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

Published

2 months 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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A new curriculum will be introduced for preschools in 2027, while steps will also be taken to train teachers accordingly – PM

Published

6 hours ago

2026/03/16

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that a new curriculum will be introduced for preschools in 2027, while steps will also be taken to train teachers accordingly and to regulate preschools through a regulatory authority.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing an awareness programme for preschool teachers in the Hambantota District on education reforms, held on Sunday (15) at the Ambalantota Pradeshiya Sabha Auditorium.

During the programme, preschool teachers briefed the Prime Minister about the challenges they currently face. Responding to their concerns, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:

“The issues within the preschool system cannot be discussed separately from the broader crisis in society and in the education sector. When we assumed office in 2024, our primary challenge was to free the country from its debt burden and to establish. a sound economic indicators.

Although 2025 was a challenging year, we were able to bring the country’s economy to a certain level of stability and manage the national budget accordingly.

While we were working towards economic recovery, the war in the Middle East began, which has had certain impacts on our country as well.

A significant amount of Sri Lanka’s foreign remittances come from our fellow citizens working in the Middle East. Today, both their livelihoods and employment are under threat. In addition, a large number of tourists travelled to Sri Lanka through Middle Eastern airspace, and the closure of those air routes and airports has reduced tourist arrivals. Another issue concerns fuel transportation. This problem has affected not only Sri Lanka but many countries around the world. If the war continues for a long period, it will have further impacts on us, and therefore we must be prepared. We also need to manage the economy carefully and reduce certain expenditures.

Although we have the ability to borrow, our intention is not to weaken the country’s economy by relying on loans.

You are aware that we have begun implementing education reforms. Within that policy framework, we are also taking steps to reform preschool education. So far, the establishment of preschools and early childhood development has not been carried out in a systematic manner. Therefore, we must regulate and standardize all preschools, which is not an easy task.

First, all preschools must be formally registered. We have already prepared a curriculum for teacher training. In addition, we plan to introduce a new curriculum for preschools in 2027, provide teacher training accordingly, and regulate preschools through a regulatory authority. A recognized curriculum has also been prepared for the preschool diploma. In the future, priority for preschool teachers will be given based on these qualifications. We will also take gradual steps to enhance the professionalism of preschool teachers and establish a proper salary structure”.

The Prime Minister further stated that preschools fall under the authority of Provincial Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas, while the line ministry can only provide policy recommendations. She also emphasized that issues related to preschools should be addressed in a systematic manner through structural committees and District Development Committees.

Member of Parliament Nihal Galappaththi and other public representatives, along with preschool teachers from the Hambantota District attended the awareness program.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

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Heat Index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala, Mannar, Anuradhapura and Vavuniya districts

Published

7 hours ago

2026/03/16

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. on 15 March 2026, valid for 16 March 2026.

The public is warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at
some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala, Mannar, Anuradhapura and Vavuniya districts.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491

Latest News

Three more Iran football team members change minds over asylum

Published

24 hours ago

2026/03/15

Priyan

One of the three has been named as Mona Hamoudi, pictured here during a match against the Philippines on 8 March [BBC]

Three more members of the Iranian women’s football delegation – who were given humanitarian visas to stay in Australia – have changed their mind and will return home.

The trio have been named by human rights activists in the Iranian diaspora as Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, Mona Hamoudi, and Zahra Sarbali.

Concerns grew for the Iranian team after they were silent for the country’s anthem in their opening Asian Cup match against South Korea on 2 March – which led to them being branded “war traitors” in Iran.

Confirming the decisions, Australia’s home affairs minister said his government had done everything it could to ensure the women were given the chance to have a safe future in the country.

“Australians should be proud that it was in our country that these women experienced a nation presenting them with genuine choices and interacted with authorities seeking to help them,” Tony Burke said in a statement.

“While the Australian government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions.”

Iran’s sports ministry also earlier confirmed the news, first reported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Tasnim News Agency, in a statement.

“The national spirit and patriotism of the Iranian women’s national football team defeated the enemy’s plans against this team,” the statement says, also accusing Australia’s government of “playing in Trump’s field”.

Tasnim said the three were on their way to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to join the rest of the squad and were “returning to the warm embrace of their families and homeland after withdrawing their asylum application in Australia”.

It said they had resisted “psychological warfare, extensive propaganda and seductive offers”.

It means that, of the seven who initially said they wanted to stay in Australia, only three now remain as defectors. One of the players made the same decision to return to Iran on Wednesday.

Hamoudi and Sarbali were among the original five who refused, after giving minders the slip at the team’s hotel on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, last Monday and being taken to a safe house by Australian Federal Police.

Zahra Soltan Meshkehkar, a member of the team’s technical staff, was one of two more women from the group to seek asylum the next day. The other – Mohaddeseh Zolfi – changed her mind hours after being given the right to stay. She is understood to have already rejoined the team.

There was concern in Australia that members of the team and their families might face repercussions in Iran after the players refused to sing the national anthem.

One conservative commentator on Iranian state media accused them of being “wartime traitors” and called for a harsh punishment.

The team did sing the anthem in their last two games before they were eliminated on Sunday, leading critics to believe they had been told to sing by government officials accompanying them during the tournament.

The remaining Iranian players left Australia on Tuesday night local time – two days after they were knocked out of the Asian Cup.

[BBC]