India beats Pakistan in women's Cricket World Cup with disputed dismissal and no handshakes

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Kranti Goud and Deepti Sharma took three wickets each as India routed archrival Pakistan by 88 runs Sunday in a women's Cricket World Cup match that was notable for a contentious run out and a lack of customary handshakes.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and chose to bowl, restricting India to 247 in 50 overs. In reply, Pakistan was dismissed for 159 in 43 overs.

Pakistan’s first wicket was lost in a confusing manner when opening batter Muneeba Ali was adjudged run out. Ali had grounded her bat after returning to her crease, having moved forward to play a shot. Her bat lifted, though, as a throw from an Indian fielder hit the stumps. Sana questioned the call, saying her teammate was not attempting a run, but the decision stood.

The only half-century of the game in Colombo came from Pakistan's Sidra Amin, who posted 81 in her 13th 50-plus score in the one-day international format.

Amin shared 69 runs for the fourth wicket with Natalia Pervaiz (33) off 96 deliveries to lift Pakistan's hopes briefly after it was reduced to 26-3.

Seam bowler Goud took 3-20 and spinner Sharma returned 3-45.

Harleen Deol top-scored for India with 46 and Richa Ghosh made a quick-fire 35 not out.

Sana and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur didn't shake hands during the toss and the teams walked off without exchanging customary shakes after the match amid political tensions between the South Asian neighbors. The India and Pakistan captains at the recent men’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates also didn't shake hands in three matches between the archrivals.

The men's T20 Asia Cup marked the resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan only months after the neighboring countries were engaged in a tense border situation in May.

Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana shared an 48-run opening stand before Sana had Mandhana lbw for a 32-ball 23. Rawal made 31 before she was bowled by left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal.

Kaur scored 19 before she was caught behind off seam bowler Diana Baig.

Jemimah Rodrigues (32), Deepti Sharma (25) and Sneh Rana (20) all made valuable contributions.

Ghosh hit two sixes and three boundaries in her innings as India scored 44 off the last five overs.

Baig took 4-69 in her 10 overs for Pakistan, while Iqbal and Sana had two wickets each in a match that was stopped for 15 minutes because insects were bothering the players

India tops the eight-team league with two wins in two games, a point ahead of defending champion Australia.

Pakistan has lost both its matches so far.

New Zealand and South Africa meet Monday in Indore, India, with both teams chasing their first win of the tournament.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Pakistan's Sidra Amin celebrates her fifty runs during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's Harleen Deol plays a shot during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, right, and Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana proceed for coin toss before the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, right, tosses a coin as Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana watches before the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, right, and Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana proceed for coin toss before the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, right, and Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana look on before the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana, center, speaks to Pakistan's Diana Baig during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, right, and Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana look on before the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Oct, 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.

Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.

Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.

Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”

“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.

“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)