Australia beat South Africa by 19 runs to register hat-trick of Women's T20 WC titles
Cape Town, Feb 26: The Australian women's team extended its enviable dominance in world cricket further by winning an unprecedented sixth T20 World Cup trophy with a comfortable 19-run win over a fighting South Africa in the summit clash here on Sunday.
Riding on Beth Mooney's unbeaten 74 off 53 balls, Australia first posted a competitive 156 for 6 and then restricted the home team to 137 for 6.
Mooney's knock proved to be the deciding factor as she single-handedly carried the Australian innings with nine boundaries and one hit over the fence.
Chasing, opener Laura Wolvaardt (61 off 48 balls) played a valiant lone hand while wickets kept tumbling at the other end for the hosts.
Wolvaardt hit five boundaries and three huge sixes during her knock.
South Africa made a sedate start, losing Tazmin Brits in the fifth over, caught by Tahila McGrath at mid-on. McGrath ran backward to complete a catch above her head off the bowling of Darcie Brown.
Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp (11) then shared a 29-run stand for the second wicket before the latter was caught by Brown off the bowling of Ashleigh Gardner.
An over later, there was more misery for South Africa as skipper Sune Luus fell to an unwanted run out to slump to 54 for 3 in 10.4 overs.
With runs drying up, Wolvaardt went for a huge heave towards the onside off a Megan Schutt full delivery, only to miss it and be adjudged LBW. The batter, South Africa's last hope, went for a review but was unsuccessful as Australia all but sealed the fate of the match.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Jess Jonassen then accounted for Chloe Tryon (19) in the next over before Anneke Bosch was run out a ball later to dash South Africa's slim hopes.
Electing to bat, Australia lost Alyssa Healy (18) early, caught at covers by Nadine De Klerk off the bowling of Marizanne Kapp (2/35) in the fifth over.
Then Ashleigh Gardner (29 off 21) joined hands with Mooney and the pair's 46 runs for the second wicket stabilised the innings before the former was brilliantly caught at long-off by South Africa skipper Sune Luus off the bowling of left-arm spinner Chloe-Lesleigh Tryon.
But Mooney went about her business in blistering fashion and dispatched the bad deliveries to the fence to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Grace Harris tried to up the scoring rate but was cleaned up by left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba in the 14th over as the batter went for a wild heave over the square-leg boundary.
Next in, skipper Meg Lanning showed intent from the word go, scoring her first runs from a boundary through the point region before being brilliantly caught by Tyron at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Kapp.
Mooney, however, remained unperturbed as she kept consolidating the Australia innings, picking up boundaries with ease.
Even as Mooney held one end up, wickets kept tumbling at the other side as Australia tried to find boundaries towards the end of the innings.
South Africa brilliantly pulled things back towards the end of the innings by picking up wickets at regular intervals with Mooney remaining stranded at the other end.
South African pacer Shabnim Ismail (2/26) had a big role to play in restricting Australia, claiming the wickets of Ellyse Perry and Georgia Wareham off consecutive balls. She was on a rare hat-trick in the final over but Tahlia McGrath denied Ismail the feat, managing a single off the last delivery of the innings.
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Kangana Ranaut shown black flags in Himachal's Lahaul and Spiti, BJP files complaint with CEO
Shimla, May 20: Actor Kangana Ranaut, BJP candidate from the Mandi parliamentary constituency, was shown black flags by local people and Congress workers at Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti on Monday.
The Himachal Pradesh BJP filed a complaint with the state chief electoral officer (CEO) demanding transfer of election officials and an investigation into the incident as both the BJP and the Congress were given permission to hold rallies adjacent to each other.
The Congress workers raised anti-Kangana slogans - "Kangana, go back, Kangana Vangana nahi chalegi". They were apparently enraged over her remarks on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in April last year.
Ranaut had tweeted a meme featuring the Dalai Lama that said, "The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White house". The photoshopped picture in the tweet showed the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out with US President Joe Biden with a comment - Both of them have the same illness, definitely they could be friends.
Following this, a group of Buddhists staged a dharna outside her office in Mumbai.
Later she apologised saying she didn't mean to hurt anyone, and it was a harmless joke about Biden being friends with the Dalai Lama.
Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur, who had accompanied Ranaut to Kaza to campaign for the BJP, on Monday alleged that the Congress workers tried to disturb the meeting of the BJP and pelted stones on their carcade while they were returning.
Talking to reporters, he said, "It is unfortunate that for the first time, permission was given to hold a parallel rally at the venue to the Congress where prior permission was already granted to the BJP to hold the rally.
Efforts were made to disturb our rally and the Congress workers raised shameful slogans, stopped our carcade and pelted stones, injuring one person."
Thakur added that they go for campaigning all over the state but such things have happened for the first time, which shows "frustration" of the Congress and they would take up the issue with the Election Commission.
Later, in a complaint filed with the Himachal Pradesh CEO, BJP state office secretary Parmod Kumar Thakur said the Congress workers allegedly tried to illegally restrain the political procession and even pelted stones and demanded an investigation into the incident.
"The district administration granted permission for organising a political meeting to the Congress adjacent to the place already scheduled to hold a political meeting of the BJP at Kaza under undue influence of the state government in utter violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)", he said.
In the complaint, the BJP demanded the immediate transfer of election officials from Lahaul and Spiti and said giving permission to both the parties at the same location at the same time was a "big lapse" on the part of the Election Commission "in spite of the fact that permission to the BJP was provided first and the officers involved in this act are biased against the BJP, and free and fair elections are doubtful under the circumstances."
Lahaul and Spiti SP Mayank Chowdhary told PTI that workers of both the BJP and the ruling Congress came face to face but there was no clash and no person was injured. However, one worker sprained his leg, he added.
Bhishan Shashni, Congress election coordinator for Lahaul and Spiti claimed that the Congress workers were peacefully protesting but a large number of people, who were hurt by Ranaut's remarks about the Tibetan spiritual leader, joined the protest.
Earlier, Congress candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh had asked why Ranaut did not visit Spiti and returned from Reckong Peo alleging that she was afraid she would be shown black flags for her remarks against the Dalai Lama.
