New Delhi: New Zealand women cricket team managed to hold the West Indies in a low-scoring thriller in the second semifinal of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday. The White Ferns will meet South Africa in the final on Sunday (October 20) in what will be a new champion to be crowned in the biennial event.
After deciding to bat first, New Zealand openers Suzie Bates (26 runs off 28 balls) and Georgia Plimmer (33 runs off 31 balls) started off well, combining for 48 runs for the opening wicket. West Indies spinner Karishma Ramharack cleaned up Bates to get the breakthrough. Amelia Kerr walked back without adding any significant contribution and Plimmer was also dismissed in quick succession as New Zealand were reduced to 69 for 3 in 13 overs.
A brief alliance between captain Sophie Devine (12) and Brooke Halliday (18) took place with 27 runs coming from this pair, though just three boundaries came between them. The duo were dismissed in the space of three balls with Afy Flethcer and Deandra Dottin accounting for the dismissals, respectively.
It was New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Isabella Gaze’s decent efforts with the bat (20 runs off 14 balls) which helped her team put a sizeable score of 128 to defend on the board.
New Zealand dealt early blows to Windies women
New Zealand off-spinner Eden Carson was the heart of the bowling attack, pushing the West Indies on backfoot with regular interventions. She dismissed Qiana Joseph (12), Shemaine Campbelle (3) and veteran player Stafanie Taylor (13). None of these batters could convert their starts into big knocks with Joseph and Taylor failing to read the turn, and eventually got castled.
The onus was on captain Hayley Matthews and star all-rounder Deandra Dottin to press the accelerator in the chase as the 2016 T20 World champions were 48 for 3 down at the halfway stage. The key duo couldn’t put on a big show together with Matthews following her fellow top order in the dugout after miscuing a slog against New Zealand pacer Lea Tahuhu to get caught at deep mid-wicket by Amelia Kerr.
After rotating strikes and struggling to find the gaps for a few overs, Deandra Dottin went after Tahuhu in the 16th over, dispatching three massive sixes in the stands to bring down the equation to 34 runs needed from 24 balls. However, Dottin didn’t hold patience and decided to charge every ball that came under her slog. An attempted sweep off Kerr’s bowling didn’t fetched the desired results for Dottin and she lost her wicket.
The momentum was shifted in New Zealand’s corner, though Afy Fletcher and Zaida James launched a few hits as an attempt for late challenge. But Suzie Bates bowled a fantastic final over, where the West Indies needed 15 runs to pull off the win. The veteran all-rounder, parsimoniously, conceded just six runs as the White Ferns won by eight runs to confirm their berth in the summit clash against the Proteas women.
New Zealand will appear for their third final of the tournament after finishing as the runners-up in the first two editions in 2009 and 2010. There will be a new winner this time as both South Africa and New Zealand haven’t lifted the cup before this.
