MANCHESTER: India beat Bangladesh by five wickets in their group match to boost their chances of reaching the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals here at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Chasing a modest 137, opener Shafali Verma struck 53 from 34 balls as India reached the target in 16.5 overs in the Group 2 match.
The result eliminated Bangladesh, making it a straight shootout between India and South Africa for the second semi-final spot, and means India must beat Australia in the final group game on Sunday to qualify.
But if they are to overcome six-time winners Australia, India’s fielding will need to improve significantly. A sloppy performance saw them drop four catches in the first five overs and the innings was littered with misfields.
Despite that, there was a glaring difference in quality between the teams as Bangladesh were unable to punish the mistakes as they scraped to 136-8.
Juairiya Ferdous top-scored with 33 while captain Nigar Sultana Joty added 32, but India’s spin-heavy approach prevailed once more as Radha Yadav took 3-28 and Sree Charani 2-21.
India lost Smriti Mandhana early before Shafali took charge and the chase slowed after her dismissal in the ninth over, but Jemimah Rodrigues’ 26 from 15 helped them over the line.
ENGLAND EASE INTO LAST FOUR
On Wednesday, Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s fine innings at the top of the order laid the foundation for England’s 38-run win over the West Indies at Lord’s as the hosts moved into the semi-finals.
Wyatt-Hodge’s 65 was the cornerstone of England’s 186-7 also featuring a useful 43 from former captain Heather Knight.
West Indies never truly threatened a target of 187 and finished on 148-5 in their 20 overs, with Chinelle Henry’s unbeaten 51 ensuring they batted out their full allocation even if they rarely threatened to get the runs they required.
Victory saw England, without a major women’s trophy since winning the 2017 50-over World Cup on home soil, make it four wins out of four at this tournament.
Wyatt-Hoge struck eight fours in a fine 42-ball innings before she was run-out by team-mate Knight, who helped bolster England’s total and once the hosts removed Hayley Matthews in contentious fashion for 14, the result was rarely in doubt England’s win, achieved without injured captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, and ahead of their final pool fixture with New Zealand, has secured a last-four berth West Indies’ hopes were all but dashed when Matthews was given out caught behind by wicket=keeper Amy Jones off Linsey Smith.
England reviewed the original not out decision and while a spike was visible on UltraEdge, there was a gap between bat and ball. Nevertheless, TV umpire Nimali Perera eventually ruled in England’s favour much to Matthews’s evident despair.
Matthews fell for 14 off 17 balls, but only after a brief show of dissent on the field before she continued her complaints with match referee Shandre Fritz.Without captain Matthews, West Indies quickly collapsed to 69-4 after a fine catch on the boundary rope by Alice Capsey gave stand-in skipper Charlie Dean the first of two wickets.
Published in Dawn, June 26 , 2026