Harris' 22-ball fifty powers RCB to crushing win over UP Warriorz
Navi Mumbai (PTI): Grace Harris produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting en route to a 40-ball 85 to script Royal Challengers Bengaluru's emphatic nine-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their Women's Premier League match here on Monday.
UP Warriorz had recovered admirably from a dramatic collapse to post 143/5, thanks to a superb rescue act by seasoned all-rounders Deandra Dottin and Deepti Sharma.
Harris then smashed the fastest fifty of the season, racing to the landmark in just 22 balls before finishing with a scintillating knock that was studded with 10 fours and five sixes.
The second successive victory lifted the former champions to the top of the standings.
Skipper Smriti Mandhana played the perfect foil with an elegant unbeaten 47 from 32 balls, including nine boundaries, as the pair put on a 137-run stand to make it a no contest.
RCB chased down the target in just 12.1 overs, significantly boosting their net run rate.
Chasing 144, Harris set the tone in a brutal powerplay assault that left UP Warriorz shell-shocked. She tore into Deandra Dottin with a stunning exhibition of clean hitting, plundering 32 runs from one over that effectively decided the contest.
The Australian started by clobbering a no-ball for four and followed it up with three towering sixes and two more boundaries in a sequence. Harris repeatedly cleared mid-wicket and mid-on with effortless power, bringing up her half-century in no time.
The onslaught continued against leg-spinner Asha Sobhana, whom Harris punished in a 17-run over as RCB raced to 100 in just 7.5 overs -- the second-fastest team hundred in WPL history.
Harris fetched a wide full ball and drilled it through the leg-side fence before dropping to one knee to launch a huge 86-metre six over deep midwicket, her fourth maximum of the innings.
At the other end, Mandhana played with trademark grace and assurance and sealed the chase with Richa Ghosh after Harris got out with just seven needed to win.
Sent in to bat, UPW were 36 for 1 in the powerplay before losing four wickets in the space of eight balls to slump to 50/5 in the ninth over.
From that precarious position, Dottin and Deepti stitched together an unbroken 93-run stand from 72 balls to give their side something to defend.
Deepti anchored the innings with an unbeaten 45 off 35 balls, hitting five fours and a six, while Dottin chipped in with a fluent 40 not out from 37 balls, including three fours and a six.
The duo shifted gears in the death overs, scoring 67 runs in the last six to prop up UPW.
Dottin took on off-spinner Shreyanka Patil with a boundary and a six in the 15th over, while Deepti launched into Nadine de Klerk for a straight six in the penultimate over.
The final over yielded 15 runs, with Deepti smashing two fours off Shreyanka and Dottin adding another boundary.
UP Warriorz had started cautiously, with Lauren Bell bowling a tight opening spell and removing Harleen Deol for 11 (14 balls) while keeping the run rate at under six an over.
Shreyanka was introduced in the final over of the powerplay and almost struck immediately when Meg Lanning edged to Arundhati Reddy, but replays showed the ball had brushed the turf.
Phoebe Litchfield then tried to seize the momentum, hitting back-to-back boundaries and later hitting Shreyanka for a big switch-hit six over deep cover.
But Shreyanka (2/50) had the last word in the same over, removing both Lanning (14) and Litchfield (20). Litchfield, who had raced to 20 off just nine balls, mistimed a drag-down and was caught by Mandhana at mid-on.
South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk (2/28) then struck twice in an over, dismissing Kiran Navgire (5) and Shweta Sehrawat (0), triggering the collapse before Dottin and Deepti staged the recovery.
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Virudhunagar firecracker unit blast: Toll climbs to 25, Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia announced
Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): With most bodies charred beyond recognition, identification remains difficult, police said on Monday, as the toll in the massive explosion at a fireworks unit near Kattanarpatti here rose to 25.
The Virudhunagar district administration has announced Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of deceased.
The accident is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the region in recent years.
"Bodies were so badly charred that we were able to identify mostly with jewellery that the victims were wearing," a police official told PTI.
He said that the families have not yet claimed the bodies due to the uncertainly in the identities.
The factory owner is absconding, he added.
The accident occurred at the Vanaja firecracker unit, owned by one Muthumanickam, which functions under the Vachakarapatti police station limits.
The unit is reportedly licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Nagpur.
Post-mortem reports have established that the 25 victims, include 22 women and three men, the police official added.
Eight workers, mostly women, are critically injured with 60 per cent burn injuries. Twelve others, including eight policemen, were injured in a second blast on Sunday evening while rescue operations were underway.
Rescue operations were severely hampered for hours, as unexploded materials continued to detonate.
A second blast at 7.20 pm, triggered as an earthmover was clearing debris, caused chaos and injured several responders, including a revenue official.
Meanwhile, sources said about 1,000 people, including the families of the victims and residents of nearby villages, are threatening a road roko, demanding the arrest of the owner of the factory.
Local eyewitnesses, including Ranganathan from the nearby Seervaikarampatti village, described hearing a massive blast that sent "thick black smoke" into the sky.
"Nothing was recognisable. We saw bodies being loaded four at a time into vehicles," he told PTI Videos.
Many of the deceased were from Seervaikarampatti village, with residents claiming that at least 20 victims belonged to their village.
Among those killed was 46-year-old Indrani, a veteran worker of 25 years.
"My mother was the sole breadwinner. My father is disabled and stays home. I have an MSc degree, but I’m working at a petrol bunk to help out, and we haven't even paid my brother's school fees yet," said Madhubala, Indrani’s daughter, while pleading for government employment assistance.
Virudhunagar Collector N O Sukhaputra confirmed that the unit was operating without permission on a rest day.
Preliminary findings suggest the blast originated in a chemical mixing shed, where nearly 40 workers were busy making crackers, a violation of safety norms that typically limit occupancy to four workers per shed.
"Had these workers followed primary safety norms, the casualties could have been minimal," a senior official stated.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has ordered a high-level probe and directed ministers to oversee relief efforts.
The tragedy follows a similar accident in Vembakottai just days earlier, which claimed four lives, intensifying calls for stricter enforcement of safety regulations in the district’s firecracker hub.
The explosion occurred at approximately 3.15 pm on Sunday. Although the fireworks industry is officially shut on Sundays, over 100 workers were reportedly engaged in production.
Later in the day, Sukhaputra said Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia each has been finalised for the families of 25 persons killed in the explosion.
Speaking to PTI Videos, he said the ex gratia cheques are ready for immediate distribution to the legal heirs.
"Out of 25 deaths, we have finished conducting post-mortems on 22 bodies. Already we have cheques (that) are ready,” Sukhaputra said.
The announcement followed intense demands from grieving relatives for financial security and government employment.
