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Laura Wolvaardt, Sune Luus shine for South Africa with record partnership  South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus recorded the highest opening partnership by a Full Member nation in a women’s T20I match, during its clash against India in Johannesburg on Wednesday.Wolvaardt and Luus put together 183 runs as they helped South Africa overhaul a 193-run target with ease.The Proteas duo broke the record held by New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, who had combined for 182 runs against South Africa in 2018.While Captain Wolvaardt led from the front with a blistering 115 off 53 balls, registering the joint third-fastest century in women’s T20Is, Luus struck 64 off 42.“We knew we had so much power in the dug out so we just had to get as much as we could. And then once we got out of the Powerplay, I just tried to win the game as quickly as I could,” said Wolvaardt after the game.
Highest opening partnerships by a Full Member in women’s T20Is

Laura Wolvaardt-Sune Luus (South Africa) – 183 vs India (April 22, 2026)

Sophie Devine-Suzie Bates (New Zealand) – 182 vs South Africa (June 20, 2018)

Shandre Fritz-Trisha Chetty (South Africa) – 170 vs The Netherlands (October 14, 2010)

Dane van Niekerk-Lizelle Lee (South Africa) – 163* vs Pakistan (March 23, 2014)

Amelia Kerr-Izzy Gaze (New Zealand) – 163 vs Zimbabwe (February 27, 2026)
Published on Apr 23, 2026  #Laura #Wolvaardt #Sune #Luus #shine #South #Africa #record #partnership

Laura Wolvaardt, Sune Luus shine for South Africa with record partnership

South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus recorded the highest opening partnership by a Full Member nation in a women’s T20I match, during its clash against India in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Wolvaardt and Luus put together 183 runs as they helped South Africa overhaul a 193-run target with ease.

The Proteas duo broke the record held by New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, who had combined for 182 runs against South Africa in 2018.

While Captain Wolvaardt led from the front with a blistering 115 off 53 balls, registering the joint third-fastest century in women’s T20Is, Luus struck 64 off 42.

“We knew we had so much power in the dug out so we just had to get as much as we could. And then once we got out of the Powerplay, I just tried to win the game as quickly as I could,” said Wolvaardt after the game.

Highest opening partnerships by a Full Member in women’s T20Is

Laura Wolvaardt-Sune Luus (South Africa) – 183 vs India (April 22, 2026)

Sophie Devine-Suzie Bates (New Zealand) – 182 vs South Africa (June 20, 2018)

Shandre Fritz-Trisha Chetty (South Africa) – 170 vs The Netherlands (October 14, 2010)

Dane van Niekerk-Lizelle Lee (South Africa) – 163* vs Pakistan (March 23, 2014)

Amelia Kerr-Izzy Gaze (New Zealand) – 163 vs Zimbabwe (February 27, 2026)

Published on Apr 23, 2026

#Laura #Wolvaardt #Sune #Luus #shine #South #Africa #record #partnership

South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus recorded the highest opening partnership by a Full Member nation in a women’s T20I match, during its clash against India in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Wolvaardt and Luus put together 183 runs as they helped South Africa overhaul a 193-run target with ease.

The Proteas duo broke the record held by New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, who had combined for 182 runs against South Africa in 2018.

While Captain Wolvaardt led from the front with a blistering 115 off 53 balls, registering the joint third-fastest century in women’s T20Is, Luus struck 64 off 42.

“We knew we had so much power in the dug out so we just had to get as much as we could. And then once we got out of the Powerplay, I just tried to win the game as quickly as I could,” said Wolvaardt after the game.

Highest opening partnerships by a Full Member in women’s T20Is

Laura Wolvaardt-Sune Luus (South Africa) – 183 vs India (April 22, 2026)

Sophie Devine-Suzie Bates (New Zealand) – 182 vs South Africa (June 20, 2018)

Shandre Fritz-Trisha Chetty (South Africa) – 170 vs The Netherlands (October 14, 2010)

Dane van Niekerk-Lizelle Lee (South Africa) – 163* vs Pakistan (March 23, 2014)

Amelia Kerr-Izzy Gaze (New Zealand) – 163 vs Zimbabwe (February 27, 2026)

Published on Apr 23, 2026

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#Laura #Wolvaardt #Sune #Luus #shine #South #Africa #record #partnership

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Deadspin | Ildemaro Vargas blasts 2 homers as Diamondbacks defeat White Sox <div id=""><section id="0" class=" w-full"><div class="xl:container mx-0 !px-4 py-0 pb-4 !mx-0 !px-0"><img src="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28788843.jpg" srcset="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28788843.jpg" alt="MLB: Chicago White Sox at Arizona Diamondbacks" class="w-full" fetchpriority="high" loading="eager"/><span class="text-0.8 leading-tight">Apr 22, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ildemaro Vargas (6) hits a three run home run against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<!-- --> <!-- --> </span></div></section><section id="section-1"> <p>Ildemaro Vargas hit two homers and drove in a career-high five runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks withstood Munetaka Murakami, who homered in a fifth straight game, to hold off the Chicago White Sox 11-7 in Phoenix on Wednesday.</p> </section><section id="section-2"> <p>Murakami leads the American League with 10 homers, eight on the road, and he became the fastest player in White Sox history to reach 10, doing it in 24 games. He broke a tie with Shohei Ohtani to become the only Japanese-born player to homer in five straight games.</p> </section><section id="section-3"> <p>Murakami had three hits, and his 451-foot two-run homer off Ryan Thompson in the seventh brought the White Sox within 10-7, but the Diamondbacks added a run on Geraldo Perdomo’s second triple of the game in the last of the inning and Paul Sewald left two on in the ninth.</p> </section><section id="section-4"> <p>Nolan Arenado had four hits, including a homer, scored three runs and drove in three for the Diamondbacks, who evened the series and broke a two-game losing streak in which they had given up 21 runs.</p> </section><section id="section-5"> <p>Corbin Carroll had three hits and scored twice and Perdomo had three hits and an RBI. Both reached four times.</p> </section><br/><section id="section-6"> <p>Arizona had a season-high 16 hits in support of Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0), who gave up four runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked three, leaving with an 8-4 lead.</p> </section> <section id="section-7"> <p>Colson Montgomery homered for the fourth consecutive game and Miguel Vargas homered for the third straight for the White Sox, who have 14 homers in their last four games.</p> </section><section id="section-8"> <p>Montgomery homered in four straight games for the second time in his career. He did it from Aug. 22-26 last year.</p> </section><section id="section-9"> <p>Ildemaro Vargas hit a three-run homer in a four-run second and added a two-run shot in the third to give Arizona a 6-3 lead. Arenado’s two-run homer in the sixth pushed the cushion to 10-5.</p> </section><section id="section-10"> <p>Ildemaro Vargas extended his season-opening hitting streak to a franchise-record 17 games, and his 20-game hitting streak dating to last season is the longest active streak in the majors.</p> </section><section id="section-11"> <p>Anthony Kay (1-1) gave up eight runs and eight hits, including both Vargas homers, in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked four, and he balked in Carroll with the first run in Arizona’s two-run fourth to make it 8-4.</p> </section><br/><section id="section-12"> <p>–Field Level Media</p> </section> </div> #Deadspin #Ildemaro #Vargas #blasts #homers #Diamondbacks #defeat #White #Sox

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The Iranian women Trump ‘saved’ from execution are simultaneously real and AI-manipulated<div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">Only the night before, he had posted on Truth Social about the imminent executions of these women, quoting a screenshot that included a collage of eight glamorously backlit, soft-focus portraits. The photos of the women were immediately accused of being AI-generated. “Trump is begging Iranian leaders to not execute 8 AI-generated women. This is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” said one viral X post.</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">On top of that, almost immediately after Trump’s announcement, Mizan, an Iranian state news agency, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-says-eight-iranian-women-wont-be-executed-iran-disputes-entire-account-2026-04-22/">called the president a liar</a>. “Last night, Donald Trump, citing a completely false news story, called on Iran to overturn the death sentences of eight women.” Mizan said that some of the women had already been released and others were facing prison time but not execution, and furthermore said that Tehran had made no concessions — presumably, the status of the women has not changed.</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">The X account for the Iranian embassy in South Africa, perhaps the most relentless shitposter among Iran’s state-affiliated accounts, was quick to pile on by generating its own set of eight women:</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">The collage that Trump posted is, at the very least, AI-modified, Mahsa Alimardani, the associate director of the Technology Threats & Opportunities program at WITNESS, told <em>The Verge</em>. But the women themselves are real. The woman in the top right corner of the collage is <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-iran-sentenced-death-protests-rights-groups/">Bita Hemmati</a>, whose photograph appeared in several news stories in <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/15/world-news/iran-to-execute-the-first-woman-over-widespread-anti-regime-demonstrations/">various right-leaning news outlets last week</a>. Hemmati is confirmed to have received a <a href="https://www.en-hrana.org/tehran-revolutionary-court-sentences-four-protest-detainees-to-death/">death sentence</a> issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups.”</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">Alimardani named six of the women (Bita Hemmati, Mahboubeh Shabani, Venus Hossein-Nejad, Golnaz Naraghi, Diana Taherabadi, Ghazal Ghalandri), and said that the identities of the final two (said to be Panah Movahedi and Ensieh Nejati) were still unverified. The six verified women participated in protests against the government in January. Aside from Hemmati, none of the other women are reported to have received death sentences.</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">It’s not surprising that Trump has a careless disregard for the truth; it’s not surprising, either, for the Iranian regime to fudge the details to suit its own narrative, or to make light of real political prisoners in order to dunk on the United States.</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1">The additional wrinkle is that the account mocking Trump for coming to the rescue of “8 AI-generated women” is the very same one that landed <a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/913587/south-korea-lee-jae-myung-israel">South Korean president Lee Jae-myung</a> in hot water when he quoted a misleading labeled video posted by that account. Israeli officials have accused the account of being “well-known for spreading disinformation.” The case of the sketchy Lee Jae-myung quote-post is a story of mingled truth and misinformation, where the post got facts very wrong, but the video — of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers shoving a limp body off a rooftop in Gaza — was real, documenting an event that possibly implicates Israeli forces in a violation of international law.</p></div><div><p class="duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _17nnmdya _1xwtict1">The case of the eight Iranian protesters also features that same mingling of fact and fiction into a fuzzy distortion that fuels an endless disputation of real human rights violations. Their lives have been reduced to glossy pixels and quote-dunks, the stuff of propaganda and parody. While known liars fight with each other on the internet about who these women are and what will happen to them, they — verifiably six of them, at least — remain real people who exist beyond the Iranian internet blackout.</p></div>#Iranian #women #Trump #saved #execution #simultaneously #real #AImanipulatedPolicy,Politics

Deadspin | Braves blast four homers to bypass Nationals  Apr 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA;  Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II (23) celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images   Michael Harris II hit two home runs, Matt Olson smacked a three-run shot and the Atlanta Braves rallied from an early three-run deficit to claim an 8-6 win against the host Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.  The seventh multi-homer game of Harris’ career helped Atlanta manager Walt Weiss earn his 300th victory. Drake Baldwin homered for the second straight game for the Braves, who have earned at least a split of the four-game series.  Dylan Lee (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his second save. After walking 12 batters on Tuesday night, Braves pitchers issued only three free passes.  James Wood homered for the second straight game for Washington. Daylen Lile hit a three-run homer and Joey Wiemer had a pinch-hit solo shot.  Washington starter Zack Littell (0-3) allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over six innings.  The Braves started in on Littell early as Baldwin homered to right center in the first to make it 1-0.  Washington jumped in front with a four-run first against Atlanta starter Didier Fuentes, who lasted just three innings while allowing seven hits and four runs.   Wood and Luis Garcia, Jr. opened the first with singles and, after two strikeouts, Lile delivered a homer to center. Jacob Young singled and scored when Jorbit Vivas doubled to right.  The Braves came right back. Ozzie Albies reached on a Vivas error and Harris homered to right. Mike Yastrzemski singled, went to third on a single by Jonah Heim and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronald Acuna, Jr.  Harris struck again in the third as his solo shot gave the Braves a 5-4 lead.  Atlanta broke it open in the fourth. Heim and Acuna drew one-out walks and, with two outs, Olson homered to right to make it 8-4.  The Nationals cut the deficit in half in the sixth on solo homers by pinch-hitter Wiemer and Wood, whose 413-foot shot was his National League-leading ninth of the season.  Washington got the tying runs on with two outs in the eighth, but Tyler Kinley struck out Curtis Mead.  –Field Level Media    #Deadspin #Braves #blast #homers #bypass #NationalsApr 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II (23) celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Michael Harris II hit two home runs, Matt Olson smacked a three-run shot and the Atlanta Braves rallied from an early three-run deficit to claim an 8-6 win against the host Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

The seventh multi-homer game of Harris’ career helped Atlanta manager Walt Weiss earn his 300th victory. Drake Baldwin homered for the second straight game for the Braves, who have earned at least a split of the four-game series.

Dylan Lee (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his second save. After walking 12 batters on Tuesday night, Braves pitchers issued only three free passes.

James Wood homered for the second straight game for Washington. Daylen Lile hit a three-run homer and Joey Wiemer had a pinch-hit solo shot.

Washington starter Zack Littell (0-3) allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over six innings.

The Braves started in on Littell early as Baldwin homered to right center in the first to make it 1-0.


Washington jumped in front with a four-run first against Atlanta starter Didier Fuentes, who lasted just three innings while allowing seven hits and four runs.

Wood and Luis Garcia, Jr. opened the first with singles and, after two strikeouts, Lile delivered a homer to center. Jacob Young singled and scored when Jorbit Vivas doubled to right.

The Braves came right back. Ozzie Albies reached on a Vivas error and Harris homered to right. Mike Yastrzemski singled, went to third on a single by Jonah Heim and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronald Acuna, Jr.

Harris struck again in the third as his solo shot gave the Braves a 5-4 lead.

Atlanta broke it open in the fourth. Heim and Acuna drew one-out walks and, with two outs, Olson homered to right to make it 8-4.

The Nationals cut the deficit in half in the sixth on solo homers by pinch-hitter Wiemer and Wood, whose 413-foot shot was his National League-leading ninth of the season.

Washington got the tying runs on with two outs in the eighth, but Tyler Kinley struck out Curtis Mead.


–Field Level Media

#Deadspin #Braves #blast #homers #bypass #Nationals">Deadspin | Braves blast four homers to bypass Nationals  Apr 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA;  Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II (23) celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images   Michael Harris II hit two home runs, Matt Olson smacked a three-run shot and the Atlanta Braves rallied from an early three-run deficit to claim an 8-6 win against the host Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.  The seventh multi-homer game of Harris’ career helped Atlanta manager Walt Weiss earn his 300th victory. Drake Baldwin homered for the second straight game for the Braves, who have earned at least a split of the four-game series.  Dylan Lee (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Robert Suarez pitched the ninth for his second save. After walking 12 batters on Tuesday night, Braves pitchers issued only three free passes.  James Wood homered for the second straight game for Washington. Daylen Lile hit a three-run homer and Joey Wiemer had a pinch-hit solo shot.  Washington starter Zack Littell (0-3) allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over six innings.  The Braves started in on Littell early as Baldwin homered to right center in the first to make it 1-0.  Washington jumped in front with a four-run first against Atlanta starter Didier Fuentes, who lasted just three innings while allowing seven hits and four runs.   Wood and Luis Garcia, Jr. opened the first with singles and, after two strikeouts, Lile delivered a homer to center. Jacob Young singled and scored when Jorbit Vivas doubled to right.  The Braves came right back. Ozzie Albies reached on a Vivas error and Harris homered to right. Mike Yastrzemski singled, went to third on a single by Jonah Heim and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ronald Acuna, Jr.  Harris struck again in the third as his solo shot gave the Braves a 5-4 lead.  Atlanta broke it open in the fourth. Heim and Acuna drew one-out walks and, with two outs, Olson homered to right to make it 8-4.  The Nationals cut the deficit in half in the sixth on solo homers by pinch-hitter Wiemer and Wood, whose 413-foot shot was his National League-leading ninth of the season.  Washington got the tying runs on with two outs in the eighth, but Tyler Kinley struck out Curtis Mead.  –Field Level Media    #Deadspin #Braves #blast #homers #bypass #Nationals

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