At 35, Marizzane Kapp shows no signs of slowing down. Her unbeaten 68 off 43 balls, which helped power South Africa’s highest World Cup total, was just the appetiser to the main course – a menacing opening burst that brought her 3 for 20 to knock Pakistan out of the Women’s World Cup. This set up a dominant 150 run-win (via DLS) on a rainy Colombo night, where the groundstaff miraculously delivered a result that didn’t seem possible at different stages of the night.
South Africa sealed their fifth win in a row that propelled them to the top of the points table, with one game still to play against Australia in Indore. It marked a sensational turnaround from an inauspicious start against England in Guwahati, three weeks ago, where they were shot out for 69 in a ten-wicket pounding.
With semi-final match-ups determined by group-stage standings, South Africa – who had already confirmed their spot – would’ve felt frustrated about sharing points had the game been washed out. Such a result would’ve left them third on the table, behind Australia and England due to an inferior net run-rate. Eventually, they managed to get in 20 overs in the second innings to constitute a game.
Sent in to bat, South Africa posted a mammoth 312 for 9 after the match was reduced to 40-overs-a-side with 140 minutes lost to the wet weather in the first innings. Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 306, Pakistan were undone by Kapp’s incredible new-ball burst that left their feeble top order in tatters at 35 for 4 in 10 overs before the rain returned. When play eventually resumed, Pakistan’s target was merely academic; 234 off 20 overs. South Africa’s spinners tucked into the wickets; Pakistan finished with 83 for 7.
Much of the drama from the second innings came before the lengthy rain interval in Pakistan’s chase. After Muneeba Ali toe-ended a slog to mid-on off Ayabonga Khaka, Kapp made a statement with the ball. Omaima Sohail was pinned plumb in front by a nip-backer, while Sidra Amin and Aliya Riyaz were out nicking to devious out swingers. Kapp’s figures read 5-0-20-3 at that point to go with her unbeaten half-century, one of three in the South African innings.
Laura Wolvaardt, the captain, had top scored with 90. Her 118-run second-wicket stand off 92 balls with Sune Luus set the game up, before Kapp and Nadine de Klerk applied the finishing touches against an attack that looked nowhere near as threatening on a sticky Colombo pitch.
De Klerk came in to bat with four overs remaining, and muscled 41 off 16 balls from No. 8 as South Africa walloped 72 off the last five overs. South Africa hit 11 sixes in all, the most a team has hit in a single innings in all World Cups; de Klerk and Kapp alone muscled seven between them.
After Tazmin Brits bagged a third straight duck, Wolvaardt seemed in fine nick from get-go, negating any early movement the seamers may have got by stepping out to take the attack to the bowlers. Luus was a bit rusty, playing out 11 dots before getting off the mark with a slog sweep for six off left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal.
That helped trigger an onslaught as Luus raised her fifty – her 17th in ODIs – with a reverse sweep off Iqbal. While she fell soon after, Wolvaardt continued to pile on the runs, bringing up her own half-century off just 42 balls in the 18th over.
She went inside out over extra cover when the spinners looked to attack the stumps by going leg-side of the ball. And when they attempted to bowl outside leg, she was able to pepper the gaps between long-on and deep midwicket.
Pakistan briefly found some respite, when they had Annerie Dercksen run out hot on the heels of Luus’ dismissal. However, that brought more misery for them, as Kapp joined forces with Wolvaardt and raised a 64-run stand at better than a run-a-ball.
Wolvaardt was in sight of a hundred, when she ran past a sharp-turning ball from Sandhu to be stumped, in what was a double-wicket over that left South Africa 212 for 5 in 32 overs. Kapp then shifted gears in de Klerk’s company to inflict carnage on a hapless Pakistan attack.
Brief scores: South Africa Women 312 for 9 in 40 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 90, Sune Luus 61, Marizzane Kapp 68*, Nadine de Klerk 41; Sadia Iqbal 3-63, Nashra Sandhu 3-45) beatPakistan Women 83 for 7 in 20 overs (Sidra Amin 13, Natalia Pervaiz 20, Sidra Nawaz 22*; Marizzane Kapp 3-20, Ayabonga Khaka 1-14, Nondumiso Shangase 2-19) by 150 runs via DLS method
Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasooriya in her Environment Day message said that the environment is the foundation of our livelihood and called upon all Sri Lankans to come forward with the responsibility in mind to bequeath a secure a secure, prosperous and green planet to future generations.The PM’s Environment Day message:
“The environment is the foundation of our livelihood. It is the responsibility of the government to bequeath a secure, prosperous, and green planet to future generations.
In line with the global theme, “Urgent Climate Action,” and guided by the vision of “A Sustainable Biosphere – An Evergreen Life,” Sri Lanka commemorates World Environment Day this year at a critical moment. Drawing lessons from the climate-related challenges we have recently experienced, special attention has been directed toward protecting the water catchment areas of the central highlands and restoring ecosystems.
Under the theme “Dalulanna Idadenna” ( Let it Bloom), the Ministry of Environment has organized a series of programmes across the island to mark World Environment Day. These initiatives include environmental conservation inspired by religious values, awareness programmes on climate change, the protection of the Diyawanna Oya, the development of infrastructure in the wildlife sector, the conservation of water resources, and the promotion of medicinal plant cultivation, and through these efforts, it is evident that environmental conservation has evolved beyond a mere concept and become a practical and active commitment.
At this significant moment in our nation’s history, as more than 63,000 hectares of forest land have been gazetted as protected reserves through the “Wanaspathi” National Programme, which was launched last year, every citizen must resolve to live in harmony with the environment.
Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) were ordered to shelter in an attached spacecraft after the structure suddenly started leaking more air.
Five of the seven crew were directed to go into the docked SpaceX shuttle Dragon “Freedom” on Friday afternoon and were braced for a potential evacuation.
Meanwhile, two remaining personnel – a pair of Russian cosmonauts – attempted to repair a part of the Russian segment of the ISS, where the leaks had started increasing on Monday.
The repairs were paused and the crew ordered back onto the ISS by Nasa on Friday afternoon.
Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived on the ISS in February, had been sheltering on the docked ship, along with another astronaut Chris Williams.
They had been told to put on their spacesuits so they were ready to undock and return to Earth at short notice.
The Dragon effectively functions as a lifeboat – attached to the station but ready to detach the moment the order is given.
The trigger for the order was a worsening air leak in the transfer tunnel, known as PrK, leading to a section of the Russian segment of the station called the Zvezda service module.
Russian cosmonauts, station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, attempted to fix the problem. Their escape route was the separately docked Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.
It is not the first time the station has had to deal with this problem – the cracks responsible have persisted on and off for around six years.
However, following the arrival of a Russian cargo ship last month, the Russian space agency Roscosmos noticed a fresh slow pressure drop in the tunnel, prompting the decision to move beyond patchwork fixes and attempt a more extensive repair operation on Friday.
(Left to right) Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, Nasa astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot [BBC]
But it was the method they were planning to use that prompted the order to take shelter, according to news agency Reuters.
Kud-Sverchkov and Mikayev were said to be using a saw to try and get into an area to access the crack that was leaking air.
Nasa disagreed with the method they were using and mission control in Houston ordered five crew to take “safe-haven” procedures on the Dragon ship.
When Roscosmos told their crew to pause repairs, Nasa instructed the astronauts to return to the station.
Nasa spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said on X: “Given this development, Nasa has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station.”
Russian news agency Tass, citing Roscosmos, reported that nothing had been threatening the safety of the crew or the ISS’s onboard systems.
The ISS, which spans the length of a football field, is the largest human-made object in space.
It has been continuously operated by a US-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries since 1998.
Maja Chwalinska lost in the Wimbledon second round (2022) and Australian Open first round (2025) in her only two previous Grand Slam appearances (BBC)
Qualifier Maja Chwalinska is one win away from a fairytale French Open triumph after setting up a final showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The Polish world number 114, who had only ever won one match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, continued her astonishing run at Roland Garros by beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three weeks and nine matches after her French Open campaign began, Chwalinska dropped to the ground after firing in the 32nd and final winner of another scintillating display.
With that, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and the crowd chanted her name as she spoke in her post-match interview.
On Saturday, she will attempt to become only the second qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam after Britain’s Emma Raducannu at the 2021 US Open.
It would be a fitting conclusion to a French Open filled with spectacular shocks from the outset.
But, on the evidence of her dominant victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the in-form Andreeva will provide the sternest test of her credentials to date.
A beaten semi-finalist in 2024, the 19-year-old was hugely impressive in a 6-1 6-3 victory that made her the third-youngest woman to reach the Roland Garros showpiece this century, after Coco Gauff and Kim Clijsters.
Should she prevail in her first major final, eighth seed Andreeva would become the third-youngest first-time Grand Slam champion this century, after Maria Sharapova and Raducanu.
