England yesterday kept their semi-final hopes alive at the Women’s World Cup, as Nat Sciver set up a dramatic one-wicket victory over hosts New Zealand in Auckland.
Chasing New Zealand’s below-par 203, Sciver’s 61 had England cruising to victory at 187 for five before they lost four wickets for nine runs.
The last pair, Charlie Dean and Anya Shrubsole, took a nervous two overs to pick off the remaining eight runs and seal the win with 16 balls remaining.
Photo: AFP
“It’s crazy, we just got over the line. We probably shouldn’t have,” a delighted Sciver said after being named player of the match.
It made the tournament a lot brighter for defending champions England who have bounced back from early losses to Australia, West Indies and South Africa.
“I’m just relieved to get over the line,” England captain Heather Knight said.
“The main thing today was getting the win and luckily we did,” she did. “There’s a bit of relief there, and I think we’ll take being on the right side of this win and obviously reflect on what we could have done better.”
Unbeaten Australia have already qualified for the final four, while England, South Africa, West Indies and India are all in contention for the remaining three slots.
Aiding England’s cause is that their remaining matches are against the two bottom-of-the-table sides — Bangladesh and Pakistan. New Zealand still have a remote chance of advancing to the semi-finals, but need several unlikely results to go their way.
After New Zealand failed to bat out their 50 overs, England took a relatively risk-free approach to their run chase. There was a slight wobble when they reached 98 for two when Heather Knight, for 42, and Amy Jones, for one, fell in quick succession.
Sciver restored order with her well-compiled 61, which included a 70-run stand with Sophia Dunkley, who made 33, as they moved to within 17 of their target with 40 balls remaining. When she was bowled with the score at 187, it started a nerve-racking period for England until Shrubsole clipped a four and a single off Brooke Halliday to get England home.
New Zealand’s hopes of firming up a top-four placing hit a roadbump when Sophie Devine retired with a back injury and they lost four wickets for 11 runs in the space of 17 deliveries to go from 150-4 to 161-8.
Devine returned, but only added four more before being dismissed for 41, while Maddy Green ensured New Zealand passed the 200 mark and was unbeaten on 52 when the innings ended in the 49th over.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS