Women’s T20 World Cup: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets; stays in contention for spot in semi-finals
New Zealand bounced back from their massive defeat to Australia to remain in the running for a spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup after the White Ferns secured an eight-wicket victory over Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday, October 12th.
With the victory, New Zealand improved their net run rate from -0.282 to +0.050. Though, India’s net run rate is still better than them, a lot will depend on India’s last group match against Australia.
On the flip side, Sri Lanka entered the competition as the current Asia champions. However, they did not meet the expectations as they ended up in last place in the tournament, losing all four of their matches.
Also read: Women’s T20 WC: India thrash Sri Lanka by big margin to stay in semis contention
Bowlers, Georgia Plimmer lead New Zealand to win
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a cautious start but lost the way in the middle overs as they managed to put up a total of 115/5 in 20 overs.
Chamari Athapaththu, who came into the game after three failures to her name, managed to score a slow and steady 35 runs off 41 balls before Amelia Kerr got her wicket. Kerr carried on her goof form by taking 2 wickets for 13 runs in her 4 overs. Leigh Kasperek also took two important wickets for 27 runs after stepping in for Fan Jonas.
Also read: Women’s T20 WC: Why India is hoping New Zealand defeats Australia today
New Zealand stayed ahead throughout and easily reached the finish line with 15 balls to spare in their innings. Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer combined to score 49 runs for the first wicket in 7.3 overs to establish a solid base. Sachini Nisansala got Bates out for 17, while Plimmer proceeded to make a half-century.
Plimmer smashed 53 runs with four boundaries before Athapaththu dismissed her. Amelia Kerr scored an unbeaten 34 off 31 balls with three fours. Skipper Sophie Devine came out all guns blazing to take New Zealand home with an unbeaten 13-run inning.
