Defending champions Australia and former winners England qualified for the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Sri Lanka after recording their second successive victories in Group A in Galle on Saturday.
Australia defeated Pakistan by 25 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis Method, while an unbeaten 50 by captain Charlotte Edwards and an all-round effort by Laura Marsh (two for 22 and 39) helped England beat India by nine wickets. The final positions in Group A will be confirmed on Monday when the two unbeaten sides lock horns in the afternoon match.
In the first match of the day on Saturday, an opening stand of 53 between Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning set a strong foundation for Australia, which finished at an impressive five for 146.
After the departure of both the openers, who fell to Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf in the ninth over, Jessica Cameron and Lisa Sthalekar continued the fast pace, putting together a valuable stand of 67 runs that came off 45 balls.
Cameron, who was named player of the match for her knock of 42 from 28 balls, seemed to relish the challenge of performing on the big stage.
“I think I’ve worked really hard for this,” she said.
“Our preparation here has been good, we’ve adjusted well to the conditions here. I don’t believe I’ve done too much, hopefully I’m reserving my best for England.”
Chasing 147 to stay alive in the tournament, Pakistan was struggling at three for 38 from nine overs when rain prevented any further play in the match.
For Australia, Marsh finished with figures of two for 22 in four overs, while Katherine Brunt, Holly Colvin and Arran Brindle picked up one wicket apiece.
Pakistan captain Sana Mir was disappointed by the loss.
“It is tough to digest this loss. We don’t have too much international exposure, so this was a stage that we all looked forward to, and it is very disappointing to lose in this manner,” she said.
“We didn’t want to concede more than 130 runs, but even with that, when we came out to bat, we tinkered with the batting in order to make use of the Powerplay overs, but it didn’t work,” she said.
In the second match of the day, India started off slowly after opting to bat first, and finished at six for 116. Opener Poonam Raut top scored with 51 off 57 balls, and her 75-run stand for the second wicket with Mithali Raj (35) came off less than 13 overs.
In turn, openers Charlotte Edwards and Marsh posted the highest partnership of the match of 78 before Marsh was stumped on 39. Edwards matched her stroke-for-stroke to finish unbeaten on 50, her sixth T20I half-century.