Australia Women 132 for 6 (Lanning 55, Healy 25, Sciver 2-22) beat England Women 127 for 7 (Beaumont 32, Edwards 31, Schutt 2-15) by five runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Watch – Lanning shows her class
International victories are sweet, but some are sweeter than the others. On Wednesday, it was Meg Lanning-led Australia Women side that won the bragging rights over England Women, who stumbled to yet another defeat to their arch-rivals in a knockout clash. It left Australia eyeing a delicious prospect of pitching for their fourth successive Women’s World T20 title come Sunday.
Lanning’s 50-ball 55 on a slow Feroz Shah Kotla deck was the cornerstone to Australia’s 132 for 6. England, who needed to achieve the highest successful run chase in the tournament to have a crack at their second title, choked despite having the target well within touching distance. They imploded with a combination of nerves and reckless shots. Katherine Brunt, who had a forgettable day with the ball, muscled a six and four to bring the equation down to 17 off 10 deliveries before Australia’s killer instinct prevailed; England agonisingly falling short by five runs.
England came out all attacking in their chase, and also benefitted from some luck as a diving Beth Mooney put down a tough chance offered by Tammy Beaumont at mid-off in the fourth over. Charlotte Edwards, who started slowly, lent the artistic touch to the innings, before she chipped a catch to cover, against the run of play. Her dismissal ended a 67-run opening partnership that came at better than a run a ball.
Sarah Taylor, who had failed in each of her four innings in the group stages, then showed why she is a feared striker in the women’s game as she stamped her authority immediately by hitting Jess Jonassen inside-out over cover for six. But the pressure of the asking rate resulted in her partners attempting shots they wouldn’t otherwise.
Beaumont, after doing all the hard work, chipped one to cover where Lanning pulled off a stunner. Nerves then turned into proper panic when Natalie Sciver, who had brought England back into the contest with the ball, walked across the stumps, only to miss a full and straight delivery from Ellyse Perry. By then, England were reduced to 91 for 3, needing 42 off the last five overs.
Full report to follow…
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo