DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – West Indies Women faltered at the semi-final stage of the Twenty20 World Cup for the third time in succession, when they went down to Australia Women by eight runs here yesterday.
Hoping to break the jinx by reaching their first ever final, the Caribbean side were left disappointed after they failed to reach their target of 141, ending on 132 for four from their 20 overs.
They required 14 to win from the last over at the Shere Bangla Stadium but could only scramble six runs, while losing the wicket of their captain Merissa Aguilleira for six.
Deandra Dottin provided the impetus for the innings with a top score of 40 off 35 balls while Stacy-Ann King finished unbeaten on 36 from 28 balls.
Leading batsman Stafanie Taylor made 24 and her opening partner Kycia Knight, 21, as they gave West Indies a solid start of 43.
Earlier, Australia got up to 140 for five after winning the toss and opting to bat, with opener Elyse Villani hitting 35 from 32 balls and Alyssa Healy, 30 not out off just 21 balls.
Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed finished with two for 24 from her four overs.
The Windies women did a fine job of shackling the Aussies but lost the plot in the last five overs to concede 48 runs.
Off-spinner Taylor produced a miserly spell, sending down four overs that cost just 19 runs and yielded the wicket of Ellyse Perry for eight.
It was Perry’s wicket that put the Aussie innings in a bind, as it triggered a slide that saw three wickets tumble for 14 runs and left the title-holders on 92 for five after 15 overs.
However, Healy took charge in the late stages of the innings, hitting four fours in a busy cameo that allowed Australia precious runs at the end.
Villani, who struck seven fours, had earlier added 32 with Jess Jonassen (5) for the first wicket at just under a run-a-ball. After both fell, captain Meg Lanning, with 29 from 22 balls, posted another 30 for the third wicket with Perry.
With a spot in the final in mind, West Indies started positively, with Taylor and Knight gathering boundaries from the first over from fast bowler Rene Farrell that cost ten runs.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA WOMEN
E Villani c Kycia Knight b Mohammed 35
J Jonassen run out 5
*M Lanning b Smartt 29
E Perry c & b Taylor 8
A Blackwell not out 13
J Cameron lbw b Mohammed 5
+A Healy not out 30
Extras: (b4, lb2, w7, nb2) 15
TOTAL: (5 wkts, 20 overs) 140
Did not bat: E Osborne, S Coyte, R Farrell, J Hunter
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Jonassen, 5.5 overs), 2-48 (Villani, 8), 3-78 (Perry, 11.5), 4-83 (Lanning, 12.5), 5-92 (Cameron, 15.2)
Bowling: Smartt 4-0-28-1, Daley 3-0-22-0, Quintyne 4-0-29-0, Mohammed 4-0-24-2, Taylor 4-0-19-1, Selman 1-0-12-0.
WEST INDIES WOMEN
Kycia A Knight b Osborne 21
S Taylor run out 24
D Dottin c Osborne b Coyte 40
S King not out 36
*+M Aguilleira c Jonassen b Farrell 6
S Campbelle not out 1
Extras: (lb1, w3) 4
TOTAL: (4 wkts, 20 overs) 132
Did not bat: S Quintyne, A Mohammed, S Daley, S Selman, T Smartt.
Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Taylor, 7.1 overs), 2-48 (Kycia Knight, 9.4), 3-121 (Dottin, 18.2), 4-130 (Aguilleira, 19.4)
Bowling: Farrell 3-0-25-1, Jonassen 3-0-14-0, Coyte 4-0-28-1, Hunter 3-0-25-0, Perry 3-0-21-0, Osborne 4-0-18-1.
Result: Australia Women won by eight runs.
Series: Australia Women reach final.
Player-of-the-Match: Erin Osborne.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus; TV – Kumar Dharmasena.
The pair proceeded cautiously until Taylor was run out, attempting to steal a single off a mis-field in the eighth over. Her departure stalled the run rate and led to Knight’s demise 15 balls later with just five runs added, bowled by off-spinner Osborne trying to force the pace.
Dottin and King then came together in what appeared to be a match-winning partnership, putting on 73 for the third wicket. Both batsmen, who each counted four fours and a six, mixed caution with aggression, picking off the boundaries when they came to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
However, with the required run rate climbing towards ten at the end of the 15th over, chances needed to be taken and Dottin responded by clearing the ropes at long on with the left-arm spinner Jonassen.
King took her cue from Dottin, depositing Osbourne over mid-wicket for another six but West Indies could not find that big over, and were left needing 21 from the last two overs.
The Windies Women then lost Dottin to the second ball of the penultimate over, taken just inside the ropes at deep mid-wicket by Osborne off seamer Sarah Coyte. And with just seven runs from the over, 14 from the last six balls proved too tall an order.
