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WWC 2025: Gardner upstages Devine as Australia kick off with a win

Published

5 months ago

2025/10/2

Priyan

Sophie Devine's knock of 111 went in vain [Cricinfo]

Two solo century acts lit up the Australia-New Zealand World Cup contest in Indore. It was Ashleigh Gardner’s which proved to be the match-winning one, while Sophie Devine’s effort went in vain, as defending champions Australia opened their campaign with an 89-run win.

Gardner rescued Australia from a precarious position, helping them recover from 128 for 5 to post 326, by smashing 115 off 83 balls. It was a total that required a record chase, with the highest ever chase in women’s ODIs being 302. Devine was left to do the heavy-lifting after early wickets, but could not keep up with the scoreboard pressure. She finished with 111, her ninth century in ODIs, while New Zealand could only muster 237 in 43.2 overs.

Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield started positively after Australia opted to bat. Litchfield was particularly adept at using her feet, as she came down the track often to play her big shots. Even after Healy departed in the fifth over, Litchfield continued to pile on the runs in the company of Ellyse Perry, targeting the off side for her big hits.

Litchfield adjusted well to the lengths of the fast bowlers and began to place the ball in the gaps, looking on track for a big score after taking Australia to 81 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. But the introduction of Amelia Kerr in the ninth over turned the game. In the first ball of the over, she executed the perfect googly that pitched outside leg and turned into the left-handed Litchfield, who played down the wrong line and was bowled. The wicket was also Amelia’s 100th in ODIs.

New Zealand put the squeeze on Australia after Litchfield’s wicket, conceding just 20 runs between the 11th and 17th overs. Kerr particularly made run-scoring a task for the Australia batters, mixing googlies, flight and control during her spell. The experienced Lea Tahuhu triggered a mini collapse, starting with Perry’s wicket in the 18th over. Annabel Sutherland was the next one to go in the following over, with Kerr having her caught at mid-on. Australia then lost their third wicket in the space of 24 balls, with Beth Mooney dismissed tamely for 12.

The rearguard for Australia came in the form of Gardner. She was aggressive from the start, getting off the mark with a punch over extra cover. Gardner took on the spinners and fast bowlers alike, particularly punishing them through the covers and down the ground. She stamped her authority as she danced down the track to hit Kerr for a six to bring her half-century off 43 balls.

Gardner did not take her foot off the gas even as wickets fell around her, hurrying to her century in the next 34 balls. She soaked in the applause of the 8900-strong crowd in Indore, hosting its first-ever women’s ODI, as she celebrated her game-changing innings.

New Zealand’s chase started chaotically, with Georgia Plimmer run out without facing a ball in the first over after a mix-up. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, returning to ODIs for the first time since December 2024 after an injury layoff, was given the new ball with Kim Garth, and the move paid off. Molineux removed the experienced Suzie Bates for a duck in the second over to leave New Zealand in tatters.

New Zealand were 24 for 2 at the end of nine overs, but Kerr broke the pressure with a flurry of boundaries in the tenth over off Darcie Brown. But with Sutherland and Alana King bowling in tandem, Kerr toiled for her runs while Devine occasionally found the gaps. From 28 off 30 balls, Kerr laboured to 33 off 55 before being dismissed by King next ball.

The first six of New Zealand’s innings came when Devine walked down to Gardner to pump her into the sightscreen, and soon brought up a 69-ball half-century. Brooke Halliday hit the second one, off King, and followed it up with a boundary, but King had the last laugh, dismissing her for 28.

The asking rate had ballooned to ten by then. With Australia’s spinners making New Zealand work hard for the runs, Devine feasted on some wayward bowling from Brown in the 36th over, hitting her for four consecutive boundaries to move into the 90s. Brown had come into the XI in place of premier pacer Megan Schutt.

Despite New Zealand needing 107 off 54 balls and wickets falling around her, Devine kept a cool head and hit a six over deep midwicket to raise her century. But a triple-wicket 43rd over by Sutherland, in which she dismissed Devine, Jess Kerr and Eden Carson, all but quashed New Zealand’s slim hopes. Molineux wrapped up New Zealand’s innings in the following over to finish with 3 for 25 on her return.

Brief scores:
Australia Women 326 in 49.3 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 115, Phoebe Litchfield 45, Ellyse Perry 35, Tahlia McGrath 26, Kim Garth 38; Bree Illing 2-75, Jess Kerr 3-59, Amelia Kerr 2-54, Lea Tahuhu 3-42) beat New Zealand Women 237 in 43.2 overs (Amelia Kerr 33, Sophie Devine 111, Brooke Halliday 28, Maddy Green 20, Issabella Gaze 28; Sophie Molineux 3-25, Annabel Sutherland 3-26, Alana King 2-44) by 89 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Agha calls for ‘sportsman spirit’ after controversial dismissal

Published

4 hours ago

2026/03/14

Priyan

Salman Agha reacted furiously after his controversial dismissal [BBC]

Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.

Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.

Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.

“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”

Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.

“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”

Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”

He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.

“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.

Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.

[Cricinfo]

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US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island

Published

5 hours ago

2026/03/14

Priyan

The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, has been hit by a missile – video shows fire and smoke rising in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says “every military target” on Iran’s key oil island has been “totally obliterated”, but there was no damage to oil infrastructure.

Kharg Island is a tiny but strategic terminal in the northern Gulf, 22 miles off the coast of Iran In response, Tehran warns oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that co-operate with the US will be “turned into a pile of ashes” if Iran’s energy facilities are attacked

Elsewhere in the Middle East: Israel and Iran both warn of fresh attacks, and at least 12 medical staff have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon

Meanwhile, more US Marines and warships are expected to be deployed to the Middle East, two officials tell BBC’s partner CBS News

[BBC]

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Bahrain & Saudi Arabia Grands Prix to be cancelled

Published

14 hours ago

2026/03/14

Priyan

The grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were scheduled for next month (BBC)

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix that were scheduled for next month are set to be cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.

A formal decision to call off the races has not yet been made but is expected before the end of the weekend.

Freight would need to start being shipped to the Middle East in the coming days. With no sign of the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran coming to a conclusion, holding the races would put personnel at too great a risk.

Neither event will be replaced, with the season being cut to 22 grands prix and F1 taking a commercial hit of more than £100m, given Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the highest hosting fees.

The race in Bahrain was scheduled to be on 12 April with Jeddah the following weekend.

Consideration was given to holding events at Portimao in Portugal, Imola in Italy or Istanbul Park in Turkey.

But it was accepted that the time to organise a race at any of those locations was too short, and there was little chance of securing a hosting fee.

The decision will mean there is a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March and Miami on 3 May.

(BBC)