WELLINGTON —
England snatched a late berth in the
Women's World Cup semi-finals with a crushing 100-run victory over Bangladesh
in their final group stage match in Wellington on Sunday.
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But India, who also started the day with a must-win
opportunity to make the playoffs, were denied by
South Africa in a last-ball
thriller in Christchurch.
South Africa had already qualified for the final four along
with unbeaten Australia and the West Indies whose place was only confirmed when
India lost.
England's win sealed a dramatic resurgence for the defending
champions, who had been on the brink of elimination after losing their first
three matches in the 50-over competition.
They then won their remaining four games to secure a place
in the top four.
Captain
Heather Knight said it showed the character of the
side to bounce back from their early losses when "obviously we didn't play
particularly well" and then handle the pressure of a do-or-die clash with
Bangladesh.
She said she had "one eye on the net run rate and one
eye looking after the bowlers and trying to freshen a few of them up for the
semi-final ... but the main thing was getting the win".
England lost wickets at regular intervals in the first half
of their innings and were 96 for four before
Sophia Dunkley, who scored 67, led
a middle-order charge to get the score up to a defendable 234 for six.
Bangladesh found it difficult to score against a tight
England attack, averaging just 2.79 runs per over until they were all out for
134 with 12 balls remaining.
Player-of-the-match Dunkley faced just 72 deliveries and
featured in a 72-run partnership with Amy Jones (31) for the fifth wicket and
then put on 43 with Katherine Brunt (24 not out).
Salma Khatun, who took the prized England wickets of Knight
for six and Nat Sciver for 40, finished with two for 46.
Bangladesh never threatened to get near the English total
despite a safe start by
Shamima Sultana and Sharmin Akhter, who put on 42 for
the opening wicket.
They were tied down by a penetrating England bowling attack
led by Sophie Ecclestone, who took three wickets in her 10 overs for a miserly
15 runs — while Brunt, although wicketless, conceded only seven runs from her
five overs.
Last ball
India, needing to beat South Africa if they were to pip the
West Indies for the fourth semi-final spot, posted 274 for seven with
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, and captain Mithali Raj all scoring
half-centuries.
Mandhana (71) and Verma (53) put on 91 in their opening stand
while Mandhana and Raj (68) added 80 for the third wicket with a score in
excess of 300 on the cards until South Africa restricted India to just 51 runs
in the final 10 overs.
South Africa, needing to produce their highest successful
ODI chase to win, saw
Laura Wolvaardt and Lara Goodall take the total to 139
for one by the 27th over.
The chase lost steam when Goodall was out for 49, with
Wolvaardt gone for 80 in the following over.
But a late charge led by
Mignon du Preez (52 not out) saw
South Africa home, with du Preez scoring the winning run on the final ball of
the match.
"It will probably take some time to settle the emotions,"
said Raj.
"It went to the last ball so I think it is good for the
sport but definitely for the Indian team it ends our campaign."
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