ICC Women’s World T20 2018: Australia and England qualify for the finals 

Australia and England progressed into the finals of ICC Women’s World T20 2018 played at Antigua on Friday. It was a superb performance by both teams to beat their opponents with ease.

Australia progress to their 5th finals

In the first semi-finals, Australia crushed defending champions West Indies by 71 runs. West Indies captain Taylor won the toss and decided to field first. Australian openers Beth Mooney and Healy gave the team a flying start adding 20 runs in just 2.5 overs. Healy looked in great touch smashing the West Indies bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, Australia scored 35 for 1.

Healy and captain Lanning added 51 runs for the 2nd wicket. West Indies came back strongly by picking quick wickets. Haynes scored a quick fire 25 off 15 balls to help Australia post a total of 142 for 5 in 20 overs. For West Indies, Selman, Taylor, Mathews, Fletcher and Dottin took 1 wicket each.

Chasing the target of 143 runs to win, Matthews and Dottin began well adding 15 runs in 1.5 overs before the Australian bowlers picked quick wickets. At the end of 6 overs, West Indies scored 26 for 3. Australian bowlers kept putting pressure on the West Indies batters and bowled them out for 71 runs in 17.3 overs. For Australia, Perry, Kimmiance, Gardner took 2 wickets each.

Australia 142 for 5 in 20 overs ( Healy 46, Lanning 31, Haynes 25*, Taylor 1/20) beat West Indies 71 in 17.3 overs ( Taylor 16, Perry 2/2, Garnder 2/15) by 71 runs.

India lose in the semi-finals

The Indian women’s team lost the 2nd semi-finals to England by 8 wickets played at Sir Vivan Richards Stadium. Apart from Smriti Mandhana, Rodrigues, none of the Indian batters could score runs and posted a below-par total. In reply, England chased down the target with ease.

The Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first. Smriti Mandhana got the team off to decent start with some attacking stroke play. Before the power play over ended, Smriti Mandhana was dismissed by Ecclestone for 34 off 23 balls. At the end of 6 overs, India scored 43 for 1.

After the power play overs, the Indian batters could not score runs at ease and lost wickets at regular intervals. Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues added 36 runs for the 3rd wicket.

The Indian team lost their last 8 wickets for just 23 runs. India were bowled out for 112 in 19.3 overs. For India, Smriti Mandhana was the top scorer with 34, Rodrigues made 26, Kaur scored 16. Captain Heather Knight took 3 for 9 in 2 overs, Gordon 2 for 20 and Ecclestone 2 for 22.

Chasing the target of 113 runs to win, Tammy Beaumont fell to Radha Yadav for just 1 run. Wyatt and Jones added 20 runs for the 2nd wicket before Deepti Sharma struck to dismiss Wyatt for 8 runs. At the end of 6 overs, England scored 30 for 2.

Jones and Sciver played the Indian spinners well, taking singles and hitting bad balls away for boundaries. Both of them took the game away from India and finished the game for England. Sciver reached her half-century off 37 balls while Jones finished the match reaching her half-century off 47 balls. Sciver and Jones added 92 runs unbeaten runs.

England 116 for 2 in 17.1 overs (Jones 53*, Sciver 52*, Radha Yadav 1/20, Deepti Sharma 1/24) beat India 112 in 19.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 34, Rodrigues 26, Heather Knight 3/9, Gordon 2/20) by 8 wickets.