Kaur

India staged a brilliant comeback after a middle-order collapse to beat Sri Lanka by 59 runs in a rain-affected opening match of the Women’s World Cup in Guwahati.

The hosts lost four wickets for four runs in the space of 11 balls, including three in the 26th over for spinner Inoka Ranaweera, which saw them slip to 124-6.

But Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma produced a match-winning partnership of 103 for the seventh wicket as Sri Lanka were unable to maintain their initial discipline in the field, with the former dropped four times on her way to 57.

Sneh Rana added some late impetus with 28 from 15 balls and Sharma fell for 53 from the last ball of the innings as India recovered to post a competitive 269-8 from 47 overs, with three overs lost from rain delays.

That saw Sri Lanka’s target revised to 271 from the same amount of overs, and they made a promising start by reaching 82-1 but skipper Chamari Athapaththu’s dismissal for 43 at the end of the 15th over stalled their progress.

Athapaththu’s second-wicket stand of 52 with Harshitha Samarawickrama kept the visitors in the game, but they lacked India’s batting depth and could not recover from a slump to 140-6 and they were eventually bowled out for 211 in the 46th over.

Sharma added figures of 3-54 to her half-century as India entertained a lively crowd of 22,843 – a record for a Women’s World Cup group game – while fellow spinners Sneh Rana and Shree Charani took 2-32 and 2-37 respectively.

The tournament continues with defending champions Australia taking on New Zealand in Indore on Wednesday, while England start their campaign against South Africa on Friday.

The National Television Awards were held at the O2 Arena last night and social commentator Narinder Kaur is said to have been refused entry to the red carpet at the event

Social commentator Narinder Kaur was refused entry to the red carpet of the National Television Awards last night. She was among the celebrities who had travelled to the O2 Arena in London for the televised awards ceremony.

Narinder, 53, who regularly appears on Jeremy Vine‘s panel show, is said to have been turned away from the red carpet after arriving at the venue in London. It’s claimed that it led to confusion among guests preparing to enter the event.

A spokesperson for Narinder told the Mirror that she was turned away from the red carpet, despite previously been told that she would be given access. They told us today: “She was refused entry onto the red carpet by one of the organisers, despite a network executive for the show confirming that she was allowed entry onto the red carpet.”

They continued: “Several celebrities came over to Narinder’s aid and also said the organiser’s behaviour was weird and asked why Narinder was the only person being asked [to show her tickets].” They added: “Narinder has previously won an NTA, back in 2002, which adds insult to injury.” A representative for the NTAs declined to comment when approached.

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Narinder, who is said to have taken a boat down the Thames amid tube strikes to make it to the O2 Arena, had shared content on Instagram ahead of arriving. The broadcaster suggested in a post that she was running late, writing: “[My agent is] trying to calm me down at HOW LATE we are”.

She’s since issued a video message on X, in which she addressed the idea of having been “banned” from the NTAs. She said: “I wasn’t banned. I had an invite but when I got there they decided it wasn’t the right invite, security, and I had to wait. And it was like so one and half, two hours later, and then finally [they] were like ‘oh my god’ we’ve made a huge mistake. Of course come in’. It was too late. I was ready to go home.”

Narinder, who said that she hopes it was a “genuine mistake,” found it “humiliating” and “embarrassing,” adding: “I was really upset.” She also hit out at the prospect of it being due to her opinions on certain topics, saying that some people had suggested that to her. Dismissing the prospect, she said: “That doesn’t make sense. […] Then why would I be invited? What, then they decided when I got to the door that I’m too opinionated?”

Her opinions have included criticism of the BBC recently following the news that former the Apprentice star Thomas Skinner, 34, will compete on Strictly Come Dancing this year. She said last month that she wanted to take part in the show but had been deemed “too controversial”.

As reported at the time, she said in the caption of a video about his casting on X: “Apparently I was deemed too controversial for @bbcstrictly because they only hire quiet brown and black women that fit in a box. But you can be a white man AND be controversial and you’ll be hired on the spot! Hello Thomas Skinner!! #BBCStrictly your unconscious bias and prejudicial views against British brown women is disgraceful.”

The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said at a Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this week that he had “never heard that” when asked about claims that Narinder was rejected for the show, whilst defending the controversial casting of Thomas. Tim said: “I’m not involved directly, that’s not disowning it, it’s just day to day.

“It’s for BBC Studios to propose to the commissioner of entertainment who they think they can get … one is who will take part, because it’s quite a commitment, three months in full training. And the second is, who are people that they think would make a good balance in terms of the cast, and my goodness, they’ve done a good job in terms of creating a phenomenal show.”

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