Browsing: semifinal

In the end, it was a game of nerves. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who ushered away a handful of team-mates as she prepared to bowl the final over, held hers. Bangladesh did not.

There will be plenty of questions about Bangladesh’s batting performance. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking comfortable on 159-4 in the 30th over, but instead the target was much lower.

However, Bangladesh lacked intent from ball one, scoring at under 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, suffering a top-order collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves too much to do.

But whatever problems there are with their batting, if they had taken their chances in the field, that 203-run target would have been considerably smaller.

It took them three attempts to break the 72-run second-wicket stand, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to take a tough chance behind the stumps to remove Perera on 23 before Athapaththu survived a caught and bowled chance against Rabeya. It was powerfully struck back at the bowler, but she got two hands to it.

Perera was dropped again on 55 and 63, the latter chance going straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with partners falling around her.

Later in the innings, there was also a missed stumping and a missed run-out, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik deputising with the gloves following an injury to Joty.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a one-off. They’ve dropped 14 catches from a possible 27 at this tournament and boast the lowest catch efficiency (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are generally heading in the right direction – they are playing in just their second 50-over World Cup after all – but poor fielding is a glaring problem which needs attention.

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India suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of England in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Indore (Images via AP) Indore: What transpired here has to be one of the most heart-breaking defeats ever suffered by the Indian Womenâ€s cricket team, and it puts their qualification to the semifinals of the 2025 Womenâ€s ODI World Cup in real danger.Riding on fine half-centuries by senior batters Smriti Mandhana (88 from 84 deliveries), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (70 runs from as many balls) and Deepti Sharma, who produced a brilliant all-round performance (50 from 57 deliveries and 4-51 in 10 overs), India looked set to chase down 289, which wouldâ€ve been their highest-ever run chase in WODIs, but fell just four runs short on a smoggy night at the Holkar Stadium on Sunday.Pulling off a thrilling win by keeping their nerves, England became the third team after Australia and South Africa to qualify for the semifinals, while India, who suffered their third loss in a row, must now defeat New Zealand at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on October 23 to sneak in as the fourth semifinalists. This was also the first time that the Indian women’s team played a WODI at the Holkar Stadium.The star of Englandâ€s victory was their former captain Heather Knight, who was removed as the skipper last year after England exited the semifinals of the Womenâ€s T20 World Cup and lost the Ashes to Australia 16-0. Playing in her landmark 300th international match, Knight indeed proved to be England’s ‘Knight in shining armour’ as she smashed a splendid century (109 off 91 balls, featuring 15 boundaries and a six) which helped her team post a competitive 288 for eight against the hosts. India needed 14 off the last over with allrounders Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana in the middle, but left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who conceded just 1-40 in 10 overs in a high-scoring game, gave away just nine. Chasing 289 under lights, India suffered two early blows when opener Pratika Rawal (6) was caught behind off Lauren Bell in the third over, who returned to action after missing the last match due to illness and number 3 batter Harleen Deol (24 off 31 balls) caught plumb in front while trying to play across to off-spinner Charlie Dean. The duo of Harmanpreet and Mandhana put on 125 in 122 balls for the third wicket to raise visions of an easy win, but India kept losing wickets at the wrong time. Trying to cut the ball repeatedly towards third man, Harmanpreet was caught at short third off England captain Nat-Sciver Brunt in the 31st over. Tiring due to cramps, Mandhana holed out to long off off Smith in the 42nd over. Sciver-Brunt then had Richa Ghosh (eight off 10 balls) caught at cover in the 46th over, and suddenly, India, falling behind the required run rate, had no one to force the pace. Once Deepti slog-swept Sophie Ecclestone to deep mid-wicket in the 47th over, the game was in Englandâ€s hands. Earlier, displaying her amazing prowess at sweeping the spinners, the 34-year-old Knight powered to her third ODI ton and highest-ever score in WODIs. Rotating the strike brilliantly while unleashing boundaries too, she stitched a 113-run stand off 106 deliveries with skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt.Earlier in the competition, against Bangladesh in Guwahati, England had slipped to a precarious 103 for 6, before their former captain took them home with an unbeaten 79.However, it wasn’t just Knight alone who stamped her authority on the game. At a time when India were searching for answers after ‘keeper-bat Amy Jones (56 off 68) and Tammy Beaumont (22 off 43) provided England with a steady 73-run start in 97 balls, Deepti brought India back in the game by scalping both the wickets. Deepti finished with her best-ever figures in ODI World Cups and with 13 sticks in five matches, stands apart as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.After Knight was finally gone – run out due to a brilliant work at deep square leg by Amanjot Kaur, who recovered quickly after a misfield and fired in a pin-point accurate throw in the 45th over – India bounced back in sensational fashion, taking five wickets for 39 runs. In fact, all that England, with their middle-order frailties exposed once again, managed to score, was 42 runs in their last six overs, losing five wickets, with two of them being run outs. Things wouldâ€ve been worse for England had they not managed to take 11 off the final over of the innings, bowled by Shree Charani.

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Introduced into the attack in the 16th over, Deepti dislodged Beaumont’s leg stump after the batter missed a sweep, thus recording her 150th WODI scalp in her 117th WODI.Making a comeback at the expense of batter Jemimah Rodrigues, seamer Renuka Singh Thakur justified Indiaâ€s decision to play six bowlers by conceding 0-37 in eight overs, though she failed to make an early strike.

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India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, right, and Chirag Shetty in action (Claus Fisker/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) In a thrilling men’s doubles semifinal at the Denmark Open Super 750, India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi on Saturday.The Asian Games champions, who had recently reached finals in both Hong Kong Super 500 and China Masters Super 750, showed resilience after losing the first game but ultimately fell short with scores of 21-23, 21-18, 16-21.The intense 68-minute match featured fast-paced exchanges and sharp rallies, marking the end of India’s campaign at the USD 950,000 tournament.The world No. 7 Indian pair entered the match as favourites with a 4-1 head-to-head advantage and three consecutive wins against the Japanese duo. However, the 2021 world champions Hoki and Kobayashi demonstrated superior coordination and precision at crucial moments.The opening game saw the Indians take an early 4-1 lead, but unforced errors allowed the Japanese pair to move ahead 5-4. Kobayashi’s angled smashes and Hoki’s returns helped them build a lead of 11-6 at the interval.After the break, Satwik and Chirag improved their rhythm, narrowing the gap to 12-13 and eventually levelling at 14-14.The Japanese secured the first game 23-21 after saving two game points, with Chirag’s final serve return hitting the net.In the second game, the Indians showed better form with Chirag’s aggressive net play and strategic placement, maintaining a lead at 16-14.They successfully closed the second game 21-18, with Chirag’s cross return forcing a decisive third game.The final game began as an intense battle of angles and reflexes. Despite good line judgments from Chirag keeping the score level at 5-5, errors gave the Japanese an 8-6 lead.The Indians briefly led 11-10 at the break, but the Japanese pair increased their intensity afterwards, winning a 31-shot rally to take a 13-11 lead. Hoki and Kobayashi maintained their momentum with steep attacks and better anticipation, extending their lead to 17-13.Despite a brief comeback attempt by the Indians reducing the gap to 16-19, a net error from Chirag gave the Japanese four match points.Kobayashi sealed their first final appearance of the year with a precise return, ending the match at 21-16 in the deciding game.

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World number one Aryna Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at the Wuhan Open came to an end as Jessica Pegula rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set to win and set up a final against Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka had won in Wuhan in each of the past three tournaments and looked set to reach the final again when she broke twice to take command of the third set.

But 31-year-old Pegula dug deep to win four games in a row.

Sabalenka survived two match points to force a tie-break but had nothing left as American Pegula won 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

“For what I did in the tie-break, I’m just really proud of myself,” Pegula said.

“I’ve played so much tennis the last few weeks, so many three-set matches, but I feel like I’m very tough right now and I’m just using that [feeling] as best as I can.”

Earlier, French Open champion Gauff put in a stuttering performance but secured victory over Jasmine Paolini to reach the final.

The 21-year-old beat the Italian seventh seed 6-4 6-3 in a match featuring 11 breaks of serve in a row to reach her first final since her win at Roland Garros in June.

Gauff may have won in straight sets but struggled on serve, being broken five times and serving seven double faults.

“I’m really happy with how I played today. It was tough, especially playing on the serve, but I did what I needed to do to get through,” Gauff said.

“Sabalenka and Pegula are great players, and I’ve lost to them both before. But overall, I’m just going to focus on my side of the court and try to control the things I can control.”

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SHANGHAI — Novak Djokovic had a relatively straightforward victory at the Shanghai Masters for a change as he beat unseeded Zizou Bergs 6-3, 7-5 Thursday to reach the semifinals, where he will face No. 204-ranked qualifier Valentin Vacherot from Monaco.

Djokovic, 38, has struggled in the hot and humid conditions in Shanghai, vomiting during previous matches and needing medical attention when he slumped to the ground in exhaustion after being taken to a third set by Jaume Munar in the previous round.

The only major blip against Bergs was being broken when he led 5-4 in the second set, before finally converting his third match point.

“I should have closed out the match at 5-4,” Djokovic said. “Very challenging conditions these days for all the players, and I was just trying to stay alive on the court. I’m glad to overcome this hurdle.”

It was the first meeting between Djokovic and Bergs.

“Man, I’ve got to stop idolizing you,” Bergs said with a smile before the 26-year-old Belgian hugged Djokovic at the net.

Vacherot stunned 10th-seeded Holger Rune 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 to become the second lowest-ranked semifinalist in Masters 1000 events in the past 35 years, according to the ATP.

“This is just unbelievable,” Vacherot said in an on-court interview. “I didn’t come as a qualifier, I came as an alternate. I wasn’t even sure I was going to play qualifying.”

Vacherot clinched the win when Rune netted a return of serve, then fell to his knees on the baseline with both hands to his face against the court surface. Rune had struggled with mobility because of leg cramps in the third set.

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Much of the criticism that England faced following the T20 World Cup and the Ashes centred on their inability to perform under pressure, since they have an excellent record against lower-ranked teams in bilateral series but they have not won a global tournament since 2017 or an Ashes series since 2014.

Edwards, who took over from Jon Lewis in April, admits England are not favourites but says they are becoming more familiar and aware of their gameplan for 50-over cricket.

“I’ve definitely come here to win the tournament, of course, but Australia are always going to go in as favourites, India are in their backyard,” said Edwards.

“So we know where we sit, but we also know that we can beat any team on our day and I think we’ve shown that over the last week, but we’ve got to do it consistently. We’ve got to do it under pressure in big events.

“I think around our batting, we’ve got a blueprint that we want people to get big scores, big partnerships, set up the game for the last 20 overs and the players are starting to understand batting time.”

Edwards also spoke of a desire to deliver more success after England’s triumph at the Rugby World Cup, saying that the team got together to watch the Red Roses beat Canada at Twickenham.

“We were truly inspired by those group of girls. I think they’ve been wonderful and hopefully we can build on that coming into our World Cup now,” added Edwards.

“I don’t think it adds pressure. I just think it just inspires us to want to go replicate what they’ve done, and it’s great to see England and female sport in such a great place.”

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