Day: February 16, 2023

Dubai, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):The five-time champions suffocated Sri Lanka with spin to stop them from capitalizing on a fast start by Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama.

Megan Schutt then took three wickets in the final over as Sri Lanka ended on 112 for eight before Healy (54 not out) and Mooney (56 not out) saw Australia home without losing a wicket.

Having been put into bat, Sri Lanka raced to 29 runs off the first four overs, Athapaththu playing the pick of the shots to drive Ashleigh Gardner over cow corner for six.

The skipper did not last much longer as Grace Harris morphed into Superwoman to take a flying catch at mid-on and dismiss Athapaththu for a run-a-ball 16.

Her opening partner Samarawickrama, looked unperturbed as she continued Sri Lanka’s strong scoring intent, with Vishmi Gunaratne joining in.

But as Meg Lanning turned to back-to-back spin, Sri Lanka lost any impetus – Georgia Wareham, Harris and Alana King coughing up only six runs in three overs as Sri Lanka reached the halfway stage at 56 for one.

Gunaratne survived a leg before wicket call in King’s second over, but it was not long before Samarawickrama departed.

The left-hander moved down the wicket but could not connect with a flighted-up delivery from Harris and Healy swiped off the bails to send Samarawickrama back to hutch having made 34.

Oshadi Ranasinghe lasted only four balls before excitement got the better of her and she sent an easy catch to Tahlia McGrath at long on as Harris took her first World Cup wickets.

Anushka Sanjeewani joined Gunaratne at the crease and found a much-needed boundary, the first for 8.3 overs, but she was the next to be undone by the flight of the ball as Wareham added to her three wickets against Bangladesh.

The death overs belonged to Schutt, first dismissing Gunaratne for 24 from 33 as she flailed at the ball and sent it to Ellyse Perry at mid-wicket in the 18th over.

Then with the final six deliveries of the innings, the right-arm seamer took three wickets, as Mooney took an easy catch to dismiss Ama Kanchana before Malsha Shehani and Sugandika Kumari were both stumped by Healy.

Schutt ended with figures of four for 24 as Sri Lanka set the reigning champions 113 to win.

In reply, Australia got the only thing they had really been searching for in this tournament, a solid opening partnership.

There were signs that Australia would take it steady as they did against Bangladesh as Kumari delivered a maiden in the third over, but Healy and Mooney soon got motoring.

The very next over the duo combined to dispatch Ranasinghe for 13 runs, before bringing up the 50 partnership in 7.4 overs.

The hundred partnership followed in the 14th over as Healy secured her half-century from 38 balls by reverse-sweeping Athapaththtu off a free hit.

Mooney took a little more time to reach her milestone doing so off 50 balls, but it was enough to put her stuttering form at the start of the tournament behind her.

Healy finished off the win with a single to put Australia in pole position for a spot in the semi-finals and consign Sri Lanka to their first defeat in the tournament.

Scores in brief

Australia beat Sri Lanka at St George’s Park, Gqeberha by ten wickets

Sri Lanka 112/8 in 20 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 34, Vishmi Gunaratne 24; Megan Schutt 4/24, Grace Harris 2/7)

Australia 113/0 in 15.5 overs (Beth Mooney 56 not out, Alyssa Healy 54 not out; Sugandika Kumari 0/10, Chamari Athapaththu 0/12)

Player of the Match: Alyssa Healy (Australia)

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Dubai, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):Alyssa Healy paid tribute to Australia’s bowlers after she and Beth Mooney chased down 113 to defeat Sri Lanka by ten wickets.

Megan Schutt took four for 24 and Grace Harris claimed two for seven to suffocate Sri Lanka in Gqeberha, Harshitha Samarawickrama top scoring with 34.

Healy and Mooney both brought up half-centuries in reply as Australia reached their target inside 16 overs to claim a third straight win at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.

“We’ve been really lucky, the last two games our bowlers have done an outstanding job on those wickets, restricting teams to fairly low totals,” Healy said.

“As an opening batter, going out there knowing you are chasing less than a run a ball, it does make it a little more comfortable.

“As a batting group, it’s been a real focus of ours to make sure we’re hitting straight and getting back down the ground and not giving up our stumps, getting hit on the pads and things like that.

“I think we’ve done that really well, we’ve adapted really well to that and we’ll just keep doing that the best we can.”

Harris was a star both with the ball and in the field, picking up her first-ever wickets at a World Cup, while also dismissing Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu with a flying catch.

Healy praised Harris’ individual personality for relaxing Australia and warned that she is set to deliver with the bat just as she did with the ball today.

She added: “I’m really proud of Grace coming back into our group. Everyone is just embracing who Grace is and letting Grace be Grace out there on the field and also off the park as well.

“She’s an unbelievable character, and if you haven’t had the chance of sitting at brekkie or going to have a drink with her of an evening, do that, because it’s an absolute laugh a minute.

“She’s a great person to have around our side, not just for the personality, but for her skills on the park as well.

“She’s unbelievably damaging with the bat in hand. We haven’t quite seen that just yet, but I guess that’s something exciting probably heading into the back end of this tournament.”

Although Athapaththu admitted her side were well short of the 150-run target they had set for themselves, she believed the incredible catch from Harris was a turning point.

She said: “It was a good catch and in that moment the game changed.

“Grace Harris in that kind of mood is a really good fielder and she is a really good player. I got out early and while Harshitha [Samarawickrama] batted well, Vishmi [Gunuratne] could not find her natural rhythm.

“We had to score 150-plus runs on this wicket, as Australia have a great batting line-up.

“The bowlers bowled in the right areas but we had to stick with our plan, which we didn’t do, and that is why we lost the game.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
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Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
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Dubai, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):In Wednesday’s defeat to India, Stefanie Taylor was stretchered off the field, while skipper Hayley Matthews also suffered a shoulder injury late on in the game.

Coach Courtney Walsh is optimistic that his captain will be fit to play, with the Win dies needing a victory in Cape Town to have any hope of reaching the knockout stages.

He said: “Hayley came off the field and was a very major concern for us, but the good news this morning is that she has rested well and the next 24 hours you will know.

“She is a lot more positive than the others, so it’s a good sign.

“She is a fighter, she is tough, you know, we have got some good fighters in the set-up, but Hayley’s one. She knows her body well and she will struggle a little bit. I think she’ll be okay.”

While the news on Matthews was positive, the update on Taylor, who has been troubled by a back injury in recent times, was less definitive.

Walsh explained: “She’s still on the medical tier. She’s been rested, evaluated still, but the most important thing is to make sure the athlete is okay.

“We’re taking every precaution that is necessary to ensure her health comes first and then once we get the updates on that, we can sort of look to progress.”

With defeats to India and England in their first two matches, West Indies’ fate is out of their hands, and Walsh admits it will be tough to reach the semi-finals.

Despite that, though, he is desperate for the 2016 champions to get back to winning ways after a run of 15 successive defeats.

He said: “We have two matches to play and we’re still looking to win those two games. That’s the only way we’re going to have any slight outside chance. But I think with the way India and England have played, obviously they’re way ahead in the zone.

“We’ll start to do what we can to try and win our two remaining games and then see where it takes us from there. But at this point in time, I would say India and England, they have gone out in front.”

Ireland find themselves in a similar position, having fallen to a 70-run defeat to Pakistan in their second match, following an opening loss to England.

That means that only wins over the Win dies and India will give them any chance of reaching the semi-finals, a disappointing return after a win over defending champions Australia in the warm-up games.

For all-rounder Leah Paul, there is no question the team is capable of challenging the best, but execution has been lacking thus far.

She said: “As a group we’re extremely disappointed with how the game went (against Pakistan). I think mainly because we probably know that we didn’t execute our skills to the ability that we I guess can and have done against that side a few months ago.

“I think it’s probably good (to be playing again so soon). I think we’re kind of renowned for our ability to be able to bounce back.

“We know what they’re going to bring to the game.

“They have a few seamers and then also a few good quick ball spinners as well. We know what we’re going to face and it’s just about how we go out there and I guess try our skills better than what we have done the past few games.

“We know and we’ve proven that if we go out there and put a full team performance out there to the best of our ability we can beat any team in the world, so hopefully that’s the plan, try and right a few wrongs.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
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Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, February 16, 2023 (PPI-OT):Tahuhu has starred in a bowling attack which has caused both South Africa and Australia problems in the opening two matches, picking up five wickets.

But the issues have been with the batting, where New Zealand have mustered 76 and 67 runs respectively, leading to heavy defeats in both of those matches.

Ahead of a vital clash with Bangladesh at Newlands though, Tahuhu explained that the team have discussed their shortcomings and are ready and raring to go.

She said: “Obviously it was a pretty tough loss to swallow, we have had some good chats about it and we have had to find a way to pick ourselves up and move on, knowing we still have two really important games to go in this World Cup.

“We have had a couple of really good training sessions and I think the batters have been putting in a lot of work, certainly trying to look at ways we can improve our options.

“That is one of the things we have been looking at, so hopefully we can go out there tomorrow and put a better performance on the park.

“I think we need to make some better decisions with the bat, continue to be consistent with the ball, I think there are areas we can improve there, and certainly in the field as well, so all three facets of the game we are looking to get better at and hopefully we will put that out there.”

Tahuhu is just one wicket off being the leading wicket taker at the tournament, and after a 3-0 series win over Bangladesh in December, she is hoping to combine wicket-taking with winning this time around.

She added: “It has been nice to be picking up some wickets, but for me it doesn’t mean too much if we are not getting results.

“I am just trying to take as many wickets as I possibly can and put us in a good position, bowl them out for a little bit less and maybe we will be able to chase that down.

“We played them a couple of months ago and we had some success against them, so we will be looking to put similar plans out there and hopefully we can be successful.”

Tahuhu has been in form with the ball, but she will come up against one of the form batters in the tournament in Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana, who sits fourth for most runs after her 57 against Australia.

Sultana, who is averaging 42.5 this tournament, believes that, despite their recent history with the White Ferns, her side are more than capable of earning their first win of the tournament at Newlands.

“We are a team that can give any team a little bit of a scare, whenever they are going to play against us, they are never going to take us lightly,” said Nigar.

“We have experience of playing against them, we went to New Zealand and we lost three matches over there, but there are a few positives we took.

“They have lost two matches, and so have we, but we played good cricket in the last two matches, so we have something we can carry forward into the next match.

“We have good momentum, we lost against Australia, but if we can play good cricket against New Zealand, we will give them a tough time hopefully.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com