Indore (PTI): Ashleigh Gardner slammed a record 69-ball century and Annabel Sutherland remained not out on 98 as tournament favourites and defending champions Australia crushed England by six wickets in their Women's World Cup match here on Wednesday.

Gardner's ton is the fastest hundred in the Women's World Cup, beating West Indies' Deandra Dottin's 71-ball effort against Pakistan in 2017.

Sent in, opener Tammy Beaumont top-scored with 78 before Australia fought back to restrict England to 244 for nine.

Australia completed the chase in 40.3 overs, with Sutherland making an unbeaten 98 off 112 balls and Gardner remaining not out on 104 off 73 balls.

Earlier, Beaumont's 105-ball knock was the only significant contribution for England as some of the other batters failed to convert their starts.

Alice Capsey chipped in with 38 off 32 balls.

Besides firing with the bat, Sutherland also picked up three wickets for 60 runs in 10 overs for Australia.

Both teams have already qualified for the semifinals and are seeking to top the standings.

Brief scores:

England: 244/9 in 50 overs (Tammy Beaumont 78, Alice Capsey 38; Annabel Sutherland 3/60, Sophie Molineux 2/52, Ashleigh Gardner 2/39).

Australia: 248/4 in 40.3 overs (Annabel Sutherland 98 not out, Ashleigh Gardner 104 not out).

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise for spreading "falsehoods".

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed the defence minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Here is Maniben's original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA R S Patel 'Aaresh', published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.

“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh ji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” Ramesh said.

“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM,” he claimed.

The Congress had earlier termed Singh's claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, and said the defence minister should not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path.

Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat's Vadodara district last Tuesday, Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn't allow his plans to succeed.

The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter to double down on Singh's claims, and said the first prime minister also said he felt "repelled" by some of the temples in south India despite their beauty.

“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel, Diary of Maniben Patel'," BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.

Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.