Indian women lose 5th ODI to South Africa by 5 wickets, concede series 1-4
Lucknow: India women suffered a five-wicket defeat in the fifth and final ODI against their South African counterparts to lose the series 1-4 here on Wednesday.
India skipper Mithali Raj top-scored with an unbeaten 79 off 104 balls while Harmanpreet Kaur retired hurt after scoring 30 before the hosts were all out for 188.
Nadine de Klerk was the standout bowler for South Africa, taking three wickets for 35 runs in 10 overs.
South Africa overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare with Mignon du Preez (57) and Anneke Bosch (58) scoring half-centuries.
Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gaikwad dished out an exceptional performance as she gave away just 13 runs in her 10 overs and took three wickets, making it tough for the Proteas.
India, however, did not have a decent enough total to defend.
Brief Scores:
India Women: 188 all out in 49.3 overs (Mithali Raj 79 not out; Nadine de Klerk 3/35, Tumi Sekhukhune 2/26).
South Africa Women: 189 for 5 in 48.2 overs. (A Bosch 58, Du Preez 57; R Gaikwad 3/13).
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The Kerala Story 2: Slow ticket sales on first day of film's release
Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi/Kozhikode (PTI): A day after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the release of the 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film, ticket sales of the movie are slow, but are expected to pick up in the coming days, theatre owners said.
In some theatres in the state capital, according to figures on the online movie ticket booking app, BookMyShow, ticket sales are very low.
In the PVR theatre at the Lulu Mall in Thiruvananthapuram, there were only 68 bookings till 10 am for the four shows scheduled for the day, according to BookMyShow figures.
In Kochi, Suresh, the owner of the popular Shenoy theatre, said there were around 50 per cent bookings for the four shows scheduled during the day.
"The bookings are more for the evening and night shows," he told PTI.
He said that the number of shows to be screened in the coming days will be decided based on the first day's ticket sales.
At the same time, Suresh also said that it was a slow start when the first movie -- 'The Kerala Story' -- was released in 2023.
"The bookings had slowly picked up, and there was a good collection," he said.
At Kozhikode city's Crown Theatre, a similar trend was seen last time in 2023, its owner Vinod Iyer said.
This time, the bookings are "very poor" for the four shows scheduled in his theatre for the day, Iyer told PTI.
He said that the reasons for it might be that the bookings were opened late on Friday, and people might be waiting for the reviews before making a decision.
Even in various other theatres in the city, bookings are very low, and some have cancelled shows as a result, he said.
"Hopefully, things will improve in the coming days as they did the first time," Iyer said.
A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday had paved the way for the release of 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film by staying the single judge order, which had put on hold the movie's screening for 15 days.
The bench had said that the single judge's finding that guidelines for certification have not been borne in mind by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) were "merely on the basis of a few clippings and without viewing the movie" and therefore, it "cannot be countenanced".
It had further said that once a certificate has been issued, there is, prima facie, a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines, including public order.
"In the light of the afore discussions, we are of the view that the impugned order dated February 26, 2026 interdicting the release of the movie is only to be stayed and we do so. Ordered accordingly," the bench had said on an appeal moved by the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah against the single judge's order.
The single judge, on Thursday, held that prima facie there was a manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law by the censor board, CBFC.
The judge also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", and its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.
The court had further said that the content of the film's teaser has "a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony".
