India choke Ireland for first semi-final entry since 2010
Raj makes battling half-century before spinners take over; Pakistan, New Zealand knocked out
Raj makes battling half-century before spinners take over; Pakistan, New Zealand knocked out
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: @sreshthx
2.25pm That's all from us at ESPNcricinfo. Don't forget to join us for the day's second game - between Pakistan and New Zealand - in a little while! See you soon.
2.15pm Harmanpreet Kaur: "Happy to qualify into the semis. But a lot of areas to improve. It'a a short format, so sometimes when your main bowler doesn't bowl according to plan, so you need other bowlers to bowl. That's why Jemmy and I bowled today. To win the WT20, we need to be aggressive in the field. And today, we didn't bat according to our plans. Same with the bowlers, so need to improve in those areas. Against Australia, we need to be aggressive. If you want to win against them, you need to be aggressive.
Laura Delany: "Delighted with how we approached the game. We were superb in the first innings. To restrict them to 145 when they scored 195 against NZ is a big achievement. We were much sharper in the field today. Our batting has been exposed to better bowling attacks, and we're still trying to find the right balance with the batting order. We're pretty taken aback in this tournament. Players from other countries have been very supportive."
Mithali Raj is the Player of the Match "I'm sure my knee will get better," she says. "Today the wicket was quite challenging. The pitch was soft. And playing slower bowlers was difficult, but the partnership with Smriti was crucial. Hopefully we can get a better pitch next game. When someone (Smriti) is going through a lean patch, you need to give them positivity. This team has definitely improved since the last world cup. They're ready to put in the effort, and the way we've started off.. it's been incredible. And I want this team to play the finals. When we bat, we try and innovate to suit our format."
Final over.
Raj makes battling half-century before spinners take over; Pakistan, New Zealand knocked out