New Zealand edge Windies to enter Women's T20 WC final

New Zealand edge WI to enter Women's T20 WC final

Last updated on: October 19, 2024 00:31 IST

New Zealand players celebrate after squeezing past West Indies to enter the Women's T20 World Cup final

IMAGE: New Zealand players celebrate after squeezing past West Indies in the Women's T20 World Cup semi-final, in Sharjah, on Friday. Photograph: ICC/X

West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin's brilliance with bat and ball could not prevent New Zealand from sailing into the final of the women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling eight-run victory in the second semi-final in Sharjah on Friday.

Dottin claimed 4-22 with the ball and then returned to smash 33 but West Indies, chasing 129 for victory, managed 120-8 from their 20 overs.

New Zealand will clash with South Africa, who stunned defending champions Australia in the first semi-final, in Sunday's final in Dubai, which will produce a new world champion.

Electing to bat at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, New Zealand could not quite capitalise on their strong start and posted a modest 128-9.

Suzie Bates (26) and Georgia Plimmer (33) put on 48 runs for the opening stand but most New Zealand batters struggled to time the ball.

Dottin ran through their middle order but New Zealand managed to cross the 125-mark thanks to Isabella Gaze's unbeaten 20.

West Indies stumbled early in their innings as Eden Carson grabbed three key wickets to put New Zealand ahead.

Dottin was dropped three times, including twice off Lea Tahuhu, early in her knock which allowed West Indies to crawl back into the contest.

Georgia Plimmer top-scored for New Zealand with 33 off 31 balls

IMAGE: Georgia Plimmer top-scored for New Zealand with 33 off 31 balls. Photograph: ICC/X

Dottin hit Tahuhu for back-to-back sixes to rub salt into her wound before Amelia Kerr finally dismissed the batter in the 17th over to effectively seal the fate of the match.

Needing 15 runs from the last over from Bates, West Indies managed only six.

"I'm a bit emotional but really proud of the girls," player of the match Carson said.

"When Deandra Dottin was pumping us all over the place I thought 'oh no', but we stuck together, knew we could get it done and we got over the line in the end."

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews said their batters should have done better.

"...with the bat we probably just weren't able to get going early on and that put us under pressure early on," she said.

"We felt that based on the wicket they were probably a few runs short. We wanted to stay positive but we never really got it going."

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