WI-W vs NZ-W: New Zealand reaches the final of Women’s T20 World Cup after 14 years

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In the second semi-final match of the Women’s T20 World Cup, New Zealand defeated West Indies by 8 runs and made it to the final. Batting first, New Zealand scored 128 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs. While chasing the target, West Indies could only score 120 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. The Kiwi team has made it to the final after 14 years.

Fate played a different game in Dubai. This time two new teams have reached the final in the Women’s T20 World Cup and this year the tournament will have a new champion. While South Africa made it to the final by defeating 6-time champion Australia, New Zealand entered the final after 14 years by defeating West Indies by 8 runs on Friday, 18 October.

New Zealand last reached the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup in the year 2009 and 2010. Both times the Kiwi team was the runner-up. Sophie Devine and company will now face Laura Wolvaard-led South Africa in the final. New Zealand faced West Indies in the semi-finals of 2016. Then the matter was the opposite. West Indies broke New Zealand’s heart and defeated them by 6 runs. Now the Kiwi team has taken revenge.

Luck was in New Zealand’s favour

Talking about the second semi-final match, everything was in New Zealand’s favour. First, the captain won the toss and decided to bat. Playing on the slow pitch of Sharjah, New Zealand scored 128 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. New Zealand batsmen looked desperate in front of Deandra Dottin’s lethal bowling, but scored a score worth fighting for.

Suzie Bates and Georgia added 48 runs for the first wicket. Bates was out after scoring 26 runs, while Georgia contributed the highest 33 runs. After this, wickets kept falling from time to time. In the end, Isabella Gage scored an unbeaten 20 runs to take the team to a fighting score. Deandra Dottin took four wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs.

New Zealand bowled disciplined

This score looked small in front of the 2016 champion West Indies, but New Zealand’s bowlers took the match out from under the nose of the champion team. While chasing the target, West Indies got the first blow at 16 runs. After this, New Zealand bowlers put pressure on West Indies by bowling disciplined. The pressure increased after the wicket of captain Hayley Matthews (15) fell.

After performing well in bowling, Deandra (33) also showed her prowess with the bat. She was the only batsman who faced the New Zealand bowlers bravely. However, Amelia Kerr removed the biggest thorn in the way of New Zealand by taking her wicket. For New Zealand, Eden Carson took three wickets and Kerr took two wickets and led the team to victory by 8 runs.

New Zealand Vs West Indies Scorecard

New Zealand Women (20 ovs maximum)

Batting		R	B	M	4s	6s	SR
Suzie Bates	b Ramharack	26	28	34	1	0	92.85
Georgia Plimmer	st †Campbelle b Fletcher	33	31	55	3	1	106.45
Amelia Kerr	c Ramharack b Dottin	7	11	17	0	0	63.63
Sophie Devine (c)	c Ramharack b Fletcher	12	12	22	1	0	100.00
Brooke Halliday	b Dottin	18	9	15	2	0	200.00
Maddy Green	c †Campbelle b Dottin	3	4	7	0	0	75.00
Isabella Gaze †	not out	20	14	23	2	0	142.85
Rosemary Mair	lbw b Dottin	2	3	3	0	0	66.66
Lea Tahuhu	c Joseph b Alleyne	6	8	12	0	0	75.00
Eden Carson	run out (Alleyne)	0	1	1	0	0	0.00
Fran Jonas	not out	0	0	1	0	0	–
Extras	(nb 1)	1
Total	20 Ov (RR: 6.40)	128/9
Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Suzie Bates, 8.2 ov), 2-65 (Amelia Kerr, 11.2 ov), 3-69 (Georgia Plimmer, 12.1 ov), 4-96 (Brooke Halliday, 14.4 ov), 5-98 (Sophie Devine, 15.1 ov), 6-102 (Maddy Green, 16.1 ov), 7-104 (Rosemary Mair, 16.4 ov), 8-127 (Lea Tahuhu, 19.4 ov), 9-127 (Eden Carson, 19.5 ov) • DRS

Bowling	O	M	R	W	ECON	0s	4s	6s	WD	NB
Chinelle Henry	4	0	24	0	6.00	11	2	0	0	0
Zaida James	2	0	8	0	4.00	7	1	0	0	0
Hayley Matthews	1	0	9	0	9.00	1	1	0	0	0
Afy Fletcher	3	0	23	2	7.66	4	2	0	0	0
Karishma Ramharack	2	0	11	1	5.50	6	0	1	0	0
Aaliyah Alleyne	4	0	31	1	7.75	8	3	0	0	1
Deandra Dottin	4	0	22	4	5.50	9	0	0	0	0

West Indies Women (T: 129 runs from 20 ovs)

Batting		R	B	M	4s	6s	SR
Hayley Matthews (c)	c Kerr b Tahuhu	15	21	42	2	0	71.42
Qiana Joseph	b Carson	12	12	10	2	0	100.00
Shemaine Campbelle †	c Bates b Carson	3	5	5	0	0	60.00
Stafanie Taylor	b Carson	13	20	18	1	0	65.00
Deandra Dottin	c Jonas b Kerr	33	22	34	0	3	150.00
Aaliyah Alleyne	c Green b Kerr	4	11	12	0	0	36.36
Afy Fletcher	not out	17	15	30	1	0	113.33
Chedean Nation	b Jonas	0	5	4	0	0	0.00
Zaida James	b Bates	14	8	10	2	0	175.00
Ashmini Munisar	not out	1	1	1	0	0	100.00
Extras	(lb 1, w 7)	8
Total	20 Ov (RR: 6.00)	120/8
Did not bat: Karishma Ramharack
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Qiana Joseph, 2.4 ov), 2-20 (Shemaine Campbelle, 4.1 ov), 3-41 (Stafanie Taylor, 8.5 ov), 4-51 (Hayley Matthews, 10.5 ov), 5-63 (Aaliyah Alleyne, 13.4 ov), 6-96 (Deandra Dottin, 16.3 ov), 7-97 (Chedean Nation, 17.3 ov), 8-118 (Zaida James, 19.3 ov) • DRS

Bowling	O	R	W	ECON	0s	4s	6s	WD
Rosemary Mair	4	16	0	4.00	13	1	0	1
Fran Jonas	4	21	1	5.25	12	1	0	2
Eden Carson	4	29	3	7.25	10	4	0	0
Amelia Kerr	4	14	2	3.50	15	1	0	1
Lea Tahuhu	3	33	1	11.00	5	0	3	2
Suzie Bates	1	6	1	6.00	3	1	0	0