Mooney, Hemalatha fifties power Gujarat Giants to 190/7 against MI in WPL
New Delhi, Mar 9: Dynamic fifties by skipper Beth Mooney and D Hemalatha propelled Gujarat Giants to a competitive 190 for seven against defending champions Mumbai Indians in their Women's Premier League match here on Saturday.
Mooney (66, 35b, 8x4, 3x6) and Hemalatha (74, 40b, 9x4, 2x6) added 121 runs for an electrifying second-wicket alliance in a little over 11 overs after the Gujarat side elected to bat first.
Their power walk started after the early departure of opener Laura Wolvaardt (13), who was cleaned up by Hayley Matthews.
Both Mooney, who struck his second fifty in a row, and Hemalatha slipped into overdrive straightaway.
While Hemalatha was severe on MI spinners, the veteran Mooney focused on the opposition pacers.
A straight six of pacer Nat-Sciver Brunt and back-to-back fours off Shabnim Ismail, who recently breached the 130 kmph-barrier, helped Mooney to chug along at a scoring rate of over 200.
The introduction pacer Pooja Vastrakar prompted Mooney to take her batting to another level as two scoops behind wicketkeeper gave her as many maximums.
At the other end, Hemalatha picked up leg-spinner Amelia Kerr for punishment as the right-hander smashed her for 4, 6, 4 in the 10th over to collect 15 runs.
Mooney reached her fifty in 27 balls and minutes later Hemalatha too crossed the mark off 28 balls as the Giants moved ahead in a brisk clip.
But the dismissal of Mooney in the 14th over, right after the Strategic Time Out, applied breaks on Gujarat scoring.
The attempt to pull off-spinner Sajana Sajeevan made her hear the deathly clatter of stumps.
Hemalatha soon fell to Ismail as the Gujarat side lost four wickets while adding 28 runs but they have already reached a good position.
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Veteran journalist, filmmaker Pritish Nandy passes away at 73
Mumbai, Jan 8: Veteran journalist, poet and filmmaker Pritish Nandy passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday, sources close to him said.
Nandy (73) died after a cardiac arrest at his home in south Mumbai and his last rites were performed in the evening, they said.
In a social media post, veteran actor and Nandy's friend Anupam Kher paid glowing tributes to him.
"Deeply deeply saddened and shocked to know about the demise of one of my dearest and closest friends #PritishNandy! Amazing poet, writer, filmmaker and a brave and unique editor/journalist!" Kher wrote.
"He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai. We shared lots of things in common. He was also one of the most fearless people I had come across. Always Larger than life. I learnt so many things from him. Off-late we didn’t meet much. But there was a time when we were inseparable! I will never forget when he surprised me by putting me on the cover of Filmfare and more importantly The Illustrated Weekly," Kher added.
Nandy was a former Rajya Sabha member of the Shiv Sena and also an animal rights advocate.
His company, Pritish Nandy Communications, made films like 'Sur', 'Kaante', 'Jhankaar Beats', 'Chameli', 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi', and 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' and also produced the web series 'Four More Shots Please!'
Nandy wrote around 40 books of poetry in English and translated poems from Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi into English.
Deeply deeply saddened and shocked to know about the demise of one of my dearest and closest friends #PritishNandy! Amazing poet, writer, filmmaker and a brave and unique editor/journalist! He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai. We… pic.twitter.com/QYshTlFNd2
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) January 8, 2025
