Women's one-off Test between India and England ends in draw
Bristol: The one-off women's Test between India and England ended in a draw on the final day here on Saturday, with the visitors defying the home side attack to score 344 for 8 in their second innings after following-on.
India were forced to follow-on on Friday after conceding a 165-run first innings lead to England. But the visitors recovered from a middle-order batting collapse in their second innings to defy the home side bowlers on a sluggish pitch on the fourth and final day.
Number 8 batter Sneha Rana top-scored in the second innings with 80 not out off 154 balls. Rana and number 10 Taniya Bhatia (44 not out) shared 144 runs for the unbroken ninth wicket as they frustrated England bowlers for 30.4 overs.
Talented prodigy Shafali Verma made 63 in the second innings to add to her 96 in the first essay. Another debutant Deepti Sharma came good with a 54 to add to her 29 in the first innings.
India took an overall lead of 179 runs with two second innings wickets in hand when the two sides decided to end the match.
Earlier, Indian women reached 243 for 8 at tea. Five wickets fell in the eventful second session with the captain Mithali Raj (4) and Harmanpreet Kaur (8) getting out cheaply. Set batter Punam Raut also fell for 39 off 104 deliveries.
Deepti Sharma and Punam Raut shared a 72-run stand for the third wicket in the second session as India wiped off the deficit after being forced to follow on by England on Friday.
For England, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone
took 4/118 for match figures of 8/206.
India had played their last Test nearly seven years ago, beating South Africa by an innings and 34 runs in Mysore.
Brief Scores:
England Women 1st innings: 396/9 decl
India Women: 231 and 344 for 8 in 121 overs (Sneh Rana 80 not out, Shafali Verma 63, Deepti Sharma 54; Sophie Ecclestone 4/118).
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Gold worth Rs 4.35 cr seized at IGI Airport in two smuggling cases; three arrested
New Delhi (PTI): Customs officers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport have busted two separate gold smuggling attempts, seizing a total of over 3.17 kilograms of gold worth about Rs 4.35 crore and arresting three foreign nationals, officials said on Monday.
In the first instance, Customs registered a case of smuggling on February 26 against a 39-year-old Chadian woman who arrived from Addis Ababa a day before, an official statement said.
Acting on specific profiling and surveillance, officers intercepted the passenger for a detailed examination.
During the search, gold articles of high purity weighing 1,843 grams were recovered from her baggage. The seized gold was assessed at a tariff value of Rs 2.37 crore, officials said.
The passenger admitted that the gold had been smuggled into India without payment of duty, officials said, adding that the recovery was made after she confessed the concealment was done "to evade Customs detection and payment of applicable duty".
The gold was seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962, and the woman was placed under arrest under Section 104 of the Act for her alleged role in smuggling.
In a separate incident, Airport Customs Preventive officers booked two Myanmar nationals in a gold smuggling case on February 23. The duo had arrived from Yangon, another statement said.
The passengers were intercepted while crossing the green channel at the international arrival hall of Terminal-3.
On thorough personal search and baggage examination, the two men admitted that they had concealed gold bars inside their rectum.
"Further, four gold bars were ejected by each of the passengers," the Customs statement said, adding that eight rectangular gold bars were recovered.
The total net weight of the recovered gold was 1,329 grams, which was appraised at a tariff value of Rs 1.98 crore.
Both passengers were arrested under Section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962 for their involvement in the offence of smuggling, officials added.
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