India chase down record total to stun champions Australia and reach World Cup final
India pulled off a dramatic record run-chase to knock the reigning champions, Australia, out of the World Cup, led by an outstanding century from Jemimah Rodrigues,Rodrigues was dropped three times by Australia, on 52, 83 and 106, eventually finishing unbeaten on 127 as the seven-time world champions uncharacteristically cracked under the pressure of defending 338,Running back from mid-off, Tahlia McGrath spilled the third of those chances from Rodrigues in the 44th over, while Annabel Sutherland sent down two wides in a wayward 48th over which cost 15 runs,It was left to Amanjot Kaur to reap the rewards of Rodrigues’ staying power, striking the winning runs from Sophie Molineux’s 49th over with nine balls to spare,The historic run-chase – the highest ever achieved in women’s ODI cricket – had hung in the balance after Harmanpreet Kaur miscued a pull to midwicket in the 36th over, out for a run-a-ball 89 with 113 runs still needed from 88 balls.
Deepti Sharma was then run out after hesitating over a quick single, while Richa Ghosh smashed two sixes but sent up a catch to short third with the equation down to 29 off four overs.Rodrigues, though, remained unbeaten to the end, as India waltzed into a home World Cup final with a five-wicket win, delighting the Mumbai crowd.They face South Africa at the same ground on Sunday.“It was really hard these last 12 months, but this feels like a dream and it’s not sunk in yet,” Rodrigues told Sky Sports – a reference to a tricky period in which she has been in and out of the India XI.Less than two weeks ago, she was dropped for the group-stage match against England, while in the semi-final she was told only five minutes before being sent out that she would be batting at No 3.
“I cried every day throughout this tour,” she said.“I was not doing well mentally, going through a lot of anxiety, then being dropped was a big challenge for me.“ But [this innings] was not for me to prove a point, it was for me to win this match for India.We’ve always lost in crunch situations, and I wanted to be there to the end to take us through.”India were clear underdogs going into this game, having limped through the group stages with losses to these same opponents as well as to South Africa and England.
That status was only underlined when opener Phoebe Litchfield hit a 77-ball century – the quickest ever in a World Cup knockout match – and India lost both of their openers in the powerplay, in dismissals which epitomised the two teams’ differing success with use of DRS this World Cup.Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionShafali Verma, catapaulted into the XI after being approved as an injury replacement three days ago, lasted five balls before being rapped plumb in front by Kim Garth – but opted to burn through a review anyway.Australia then successfully overturned a not-out caught-behind decision against Smriti Mandhana, after replays showed the tiniest of spikes on UltraEdge.Mandhana shook her head in disbelief before walking off.“We created pressure, we created opportunities, we just weren’t able to capitalise,” Alyssa Healy, who also dropped Rodrigues, told Sky Sports.
“That’s something that Australia really prides themselves on, and we let ourselves down in that regard.” Earlier, Australia’s total of 338 was built around that maiden World Cup hundred from the 22-year-old Litchfield, a quiet half-century from Ellyse Perry and a much noisier one from Ash Gardner.Litchfield unfurled her trademark reverse-sweep, although there was a nervous moment when she tried it on 62 and was given out on-field after the ball ended up in the hands of backward square leg.Litchfield, though, sent the decision upstairs and was reprieved when replays showed it had been a bump ball.That allowed her to progress to her ton eight overs later – but she was bowled trying to ramp Amanjot Kaur in the 28th over, and India fought back in the middle overs to take four Australian wickets for 45 runs.
Perry, who had looked set to join Litchfield in the centurion club after scoring her first half-century of the tournament, joined in with the collapse, bowled by a Radha Yadav ball which skidded on to her stumps.Gardner muscled four sixes and brought up a 41-ball fifty to ensure Australia added 38 runs from the final four overs – but she was run out after a muddle with Kim Garth in the 49th, while Deepti Sharma took two wickets with successive deliveries in the 50th over as Australia were bowled out off the penultimate ball of the innings, a limp finish which eventually came back to haunt them.
Ofcom criticises O2 for going ‘against the spirit’ of new pricing rules
The UK telecoms regulator has criticised O2 for raising prices for millions of mobile phone customers by more than they were originally told.In an unusual intervention, Ofcom said it was “disappointed” by the phone network’s decision, which “goes against the spirit of our rules”.Up to 15 million O2 customers will see their monthly bills rise by more than they were told when they signed up to their contracts, after the company announced an additional 70p per month increase to its annual price rises from April 2026.The originally stated £1.80 monthly rise will now be almost 40% higher at £2
FTSE 100 winning streak ends as WPP shares hit lowest level since 1998; ECB holds rates at 2% - as it happened
Time to recap.Shares in advertising group WPP fell to their lowest level since 1998, after the FTSE 100 group slashed its revenue guidance for the year and its new chief executive Cindy Rose said its recent performance has been “unacceptable”.The former Microsoft executive has announced a review of the business, saying she was taking action to address the “unacceptable” performance at the company, which has struggled to stem a growing exodus of clients and compete with the AI and data capabilities of its rivals.Over in Frankfurt, the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday for the third meeting in a row despite concerns that a modest economic recovery across the eurozone would fuel inflation.The ECB kept its key deposit rate at 2% despite annual price growth rising to 2
Apple reports record iPhone sales as new lineup reignites worldwide demand
Apple reported its first quarterly earnings since the release of its new lineup of iPhones on Thursday, beating Wall Street analysts’ expectations. The company showed steady financial growth and a strong bottom line despite slow progress on artificial intelligence. The report comes just days after the company hit a $4tn market value for the first time.“Today, Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record of $102.5 billion, including a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record for Services,” Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, said in a statement
Amazon reports strongest cloud growth since 2022 after major outage
Amazon has made its first financial disclosures since the disastrous outage suffered by its cloud computing division that brought everything from smart beds to banks offline.In spite of the global outage, Amazon Web Services has continued to grow, and this quarter reported a 20% increase in revenue year over year. Wall Street estimated that AWS would bring in $32.42bn in net sales in the third quarter, with the company reporting actual revenue of $33bn.“AWS is growing at a pace we haven’t seen since 2022,” CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement accompanying the earnings report
Borthwick hopes England can emulate Bazball mentality for autumn series
England’s rugby players are seeking to emulate the Bazball ethos of their cricketing counterparts and strike a pre-emptive blow for the nation in the run-up to the forthcoming Ashes series. Steve Borthwick and members of his coaching staff have had discussions with Brendon McCullum and want their team to make a fast and furious start against Australia in the Quilter Nations Series on Saturday.There is a collective desire within the England camp to make a statement over the coming month and Borthwick and his defence coach, Richard Wigglesworth, have been picking McCullum’s brain on the best ways to encourage a positive mindset. “We met Brendon McCullum and his coaching staff a few weeks ago,” said Wigglesworth. “We had a sit down and a coffee in Manchester which was very enjoyable
Enhanced Games are dangerous and must be stopped, says Wada head
The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has called on the body’s American counterparts to act to stop the Enhanced Games, describing the new event – which allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in competition – as “dangerous” and “irresponsible”.Witold Banka said the world’s anti-doping regimes had to be “very united” in their opposition to the Enhanced Games and said the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) had a responsibility to push against it. Banka went on to criticise the anti-doping regime in the US, at a time when the government there has withheld crucial funding from Wada’s operations.“Sometimes we don’t know what to say about this ridiculous idea, because from the ethical point of view, from the moral point of view, how is it possible that people come to agree to compete, taking all these prohibited substances?” Banka said. “It’s completely against everything that we are doing
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