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Ireland’s victory over Netherlands seals ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier semi-final spot for UAE, Sri Lanka maintain winning streak
Ireland recorded an unequivocal, 54-run win over Netherlands to knock them out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier. Tournament hosts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have sealed the fourth semi-final spot, moving one step closer to qualification for the main event in Bangladesh later this year.
Needing to win the match following the UAE’s big win over Vanuatu early in the day or maintain their net run rate above the UAE’s, Netherlands crashed to defeat at Ireland captain, Laura Delany’s hand. She produced a match-winning performance with bat and ball at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
At the end of the 20-match group stage, UAE have surged ahead of Netherlands in Group B with a net run-rate of +0.976 compared to Netherlands’ +0.111. Both teams finished with four points each (two wins and two defeats) in Group B. Ireland, with four wins in as many matches ends the group stage at the top of Group B.
In the Group A match played on Friday night, Sri Lanka overcame a tough fight by United States of America to maintain their unbeaten streak of four wins in as many matches. The Chamari Athapaththu-led team won by 18 runs at Tolerance Oval, they will now face the UAE in the second semi-final on Sunday, with Ireland going up against Scotland in the first semi-final.
Netherlands vs Ireland
Ireland, who chose to bat first, lost their prolific openers Amy Hunter (1) and Gaby Lewis (10) within the first 14 balls of the match as Netherlands pacer, Iris Zwilling got her side off to a perfect start in the crucial clash. Orla Prendergast (19) and Delany added 38 runs for the third-wicket to bring Ireland back in the hunt. They landed stumbled when they also lost Leah Paul for two, stuttering to 55/4 in the 10th over.
Ireland roared back in contention thanks to a superb, unbeaten 89-run partnership between Delany and Eimear Richardson. The two took the fight back to the Netherlands bowlers who were bereft of answers in the second half of the Irish innings.
Delany hit some scintillating shots in her undefeated 70 off 45 balls (eight fours, two sixes), while Richardson contributed 34 off 32 (two fours). Ireland finished their 20 overs on 144/4. Zwilling took two for 13 in her four overs, she was the most successful Netherlands bowler.
Netherlands began their chase confidently with openers, Zwilling and Sterre Kalis adding 24 runs. The partnership was broken when Zwilling fell on the final ball of the fourth over, Kalis followed her back to the dugout in the sixth over. In-form batter, Robine Rijke fell for a duck as 24 for no loss turned into 29 for three in 5.4 overs.
A 31-run, fourth-wicket stand between wicketkeeper Babette de Leede and captain, Heather Siegers revived the Netherlands’ hopes. Delany, at this stage, followed her batting brilliance to the delight of both Irish and UAE fans. The medium-pacer ran through the Dutch middle-order with figures of 3/6 in two overs. Netherlands were eventually skittled out for 90 in 17.3 overs, confirming the UAE’s entry into the semis. Prendergast also took three wickets and Arlene Kelly took two wickets.
USA vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, who won the toss and opted to bat first, found it tough to score quick runs up front against some disciplined and probing USA bowling. Geetika Kodali clinched the massive wicket of Sri Lanka captain, Chamari Athapaththu (4) in the opening over of the match.
Athapaththu’s dismissal made Sri Lanka look for consolidation early on as Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Madavi took time to settle. The two shared 49 runs for the second-wicket in eight overs. Gunaratne fell for 25 (22 balls, three fours). Madavi (23) was dismissed off the next delivery, leaving Sri Lanka struggling at 55/3 in 9.1 overs.
USA kept the scoring rate in check in the second half of the Sri Lankan innings. Middle-order batter, Hansima Kunaratne, occupied the crease for the remainder of the innings, consuming 27 balls for her 25 runs (three fours). Nilakshi De Silva scored 21 off 29.
Sri Lanka ended their innings at 123/4. Saanvi Immadi, Aditiba Chudasama and Kodali returning a wicket each for the USA.
USA got off to a solid start and looked in contention for an upset until the 13th over of their innings. They tumbled from 63/1 to 87/5 as the Sri Lankan bowlers, led by Athapaththu, made some crucial breakthroughs. The skipper led the charge, taking 3/14 in her four overs, she was later named the player of the match.
Udeshika Prabodhani and Inoka Ranaweera took one wicket apiece.
Opener, Disha Dhingra (28 off 29 balls, four fours) was the leading run scorer for the USA. Captain, Sindhu Sriharsha chipped in with 27 (three fours), while Pooja Shah remained unbeaten on 20. They were eventually restricted to 105/6 at the end of their allotted overs, ending their tournament at the bottom of Group A after being unable to secure a win in any of their matches.
Scores in brief:
Match 19:
Sri Lanka beat USA by 18 runs
Sri Lanka 123 for 4 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 25, Hansima Kunaratne 25, Harshitha Madavi 23; Saanvi Immadi 1-14, Aditiba Chudasama 1-22)
USA 105 for 6 in 20 overs (Disha Dhingra 28, Sindhu Sriharsha 27, Pooja Shah 20 not out; Chamari Athapaththu 3-14)
Player of the Match – Chamari Athapaththu
Match 20:
Ireland beat Netherlands by 54 runs
Ireland 144 for 4 in 20 overs (Laura Delany 70 not out, Eimear Richardson 34 not out; Iris Zwilling 2-13)
Netherlands 90 all out in 17.3 overs (Babette De Leede 20, Heather Siegers 16; Laura Delany 3-6, Orla Prendergast 3-26, Arlene Kelly 3-9)
Player of the Match – Laura Delany
(ICC)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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