Indian women lose second T20, series to England
Guwahati: The Indian women's cricket team suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the second T20 International, surrendering the series with a sixth straight loss in the shortest format.
Chasing 112 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, England completed the task in 19.1 overs, holding nerves after losing a few quick wickets.
Opener Danielle Wyatt was Engalnd's star performer with the bat, top-scoring with an unbeaten 64 off 55 balls. During her stay in the middle, Wyatt struck six boundaries, and was ably supported by Lauren Winfield (29).
While Wyatt held one end firm on the way to her fourth T20 half- century, England needed three back-to-back boundaries by Winfield to take the game away from India.
Opting to bowl, England produced a brilliant performance to prevent the hosts from putting up a big score at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, with Katherine Brunt emerging as the most successful bowler.
The veteran seamer returned figures of 3/17, sending back stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana (12) and Jemimah Rodrigues to put India on the backfoot.
The wicket of Mandhana was important for England as the opener had powered India to 24 for no loss in 2.3 overs before Brunt had her caught behind.
Coming in to bat at one drop, the young Rodrigues (2) did not last long, getting bowled by Brunt.
In the next over, the dismissal of Harleen Deol by left-arm spinner Linsey Smith (2/11) left the hosts in a spot of bother at 34 for three.
The experienced Mithali Raj, in the last leg of her career, top-scored with 20 off 27 balls, while Deepti Sharma and Bharati Fulmali contributed 18 each.
England were off to a steady start but slow left-armer Radha Yadav did not let the opening partnership flourish, disturbing Tammy Beaumont's stumps in the fifth over.
Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav had Amy Jones caught and bowled in a soft dismissal and Ekta Bisht picked up two wickets, including the
big one of skipper Heather Knight, to leave the visitors in trouble at 56 for four.
But Wyatt and Winfield saw England through with their 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
India bowled tightly and conceded just three extras in comparison to England's 18.
England won the first match by 41 runs.
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MP cruise boat tragedy: Search ops expanded to trace four missing passengers
Jabalpur (PTI): Army divers and disaster response teams on Saturday expanded their search at Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh to locate a man and three children still missing after the cruise boat tragedy that claimed nine lives two days ago, officials said.
With 28 of the 41 identified passengers onboard the ill-fated cruise boat rescued safely, police are preparing to register an FIR in connection with the accident that occurred at the reservoir in Jabalpur district on Thursday evening, they said.
The search radius has been expanded to 5 km in the backwaters of the Bargi Dam, located downstream of the Narmada River, area sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI.
Nine people drowned in the incident, while 28 were rescued, and efforts are ongoing to trace the missing persons, he said.
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According to the police, more than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, began the search operation at 5 am on Saturday to trace Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, his son Tamil (5), Vijay Soni (6) and Mayuram (5).
Mishra said that an inquest case has been registered and the post-mortem of nine deceased persons has been completed.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will soon register an FIR," he said.
Investigators have said that CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the ill-fated boat, and the names of 41 persons, who boarded the vessel, have been ascertained so far.
Collector Raghvendra Singh confirmed that a search is underway for four missing persons.
The rescue operation, being carried out by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local divers, was briefly affected around 9 am due to strong winds.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members after survivors alleged negligence and safety lapses, including failure to provide life jackets.
The government also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, sank during a sudden storm around 6 pm on Thursday, and the wreckage was retrieved from the dam water on Friday, after the rescuers confirmed that there were no more bodies inside.
Eyewitnesses have said that strong winds made the water choppy, prompting passengers to raise an alarm and ask the crew to steer the vessel towards the riverbank.
A survivor alleged negligence by the crew and described a last-minute scramble for life jackets.
