Ellyse  Perry produced one of her best innings of a long T20 World Cup career to lead Australia to a fourth victory from as many matches at this edition, with a massive 113-run win against Pakistan.

On a batting-friendly pitch on a glorious summer evening at Headingley, Perry struck 71 off 48 balls to lead her side to 199 for 7, sharing a century partnership for the second wicket with Georgia Voll,  after Pakistan had made an early breakthrough removing Beth Mooney first ball.

Mooney braved a twice dislocated finger during Australia’s fielding innings to continue keeping wicket as Pakistan lost a steady stream of wickets, including two to Perry in her first over to finish with 2 for 9.

Sophie Molineux and Annabel Sutherland also took two wickets each, Mooney and Sutherland combining for the last to fall, Sadia Iqbal caught behind for a first-ball duck as Pakistan were bowled out for just 86 with 6.2 overs to spare.

Having played in all 10 T20 World Cups, Perry was at her best, scoring a maiden half-century from any of her 51 appearances at the event. She exuded class as she manipulated the crease with sharp footwork, picked the gaps expertly and punished anything short. Her six over a leaping long-on off Rameen Shamim was a perfect blend of elegance, timing and power.

Before this innings, Perry’s best score at a T20 World Cup was 42 in a losing cause to New Zealand in Nagpur in 2016, although her 71 fell short of her career best in T20Is of 75 and 72 not out, both scored on Australia’s tour of India in 2022. It was her first fifty in the format since October 2023.

Introduced into the attack with Pakistan four wickets down in the 10th over, Perry struck first ball as Muneeba Ali sent a short one straight to midwicket and, with the last, she had Aliya Riaz caught behind.

Gull Feroza took a stunning one-handed catch diving to her right at slip to remove Mooney on the first ball of the match and give Pakistan a boost. Mooney had recovered from the back soreness which prompted her to retire hurt on 74 not out against Netherlands on Saturday, but her stay at the crease was brief this time when she prodded at a Sadia Iqbal delivery outside off and angling in, Feroza plucking the ball from the air and holding firmly as she landed

From there, however, Perry and Voll piled on the misery for their opponents. Fatima Sana conceded 17 runs in the second over and Diana Baig, the experienced seamer playing her first match of the tournament, went for 19 off her first, including five wides as wicketkeeper Muneeba failed to gather one down the leg side, and three boundaries as Perry hit her stride. By the end of the powerplay, Australia were 64 for 1, their best in that phase of the innings for this tournament.

Two wickets in three balls for Nashra Sandhu gave her side cause for celebration in the 10th over as Pakistan maintained their flawless start in the field. Voll looked to go down the ground but holed out to long-off and Ash Gardner fell to a second-ball duck chipping to cow corner. Pakistan continued to hold their catches as Georgia Wareham and Sutherland both fell to Shamim, the latter after a 44-run stand with Perry. The key catch came when Pakistan reviewed after Perry gloved a Sana bouncer behind and, as the ball died on her, Muneeba slid forward and managed to get her gloves under the ball.

Mooney’s retirement in the previous match was described by the Australian camp as precautionary but her courage in Leeds on Tuesday night was impressive, continuing to keep wicket after having a dislocated finger put back in place not once, but twice.

Mooney was initially struck on the fingertips of her right hand as she tried to stop a wide delivery from Kim Garth to Muneeba. With Mooney clearly in agony, team medical staff realigned her finger and, amid the relief that followed, she donned the gloves again. She then had to have the same finger taped up when she was struck again reaching in vain to collect an edge from Muneeba. But again she carried on and was involved in five dismissals thereafter.

Muneeba clubbed the next ball for six over deep midwicket but either side of that strike, she had been involved in two run outs. The first was on a Mooney fumble trying to gather down the leg side and Muneeba belatedly sent back opening partner Feroza as Voll fired the ball back to Garth and the bowler flicked off the bails. It was a similar story when Ayesha Zafar pushed a Lucy Hamilton delivery towards cover and set off for a run, only to be sent back by Muneeba as Molineux threw the ball back to Mooney with Ayesha out of her ground.

Pakistan managed to reach 50 for 3 in the powerplay but the wickets continued to fall, not least to yet another shocking run out, Shamim hitting Molineux to mid-on and getting more than halfway down the pitch before captain Sana sent her back, Voll’s throw to Mooney beating her by some distance.

SCORES:
Australia Women 199 for 7 in 20 overs  (Georgia Voll 39, Ellyse Perry 71, Annabell Sutherland 27, Nicola Carey 26*; Sadia Iqbal 2-31, Fatima Sana 1-45, Rameen Shamim 2-34, Nashra Sandhu 2-33) beat Pakistan Women 86 in 13.4 overs (Muneeba Ali 32, Iram Javed 14, Fatima Sana 17; Sophie Molineux 2-06, Georgia Wareham 1-02, Ellyse Perry 2-9, Annabel Sutherland 2-12) by 113 runs

[Cricinfo]

Erling Haaland scored his second World Cup brace in a row as Norway beat Senegal 3-2 at New York New Jersey Stadium to secure their place in the last 32.

Norway substitute Marcus Holmgren Pedersen struck late in the first half, before Haaland doubled the lead shortly after the break in the Group I fixture on Monday.

Ismaila Sarr cut the deficit for Senegal, only for Haaland to punish more slack defending as Norway progressed to the knockout rounds with a game to spare, despite a late consolation from Sarr.

Manchester City forward Haaland now has four goals in two games at the tournament, hot on the heels of Lionel Messi’s double earlier in the day, which carried him to a record 18 World Cup goals. Not to be outdone, Kylian Mbappe scored another brace, too, as France beat Iraq 3-0.

Norway have lost only once in their last 18 matches and will take on France in a compelling battle for top spot in the group in Boston on Friday.

Senegal must beat Iraq, who are also without a point, in their final game to stand a chance of avoiding an early exit.

Led by the unstoppable Haaland, who increased his astonishing international goals tally to 59 in 52 games, Norway recorded back-to-back wins at the World Cup for the first time.

They added weight to the belief they can do serious damage at these finals with a dominant display against a Senegal side that paid heavily for their errors.

Norway quickly set the tone as Kristoffer Ajer’s header forced Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy into a terrific save with his legs at a corner, but they lost full-back Julian Ryerson to injury early on.

Captain Martin Odegaard skied over an inviting cut-back from the right for Norway, as Nicolas Jackson looked to be Senegal’s most dangerous threat.

Mendy again came to Senegal’s rescue with a superb block to deny Odegaard, after Haaland cushioned down Antonio Nusa’s chipped cross into the box.

But Mendy allowed Pedersen’s low drive to creep under him after a dreadful mistake from skipper Kalidou Koulibaly gave the ball to the replacement right-back on the edge of the box.

Haaland rolled against the post from a tight angle after Mendy got in a tangle, but he made amends three minutes into the second half as Norway sliced Senegal apart on the counterattack.

Odegaard surged upfield and slid a pass through to Haaland, who buried an emphatic finish past Mendy to add to the two goals he scored in Norway’s opening 4-1 victory over Iraq.

Senegal clawed their way back as Sarr showed great composure to poke home after tumbling to the ground following a clever flick into the area by Sadio Mane.

However, Koulibaly was at fault once more, failing to clear as Haaland steered a volley in off the crossbar from Patrick Berg’s cross, delighting Norwegian fans, who provided a colourful backdrop with their viral, rowing chant.

Mory Diaw came on for the injured Mendy in goal, but only a headed goal-line clearance from Pathe Ciss prevented Oscar Bobb from netting Norway’s fourth.

Sarr’s second of the night set up a tense finish, but Norway held on to join France in the next round and leave Senegal’s hopes hanging by a thread.

Sarr also became the first Senegalese player to score at two different World Cups.

[Aljazeera]

A merciless unbeaten 106 off 61 balls from captain Chamari Athapaththu sent Sri Lanka scorching to the target of 131 with 27 balls and nine wickets to spare against Ireland.  Athapaththu’s fourth T20I hundred was her first in World Cups, and was brutal from start to finish. She had begun the innings with a scintillating boundary through cover, and finished it with an equally domineering stroke through the same region.

Ireland had recovered from a poor start to post 130 for 5, thanks largely to a 59 off 50 from their own captain Gaby Lewis. But their bowlers were no match for Athapaththu in this mood, and only Orla Prendergast could provide a breakthrough, dismissing opener Imesha Dulani.

Sri Lanka needed desperately to raise their net run rate to keep even their razor-thin hopes of making semi-finals alive. Athapaththu’s innings has raised their NRR to less than negative one, with Scotland still to play, and other matches remaining in the group.

Athapaththu unleashes

Following the disheartening loss to West Indies, Athapaththu had called herself a failure as a captain owing to her never having led Sri Lanka to a World Cup semi-final. [She is the only captain to lead Sri Lanka to an Asia Cup win, however]. In this innings she seemed intent on at least keeping Sri Lanka alive in the tournament. She drilled her first ball through cover and walloped eight further boundaries in the powerplay, peppering the legside boundaries in particular.

Her pace barely relented when the field went back. She reached 50 off the 29th ball she faced, and continued to clobber Ireland’s bowlers. Her slog-swept six off Cara Murray in the ninth over was the 100th of her career. The square leg, cover and straight regions were her favourite hitting zones, and though Prendergast managed occasionally to slow her down, she went to triple figures off the 58th delivery she faced, having lionised strike right throughout. By the end of Sri Lanka’s innings, she had hit 79% of their runs.

Gaby Lewis revives Ireland

It was not until the 14th ball of the innings that Ireland managed a run off the bat. By that stage, they had already lost two wickets. Rebecca Stokell attempted to shock Ireland into motion with boundaries down the ground, but after she was dismissed in the fifth over, Lewis found her timing. She hit her first boundary – a pulled four – off the last ball of the powerplay and would continue to find the pull shot productive through the course of her innings. She was also strong square of the wicket on the off side.

She was joined in a 66-run fourth-wicket stand by Leah Paul, who hit 20 off 41. Lewis got to a half-century after Paul was dismissed, but was visibly drained from the effort in hot conditions by British standards. She faded late in the innings, but Ireland had Alice Tector to help give the innings a final push, with 28 off 21.

Kaushini shines behind the stumps again

Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper-batter Kaushini Nuthyangana has been having a sparkling tournament so far, and did not take long to impose herself in this match. When Ireland’s openers took off for a leg bye first over, Nuthyangana swooped on the ball, turned, and threw down the stumps to catch Amy Hunter centimetres short. After a straightforward stumping to remove Prendergast, she also anticipated a scoop from Leah Paul, which she intercepted to pluck another wicket out of the air.

Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 134 for 1 in 15.3 overs  (Chamari Athapaththu 106*, Imesha Dulani 20; Orla  Prendergast 1-22) beat Ireland Women  130 for 5 in 20 overs (Gaby Lewis 59, Rebecca Stokell 13, Leah Paul 20, Alice Tector 28*; Mithali Ayodhya 1-18, Sugandika Kumari 1-26, Chamari Athapaththu 1-23, Nilakshika Silva 1-12) by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]