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 here 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.
West Indies struck in the first over when seamer Shakera Selman hit the dangerous Tammy Beaumont with the fourth delivery of the match with a single run on the board but Sciver arrived to anchor two critical partnerships which helped England recover.
First, she posted exactly 50 for the second wicket with Wyatt who struck two fours off 27 balls, before adding a further 39 for the third with captain Heather Knight (17).
Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed claimed Wyatt in the ninth over, swatting a full toss to long on and Knight followed in the 14th over, run out by Selman’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end attempting a quick single.
Fran Wilson picked out Britney Cooper at mid-wicket with leg-spinner Afy Fletcher in the 16th over but Sciver combined with Jones in a 33-run, stand to revive the innings.
Sciver, let off twice during her knock, struck six fours off 56 balls.
Needing a batting effort the likes of which had eluded them in recent years, West Indies stumbled at the start when Deandra Dottin (9) continued her abysmal run by pulling Ecclestone to mid-wicket at the end of the third over with 12 runs on the board.
Taylor joined Hayley Matthews (12) and looked to be repairing the damage in a 29-run, second wicket stand when tragedy struck.
After taking a sharp single, Taylor pulled up and was eventually stretchered off, leaving the Caribbean side without their best batsman.
Matthews, well short of runs in the tournament, was then bowled by Glenn in the next over and when Shemaine Campbelle (1) and Chedean Nation (0) both perished with the score on 42, the Windies had lost three wickets for no runs in the space of 17 deliveries.
The slump derailed the run chase and Kirby’s 15-ball cameo, with a four and two sixes, only served to delay the inevitable.