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WWC 2025: King’s majestic seven-for sets up Australia’s semi-final with India

Published

5 months ago

2025/10/25

Priyan

Alana King took the best figures for Australia in women's ODIs (Cricinfo]

Alana King reigned supreme as defending champions Australia finished the Women’s World Cup group stage in dominant fashion with a crushing seven-wicket win over South Africa in Indore. Australia will now take on hosts India in the second semi-final in Navi Mumbai on October 30, while South Africa will travel to Guwahati to face England in the first semi on October 29.

King claimed Australia’s best figures in women’s ODIs, and the first seven-wicket haul at a Women’s World Cup, as South Africa were rolled for 97 with a whopping 26 overs to spare. Across the men’s and women’s game, King’s figures of 7 for 18 put her second only to Glenn McGrath (whose 7 for 15 came against Namibia in 2003) in the history of 50-over World Cups.

King, who took four wickets without giving up a run in her first 15 balls, proved almost impossible for South Africa to play on a surface that gripped from an early stage. She conceded only nine scoring shots across seven overs of mesmerising control, hitting the stumps four times in a bewitching display that took her to third on this edition’s wicket-taking list.

Only three South Africa batters managed to reach double-figures in an innings that provided uncomfortable reminders of the collapse for 69 in their opening group game against England, whom they will play again in the semi-final.

Australia lost two early wickets – Phoebe Litchfield edging an expansive drive to slip before Nadine de Klerk’s flying catch saw off Ellyse Perry – but the result was never in doubt thereafter as Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney put on a stand of 76 in 65 balls. Mooney departed with 11 still needed but Voll finished unbeaten on 38 as Australia romped home with more than 33 overs unused.

Asked to bat in muggy, overcast conditions, South Africa were given a good start by captain Laura Wolvaardt, who looked in excellent touch while striking seven boundaries in her 31 off 26 balls. She had scored all but one run of the opening stand, and South Africa imploded spectacularly after her dismissal to Megan Schutt in the seventh over.

From 42 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, they were 43 for 4 after King’s first over, and then 60 for 6 midway through her third. De Klerk survived the hat-trick by edging another sharp legbreak for four, and Sinalo Jafta counterpunched with a brisk knock of 29 off 17. But King cleaned up Jafta to complete a five-wicket haul, then removed Masabata Klaas’ off stump as a bamboozled South Africa slipped to 88 for 8 and then 97 all out. King, appropriately, finished the innings by spinning one through de Klerk for her seventh.

King’s haul showcased her supreme command of flight and turn. She was, however, aided and abetted by South Africa’s seemingly unwavering commitment to attacking shots. Sune Luus tried to take her on second ball, only managing to top-edge a slog-sweep to mid-on, while Annerie Dercksen saw her leg stump uprooted when aiming an expansive drive down the ground.

Marizanne Kapp was almost dismissed twice in the space of her four balls from King, lucky initially to see a leading edge clear the bowler before slashing limply to backward point. Chloe Tryon flipped her first ball to midwicket, after the dismissal of Dercksen; having taken King for back-to-back fours down the ground and through third (accounting for 40% of the runs King conceded), Jafta’s off stump was toppled as she went for another heave across the line.

King’s rampage was briefly interrupted by Ashleigh Gardner getting in on the act, having Ayabonga Khaka bowled playing down the wrong line. Nonkululeko Mlaba survived when nicking King behind, the catch deflecting over slip off Mooney’s gloves, but Australia’s spin queen was not to be denied.

Both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals, but South Africa’s rapid demise meant they bookended the group stage with two of the four shortest completed innings at Women’s World Cups.

Tahlia McGrath, who again deputised for Alyssa Healy as Australia’s captain continued her recovery from a calf strain, said at the toss the group leaders were “getting closer” to their best after a hard-fought win over England at Holkar Stadium in midweek. This performance suggested they are ominously close.

Wolvaardt, having admitted she, too, would have preferred to bowl, did her best to stand up with the bat. She capitalised on a poor second over from Schutt to peel off four boundaries, and looked in serene touch – in contrast to her partner, Tazmin Brits, who was 1 off 14 balls when Wolvaardt spooned to midwicket. King, in her first act of wizardry for the day, did brilliantly to get her fingers under the ball.

Luus got off the mark with a toe-ended boundary and Brits found her timing to flick Kim Garth through midwicket, but 42 for 1 was about as good as it got for South Africa. In the final over of the powerplay, Brits was pinned in front of the stumps by a Garth legcutter that stayed low – and then it was over to King to crown proceedings with a regal display.

Brief scores:

Australia Women 98 for 3 in 16.5 overs (Georgia Voll 38, Beth Mooney 42) beat South Africa Women 97 8n 24 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 31, Sinalo Jafta 29; Alana King 7-18)by seven wickets

(Cricinfo)

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Trump says US will ‘obliterate’ Iran’s power plants if Strait of Hormuz not open before 48-hour deadline

Published

23 hours ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

President Donald Trump says the US will “obliterate” Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not open within 48 hours – the waterway is vital for global oil shipping.

Iran warns it will retaliate against all US-linked energy infrastructure in the Middle East if its power plants are attacked.

Trump also says he has achieved his war aims “weeks ahead of schedule”, adding: “Iran wants to make a deal. I don’t”

More than 100 people have been injured after strikes on southern Israel. The target appears to have been a nuclear facility 13km away from the city of Dimona

Meanwhile, Israel says it launched a wave of strikes on the Iranian capital. It follows an attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, Tehran says

An attempted Iranian strike on the joint UK-US base on Diego Gracia happened late on Thursday night into Friday morning, the BBC understands. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK won’t be drawn into wider conflict

[BBC]

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Trump at a crossroad in US-Israel war with Iran

Published

1 day ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

Three weeks after the joint US-Israeli war against Iran began, the conflict has reached a fuzzy state of mixed messages and uncertainty, with Donald Trump’s public comments often seemingly contradicted by realities on the ground.

The war is “very complete, pretty much”, Trump has said, but new American ground forces – including a Marine expeditionary unit – are moving into the region. It is “winding down”, but US and Israeli bombing and missile strikes on Iranian targets continue unabated.

Opening the Strait of Hormuz, the geographic choke point through which 20% of the world’s oil export travels, is a “simple military manoeuvre”, but for now only Iranian-approved ships are transiting the waters.

The Iranian military is “gone”, but drones and missiles are still striking targets in the region and targets have extended as far as the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia.

In a Friday evening Truth Social post published while he was flying from Washington to his Florida resort for the weekend, the US president provided a numbered list of American military objectives for the Iran war, which he said the US was “getting really close” to fulfilling.

The items, comprising his most detailed statement on the subject since the war began, included degrading or destroying Iran’s military, its defence infrastructure and its nuclear weapons programme, as well as protecting American allies in the region.

Not included was the goal of securing the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump said should be the responsibility of other nations that are more dependent on oil exports from the Gulf. The president has frequently noted that the US is a net exporter of energy and does not rely on oil from the Middle East – although such a view glosses over the global nature of the fossil fuel market, where price fluctuations directly impact the price at American gas pumps.

Trump’s Truth Social post also made no call for Iranian regime change. Gone are any references to approving the nation’s next leader or “unconditional surrender”, which Trump had insisted on in the early days of the war.

In Trump’s latest outline of his objectives, it is possible that the US could end its operation with Iran’s current anti-American leadership in power, its oil exports still flowing and its ability to assert some measure of control over the Strait of Hormuz intact.

If that is an unappealing resolution to a war that the president and his aides have said began with the 1979 Iran Revolution and that they would finish, there is an alternative route that involves the US ground forces presently on the way to the Middle East region.

Just over a week ago, US media reported that a Marine expeditionary unit, with about 2,500 combat soldiers and supporting ships and aircraft, had been dispatched from Japan to the Middle East, which it should reach in the coming days. Another Marine force of similar size recently departed its base in California with its arrival expected in mid-April.

Military analysts have suggested that the US could be planning to capture Kharg Island. an 3-sq-km (8-sq-mile) slice of land that contains Iran’s primary oil export terminal. Doing so could, in theory, cut off the nation’s oil shipments, depriving the nation of much-needed revenue and forcing it to make greater concessions to the Americans in exchange for an end to hostilities.

Trump on Friday said that he wasn’t sending ground troops to Iran, but added: “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you”. Clarity, it seems, is not his intention.

The threat of such a move prompted Iran’s state media to report on Saturday that any attack on Kharg Island would lead Iran to cause “insecurity” in the Red Sea, another key global shipping transit point, and “set fire” to energy facilities throughout the region.

Iran’s warning underscores the dangers that would accompany a US escalation that further exposes American military forces to Iranian reprisals.

Earlier this week, US media reported that the Trump administration was preparing to ask Congress for $200bn (£150bn) in emergency funding for the ongoing Iranian military operation. Such a request would suggest that, far from winding down, the White House is preparing for a long, expensive fight.

The initial reaction from Congress, including from Trump’s Republican allies, was cautious at best.

“We’re talking about boots on the ground. We’re talking about that kind of extended activity,” said Republican Congressman Chip Roy of Texas.

“They have got a whole lot more briefing and a whole lot more explaining to do on how we’re going to pay for it, and what’s the mission here.”

The so-called “fog of war” doesn’t just cloud the thinking of military planners, it also affects the perception of politicians and the public.

The Iran war, it seems, is at a pivot. But which direction it takes from here is a puzzle.

(BBC)

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

Published

1 day ago

2026/03/22

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
at 3.30 p.m. on 21 March 2026, valid for 22 March 2026.

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
Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Mannar 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.