CWG 2022: Alana King's brilliant spell against Barbados pushes Australia into semi final

Australia Women continued their dominance in the Commonwealth Games 2022 as they picked up another victory against Barbados Women in the 6th match of Group A. After a hard-fought against the India Women in the opening encounter, Australia has moved to the top of the group with two wins in two games. They have an excellent net run rate and are almost through the following stages regardless of the result between India and Barbados.

Earlier in the game, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham. Skipper Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin opened the innings for Barbados, and the former hit four boundaries in her 13-ball 18 until Darcie Brown got rid of her in the 4th over. King trapped Dottin in front of the wickets for a 22-ball 8 while Kycia Knight followed her soon.

Barbados crumble big time in the middle overs as Australia wreak havoc

Trishan Holder, Aaliyah Alleyne, and Selman all were removed in a quick session by the Australian bowlers. The lower middle order of Barbados could not contribute much and fell prey to the Australian bowling attack, which looked unplayable. Matthews’s 18 was the top score for the Barbados side as they succumbed to a total of just 64 in their 20 overs. King was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 8 in his four-over spell, while Tahlia Mcgrath picked up three wickets.

In reply, Shanika Bruce managed to remove the opener, Beth Mooney, for just two runs in the second over; however, the early breakthrough never seemed to bring panic into the Australian dressing room. Alyssa Healy studied the ship from one end with an unbeaten 24-ball 23-run knock while skipper Meg Lanning took the onus of scoring boundaries. Lanning, in particular, was quite aggressive as she remained unbeaten on 36 off just 21 deliveries with five fours and two sixes.

Dottin’s over was taken to the cleaners by Lanning as Australia chased down the target in just 8.1 overs to secure a comfortable victory. The women in yellow will be next up against the Pakistan Women, while Barbados will take on India Women in the final group fixture.