Australia Lands Spot in 2023 World Cup Semi-Finals
Australia’s six-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka has made them the first semi-finalist of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. With this win, they maintained their winning streak and secured their top spot in the Group 1 standing.
Four wins from four!
Australia have eased to a comfortable win over South Africa.
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— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 18, 2023
Australia’s Highlights
Tahlia McGrath locked in Australia’s victory with a brilliant 57 from 33 balls. Earlier in the match, Ashleigh Gardner took her 50th T20I wicket. Thanks to Mcgrath’s run score and Gardner’s unbeaten 28, the two’s partnership worth 81 runs put Australia on the brink of victory.
With Grace Harris’ four runs, Australia reached the target with 21 deliveries to spare.
Aside from these star players, other batters helped the team towards their victory. With Alyssa Healy missing from the match, Ellyse Perry has been promoted to partner opener Mooney in Healy’s stead. Perry hit two fours in her eight-ball stay.
Among the batters, opener Beth Mooney (20) was one of the few players that scored over 10 runs.
In the end, the team won the match with a score of 125/4 and three-and-a-half overs remaining.
Australia When Bowling
At the start of the match, Australia won the toss and chose to bowl. The team’s bowlers were just as formidable as the batters. Ellyse Perry got the breakthrough for Australia as she dismissed Wolvaardt for 19. Tazmin Brits were denied a half-century by Georgia Wareham, who dismissed her at 45.
In the 12th over, Wareham got rid of big-hitter Chloe Tryon for one. Captain Sune Luus was also quickly cleaned off by Ash Gardner for 20.
By the end of South Africa’s innings, Australia had limited them to 124/6.
After the Match
Australian captain Meg Lanning praised Mcgrath and Gardner’s performance in the post-match interviews. “They summed up the conditions well and put the pressure back on South Africa.”
There are three more matches before to determine the three other semi-finalists of the tournament.
Tournament hosts South Africa has only won one out of three matches in the World Cup. To have a chance at securing a spot in the semi-finals, South Africa will need to defeat Sri Lanka in Paarl on Sunday.
The best-case scenario is that South Africa defeats Bangladesh in Cape Town on Tuesday to force a three-way tie for second place in Group One.
Currently, Sri Lanka is in third place in Group 1 standing with two wins out of four matches. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has zero wins and sits in 5th.
Between the two, South Africa had previously lost to Sri Lanka in the opening match of the tournament.
What’s Next
The next match of the tournament is between India and Ireland. So far, India has won two out of three matches and sits in second in the Group 2 standings. Meanwhile, Ireland is in 5th with zero wins. While India may have the upper hand in terms of statistics, Ireland may surprise fans.
In the end, the semi-finalists may be determined by who has the highest net run rating among the teams.