Sports
South Africa crush England to reach Women’s World Cup final
GUWAHATI: Laura Wolvaardt led from the front with a majestic 169 to help South Africa thrash England by 125 runs and reach their first-ever ODI Women’s World Cup final on Wednesday.
South Africa posted 319-7 and then bowled out England for 194 in 42.3 overs with medium-pace bowler Marizanne Kapp returning figures of 5-20 in the first semi-final in Guwahati.
The Proteas now await the winner of the second semi-final between holders Australia and India for the title clash on Sunday in the outskirts of Mumbai.
South Africa made their third straight final of a Women’s World Cup — two in T20 tournaments — and their first in the 50-over marquee competition.
They were beaten by England in the semi-finals of the last two ODI World Cups in 2017 and 2022.
Nadine de Klerk dismissed Linsey Smith for 27 as the last wicket to trigger celebrations in the South African camp.
Wolvaardt set up victory with her first World Cup century as she lay the foundations of the mammoth total in a 116-run stand with fellow opener Tazmin Brits, who made 45.
Wolvaardt reached her 10th ODI ton and then switched gears to take the attack to the opposition in the final few overs, ending with 20 fours and four sixes in her 143-ball knock.
She reached the top of the tournament batting chart with 470 runs including one hundred and three half-tons in eight matches.
The elegant batter started with a crisp cover drive off Lauren Bell for a four and the opening pair hit regular boundaries to put England on the back foot.
England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone dented South Africa’s surge with two wickets in one over as she bowled Brits for 45 and three balls later sent back Anneke Bosch for a duck.
England struck regular blows but Wolvaardt stood firm and put on key partnerships with Kapp, who hit 42, and then Chloe Tryon, who made an unbeaten 33.
Wolvaardt finally fell in the 48th over off Bell and walked back to a standing ovation and handshakes from the opposition players.
Ecclestone stood out with figures of 4-44 after she was cleared to play despite suffering a shoulder injury in the previous game.
South Africa pace spearhead Kapp rattled England with two wickets in the first over as she bowled Amuy Jones and Heather Knight — both out for ducks.
Ayabonga Khaka dimissed Tammy Beaumont for a golden duck in the second over and despite a rearguard by skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey the England innings fell apart.
Sciver-Brunt, who top-scored with 64, and Capsey, who made 50, put on 107 runs for the third wicket but after their departure the South African bowlers hit back.
Kapp dismissed Sciver-Brunt and then got Sophia Dunkley and Charlie Dean caught behind to be on a hat-trick, which was avoided by Ecclestone.
Sports
Pakistan to tour West Indies for two-match Test series
Pakistan men’s cricket team is scheduled to visit West Indies for a two-match Test series in July and August of next year, confirmed Cricket West Indies (CWI) Vice President Azim Bassarath.
Bassarath, who also serves as Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) President, made the announcement during the body’s executive luncheon at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain on Wednesday.
He shared that the Green Shirts’ tour of the West Indies will run from July 15 to August 7, comprising two ICC World Test Championship (WTC) matches at Queen’s Park Oval and the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA), respectively, with the latter also set to host a four-day warm-up match.
“We will also host the Pakistan tour of the Caribbean from July 15-August 7, 2026, comprising the four-day warm-up match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA), the first Test match at the Queen’s Park Oval and the second Test at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy,” Bassarath said, during his speech at the function.
“I’m pleased to note that the BLCA will now be a fully accredited international venue capable of hosting matches in all formats,” he added.
Notably, the red-ball tour of the West Indies is in accordance with Pakistan’s Future Tour Programme (FTP), while the complete match schedule is yet to be finalised.
Earlier this year, Pakistan visited the West Indies for a three-match ODI and T20I series each, while the most recent Test series between the two played in January was drawn 1-1.
Meanwhile, Pakistan last toured the West Indies for a Test series in 2021, which also ended in a 1-1 draw.
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UWCL grades for all 18 teams: Leuven get A+; Barça an A-, PSG fail
The first 18-team UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage is over! We’ve had six matchdays across a single league-phase table, as well as tons of the world’s best players on show, but now we’re down to the final 12 sides.
How did everything go for the teams involved? It’s safe to say that it didn’t go to plan for everyone, and our grades reflect that.
OH LEUVEN (A+)
They might have only finished 12th, but sealing a spot in the knockout-phase playoffs would have been beyond the Belgian minnows’ wildest dreams in their first-ever UWCL tournament. A win over FC Twente and draws with PSG, Paris FC and Roma set them up for success. They even managed to keep Barcelona and Arsenal to only three goals.
MANCHESTER UNITED (A)
A debut UWCL campaign for United, and what a debut it was. Three tight wins from their first three games against Valerenga, Atletico and PSG set up them for success, and a 1-0 win over Juventus on the final day meant that defeats to Wolfsburg and OL Lyonnes didn’t matter too much. A paper-thin squad was able to seal a favorable playoff draw by finishing sixth, and that is some achievement.
BARCELONA (A-)
They topped the table, which was entirely expected given their 7-1 thrashing of Bayern on matchday 1, and a goal difference of plus-17 from their five wins showed their superiority. But a 1-1 draw with Chelsea suggests they could be vulnerable as the tournament goes on, and they are going to have to find a way to cope without injured star midfielders Patri and Aitana Bonmati.
OL LYONNES (A-)
The star power of OL Lyonnes has shone brightly with an average of three goals per game, and five wins from six. But they did need to come back from 3-0 down at halftime to Juventus to secure a 3-3 draw, so they’ve not had everything their own way. They are certainly one of the favorites to go all the way to the final.
CHELSEA (B+)
In true Chelsea style, anything less than 100% isn’t good enough, so two draws (against FC Twente and Barcelona) have marked them down in the grades. Otherwise, they scored 16 goals against Paris FC, St. Pölten and Roma, before a 2-1 comeback win against Wolfsburg sealed their spot in the top four on the final day.
BAYERN MUNICH (B+)
A 7-1 hammering at the hands of Barcelona suggested that this would be a tough campaign, but Bayern turned things around to beat Juventus, Arsenal (with a superb comeback), PSG and Valerenga. Even a 2-2 draw against Atlético Madrid couldn’t halt their progress. They will be tough opponents for anyone.
ARSENAL (B-)
The defending champions haven’t looked great. They squeezed into the top half of the knockout-phase playoff draw by virtue of other teams’ failures, but it was a shock that they didn’t qualify automatically after lackluster defeats to OL Lyonnes and Bayern Munich. They did well to overcome Real Madrid 2-1 to avoid a worse fate, but were also lucky to play the lower-ranked OH Leuven, Benfica and FC Twente to get some much-needed points on the board.
VALARENGA (B-)
They fought for playoff qualification all the way to final matchday, which wouldn’t have been on the cards at the start. A win over Roma was the Norwegian side’s crowning glory, while they threw away a 2-0 lead over St. Pölten (ending in a 2-2 draw), and narrowly lost to Man United, Wolfsburg and Paris FC, before losing 3-0 to Bayern on the final day. But for that draw with St. Pölten, they could have gone through.
TWENTE (C+)
A shock 1-1 draw with Chelsea on matchday 1 could have set the tone, but they suffered a 2-1 loss to Leuven in the next game, and that about sums things up. Two draws (the other came against Benfica) wasn’t enough to avoid elimination before they nearly beatReal Madrid in the final game but drew 1-1.
REAL MADRID (C+)
All looked good for Madrid after a 6-2 thrashing of Roma in the first game and a 2-1 win over PSG in the second. They stuttered with a 1-1 draw to Paris FC, before losing to Arsenal, but then things turned around against with a win over Wolfsburg on matchday 5. That meant all they needed to do was beat lowly Twente to seal an automatic spot. But they drew 1-1, and now face a tough knockout draw.
JUVENTUS (C)
Juve didn’t make it out of the group stage last season behind Arsenal and Bayern, and they were too inconsistent again. They beat who they needed to beat: Benfica, St. Pölten and Atletico. And they almost did enough to beat Bayern (2-1 defeat, thanks to a stoppage-time goal), and OL Lyonnes (3-3 draw, having gone 3-0 up). But when it mattered, they lost 1-0 at home to Manchester United on the final day and failed to seal an automatic spot.
WOLFSBURG (C)
The two-time champions and four-time runners-up are looking to get back to the top of the game, but on the evidence of a 3-1 defeat to OL Lyonnes and 2-1 loss to Chelsea, they’re not there yet. Wins over PSG, Valerenga and Man United were routine, but they really messed up by losing 2-0 to Real Madrid. Having been expected to seal an automatic place after matchday four, they now have an unfavorable spot in the playoffs after finishing ninth, though nobody will want to face them.
PARIS FC (C)
They did better than their local rivals PSG, but it was a very middling performance from the Parisian club. An opening 2-2 draw at home to OH Leuven, 4-0 loss to Chelsea and 2-0 defeat to Barcelona suggests they won’t trouble too many in the playoffs, though they did hold Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw that required Caroline Weir to score a 98th-minute equalizer, in addition to beating Benfica and Valerenga.
ATLÉTICO MADRID (C)
Defeats to Juventus and Man United, as well as a 2-2 draw to Bayern, saw Atletico struggle at home. But their away form saw them beat FC Twente and St. Pölten, before losing 4-0 to OL Lyonnes, which was enough to seal a lower-half playoff draw. But they won’t be worrying too many opponents.
ST. POLTEN (C)
They finished bottom of the table, but that was pretty much expected. The Swiss minnows managed to pick up a point with a comeback draw at Valerenga, while they stopped OL Lyonnes scoring more than three goals. Sadly, the same can’t be said of the rest and they finished with a disappointing minus-25 goal difference from their six games.
BENFICA (D)
The Portuguese side never really got going after they took an early lead to Juventus in the first game, and fell to four defeats from six. Yes, they had a tough run of games against Juve, Arsenal, Paris FC and Barcelona, but their only points came from draws with FC Twente and PSG.
ROMA (F)
They are top of Serie A, but Roma were very poor in Europe and seem to be missing the spark of former manager Alessandro Spugna. They were hammered by Real Madrid (6-2) and Barcelona (4-0) in their opening games and never recovered. They should have picked up valuable points against Valerenga and OH Leuven, but only managed a draw against the latter, before a 6-0 drubbing to Chelsea saw their hopes of a playoff spot extinguished. A 6-1 win over lowly St. Pölten on the final day meant nothing.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN (F)
What an awful campaign. Many would have tipped PSG to be pushing for an automatic qualification spot at the top of the table, but instead they lost four of their first four games (to Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Man United and Bayern) before a 0-0 draw with minnows OH Leuven sealed their fate and they could only draw with Benfica on the final day with nothing at stake. They’ve had a lot of squad turnover, but that’s no excuse for this level of performance.
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