Wolvaardt, Kapp power South Africa to their maiden Women's ODI World Cup finalWolvaardt, Kapp power
Guwahati(PTI): South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt scored a hundred for the ages before the seasoned Marizanne Kapp made the ball talk in good batting conditions to script a 125-run victory over England and enter their maiden Women's ODI Cup final here on Wednesday.
Wolvaardt singlehandedly pushed South Africa to a formidable 319 for seven with an epic 169 off 143 balls, negating the impact of two mini collapses caused by left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone.
Four-time champions England needed to pull off a record chase to reach another summit clash but Kapp, after doing her bit with the bat, broke the opposition back with a five-wicket haul, limiting them to 194 in 42.3 overs. "Still feels a bit unreal. You dream as a kid of scoring a hundred in a World Cup knock-out game," Wolvaardt said at the post-match presentation ceremony after receiving the 'Player of The Match' award.
"This probably has to be right at the top considering the context, a World Cup semi-final. It is right up there," she added.
The Proteas women had played back-to-back T20 World Cup finals but lost on both occasions.
On a surface with plenty of runs, Kapp got the ball to seam both ways. England were up against it from the first over of the chase when Kapp got rid of Amy Jones and the experienced former skipper Heather Knight.
Jones was beaten by a ball that seamed backed in while Knight played a wide ball on to her stumps, leaving Kapp all fired up.
England Nat-Sciver Brunt (64 off 76) and Alice Capsey (50 off 71) tried to resurrect the innings with a 107 run stand when the latter was caught at mid on Sune Luus, it seemed all but over for them.
It was Kapp who delivered the knock out punch by having the dangerous Sciver-Brunt caught behind. At 151 for eight, the game was only heading South Africa's way.
The second semifinal will be played between India and Australia in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Put in to bat, South Africa set the platform for a 300 plus total with a 116-run stand between Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits (45 off 65). However, Ecclestone (4/44) stuck twice in the 22rd over to put the brakes on South Africa scoring rate.
A 72-run stand between Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp (42 off 33) followed before Ecclestone broke a threatening partnership once gain. At 202 for six, South Africa seemed to be heading for a below par total but Wolvaardt took her sublime game to the next level to fire her team past the 300-run mark.
The first half of her innings was a lot about her regal drives through the off-side before she targeted the midwicket boundary against the England pacers and spinners to ensure South Africa regained the momentum. Her innings comprised 17 fours and three maximums.
Wolvaardt, who has 184 as her highest ODI score, took left-arm spinner Linsey Smith to the cleaners in the 47th over yielding 20 runs..
Batting with a widish stance, Wolvaardt was quick to dispatch balls on the leg-side. She brought up her 150 with a six over mid-wicket and also completed 5000 ODI during the course of her marathon knock.
Chloe Tryon (33 not out off 26) and Nadine de Klerk (11 not out off 6) did the needful towards the end of the innings. The last 10 overs yielded 117 runs for the Proteas women.
Their batting performance was a far cry from their 69 all out against the same opponent in the league stage of the tournament.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
