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]

After hectic double-headers and triple-headers, the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 only has one game in store for us on Wednesday, and it should be a mouthwatering contest. Hosts England are among the favourites to lift the title, and their performances so far have backed that tag. Their three wins so far have ranged from dominant to comfortable, and boast of a net run rate of 2.49. West Indies,  meanwhile, beat the defending champions New Zealand and are also on three wins out of three. And they meet in the first game of this World Cup at Lord’s – the venue for the final – with both teams one win away from booking a semi-final berth.

England have been mighty with the bat and are the only team to post two 200-plus totals in this World Cup, while West Indies have two bowlers among the top three wicket-takers in Aaliyah Alleyne and Hayley Matthews. Matthews was especially instrumental in restricting Sri Lanka to 98 in their previous fixture.

England will still be without their regular captain and star allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, with Charlie Dean standing in to lead in her absence. Sciver-Brunt’s replacement Sophia Dunkley hit a half-century, and Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson showed off their finishing chops as they romped to 200 for 5 in a 38-run win over Scotland in the last match, and England will likely go with the same team against West Indies.

England XI (probable): Amy Jones (wk), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight,  Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean (capt), Sophie Ecclestone,  Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell

West Indies will also likely stay unchanged from the team that beat Sri Lanka.

West Indies XI (probable): Hayley Matthews (capt),  Deandra Dottin,  Shemaine Campbell (wk), Stafanie Taylor,  Jahzara Claxton, Chinelle Henry, Jannillea Glasgow,  Aaliyah Alleyne,  Afy Fletcher,  Karishma Ramharack,  Ashmini Munisar

England’s strike bowler Lauren Bell has just two wickets from three games and went wicketless for 35 runs against Scotland. But at Lord’s, where the pitch may have a bit more for fast bowlers, Bell could dictate proceedings in the powerplay with her ability to make the new ball talk.

This will be the first game of this competition at Lord’s, which will host three more games including the final – where both teams would want a return here. The last game held at Lord’s was the first England-New Zealand men’s Test, which ended in four days on June 7. The conditions could be more conducive for swing and seam.

[Cricinfo]