Australia’s T20 World Cup chances have received a massive boost after rivals England and India were unexpectedly knocked out of the tournament in the group stage.
England and India, ranked No. 2 and 3 on the ICC Women’s T20I team rankings respectively, both finished third in their groups to miss qualification for the semi-finals.
Having suffered defeats against New Zealand and Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur’s Indians were dealt an early exit despite being touted as one of the competition’s favourites.
Meanwhile, England fell agonisingly short of progressing to the knockouts due to net run rate despite winning three of their four group-stage matches.
Heather Knight’s powerhouse team lost to the West Indies by six wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, prematurely ending their T20 World Cup quest. The West Indies chased the 142-run target with 12 balls remaining courtesy of fifties from captain Hayley Matthews and opening partner Qiana Joseph.
England and India are the only nations that have managed to defeat Australia in women’s T20s more than twice since the start of 2018. Meanwhile, India was the only team that managed to topple Australia during the previous three editions of the T20 World Cup.
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Australia remains the only undefeated team in the tournament, with the reigning champions facing South Africa in the first semi-final on Thursday evening (Friday 1am AEDT). The Proteas have only defeated Australia in women’s T20Is once, January’s six-wicket victory in Canberra.
Meanwhile, the West Indies will take on New Zealand the following day in Sharjah to determine the other finalist.
The Australians, chasing an unprecedented fourth-consecutive T20 World Cup title, could be without captain Alyssa Healy for the finals, with the wicketkeeper recovering from a foot injury she sustained during last week’s match against Pakistan.
Elsewhere, Australian bowler Tayla Vlaeminck was ruled out of the tournament after damaging her shoulder during the same match, replaced in the squad by all-rounder Heather Graham.
“It’s a fantastic team to be a part of with how many experienced heads that we have,” Australian batter Grace Harris told reporters on Tuesday.
“And I think in play and not just series play is critical to have that composure within a full 15 squad because often it does take 15 to win you a tournament and I feel like the edge that the better teams have on other international teams is that they do have individuals that can step up throughout their entire squad, not just heavily reliant on maybe one or two individuals to come off.”
