Women’s T20 World Cup 2020: Day 4, Round-up

The extravaganza of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 continued as the fast-paced tournament dished out another two enthraling matches for the audience.

In the first encounter of the day between Australia and Sri Lanka, the Islanders– touted as the underdogs– gave the defending champions a run for their money after scalping early wickets in the PowerPlay. Australia was left reeling in the initial overs with the scoreboard reflecting 10/3 in the fourth over.

An upset was on the cards before skipper Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes steadied the Australian run-chase. Lanning’s 41-run unbeaten knock and Hayne’s half-centuries paved the way for the Aussies to register their first win of the tournament. It was woeful fielding and inconsistent bowling which handed Sri Lanka a defeat yet again.

Despite Prabhodani and Siriwardene’s excellent bowling display in the initial overs, Sri Lanka failed to mount the pressure on Meg Lanning-led side. The Lanning-Haynes duo stitched a 95-run stand for the fourth wicket to dent Sri Lanka’s hopes of etching an upset, guiding Australia to a five-wicket victory in their pursuit of defending the T20 World Cup title.

Coming on to Sri Lanka’s first innings, skipper Chamari Atapattu dazzled yet again and led her side from the front by smashing a blistering half-century at the top. After the departure of fellow opener Hasini Perera in the first over, skipper Atapattu ensured that Sri Lanka don’t suffer a fiasco. She was well assisted by vital cameos of Umesha Thimashini (20) and Anushka Sanjeewani (25).

Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the Islanders were successful in posting 122 runs on the scoreboard. It didn’t look like a challenging total considering the Aussie batting depth. However, Sri Lanka Women certainly gave an upset scare to Australia Women after thumping their top-order in the first four overs. After losing their first two games of the tournament, Sri Lanka Women will now lock horns with hot-favourites India in their third game of the mega-event.

India Women thumped Bangladesh Women by 18 runs

The second clash of the day was between India Women and Bangladesh Women. After winning the toss and electing to field first, Bangladesh Women were smoked across every part of the ground by teenage prodigy Shafali Verma, who played a blistering 39-run knock at the top.

However, she couldn’t stick to the wicket after the PowerPlay as she mistimed Panna Ghosh’s delivery to give Shamima Sultana an opportunity to gobble up the ball. Jemimah Rodrigues also flaunted her calibre and played a sensible 34-run knock to keep the scoreboard ticking. However, she had to depart after being run out by Nahida Akter.

After the Indian middle-order failed to stitch a considerable partnership, it was the quick-fire cameo of Veda Krishnamurthy at the end which assisted the Women in Blue cross the 140-run mark. Bangladesh skipper Salma Khatun emerged as the pick of their bowlers as she scalped two wickets in her spell. She was well assisted by Panna Ghosh, who also added two wickets under her belt.

Coming on to Bangladesh’s run-chase, despite losing wickets at regular intervals, they looked in command due to steady knocks by Murshida Khatun (30) and Nigar Sultana (35). However, the Salma Khatun-led side suffered a batting debacle as no batswoman was able to stick to the crease after the Murshida Khatun-Nigar Sultana duo’s departure. Fahima Khatun, who was looking dangerous after scoring 17 runs from 13 delivers, was sent back to the pavilion by Poonam Yadav to increase India’s chances of winning the match.

In the last over, Bangladesh had an uphill task of scoring 22 runs. Shikha Pandey’s brilliance in the last over handed India a comfortable 18-run triumph. India Women registered a successive victory in their T20 World Cup heist.

Watch: 20 Questions with Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza