Windies Women dumped from T20 W’Cup

SYDNEY, Australia (CMC):

West Indies missed out on the semi-finals of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup for the first time in six tournaments when they suffered a 46-run defeat to England in a lopsided contest yesterday.

Needing a victory to remain in the tournament, West Indies once again struggled with the bat, failing to chase down 144 at Sydney Showground Stadium and crashing to their second defeat in three games to remain third in Group B on two points.

Lee-Ann Kirby, batting at number seven, top-scored with 20 but no other batsman passed 15, as left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, with three for seven and 20-year-old leg-spinner Sarah Glenn, with two for 16, undermined the innings with brilliant spells.

At one stage, the Windies were well-placed at 41 for one but once once captain Stafanie Taylor retired hurt on 15 in the eighth over, the innings went into terminal decline with the next nine wickets going down for 55 runs.

Player-of-the-Match Natalie Sciver had earlier top-scored with 57 as England rattled up 143 for five off their 20 overs after choosing to bat.

Danni Wyatt chipped in with 29 while Amy Jones finished on 23 not out, allowing the 2018 losing finalists to gather 80 runs from the last 10 overs and finish strongly.

With the victory, England moved to the top of the group on six points from their full complement of four matches to clinch their spot in the semi-finals, along with unbeaten South Africa who won their third straight with a 17-run verdict over Pakistan in the other Group B game yesterday.