Women’s T20 WC: Plimmer, Kerr star in New Zealand’s crucial win over Sri Lanka

New Zealand strengthened their chances of qualifying for the semifinals of ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 with an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Sharjah

Sharjah: On the back of impressive performances from Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr, New Zealand strengthened their chances of qualifying for the semifinals of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

Alongside Leigh Kasperek’s 2-27, Amelia played a crucial role in stifling Sri Lanka in the middle overs through her spell of 2-13 and restricting them to 115/5. In reply, Georgia’s knock of 53 off 44 balls, along with an unbeaten 34 from Amelia, ensured New Zealand completed the chase in the 18th over.

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New Zealand, still in third place, will go into their final Group A against Pakistan on Monday knowing exactly what they need to qualify for the semifinals. The result also meant Sri Lanka’s tournament came to an end without a single win.

Pushed into bowling first, New Zealand were tidy in keeping Sri Lanka to 34/1 at the end of the Power-play, with Eden Carson castling Vishmi Gunaratne for eight off 15 balls. Chamari Athapaththu led the charge for Sri Lanka with a 41-ball 35 before New Zealand stifled the run-flow in the middle overs.

Amelia got the vital breakthrough for New Zealand by castling Chamari and also held on to a decent catch as Leigh took out Harshitha Samarawickrama. She then struck again with the ball to trap Kavisha Dilhari lbw to dent Sri Lanka’s chances of making a big total, as they ended up five runs short of 120.

In the chase, Georgia and Suzie Bates shared a 49-run opening stand, before the latter was bowled by Sachini Nisansala for 17. Georgia’s second T20I half-century featured just four boundaries, and looked impressive in her usage of feet, before being dismissed by Chamari. Amelia remained unbeaten on 34 off 31 deliveries to complete a superb all-round match, while captain Sophie Devine smashed 13 not out off 8 balls to wrap up the win with 2.3 overs remaining.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 115/5 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 35; Amelia Kerr 2-13, Leigh Kasperek 2-27) lost to New Zealand 118/2 in 17.3 overs (Georgia Plimmer 53, Amelia Kerr 34 not out; Chamari Athapaththu 1-8, Sachini Nisansala 1-24) by eight wickets