Picture Credit: Twitter
Australia Women have cruised to the final of the Women's World Cup 2022, after defeating West Indies Women by 157 runs in a one-sided semi-final clash of the ICC tournament. The rain-affected contest once again saw the dominance of Australia Women against their opponents, as the match was reduced to 45 overs, and West Indies batters hardly found any rhythm while chasing 206 in a must-win game.
West Indies opener, Deandra Dottin and Rashada Williams opened the 2nd innings for their side hoping to provide a solid start in front of Australia's fierce bowling line-up. But Beth Mooney’s brilliance forced Williams to pack with a well-timed close to perfection leap on the field. Mooney’s incredible effort was on display in the 4th over of the game when Meghan Schutt angled a short ball but Williams pulled it with less power and could not generate enough pace to the ball. Hence, Mooney at square perfected an absolute one-handed screamer to provide the first breakthrough for her side. At the time, Williams took the hard walk, the West Indies scorecard read 12-1 in 3.5 overs.
Watch the catch here:
Post-Williams’s wicket, Dottin and Hayley Matthews made an honest attempt to steady West Indies’ innings but could not carry for long as Dottin was the first one to return off Tahlia McGrath in the 10th over. Ever since, both the openers got dismissed, West Indies faced a massive batting collapse as none of the batters were able to post a minute challenge to Australian bowlers.
The testimony of Australia’s fierce bowling was evident with the fact that only three batters, Deandra Dottin (34 off 35), Hayley Matthews (34 off 49) and Stafanie Taylor (48 off 75) could only cross double figure so far, while eight of their batters returned before that. Australian skipper Meg Lanning tried seven of her bowlers in the second innings, except Darcie Brown, Jes Jonassen finished the game with two wickets while others were able to get one wicket each in the game. Earlier, Alyssa Healy (129 off 107), R Haynes (85 off 100) and Beth Mooney (43 off 31) were the standout batters for Australian Women in the first innings of the game.
In the second semi-final clash, South African Women will take on defending champions England Women on March 31st at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Whereas, the final is scheduled for April 3rd on the same ground.
