DC huff and puff to two-wicket win over MI in WPL thriller
Vadodara, Feb 15 (PTI): Delhi Capitals produced a splendid bowling effort before their batters, led by Niki Prasad, survived some anxious moments to register a narrow two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in a last-ball thriller in the Women's Premier League here on Saturday.
Opting to bowl, DC bundled out MI for 164 in 19.1 overs, with Nat Sciver-Brunt's commanding unbeaten 80 and Harmanpreet Kaur's quickfire 42 off 22 balls anchoring the innings.
Chasing the target, Shafali Verma's blistering 43 off 18 balls gave DC a flying start, as they reached 60 for no loss. However, MI staged a sensational comeback, almost derailing the chase.
Alice Capsey (16), Annabel Sutherland (13), and Sarah Bryce (21) kept DC in the hunt before Niki Prasad (35), India's U19 T20 World Cup-winning captain, showed great temperament under pressure to steer them closer to the target.
Needing 21 off the last 12 balls with four wickets in hand, No. 9 Radha Yadav (9 not out) smashed a six to reduce the equation. Niki then hit a four but holed out on the fifth ball.
Arundhati Reddy (2 not out) took the two required runs off the final ball to seal the win.
Earlier, Shafali had accumulated 22 runs in the second over off Saika Ishaque, including four fours and a six, before taking Hayley Matthews to the cleaners with two fours and a six. However, she holed out in the fifth ball.
Given a fourth over, Shabnim Ismail cleaned up Meg Lanning, as DC suddenly slipped to 60 for 2. Jemimah Rodrigues (2) and Annabel Sutherland (13) soon followed back to the pavilion, as DC slumped to 76/4 in the ninth over.
For MI, Amelia Kerr (2/21), Hayley Matthews (2/32), Sciver-Brunt (1/38), and Shabnim Ismail (1/18) were the wicket-takers.
Earlier, Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet shared a crucial 73-run partnership off 40 balls for the third wicket, laying a solid foundation. However, DC's bowlers struck back, taking the final six wickets for 35 runs to dismiss MI in 19.1 overs.
Pacer Shikha Pandey (2/14) was the most successful bowler for DC, while Minnu Mani (1/23) was economical. The rest of the bowlers were expensive, but they chipped in with key wickets.
Pandey gave DC an early breakthrough, dismissing both openers — Hayley Matthews (0) and Yastika Bhatia (11) as Mumbai reached 42/2 at the end of the powerplay, thanks to a 19-run over from Alice Capsey (1/25).
Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet took charge, striking 18 runs off Radha Yadav's eighth over, which included three fours and a six. MI were 87/2 at the halfway mark.
Harmanpreet continued to attack, taking Annabel Sutherland (2/34) for three fours and a six before falling to her in the 14th over.
Sciver-Brunt was left to carry the innings but ran out of partners as MI crumbled.
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Delhi HC asks Jaideep Sengar to surrender in Unnao custodial death case
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Jaideep Sengar, brother of Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Sengar, to surrender before jail authorities in connection with his conviction in the custodial death case of the survivor's father.
A bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja was hearing a plea by the convict for further extension of interim bail upon suspension of the 10-year sentence.
It observed that the interim bail granted to Jaideep Sengar in July 2024 was last extended in April 2025 and since then, in spite of five dates, no order of any further extension or suspension of his sentence has been passed by the court.
As the senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar urged the bench to extend the period of his release on account of his health, the bench said, "You surrender and then we will see."
"Although there is no extension of interim suspension of sentence granted, we find he has still not surrendered. Before we proceed to consider his application for further extension of suspension of sentence, we require the appellant to first surrender," the bench ordered.
The senior counsel for Jaideep Sengar assured the court that he would surrender by Saturday.
The court listed the matter for hearing next week.
Jaideep Sengar, 50, sought the bail extension on the grounds that he is suffering from oral cancer.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) counsel had earlier said it was not a fit case for extension of interim bail, and the prescription given by Jaideep Sengar in support of his plea was fabricated.
In his application, Jaideep Sengar said he was suffering from stage IV oral cancer, a life-threatening condition, and had developed clinical signs of recurrence.
The condition, the plea said, required continuous and specialised medical care.
The plea also informed that Jaideep Sengar has spent about four years in custody.
The high court had granted interim bail to Jaideep Sengar on July 3, 2024, for two months on medical grounds.
Kuldeep Sengar was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his life on December 20, 2019, for raping the minor in 2017.
On March 13, 2020, Kuldeep Sengar, along with Jaideep Sengar, was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment by the trial court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh, in the custodial death case of the rape survivor's father.
The survivor's father was arrested, allegedly at the behest of the accused, under the Arms Act and died in custody on April 9, 2018, owing to police brutality.
The trial court said no leniency could be shown for killing a family's sole breadwinner.
