Twitter Reactions: Australia Women march into the semi-final courtesy resounding all-round display
The absence of Fatima Sana was sensed very dearly as Pakistan Women suffered their second defeat on the trot.
Defending champions Australia Women won the toss and opted to field first against Pakistan Women, in what was an amazing toss to win as far as the powerplay was concerned. The standby skipper for Pakistan, Muneeba Ali, was the first batter to get dismissed in the match no. 14 of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Sadaf Shamas fell in the very next over as Pakistan ended the powerplay with no boundaries scored up until the first six.
Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham both scalped respective wickets in their first over, with both of them conceding three runs each, and coincidentally, the review could not save Pakistan on both instances. Nida Dar, who had scored a couple of 20s in the tournament, could only manage a run-a-ball 10. With Pakistan Women being five batters down at the midway stage, it was all about stabilizing the innings, which Aliya Riaz and Iram Javed did till the commencement of the 17th over.
Ashleigh Gardner's final and Pakistan's penultimate over produced three wickets for three runs, as the last straw was that of Riaz departing on the second-last delivery of the innings. She top-scored with 26 as none of the others could reach even 15. With 83 as the total to chase down, the Australians were one step into the knockout stages.
The Aussies were off and running and had already scored as many boundaries as Pakistan Women did in their entire innings by the completion of the third over (four). Despite losing Beth Mooney in the first six, Australia were well on their way of another comprehensive victory. Alyssa Healy limped off the field retired hurt after hobbling her way back for a double. With Tayla Vlaeminck having had to be sidelined from the entirety of the game ever since she dislocated her shoulder while diving near the boundary fence, the Australians will hope that Healy suffered a bout of cramps and nothing else.
The 11th over saw Ellyse Perry and Gardner hitting one each to the fence as they oversaw a comfortable nine-wicket victory with as many overs to spare. It was a fairly routine victory for the Aussies as they swam their way into the knockouts with the utmost of ease. Their fourth and final group-stage fixture is against India Women, which proves to be a thriller of a contest given the stakes in place for the latter.
Here's how X reacted to Match 14 of the Women's T20 World Cup 2024:
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