06/25/26 04:00:00
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06/25 15:58 CDT India beats Bangladesh and sets up must-win clash with
Australia at Women's T20 World Cup
India beats Bangladesh and sets up must-win clash with Australia at Women's T20
World Cup
MANCHESTER, England (AP) --- India accounted for Bangladesh by five wickets and
simplified its Women's Twenty20 World Cup ambitions on Thursday: Beat mighty
Australia to reach the semifinals.
India endured a poor fielding display to limit Bangladesh to 136-8, then chased
that down at 139-5 with 19 balls remaining at Old Trafford.
The decisive last group match with Australia is on Sunday at sold-out Lord's.
The Australians have cruised to four wins from four, including against South
Africa, which thrashed India last Sunday.
"All set for Australia," India captain Harmanpreet Kaur declared. "We'll get a
lot of confidence if we win that."
South Africa kept the pressure on India by posting 208-1 and thumping the
winless Netherlands by 88 runs in Bristol. Opener Tazmin Brits hit her maiden
T20 century.
Verma breaks the chase for India
Ultimately, Bangladesh's biggest mistake was to drop Shafali Verma behind the
stumps in the first over. Verma broke the chase in the powerplay --- 63-1 ---
then reached a fifty off 29 balls, her second of the tournament.
She was stumped on 53 soon after but India could cruise, and Yastika Bhatia
added 23 and Jemimah Rodrigues 26.
"Was sad I got out," Verma said. "Would've been happier had I batted through."
India was sloppy in the field, dropped four catches early and medium-pacer
Nandani Sharma was warned twice for over-running the pitch. But Bangladesh's
lack of power-hitters undermined its chance to cash in.
Juairiya Ferdous was caught and bowled by Sharma on 33 in the ninth over and
the only other big contributor was captain Nigar Sultana, who was stumped on 32
near the end.
Brits blitzes the Netherlands
Brits carried her bat to an unbeaten 114 off 69 balls for her maiden hundred in
82 T20s since 2018.
She was nearly stumped on 46 and 57 but otherwise went chanceless in an opening
stand of 121 with captain Laura Wolvaardt (45) and 87 with Annerie Dercksen
(37).
Brits bolted from the start, contributing 37 in a 66-0 powerplay. She became
the second South African woman to pass 2,000 T20 runs after Wolvaardt, her
batting partner.
She clocked the hundred in the 18th over with her first six, which cleared
long-on. She hit two more sixes and 15 boundaries.
The Netherlands chase started brightly with a 50-0 powerplay and some
eye-catching shots but at run-a-ball rates soon fell far behind what was
required.
Phoebe Molkenboer, Sanya Khurana and Sterre Kalis got the Dutch to 100-1 in the
15th over but the last 20 runs cost them seven wickets.
Ayabonga Khaka led South Africa with 3-19 and Shabnim Ismail, who came out of
retirement, took her 48th World Cup wicket to equal the all-time record of
Australia's Megan Schutt.
On Friday, Scotland plays Sri Lanka.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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