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Luus and Wolvaardt lead South Africa’s fightback after Rana’s eight-for
For the second consecutive day, South Africa’s batters showed great grit to stay in the game after being put on the back foot by the India bowlers in the one-off women’s Test in Chennai. If Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp fought hard on the second day after India declared at 603 for 6, Luus was at it again on Sunday, in the company of Laura Wolvaardt this time, which helped South Africa cut down the deficit to 105 runs after they were bowled out for 266 in the first innings.
At stumps on the third day, South Africa were 232 for 2 in their second innings, with Luus scoring her first Test hundred and Wolvaardt remaining unbeaten on 93. South Africa will hope for more of the same on the fourth and final day to push the game to a draw.
It was an eventful opening session for India on a hazy morning where Sneh Rana’s sensational bowling on a pitch offering more turn fetched her five wickets – to go with three from Saturday – to give her figures of 8 for 77. South Africa lost six wickets for 30 runs after starting the day on 236 for 4.
Rana got the first breakthrough in her third over, the fifth of the day, when she dismissed a well-set Kapp for 74 with an almost unplayable delivery. Kapp was done in by the extra bounce as the ball, after pitching on off and middle, popped up to beat her outside edge and take the top of off stump. This triggered a collapse as three balls later, Rana removed Sinalo Jafta, who inside-edged one to Shubha Satheesh at short leg.
Three overs later, Deepti Sharma picked up her second wicket. This time the ball stayed low when debutant Annerie Dercksen missed with her prod and was hit on her back pad. South Africa took the review but it was in vain. In the following over, Rana took her sixth when Nadine de Klerk perished whipping towards square leg where Rajeshwari Gayakwad dived in front to complete the catch. No. 7 and No. 8 came soon after as Rana finished off the innings.
Rana became only the second Indian woman to pick up eight wickets in an innings in Test cricket after Neetu David, now India’s chair of selectors, who took 8 for 53 in a two run loss against England in Jamshedpur in 1995.
India enforced the follow-on with South Africa 337 runs behind. They then lost Anneke Bosch early to low bounce when she was trapped in front by Deepti in the first over. But Wolvaardt nailed her cover drives and looked assured in her approach.
At lunch, South Africa were 29 for 1. India struggled from that point, going wicketless for close to 66 overs across the second and third sessions.
In this period, Luus and Wolvaardt shared a mammoth 190-run partnership for the second wicket to provide South Africa hope of a draw. It was South Africa’s highest partnership for any wicket in women’s Tests.
South Africa came out in the afternoon session determined to play the long game and they succeeded, scoring 95 runs in 34 overs to take tea at 124 for 1. Luus, who made 65 off 164 balls in the first innings, carried forward that form and temperament, moving to 64 off 121 balls at the end of the second session.
Having been trapped lbw to one that kept low from Rana in the first innings, Wolvaardt used the depth of the crease more in the second dig. She pulled short deliveries through square leg and drove the fuller ones to long-on.
India toiled hard to break the stand with Harmanpreet Kaur trying as many as seven bowlers, including herself. But they weren’t disciplined with their lengths and speeds. Perhaps not being used to such a long time in the middle affected them. Deepti also dropped two catches – Kapp benefiting both times – in the last two overs of the day.
Wolvaardt and Luus, though, reaped the rewards of patience on a pitch that got slower after the first session.
Consuming more than 200 balls meant Luus and Wolvaardt also had gotten used to the low bounce, with only the odd delivery popping up in the last two sessions of the day. Luus spent 234 minutes at the crease, hitting 18 fours. When she reached her half-century, Luus brought out the rocking-baby-cradle celebration, a gesture for the team’s strength and conditioning coach Zane Webster, who is an expectant father. She scored her maiden century in the final session, and became only the second South African to score a hundred in India in women’s Tests.
The huge stand was finally broken by Harmanpreet when she cleaned up Luus in the 74th over. The low bounce came to her aid as Luus went back to pull but missed.
With Kapp at the other end, Wolvaardt marched on to finish unbeaten. That has raised hopes of a South African lead on the last day, a scenario that looked near-impossible at the start of Sunday.
For India, Jemimah Rodrigues was off the field for a majority of the last two sessions because of cramps.
Brief scores:
South Africa Women 232 for 2 in 85 overs (Sunee Luus 109, Laura Wolvaardt 93*, Harmanpreet Kaur 1-24, Deepti Sharm 1-56) and 266 in 84.3 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 20, Anneke Bosch 39, Marizanne Kapp 74, Sune Luus 65, Nadine de Klerk 39; Sneh Rana 8-77, Deepti Sharma 2-47) trail India Women 603 for 6 dec in 115.1 overs (Shafali Verma 205, Smriti Mandhana 149, Jemimah Rodrigues 55, Richa Ghosh 86, Harmanpreet Kaur 69; Delmi Tucker 2-141) by 105 runs
US President Donald Trump has signed an order to strip back federally funded news organisation Voice of America, accusing it of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.
A White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda”, and included quotes from politicians and right-wing media criticising the broadcaster.
VOA, still primarily a radio service, was set up during World War Two to counter Nazi propaganda. It says it currently reaches hundreds of millions of people globally each week.
Mike Abramowitz, VOA’s director, said he and virtually his entire staff of 1,300 people had been put on paid leave.
Abramowitz said that the order left VOA unable to carry out its “vital mission… especially critical today, when America’s adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States”.
The National Press Club, a leading representative group for US journalists, said the order “undermines America’s long-standing commitment to a free and independent press”.
It added: “If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?
“An entire institution is being dismantled piece by piece. This isn’t just a staffing decision – it’s a fundamental shift that endangers the future of independent journalism at VOA.”
The president’s order targets VOA’s parent company US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also funds non-profit entities such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were originally set up to counter communism.
It tells managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law”.
CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, said that VOA employees were notified in an email by Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director.
A source told CBS that all freelance workers and international contractors were told there was now no money to pay them.
Emails obtained by CBS notified the bosses of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that their federal grants had been terminated.
VOA and other stations under USAGM say they serve more than 400 million listeners. They are broadly equivalent to the BBC World Service, which is part-funded by the British government.
The Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, said he hoped the European Union could help keep Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty running in Prague.
He said he would ask European foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday to find ways to at least partially maintain the broadcaster’s operations.
Elon Musk, the billionaire and top adviser to Trump who has been overseeing sweeping cuts to the US government, has used his social media platform X to call for VOA to be shut down.
The US president also cut funding to several other federal agencies – including those responsible for preventing homelessness, and funding museums and libraries.
Trump was highly critical of VOA in his first term. He has recently appointed staunch loyalist Kari Lake to be a special adviser for the USAGM.
The president regularly states that mainstream media outlets are biased against him. He called CNN and MSNBC “corrupt” during a speech at the justice department.
Voice of America launched in 1942 with a mandate to combat Nazi and Japanese propaganda. Its first broadcast – made on a transmitter loaned to the US by the BBC – stated a modest purpose.
Gerald Ford, a former president, signed VOA’s public charter in 1976 to safeguard its editorial independence.
By 1994, the Broadcast Board of Governors, with oversight over non-military broadcasting, was established.
In 2013, a shift in legislation allowed VOA and affiliates to begin broadcasting in the US.
[BBC]
Corbin Bosch has been served legal notice by the PCB, alleging breach of contractual obligations, after the South Africa allrounder signed for Mumbai Indians for IPL 2025, thus pulling out of PSL 2025.
This season is the first in which the PSL will be played concurrently with the IPL: The IPL will run from March 22 to May 25, and the PSL from April 11 to May 18. Bosch had been picked by Peshawar Zalmi, in the diamond category, at the PSL draft that was held in January. But on March 8, it was announced by Mumbai Indians that he would be replacing the injured Lizaad Williams in their squad.
The PSL franchises have been keen to take some sort of action on Bosch, as they are worried it could set a precedent for players signing up with the PSL but then switching to the IPL. The idea of an outright ban on such players has also been floated in informal discussions.
A PCB statement said: “The legal notice was served through his agent, and the player has been asked to justify his actions of withdrawing from his professional and contractual commitments. The PCB management has also outlined the repercussions of his departure from the league and expects his response within the stipulated time frame. The PCB will not make any further comments on the matter.”
The statement did not specify what the time frame was for Bosch to respond.
The PCB had shifted the PSL window with a view to improve the quality and availability of overseas players whom the league would be able to sign. When the PSL was in the February-March window, it also had to compete with the SA20, ILT20 and the BPL for players. ESPN Cricinfo had reported last year when the window was changed that holding the PSL draft after the IPL auction had also been discussed, to have greater clarity about the availability of overseas players for the league. Leading into this season, the IPL auction was held in November 2024 and the PSL draft in January 2025.
The PSL draft duly attracted a large number of high-profile players, including David Warner, Daryl Mitchell, Jason Holder, Rassie van der Dussen and Kane Williamson.
[Cricinfo]
The death toll from US strikes on Yemen has risen to 53, including five children, the Houthi rebels’ health ministry said.
The US said it launched a “decisive and powerful” wave of air strikes on Houthi targets on Saturday, with President Donald Trump citing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea as the reason.
Washington said some key Houthi figures were among the dead, but the group has not confirmed this.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that his militants would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the US continues its attacks on Yemen.
Updating an earlier death toll, Houthi health ministry spokesperson Anis al-Asbahi posted on X that 53 people had been killed including “five children and two women”, and that 98 people had been wounded.
One father of two, who gave his name as Ahmed, told the AFP news agency: “I’ve been living in Sanaa for 10 years, hearing shelling throughout the war. By God, I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”
The Houthis also said there were fresh US strikes targeting them in Al Jaouf and Hudaydah early on Monday. The US is yet to comment.
US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz told ABC News that Saturday’s strikes “targeted multiple Houthi leaders and took them out”.
He told Fox News: “We just hit them with overwhelming force and put Iran on notice that enough is enough.”
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an “unrelenting” missile campaign until the Houthi attacks stop.
“I want to be very clear, this campaign is about freedom of navigation and restoring deterrence,” Hegseth said in a televised Fox Business interview.
The Houthis said it would continue to target Red Sea shipping until Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza, and that its forces would respond to the strikes.
The Iranian-backed rebel group, which considers Israel its enemy, controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally-recognised government.
The Houthis have said they are acting in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and have claimed – often falsely – that they are targeting ships only linked to Israel, the US or the UK.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles, drones and small boat attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have sunk two vessels, seized a third, and killed four crew members.
Announcing Saturday’s strikes, Trump said “we will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective”.
“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump said on social media, adding that their “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions” and put lives at risk.
Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.
But the Houthis have been unwavering in their response, saying the aggression would not diminish their support for Palestinians.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy”.
“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism,” he posted on X on Sunday. “Stop killing of Yemeni people.”
The Houthis have claimed responsibility, without offering evidence, for two attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and several American warships in the Red Sea, calling it retaliation for US strikes.
But a US official told Reuters news agency that US warplanes shot down 11 Houthi drones on Sunday, none of which came close to the Truman. The US is yet to respond to the second claim of such a strike.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen.
[BBC]
Trump moves to close down Voice of America
Corbin Bosch served legal notice by PCB after late shift to IPL
US deports hundreds of Venezuelans despite court order
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