A couple of entertaining knockout games have led us to an Australia vs India final. Before that, there's a 3rd place playoff for the bronze medal between England and New Zealand. See you then. For now, it's goodbye from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my fellow comms-mate Sudarshahnan and our scorer, K Vairavan.
momo: "As usual Healy leaves her special innings for the finals. Goodluck Team India"
Tautoru: "Won it in the last over. Close. Those dropped catches…."
Daz: "This Australian team remind me of the Brazilian national soccer team of the late 90s "
8:58 pm: Smiles and high-fives in the Australian dugout. They make it to another final. New Zealand were in this, but dropping as many as five chances meant they could not get past the T20 world champions. Australia offered chances but the pros capitalised in between. Healy and Lanning were dismissed early. Mooney and McGrath had a 56-run stand which steadied the innings. There were drop chances in them. But what mattered more was that the duo kept up with the rate. When they were dismissed, Haynes and Gardner continued to move the innings forward. In the end, Australia won with three balls to spare. But spare a thought for Lea Tahuhu, who wasn't initially in the squad, but had enviable accuracy. She picked three but could have had six on another day. Kerr was decent but had a missed stumping chance, the skipper tried to dry the runs at the end but the equation was too far in Australia's favour.
Joel: "Surely Hannah Rowe gets the last over. Batting at Nine as well. " It'll be Devine
END OF OVER:19 | 7 Runs | AUS-W: 143/5 (2 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.52, RRR: 2.00)
- Ashleigh Gardner18 (19b)
- Grace Harris7 (5b)
- Hayley Jensen4-0-38-0
- Sophie Devine3-0-29-1
Diwi : "Where is the other Kerr sibling? She seemed so promising." Jess, she's not in the squad.
END OF OVER:18 | 11 Runs 1 Wkt | AUS-W: 136/5 (9 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.55, RRR: 4.50)
- Grace Harris5 (3b)
- Ashleigh Gardner13 (15b)
- Sophie Devine3-0-29-1
- Amelia Kerr4-0-31-0
Mark: "This has been a lot better showing by NZ. If they could have added a few more runs at the end and taken those early catching chances, who knows what might have been?"
RL Haynes c Bates b Devine 19 (18b 2x4 0x6) SR: 105.55
END OF OVER:17 | 6 Runs | AUS-W: 125/4 (20 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.35, RRR: 6.66)
- Ashleigh Gardner12 (14b)
- Rachael Haynes15 (16b)
- Amelia Kerr4-0-31-0
- Lea Tahuhu4-1-20-3
Ritam: "Aussies are not at their absolute best in this series. But in every match, they are finding ways to win. That's just amazing"