitch to what we’re used to playing on here at The Oval. Capsey’s innings was brilliant and she allowed me to knock it around and get myself in. It’s good signs if we can adapt on different wickets.”
Brief scores:
Oval Invincibles Women 150 for 5 in 100 balls (Meg Lanning 23, Alice Capsey 55, Marizanne Kapp 47*, Amanda Jade Wellington 17; Shabnim Ismail 2-31,Katie Levick 1-30, Haley Matthews 2-18 ) beat Welsh Fire Women 111 in 97 balls (Sophia Dunkley 56, Hayley Matthews 12, Katie George 16; Marizanne Kapp 2-24, Sophia Smale 3-13, Amanda Jade Wellington 2-24, Tash Farrant 1-16, Alice Capsey 2-16) by 39 runs
[Cricinfo]
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Harris Rauf are among more than 950 players to have registered for the Hundred’s inaugural auctions next month, as the ECB faces scrutiny over whether new Indian investors will effect an IPL-style ‘shadow ban’ on Pakistani players.
No active Pakistan international has featured in the IPL since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, and only a handful of players have appeared for foreign franchises run by IPL ownership groups since their global expansion.
Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, insisted last year that the involvement of Pakistani players in the Hundred would be unaffected by the league’s privatisation, with four franchises now part-owned or fully run by IPL ownership groups.
But the BBC reported on Thursday that no IPL-owned Hundred teams will bid for Pakistani players at the auctions next month, citing messages from a “senior official” at the ECB to an agent. The ECB say that they have not been shown the messages in question and pushed back against the story, but Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, urged the board to address the issue more proactively.
“The ECB need to act fast on this,” Vaughan wrote on X. “They own the league and this should not be allowed to happen .. the most inclusive sport in the country is not one that allows this to happen.”
ESPNcricinfo has learned that more than 50 Pakistani players – including Afridi, Shadab, Rauf, Saim Ayub and Usman Tariq – have registered for next month’s draft, which will be held in Piccadilly, London on March 11 (women’s) and 12 (men’s).
Babar Azam and Mohamed Rizwan are notable absentees from the longlist of nominated players, though in any case their availability would be significantly limited by Pakistan’s scheduled Test series against West Indies in August. Pakistan’s limited-overs teams are not due to play in the Hundred’s window from July 21 to August 16.
Mustafizur Rahman the Bangladesh seamer whose contract with Kolkata Knight Riders was cancelled last month at the BCCI’s request, has also registered for the Hundred auction.
Only nine Pakistani players have featured in the first five seasons of the Hundred, with teams often reluctant to sign them on account of clashes with international fixtures and a handful of high-profile, late-notice withdrawals, including Afridi and Naseem Shah in 2024.
Four IPL franchises are now involved in the Hundred as part-owners or full owners: Mumbai Indians (MI London), Lucknow Super Giants (Manchester Super Giants), Sunrisers Hyderabad (Sunrisers Leeds) and Delhi Capitals (Southern Brave).
Teams run by Capitals co-owners and Southern Brave owners GMR Group have previously signed Pakistani players, including Imad Wasim, Zaman Khan (both Seattle Orcas) and Shan Masood (Hampshire). The other three franchises have not previously signed active Pakistan internationals for any of their teams.
Geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan escalated last year, and the recent group-stage match between the two teams at the T20 World Cup was nearly cancelled after the Pakistani government threatened to boycott the fixture.
An ECB spokesperson said: “The Hundred welcomes men’s and women’s players from all over the world and we would expect the eight teams to reflect that.
“Almost 1,000 cricketers from 18 nations have registered for The Hundred auction, with representation on the longlist of over 50 players respectively from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies.”
Franchises without IPL investors may see a potential ‘shadow ban’ as an opportunity to sign Pakistani players at next month’s auctions. The American-owned Desert Vipers picked four Pakistanis in the side that won the ILT20 final earlier this year and were the only team in the tournament to select Pakistani players.
James Thomas, Birmingham Phoenix’s performance director, told ESPNcricinfo that the franchise will be “really open” to signing overseas players regardless of nationality.
“Birmingham is a hugely diverse city,” Thomas said. “You’ve got to pick players for what they can bring in terms of performance but when you look at the bigger picture… We want our teams to be representative of the city and the region as well. If we align, and we get players who speak to the different demographics of the city, that’s brilliant.”
The longlist of players for the Hundred auctions includes several high-profile England players such as Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Joe Root (men’s) and Tammy Beaumont, Dani Gibson, Linsey Smith (women’s), though Ben Stokesis a notable absentee as he tapers his workload outside of his commitments as Test captain.
Sophie Devine, Beth Mooney and Deepti Sharma are among the overseas players available in the women’s auction, while Trent Boult, Aiden Markram and Sunil Narine have registered for the men’s. Most of Australia’s men’s Test players have not registered due to a clash with their home series against Bangladesh in August.
The auctions – which will be live-streamed, though not broadcast live – will both start with a marquee set of ‘hero’ players based on nominations submitted by the eight franchises. Each team has already made up to four pre auction signings, with new investment in the Hundred prompting a “reset” among the squads.
Salary caps in the Hundred have risen sharply for 2026 to £2.05 million (men’s) and £880,000 (women’s). Each team will also be permitted to field four overseas players per match, an increase from three in previous seasons.
[Cricinfo]
US President Donald Trump says he will direct US agencies, including the defence department, to “begin the process of identifying and releasing” government files on aliens and extraterrestrial life.
Trump made the declaration in a post on Truth Social, after he accused Barack Obama earlier in the day of revealing classified information when the former president said “aliens are real” on a podcast last week.
“He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding: “He made a big mistake.”
Asked if he also thinks aliens are real, Trump answered: “Well, I don’t know if they’re real or not.”
Former US President Obama told podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen that he thinks aliens are real in an interview released last Saturday.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51,” Obama said.
“There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
After the comment made headlines, Obama sought to clarify he thinks it’s statistically likely life exists beyond Earth, given the vastness of the universe.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, Obama, who served as US president between 2009-17, clarified: “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
Obama’s initial comments were made during a quickfire “lightning” round of questions on the podcast.
There was no indication that Obama relied on classified information when he gave the interview. The BBC has contacted Obama for comment. The Democrat and Trump, a Republican, are longstanding mutual political antagonists.
For his part, Trump said on Thursday on Air Force One that while a lot of people believe in the existence of aliens, he never talks about it, and “doesn’t have an opinion on it”.
Then a few hours later, he posted on Truth Social that “based on the tremendous interest shown” he will seek the release of files “related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters”.
In a 2024 report, the Pentagon said there was no evidence that the US government had encountered alien life, and that most UFO sightings were just ordinary objects.
In 2023, the US House of Representatives held a panel on unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAPs), known more colloquially as UFOs.
The hearing produced no major bombshells or confirmation of alien life.
[BBC]
Oman have suffered three heavy defeats to Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and Ireland at the 2026 T20 World Cup, and had been thumped by Australia the only other time these two teams met, at the 2024 edition. But captain Jatinder Singh says his team sees their final match of this tournament as an opportunity to surprise a wounded Australia team.
Australia have nothing to gain from the match against Oman in Pallekele on Friday, aside from preserving some pride. Perhaps the gloom around the Australia camp will give Oman an opening. In fact it might be “the best time to crush them”.
“One hundred percent this is an opportunity,” Jatinder said. “And our boys are looking forward to it. Because T20 is a game of momentum and the moments, and if you play those moments right, you can do anything on that particular day. Australia is not doing well at the moment… it is the best time to crush them.
“The boys are really positive. They are looking forward to the match against Australia to make their mark.”
On how to make Oman more competitive in the long term, Jatinder believed franchise cricket opportunities for Oman players could be one route. Oman did not have a heavy cricket schedule in 2025, playing only 15 T20Is that year in addition to eight ODIs.
“Well if I have to sum up how Oman can improve, it would be if we have the franchise cricket happening in the country or our guys get a chance to play franchise cricket elsewhere,” Jatinder said. “I think we can fill that gap and they can bring vast amount of experience for our national team.
“But if we don’t get to play competitive cricket, whereas other teams are getting to play the competitive cricket, we will need to fill that gap. There have been instances where we’ve been inviting the teams to come and play in Oman. The response has been really delayed, or we don’t get any response. So I think if we have the franchise cricket, that would really fill the gap.”
[Cricinfo]
ECB push back at Pakistan ‘shadow-ban’ reports ahead of Hundred auction
Mystery donor gives Japanese city $3.6m in gold bars to fix water system
Trump directs US government to prepare release of files on aliens and UFOs
‘Best time to crush’ Australia, says Oman captain Jatinder Singh
Fairly heavy showers likely in the Eastern province and in Matale, Badulla, Mullaitivu and Polonnaruwa districts
CEB trade unions hint at stringent industrial action after talks fail
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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