India on Sunday were left hoping archrivals Pakistan could rescue their Women’s T20 World Cup dreams after suffering an agonizing nine-run loss to defending champions Australia.
Australia made sure of their semi-final spot by topping Group A with a perfect four wins from four matches.
India, on four points after two wins and two losses, must hope that Pakistan beat New Zealand to leave the second semi-final place to be decided on net run-rate.
Photo: AP
However, a win for the Kiwis would put them into the last four and eliminate India.
“It’s something which is not in our control,” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said. “If we get the opportunity to play another game, that will be great, but otherwise, whoever deserves to be there, that team will be there.”
Six-time champions Australia overcame the absence of skipper Alyssa Healy to become the first team to guarantee a semi-final berth.
Tahlia McGrath led Australia after Healy dropped out with a foot injury, suffered while batting in a victory over Pakistan on Friday last week.
Healy’s replacement Grace Harris top-scored with 40 and McGrath hit 32 as Australia posted 151-8 after electing to bat first.
India finished on 142-9, with Kaur hitting an unbeaten 54 as she put on a fourth-wicket stand of 63 with Deepti Sharma, who made 29 and took the fight to the final over.
India needed 14 off the final six balls, but lost four wickets as Australia bowler Annabel Sutherland gave away just four runs.
The victory extended Australia’s winning streak to 15 in the tournament.
“We want to win every game we play,” McGrath said. “We knew it was going to be a really big challenge for us today. They came really hard at us. I am just really proud of the group. We held our nerve at the end there.”
In Group B, England crushed Scotland by 10 wickets with opening batters Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge putting on an unbeaten century partnership.
England restricted Scotland to 109-6 in 20 overs after left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone returned figures of 2-13.
England romped home with 10 overs to spare as Bouchier hit 62 off 34 deliveries, earning herself player of the match honors as her team closed in on a semi-final spot.
Wyatt-Hodge smashed 51 off 26 balls in a commanding display by the 2009 champions.
A third successive win sent England top of Group B ahead of South Africa, who have three wins out of four, and the West Indies.
England face the West Indies today in Dubai with the Caribbean side, champions in 2016, needing to win to stay in contention.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS