MANCHESTER, England (AP) 鈥� India accounted for Bangladesh by five wickets and simplified its Women’s Twenty20 World Cup ambitions on Thursday: Beat mighty Australia to reach the semifinals.
India endured a poor fielding display to limit Bangladesh to 136-8, then chased that down at 139-5 with 19 balls remaining at Old Trafford.
The decisive last group match with Australia is on Sunday at sold-out Lord’s. The Australians have cruised to four wins from four, including against South Africa, which thrashed India last Sunday.
鈥淎ll set for Australia,鈥� India captain Harmanpreet Kaur declared. 鈥淲e’ll get a lot of confidence if we win that.鈥�
South Africa kept the pressure on India by posting 208-1 and thumping the winless Netherlands by 88 runs in Bristol. Opener Tazmin Brits hit her maiden T20 century.
Verma breaks the chase for India
Ultimately, Bangladesh’s biggest mistake was to drop Shafali Verma behind the stumps in the first over. Verma broke the chase in the powerplay 鈥� 63-1 鈥� then reached a fifty off 29 balls, her second of the tournament.
She was stumped on 53 soon after but India could cruise, and Yastika Bhatia added 23 and Jemimah Rodrigues 26.
鈥淲as sad I got out,鈥� Verma said. 鈥淲ould’ve been happier had I batted through.鈥�
India was sloppy in the field, dropped four catches early and medium-pacer Nandani Sharma was warned twice for over-running the pitch. But Bangladesh’s lack of power-hitters undermined its chance to cash in.
Juairiya Ferdous was caught and bowled by Sharma on 33 in the ninth over and the only other big contributor was captain Nigar Sultana, who was stumped on 32 near the end.
Brits blitzes the Netherlands
Brits carried her bat to an unbeaten 114 off 69 balls for her maiden hundred in 82 T20s since 2018.
She was nearly stumped on 46 and 57 but otherwise went chanceless in an opening stand of 121 with captain Laura Wolvaardt (45) and 87 with Annerie Dercksen (37).
Brits bolted from the start, contributing 37 in a 66-0 powerplay. She became the second South African woman to pass 2,000 T20 runs after Wolvaardt, her batting partner.
She clocked the hundred in the 18th over with her first six, which cleared long-on. She hit two more sixes and 15 boundaries.
The Netherlands chase started brightly with a 50-0 powerplay and some eye-catching shots but at run-a-ball rates soon fell far behind what was required.
Phoebe Molkenboer, Sanya Khurana and Sterre Kalis got the Dutch to 100-1 in the 15th over but the last 20 runs cost them seven wickets.
Ayabonga Khaka led South Africa with 3-19 and Shabnim Ismail, who came out of retirement, took her 48th World Cup wicket to equal the all-time record of Australia’s Megan Schutt.
On Friday, Scotland plays Sri Lanka.
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