Women’s World T20 2018: Day 9 – Roundup

Australia lost the match against India in what was Ellyse Perry’s 100th T20I on the ninth day of the Women’s World T20 2018. Smriti Mandhana, who wasn’t turning her starts into substantial scores, belatedly delivered with the willow. She thoroughly dominated the opposition and in the process, also surpassed the 1,000-run mark in T20Is. With this victory, India ended the group stages with the top spot in Group B.

The other game that was played was a mere formality. New Zealand and Ireland, both the teams who were knocked out of the tournament, met each other in a dead rubber. Sophie Devine displayed her hitting prowess in this match but it was just too late for the knock to make a significant difference.

Here is how things progressed on the ninth day of the Women’s World T20 2018:

India Women vs Australia Women (Group B) – Match 17

Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. decided to bat first after winning the toss. India rested Mithali Raj for this match and hence Taniya Bhatia opened the innings. But, she failed to deliver and was dismissed for two runs. Even though the pressure was on India after losing two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (83 off 55 balls) and Harmanpreet Kaur (43 off 27 balls) stitched together a wonderful partnership. The side ended the innings with 167 runs for the loss of 8 wickets even though they didn’t finish well. Also, this is the highest World T20 score ever by any team against Australia.

Australia was struck with a major blow even before the innings started. Alyssa Healy, who scored three consecutive fifties in the tournament didn’t bat as she was injured while fielding. Deepti Sharma worsened the case by picking two wickets off consecutive balls in the fifth over. Anuja Patil chipped in with timely wickets and picked three overall. Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav picked two each as the Aussies were bowled out for 119. Ellyse Perry, who was unbeaten on 39 didn’t find enough support to take her team through.

Brief Scores:

IND-W: 167/8 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet Kaur 43, Ellyse Perry 3/16)

AUS-W: 119/10 in 19.4 overs (Ellyse Perry 39*, Ashleigh Gardner 20, Anuja Patil 3/15)

Result: India Women won by 48 runs.

New Zealand Women vs Ireland Women (Group B) – Match 18

New Zealand were the firm favourites in the encounter and they didn’t disappoint. The Irish team, after opting to bat first, only managed to get 79 runs in 20 overs which were never going to be sufficient. Gaby Lewis with 39 runs was the highest run-scorer while Shillington and Delany were the only other batsman to get to the double-figure mark. Both of them scored 12 runs each of an identical 22 balls.

All that the Blackcaps need was 45 balls to chase this target down after the onslaught from Sophie Devine. She raced her way to 51 off 22 balls and sealed the game for her side with the big hitting. Also, Suzie Bates became the first woman to get to 3,000 T20I runs in this match. Eimear Richardson and Laura Delany picked one wicket each in the innings.

Brief Scores:

IRE-W: 79/9 in 20 overs (Gaby Lewis 39, Shillington 12, Kasperek 3/19)

NZ-W: 81/2 in 7.3 overs (Sophie Devine 51, Suzie Bates 11, Eimear Richardson 1/12)

Result: New Zealand Women won by 8 wickets.

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