New Zealand Women clinch victory in low scoring thriller

New Zealand Women survived a massive scare as they beat Bangladesh Women by 17 runs to stay alive in the race for the semi-final spot. The victory also makes the game against Australia as a ‘virtual’ quarter-final. The winner of the game will qualify straight to the semi-finals alongside India from Group A.

The Blackcaps opted to bat first after winning the toss and it was quite an ideal start for them with the openers putting 36 runs in the opening stand. The man in form Sophie Devine was the first player to depart and then her partner Rachel Priest lost her wicket as well just a couple of overs later.

New Zealand lost their way back and kept losing wickets in regular intervals. Bangladesh skipper Salman Khatun led from the front as she picked up 3 wickets in 2.2 overs and conceded only 7 runs. The medium fast bowler Ritu Moni troubled the New Zealand batswomen even more and she was the pick of the bowler for Bangladesh. Ritu picked up 4 wickets and conceded only 18 runs in her four overs. In the end, New Zealand bowled out for only 91 runs and they needed a top class bowling to defend this small total.

In reply, Bangladesh had a poor start to their chase as they lost both their openers below 20. Ritu and Nigar Sultana built a small partnership, but that didn’t make enough contribution and the men in green were in all sorts of trouble with 40/5 down.

Leigh Kasperek started off the proceedings with some breathtaking bowling and she was supported equally well by Hayley Jensen. The duo picked up 3 wickets each and they made sure Bangladesh get no chance to fight back in this game.

After the departure of Sultana, the batting card collapsed even badly and Bangladesh bowled out for only 74 runs in the end, resulting a 17-run defeat. This defeat makes it three on three for Bangladesh with their last game set to be played against Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, New Zealand are all set to face the hosts Australia in a do or die clash. The winner of the game will be going with India from Group A to play the semi-final of the World Cup.

Brief score:

NZ 91 (18.2 ov) | Priest 25 | Ritu 4/18, Salma 3/7
BAN 74 (19.5 ov) | Sultana 21 | Kasperek 3/23, Jensen 3/11

Result: New Zealand Women won by 17 runs