Women's World Cup 2017

South Africa secured their place in the semi-finals today with a comprehensive 8 wicket win over Sri Lanka, chasing down the required runs in 23.1 overs having bowled them out for 101. Dane van Niekerk once again starred with the ball, finishing with 4-24 and, with 13 scalps so far, retaining her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. Speaking about her success after the game, she said that playing in last year’s inaugural Kia Super League had been a big help in getting her accustomed to English conditions: “Very early [in KSL] I realised I don’t get a lot of turn on these wickets.” “I don’t think the pitches are friendly, but you have to find a way to bowl on these wickets, because they’re not turning wickets. I think I just found my lines and my lengths. I’m not hitting them consistently, but when I hit them it is working.” South Africa’s run chase began eventfully, with Lizelle Lee caught behind for a duck in the first over and Trisha Chetty then bow...

Despite the wind and rain West Indies finally found some of their Caribbean swagger as they posted their highest score of the tournament against Pakistan - 285/4 - with Deandra Dottin hitting her first ODI century. West Indies lost Hayley Matthews early again, and when Kycia Knight became Asmavia Iqbal's second victim with only 26 runs on the board it looked as though the Windies may be heading for another disaster. But skipper Stafanie Taylor (90) added 87 with the cautious Chedean Nation (35) in 20 overs, which laid the platform for Deandra Dottin (104). Dottin watched as Taylor went to her 50 off 63 balls, and then relatively calmly went on to reach her own 50 off 52 balls, but from there she cut loose. She hit her next 50 runs off just 22 balls, including two 6s and seven 4s. Along the way she lost Taylor, caught and bowled by Baig, but it mattered little as Aguilleira simply came in to watch Dottin at closer quarters. The pair added 81 in the last 10 overs, with Aguilleira c...

In front of a roaring crowd of over 4,000, England battled to a vital win to leap to the top of the table, with one foot now in the semi-finals. England won the toss on a bright morning in Bristol and chose to bat, making one change to their team - with Fran Wilson nursing a minor ankle injury, they chose to sacrifice a batsman and bring in Jenny Gunn; whilst Australia recalled strike bowler Megan Schutt and captain Meg Lanning, both of whom had been rested for last week's victory against Pakistan. Lauren Winfield went early - after swinging and missing once in Jess Jonassen's first over, she played across the line to Megan Schutt and was caught at midwicket. This brought Sarah Taylor to the crease, who looked to continue mining the rich vein of form she has found in this World Cup with a pair of delicious cover-drivers for 4 off Jonassen. That saw-off the left-armer temporarily, as Meg Lanning brought Ellyse Perry on for an over; but she fared little better - Taylor hitt...

West Indies finally picked up their first win of this WWC17 tournament beating a rather subdued Sri Lankan side by 47 runs, as they failed to chase down West Indies first innings score of 229/9. The Windies innings was built around some solid contributions, but without any West Indian going on to score their team's first 50 of the tournament. The only batsman to miss out was captain Stafanie Taylor, who was caught behind tentatively prodding forward to Weerakkody for just 4. She has now managed only 89 runs in five innings in this tournament. Hayley Matthews had looked good at the top of the order, but after timing some crisp shots to the legside she seemed to lose her head slightly and tried to hit the cover off the ball, without any great success. She eventually perished lbw for 26. From there on every time Windies looked to be moving on they lost a wicket. Nation went at 75, then Kycia Knight at 102 and then, significantly, Deandra Dottin at 124 in the 28th over. Dottin had ...

Look through the social media timelines of some of the South African players. Certain hashtags appear frequently. #CompeteForChrist, #AlwaysRising, #blessed. And yes, #grateful. But gratitude is only genuine when expressed through deeds. Saturday’s encounter was about South Africa’s batswomen — in particular opener Lizelle Lee — expressing their thanks in deeds, as India rolled out the red carpet for them on a batting track. The pitch at Leicester looked flat and a little dry, hinting that it just might take some turn later; perfect for batting first and then unleashing the spinners. But Mithali Raj chose to field first after calling correctly, citing India’s superior record against South Africa while chasing, and the trends at the ground (which on closer examination, aren’t that strong). Proteas skipper Dane van Niekerk said that she would have batted had she won the toss. So bat they did. And Lee made sure to say thank you. Lee’s scores against India this year are 1, 37, 1 ...

Sophie Devine hit a record-breaking 9 sixes - the most ever for a women's ODI - in an innings of 93 off 41 balls, as New Zealand put Pakistan to the sword by 8 wickets in Taunton. Devine's massive innings was an exhibition of range-hitting that wouldn't have looked out of place on a golf course. Coming in at 3, after Pakistan bagged the early wicket of Rachel Priest, Devine was quickly into her stride with a pair of huge sixes over mid on, one of which dented the advertising hoarding on the second tier of the pavilion stand where the New Zealand families were sitting. Devine hit 7 fours along with her 9 sixes to reach her 93, before finally holing-out with just 2 more runs required - Amy Satterthwaite finishing the job for the White Ferns with the very next ball, leaving the field 38*. Earlier in the day, Pakistan had opted to bat, having won the toss on a good looking wicket, with Suzie Bates admitting she would have made the same choice. Openers Ayesha Zafar and N...

It was another poor display with the bat from West Indies today at Taunton, as New Zealand bowled them out for 150 in the space of 43 overs, before racing to an 8 wicket victory. West Indies had made two changes to their squad, no doubt in an effort to shore up their batting after their trouncing at the hands of South Africa. Kycia Knight, however, fared no better than her predecessor Reneice Boyce at the top of the order, falling caught behind to Lea Tahuhu in the third over of the day for an 8-ball duck. Tahuhu’s next over was equally effective, as Hayley Matthews - who had begun the day by creaming two lovely boundaries through the leg side - was caught and bowled having misjudged Tahuhu’s bouncer. New Zealand’s spin duo Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr then came into their own, bowling in tandem as between them they took 3 wickets in the space of 8 balls, leaving West Indies reeling at 53-5 in the 18th over. Kasperek’s third and final wicket of the day was rather mor...

It was a runs-fest today at Bristol if ever there was one. Between them the two sides racked up an aggregate of 678, making it the highest scoring women’s ODI in history, but it was ultimately England who ran out the winners by 68 runs. For South Africa, bowling first at the request of Heather Knight, memories of knocking over West Indies for 48 faded quickly, as Tammy Beaumont fearlessly took on the pace quartet of Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka and Moseline Daniels. Ismail ultimately finished with figures of 1-89 across her 10 overs - the most runs ever conceded by a bowler in a Women’s World Cup match. Beaumont may have denied being out of form - “I don’t believe in form”, she said at the post-match press conference - but after scores of 14, 14 and 12 so far in this World Cup, it was her moment to shine, and shine she did. Her 148 was without doubt her best innings in an England shirt, made as it was against one of the best attacks in world cricket. Mean...

After opting to bat first, Mithali Raj said she was aiming for a total of more than 250. Sport rarely goes to script though. The Indian batting innings was like driving inside an Inidan residential society; smooth road, speed breaker, repeat. One is never comfortable. India lost wicket in clumps between partnerships. After the openers fell early, Raj and Deepti put on 118, both scoring fifties. Then both were dismissed, along with Goswami, before Veda Krishnamurthy and Harmanpreet Kaur put up 50 for the sixth-wicket. The effort took them to 232 for 8, which eventually proved enough to beat Sri Lanka by 16 runs. But the match was decided pretty early in the second innings, thanks to a strangling spell from Poonam Yadav, and some advice from Ekta Bisht. Bisht has played 44 ODIs, and has plenty of experience in England. She made her debut here, picked up her first Player of the Match (in a T20) here, and has played more than 20 percent of her ODIs in England as part of three tourin...

Pakistan failed to press home an early advantage, allowing Australia to put one foot in the semi-finals with a strolling victory at Leicester. Without captain Meg Lanning, resting a recurring shoulder injury, Rachel Haynes stepped in to skipper the side, winning the toss and opting to bat on a green track at Grace Road. But it was Pakistan who made the early going, reducing the Southern Stars to 7-2 with the early wickets of Beth Mooney for a duck, and an uncomfortable looking Nicole Bolton, LWB for 3 off 20 balls. Haynes and Ellyse Perry began a slow, patient rebuild, which saw them make just 18 runs, without a single boundary, off the first 10 powerplay overs, as Perry in particular responded to the Pakistani tactic of bowling way outside her off stump by simply watching the ball pass harmlessly through to the keeper, as if she were playing a Test. Haynes finally found the boundary for the first time in the 11th over; but Perry waited until 15th to hit her first 4. It wasn...

👎 Lanning out of Pakistan match with shoulder injury -  link 👎 Selman and Connell are replaced in Windies squad -  link 👎 Pakistan lose Maroof -  link 👎 Pakistan are sanctioned for slow over rate v England -  link 👍 Sciver & Knight hit centuries as England beat Pakistan - link 👍 Australia brush West Indies aside - link 👍 South Africa squeak past Pakistan -  link 👎 England opener Winfield ruled out of opening match with hand injury -  link 👍 Windies blown away & Aussies win comfortably again as warm-ups end -  link 👍 Big win for Aussies & unexpected win for Pakistan in warm-ups -  link 👍 Sky Sports to show all 31 WWC17 games live -  link 👍 England & New Zealand win opening warm-up games -  link 👍 Official warm-up games start today -  link 👍 West Indies land in the UK -  link 👍 England's Sarah Taylor interviewed ahead of WWC17 - external link 👍 Dane van Niekerk fit to lead the Protea...

England edged a little further up the Women's World Cup standings with a very comfortable and professional victory over Sri Lanka at a sun-drenched Taunton, in front of the best crowd (around 3,500) of the tournament to date. Taunton really is the ideal setting for women's cricket. It is the ambiance and the friendliness of the ground that make it work, which means the punters enjoy their day and they keep coming back. It helped, of course, that England were playing, and it helped even more that they are playing confident winning cricket. After the game skipper Heather Knight said that she was initially slightly disappointed to have let Sri Lanka put 204/8 on the board, after they had won the toss and decided to bat. Through some disciplined bowling and some decent catching from Sarah Taylor and Fran Wilson, England had reduced Sri Lanka to 145/7, but 8th wicket pair Ranasinghe (26) and Kanchana (34*) frustrated England for another 10 overs and added another 45 runs to the ...

Most cricketers grew up playing some avatar of gully cricket. There is underarm cricket, one side cricket, and most people’s favourite, one-tip-one-hand cricket. There is also tip-and-run; if the ball touches the bat, you have to run. It demands more than just good batting, it demands smart batting; the batter must maneuver the ball into gaps, play with soft hands, and not depend on boundaries. Now, India’s cricketers have left gully cricket far behind. They are playing a World Cup on the lush outfields of faraway England. Against Pakistan, they notched up their third win on the trot. Their total of 169 was well below par, but it proved enough for India’s spinners, who have done much damage in the tournament. At the County ground at Derby, they took seven of the 10 wickets, handing India a 95 run win. But the win was not without some anxious moments. At one stage, Pakistan’s tight bowling and brilliant fielding had restricted India to 111 for six in the 37th over. It was here th...

The most hotly anticipated game of this World Cup so far lived up to its billing, as Australia ended a thrilling chase against New Zealand at Bristol with a 5-wicket win, but with just 8 balls remaining. Chasing 220, Australia were cruising at the halfway stage at 100-2, until 2 wickets in 2 balls from 16-year-old Amelia Kerr in the 34th over put the pressure firmly back on the chasing side. Ellyse Perry (71) and Alex Blackwell (36*), though, ultimately came together in a 76-run partnership to finish the job for Australia. It had all started so well for the Kiwis, as a runs-hungry Suzie Bates - playing in her 100th ODI - looked to punish the shorter deliveries from Perry and Megan Schutt early on. Her opening partner Rachel Priest struggled to get going, waiting until the 6th over to get off the mark with a single through the leg side. She duly became Amanda-Jade Wellington’s first World Cup wicket, walking off with just 8 runs (from 30 balls) to her name. But that...

South Africa took a significant step towards World Cup semi-final qualification, humiliating the West Indies as they bowled them out for just 48 runs at Leicester CCC. South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl on a slightly chilly morning at Grace Road, fielding an unchanged side. Meanwhile West Indies made 3 changes from the side that lost to Australia - bringing in all-rounder Kyshona Knight, and handing debuts to 16-year-old fast bowler Qiana Joseph and opening batsman Reniece Boyce. Hayley Matthews was the first wicket to fall - after swatting Ismail for 4 in her opening over, the South African quick got her revenge in her next over as the West Indian opener played around a delivery coming in to her legs and was hit on the back pad, given out LBW by ex-England umpire Sue Redfern. This brought Stafanie Taylor in at 3 who went following a similar pattern - after timing Ismail for 4 through midwicket, she was then then clean bowled the very next ball, putting the West Indies i...

Smriti Mandhana stole the show once again, bagging her second consecutive Player of the Match award in her first two World Cup games. Her career best score – an unbeaten 106 in 108 balls – anchored India’s chase of a tricky total against Windies, and gave the team their second consecutive win.  Chasing 184, India reached the target in 42.3 overs. But while the 20-year old took all the plaudits, it was the spinners who set up the seven-wicket win. When the Indian team for the World Cup in England was announced, the lack of a fourth fast bowler was the biggest talking point.  India packed the side with every manner of spinner, with as many as five options, six if you counted Mona Meshram’s darts. At the time of departure, Raj wholeheartedly defended the team composition. The conditions in Taunton may have temped Raj to drop a spinner and give Mansi Joshi a game. The pitch was under covers the day before the game due to rain, and on match day, the weather was chilly and...

Australia duly overcame a spirited Sri Lanka team by a convincing eight wickets, but it was not a win without a few jitters, thanks in the main to an utterly outstanding batting effort from Sri Lanka's Chamari Atapattu, also known as Athapaththu and Jayangani, depending on which scorecard you look at. However you spell her name, she is a class batsman. She came in at number three for Sri Lanka to face the fourth ball of the first over. She left the field at the end of Sri Lanka's 50 overs, unbeaten on 178, having almost single-handedly taken Sri Lanka to 257/9 - their second highest total in ODIs. Only two other Sri Lankan batsmen got into double figures - Siriwardene 24 and Lokusooriya 13. From ball one Atapattu showed she was not going to be overawed by the occasion or by the opposition. As Ellyse Perry tried to intimidate her with short balls, she responded by hooking; when Perry pitched up the lefthander drove her through extra cover, and then again straight back down t...

Today's match between New Zealand and South Africa at Derby was abandoned without a ball bowled, after overnight rain continued throughout the morning, drenching the covers and the outfield. After a final pitch inspection at 2pm, the umpires made the unfortunate decision that no play would be possible. The sides therefore come away with a point apiece - a possible setback to New Zealand's hopes of reaching the semi-finals, given that they would have hoped to take the maximum 2 points on offer. Speaking after the game had been called off, Amy Satterthwaite said that New Zealand had been disappointed not to get on the field: " No matter what team you’re playing you're always looking to get 2 points. There’s a sense of disappointment, but you have to expect weather a bit like this over in England. You have to deal with it and move on.” South Africa might well have been expected to be the happier of the two sides, but Mignon du Preez made it clear they had been equ...

England revived their World Cup dreams today at Leicester in an utterly dominant display against Pakistan, racking up their highest ever World Cup score (377-7) and eventually winning by 107 runs (D/L method). It was a day to remember for England’s Natalie Sciver (137) and Heather Knight (106), who both reached their maiden ODI centuries. Meanwhile Pakistani captain Sana Mir was left ruing her decision to insert England after winning the toss. Unusually for the Pakistanis, they opened with pace bowling from both ends, and both Kainat Imtiaz and Asmavia Iqbal began well, putting the England batsmen under pressure from the off. Sarah Taylor, opening once again in place of the injured Lauren Winfield, struck a beautiful cover drive but was unable to push on, taken by surprise by a straight ball from Imtiaz and trapped LBW. Beaumont, meanwhile, was dropped by Nain Abidi at slip off the first ball of the game, and never recovered, edging a wide ball to Sidra Nawaz behind the stumps...