Australia reached the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 after defeating Muniba Ali’s Pakistan by nine wickets on Friday (October 11) at the Dubai International Stadium. Alyssa Healy and Co. strengthened their grip at the top of Group A with wins in all three matches. But their net performance ratio of +2.786 is much better than India’s 0.576 and New Zealand’s -0.050.
Australia vs Pakistan Women’s T20 World Cup Highlights
Unless they lose to India by an inordinate margin in their last league match in Sharjah, Australia are more or less in the top four in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As for Pakistan, they need to beat the White Ferns and hope for other results to favor them in their bid to qualify for the semi-finals. They also need to improve their net rating of -0.488, which took a hit after their loss to the Aussies.
Gardner suffocates Pakistan
Asked to bat first, Pakistan huffed and puffed, being bowled out for a subpar score of 82 in 19.5 overs. They recorded the lowest score of 40 by a team in the first 10 overs in this tournament. They made the team’s slowest fifty in 13.1 overs, looking clueless at certain stages.
Women T20 World Cup 2024 Full Coverage
Barring Aliya Riaz, who made 26 runs off 32 with three fours, none of their batting could contend against the in-form Australian bowling. Ash Gardner made life difficult for the Pakistanis with figures of 4-0-21-4. Annabelle Sutherland and leg-spinner Georgia Wareham claimed two wickets each.
Sophie Molyneux gave Australia the early breakthrough with the wicket of Muniba. Megan Schutt also surpassed Nida Dar to become the all-time leading wicket-taker in women’s T20Is. Pakistan missed their captain Fatima Sana a lot as she had a strike rate of over 150 against India and Sri Lanka.
Healy powers Australia home
The chase was expected to be easy for Australia and it proved to be. Australia lost the wicket of Beth Mooney, who made a run-a-ball 15, but scored 46 runs in the powerplay. Sadia Iqbal, who briefly held the No. 1 ranking in T20Is, got the valuable wicket.
From there, Healy hit the gas to shut down the noise of Pakistan’s bowling. She made 37 runs off 23 balls with five fours. But she retired injured after encountering problems with her calf. By then, Australia were already in a commanding position, needing just 14 runs from 65 balls.
Ellyse Perry was not out on 22 off 23 as Australia cruised home with nine overs to spare. Earlier, Tayla Vlaeminck, who replaced Grace Harris in the XI, twisted her shoulder while trying to save a boundary and had to return. It remains to be seen whether Healy and Vlaeminck will be fit before the India game.
