Author: Web Desk

Dubai, March 19, 2022 (PPI-OT): Captain Meg Lanning believes Australia have had the perfect preparation for the semi-finals after their six-wicket win over India at Eden Park confirmed their place in the knockouts. Australia have won all five of their games so far at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, but Lanning insists the tournament favourites are still battle-hardened having come through different tests each time.

The Australia skipper anchored her side’s chase of 278, the highest ever at a World Cup, with 97 after her counterpart Mithali Raj had top-scored for India with 68.

“I think as a group, we’re really excited. World Cups are very difficult to play in, we’ve seen there’s been a lot of upsets throughout this tournament already, so every game is a challenge,” said Lanning, who was part of the Australia side that lifted the World Cup in 2013.

“It’s unique each game and you need to make sure you’re adapting. We’ve won differently every time which I think is really important because you need to put yourself in different positions to make sure that when you do get to the semis, you’re prepped and ready to go.

“We’ll enjoy this win, it’s a win against an exceptional team who are very dangerous. You need to make sure to take a moment to take it all in and enjoy wins like this because they’re all very difficult. “We’ll refocus when we need to, but it is certainly a very happy changing room tonight.”

Lanning missed out on what had seemed a certain century when she was dismissed with Australia needing eight off eight, but despite her personal disappointment she said she had every faith in Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney to finish the job.

Lanning added: “We were pretty confident, to be honest. We had Moons there who was set and Tahlia McGrath, she’s very cool under pressure.

“We’d expect to be able to get those runs on a really good batting wicket. It was frustrating for me to get out, I would have loved to be there just to finish off the game and not put that little bit of unnecessary pressure on Tahlia and Moons.

“I think overall that was a pretty clinical chase, I thought [Alyssa] Healy and [Rachael] Haynes set it up nicely at the top there, got us ahead of the rate and that just allowed the new batters to come in to settle themselves in and build partnerships.”

Australia broke their own World Cup record by surpassing the 258 they chased to beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in 2017 with Lanning the hero then too after making a masterful 152 not out.

In Auckland, Australia combined with India to have three hundred partnerships between them in the game, an unprecedented feat at an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Yastika Bhatia and Raj piled on 130 for India’s third wicket helping them finish on 277 for seven, their second-highest total of the tournament, and one Bhatia thought would be enough.

She said: “I think it was a defendable total and credit to the Australian batters for the way they started – Healy and Haynes started very aggressively. “We would have liked a few wickets in the powerplay and that would have turned the game but they played really well.

“They have been playing super cricket when it matters. Everyone takes responsibility like Meg Lanning today, she took it on herself to take the team over the line, she just couldn’t quite do it but that was her intention. “The team is quite hard to beat, but still we were quite close today and we could have crossed the line. It could have gone either way.

“It is not like they can’t be beaten. Our team is really good and we can do it for sure in the semi-finals or final.” India remain in the final qualifying spot with two wins from their five games and will likely need to beat both South Africa and Bangladesh to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stages.

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

Dubai, March 19, 2022 (PPI-OT): Australia completed a World Cup-record chase of 278 to beat India by six wickets and become the first team to book their place in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 semi-finals.

Skipper Mithali Raj’s 68 was one of three fifties for India as they built vital partnerships to frustrate Australia’s bowlers on their way to posting 277 for seven. But Australia’s batters, led by Meg Lanning’s 97, ground their opponents down putting on two 100-run partnerships before a late India fightback saw unbeaten Australia squeak home with only three balls to spare.

Smriti Mandhana added only 10 runs to the 216 she had previously scored in the tournament as she was caught by Lanning at slip to hand Darcie Brown her first wicket.

Megan Schutt was hit for six by the returning Shafali Verma before she too fell to Brown as Beth Mooney held on to a great catch in the cordon to leave India 28 for two.

Captain Raj joined Yastika Bhatia at the crease and the two went about rebuilding for India and they were helped by Ellyse Perry’s eventful first over.

The right-arm seamer conceded 10 runs from wides in a 12-ball over that added 16 runs to the total to help India move to 60 for two off 12 overs.

Both batters brought up their half-centuries off 57 balls before Bhatia had go for 59 from 83 when she sent one straight to Perry in the deep giving Brown her third wicket and ending the partnership on 130 runs, India’s highest third-wicket stand in ODIs against Australia.

Perry also pouched Raj who made 68 runs from 96 balls, Alana King taking her first wicket as India’s batters traded finding gaps for finding fielders.

Harmanpreet Kaur came out with a similar attacking intent to the last time these teams met at the World Cup – her blistering 171 not out taking India to victory in the 2017 semi-final – and Richa Ghosh was a willing partner as India reached 200 for four with 10 overs to go.

Ghosh was then stumped by Alyssa Healy for eight as King bowled a wicket maiden before Sneh Rana fell for a five-ball duck when she was clean-bowled by Jess Jonassen as India lost three wickets for 27 runs.

Only one more wicket would fall and it wasn’t until the final ball of the innings when Pooja Vastrakar was run out by Jonassen for 34 from 28.

It mattered little as she shared a 64-run stand with Kaur to help rescue India from a wobble and set Australia an imposing 278 to win, 20 more than they had knocked off against Sri Lanka in 2017, the previous highest chase at a World Cup.

Australia made a fast start to the chase taking 67 runs from the powerplay without loss as the bad balls were punished by openers Healy and Rachael Haynes.

Healy departed for a well-made 72 from 65 balls but could count herself unlucky after her reverse-sweep found Raj at midwicket who took a good catch to give Rana her first wicket of the game.

Suddenly there were two new batters at the crease as Rachael Haynes also departed for 43 from 53 balls, edging a short ball from Vastrakar into the gloves of Ghosh.

Australia were undeterred by the two quick wickets, however, as Lanning and Perry combined to put on another century stand in the game.

The pair reached 102 before the expected rain finally arrived and once the game resumed with a wide, Perry then had to go for 28 from 51 balls when she sent a Vastrakar full toss straight to Raj at cover.

Even Jhulan Goswami in her 200th ODI could not stop Lanning who looked certain to make a century until an incredibly rare error on 97 gave Vastrakar a low catch off the bowling of Meghna Singh.

With eight needed from the final over, Mooney had the calmest head in Eden Park, completing the chase with three balls spare to move Australia into the knockouts.

Scores in brief

Australia beat India at Eden Park, Auckland by six wickets

India 277/7 in 50.0 overs (Mithali Raj 68, Yastika Bhatia 59, Harmanpreet Kaur 57 not out; Darcie Brown 3/30, Alana King 2/52)

Australia 280/4 in 49.3 overs (Meg Lanning 97, Alyssa Healy 72, Rachael Haynes 43, Beth Mooney 30 not out; Pooja Vastrakar 2/43)

Player of the Match: Meg Lanning (Australia)

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

Dubai, March 19, 2022 (PPI-OT): England bowler Katherine Brunt insists all the pressure is on New Zealand ahead of what is a must-win match for both sides at Eden Park in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.

Heather Knight’s defending champions lost their first three games before beating India and know that they must also win their remaining three fixtures and hope other results go their way to progress to the semi-finals.

After losing a last-over thriller by two wickets to South Africa on Thursday, the White Ferns must win their last two games to qualify with both sides aware that defeat spells the end of their chances of going further in the tournament.

“I would say that would definitely add some tension, especially with it being at Eden Park,” explained seamer Brunt, who has taken just one wicket in New Zealand.

“And I have no doubt there will be a very good outpouring of people for that game to support their country so 100 per cent that will add to the pressure on them.”

With England’s fate out of their own hands, experienced operator Brunt admits she has temporarily become a fan of other teams to try and help ensure her side sneak into the last four, and it has not always been an easy watch with a hatful of close encounters.

She added: “We’re in a position where we are relying on people’s results. So, there’s some becoming a fan of other teams.

“It may not be what you want but that’s just the reality of it. It’s been great to watch all the other nations and be a part of games like that and put on exciting games of cricket.”

Brunt is adamant England have no problem grinding out results even if they must play ugly cricket to save their World Cup hopes.

She explained: “I mean, we’ve had 10 weeks of our backs against the wall. We fought a lot in Australia. We gave everything in the Ashes.

“We went from there probably not being in the best headspace. But we are certainly learning to show fight, adapt quickly and move on pretty quick from disappointments.

“You can’t be in form all the time but what you can do is always show fight and keep turning up and that’s what we’re doing.

“It might not be pretty at times but that’s just how we’ve got to do it and how we get past each game. Hopefully, things will improve.”

New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr has caught the eye by taking eight wickets with her leg-spin but has also done well with the bat, notching 153 runs from No.3 with an average of 38.25.

And rather than buckle under the pressure, Kerr insists her side will rise to the challenge against old rivals England in a game neither can afford to lose.

She said: “It’s exciting when sport is all on the line, when there’s a bit of pressure and it’s a must-win game.

“It’s one of those for us and we’ve been on the losing side of two close games which could have gone our way another day.

“So, we know we’re a good side and we know we’ve got things to improve on and must-win games are exciting and it’s a good chance to step up.”

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