White Ferns to face Australia in decider; unbeaten India march past Sri Lanka
Hayley Jensen and Leigh Kasperek took three wickets apiece as New Zealand produced a tremendous comeback to beat Bangladesh at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The White Ferns were up against it after being bowled out for 91 but Jensen (3-11) and Kasperek (3-23) combined to help dismiss Bangladesh for 74, 17 runs short of the target.
That meant that Ritu Moni’s first four-wicket haul was not enough to steer Bangladesh to an historic victory in Group A, with her 4-18 the best figures of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 so far.
They battled in the modest chase but were dismissed for 74, with the White Ferns’ effort the lowest score to ever be successfully defended in the competition.
New Zealand will now play hosts Australia on Monday, with the winner set to reach the semi-finals.
“You want your big players to step up in big games, so hopefully they can do that against Australia on Monday,” said Kasperek, who dismissed concerns about the form of her team’s batters.
“They’ll probably be a little bit disappointed in how they’ve gone but they’ve been hitting well in training and we’re lucky we’ve got the number one and number two batters in the world.
“I think the very fact that against both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka we’ve managed to get over the line proves that. Other people have been stepping up.”
Meanwhile, India maintained their unbeaten start to the tournament by beating Sri Lanka by seven wickets.
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With their place in the semi-finals already assured, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side breezed to a fourth victory by chasing down a target of 114 in 14.4 overs.
Sri Lanka struggled to 113-9 after choosing to bat, as Radha Yadav (4-23) deepened the early in-roads made by Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad returned 2-18.
Captain Chamari Atapattu (33) was one of only two batters to pass 15, with Kavisha Dilhari’s unbeaten 25 off 16 balls a late bonus.
Source: SkySports