Amelia Kerr's 3/22 help MI keep RCB to 125/9 in WPL
Navi Mumbai, Mar 21: Amelia Kerr snapped three wickets as Mumbai Indians produced a disciplined effort to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 125 for nine in their final league match of the inaugural Women's Premier League here on Tuesday.
Kerr (3/22) validated MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur's decision to bowl first, taking full advantage of a spin-friendly track here at the DY Patil Stadium, while Hayley Matthews (4-0-18-0) and Saika Ishaque (1/30) were also on the money.
Both Kerr and Ishaque joined Sophie Ecclestone of the UP Warriorz for most wickets (13) in WPL.
RCB had fallen behind in the race to make it to the final three teams who would play the two-game knockout round to decide the winner of WPL, by losing five matches on the trot.
On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have also been under the pump coming off two consecutive defeats and would need to do better with the bat in the chase against RCB to regain lost form.
The task of chasing a moderate 126 would still be tricky given the pitch remained challenging for batting and aided spinners, with Mumbai Indians' bowlers doing a fine job.
Mumbai made an early breakthrough when a horrible mixup between Sophie Devine (0) and Smriti Mandhana culminated in the former being run out on the fourth ball of the contest.
Mandhana continued to drive herself back into form, hitting a few exciting shots to make 24 from 25 balls with three fours and a six, before her innings was ended by Kerr off a mistimed stroke.
Ellyse Perry (29 from 28 balls, 3x4s) took her time to settle down and opened up only in the 10th over, hitting Saika Ishaque for consecutive fours. At the halfway stage, RCB were 56 for 2.
Heather Knight perished for 12 in the 11th over with Kerr bagging her second wicket, getting the English batter caught at long-on. Knight added 26 runs with Perry during her brief stay in the middle.
The slide continued for RCB with Kerr getting Kanika Ahuja (12) stumped by Yastika Bhatia and soon Nat Sciver-Brunt returned for her final over to claim a couple of wickets to finish at 4-0-24-2, dismissing Perry and Shreyanka Patil (4) to mark yet another poor show for RCB with the bat.
Richa Ghosh cracked three fours and two sixes to make 29 off 13 balls, with her innings helping RCB move past the 100-run mark.
Isabelle Wong (2/26) claimed two late wickets.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
