Bangi (Malaysia), Jan 25: Australia moved one step closer to the semifinals with a dominant performance on their way to a seven-wicket victory over a listless West Indies in the U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup here on Saturday.
After winning the toss, Australia opted to field and immediately applied pressure, reducing the West Indies to 16-3 by the end of the powerplay. The West Indies batters struggled to settle as Australia kept striking at regular intervals, eventually bowling them out for just 53 runs in 16.3 overs.
Eleanor Larosa, Caoimhe Bray, and Tegan Williamson were the standout bowlers, each taking two wickets. Eleanor Larosa was named Player of the Match for her brilliant bowling performance, finishing with figures of 2/6.
Australia’s chase was swift and efficient. Despite a brief rain delay, they comfortably reached the target in 10.5 overs, with skipper Lucy Hamilton leading the way with 28 runs off 29 balls.
This victory brought Australia closer to a spot in the semifinals, while the West Indies find themselves in trouble, sitting at the bottom of Super Six Group 1.
New Zealand beat USA after getting bowled out for 97
New Zealand made a remarkable comeback as they successfully defended a measly total of 97 to beat USA by 18 runs in their Super 6 Group 2 match.
The slow bowlers, led by leg-spin talent Rishika Jaswal (2/14), pulled off the seemingly impossible task, grinding USA’s run chase to a halt and triggering a batting collapse.
After bowling out the Kiwis for 97, the United States were dismissed for 79.
USA’s superb effort in the field placed them in a prime position to start their Super Six campaign with a win.
New Zealand’s top order made it into the 30s without the loss of a wicket, but that’s when their fortunes shifted.
The first dismissal set off a run of five wickets for just 12 runs, including a marvellous in-swinging yorker from Lekha Shetty and a Ritu Singh off-breaker that turned sharply to bowl dangerous hitter Eve Wolland.
Singh shone with the ball, taking 5/15 from her four overs to edge Jaswal for Player of the Match honours.
Hannah Francis’ 25 off 33, along with Jaswal’s 17 off 27, ensured New Zealand had something to defend.
USA opener Disha Dhingra (30 off 24) had her team on track before Jaswal and Kate Irwin took over, finishing with two wickets each.
USA could not recover from those blows and ended 18 short of their target.
South Africa aim to continue winning run
In a rain delayed contest which was reduced to 10 overs, South Africa bowled out Ireland for 35 before registering a seven-wicket victory in Sarawak.
Ireland won the toss and elected to bat, but South Africa instantly piled on the pressure by picking regular wickets and not letting any batter to settle.
Monalisa Legodi and Kayla Reyneke were the star bowlers for South Africa, picking four and three wickets respectively.
England, Nigeria match abandoned
Nigeria and England shared the points, after wet weather in Sarawak failed to ease and led the game being abandoned. (PTI)