Australia may have come into this Women’s T20 World Cup with doubts over their invincibility after entering a tournament without a title for the first time since 2017, but a strong all-round show in their opening match against South Africa all but quelled those theories.

A quickfire innings from Phoebe Litchfield aided by cameos from Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland propelled Australia to 172 for 8, before their four-pronged spin attack squeezed South Africa to register a net-run-rate-boosting 65-run win. South Africa were bowled out for 107, their second lowest total in a completed T20I innings against Australia, to receive a jolting start to a campaign they entered as one of the favourites.

South Africa’s perilous new-ball pair, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, was reunited with the latter’s retirement reversal. They gave the perfect start, dismissing Australia’s openers inside four overs and keeping the batters in check with the subtle movement they generated. But Litchfield isn’t one to take an over-cautious approach. She switched gears by using her feet to hit Kapp for successive fours in the penultimate over of the powerplay. In the next, she hit Ismail for a sequence of 4, 4, 6 to help Australia finish the powerplay on 52 for 2.

Litchfield missed Australia’s last warm-up game because of a quadricep issue. In her first proper outing in the tournament, she raced to a 23-ball fifty. It took a change-up from Ayabonga Khaka to get rid of her for 50 off 24. The others, including extras, had contributed 11 off 17 at that stage.

Despite walking in in the fourth over, Ellyse Perry had faced only four balls by the time Litchfield was dismissed in the seventh. She could afford to take her time because of how Wareham got into her act quickly. She managed to find the boundary in each of her next two overs before both Perry and Wareham took three fours off Khaka’s second over, the 12th of the innings.

They continued to raise the pace of Australia’s scoring and added 58 off 38 for the fifth wicket. Their partnership only ended when Laura Wolvaardt grabbed at screamer at extra cover to end Wareham’s stay for 32 off 22. Two overs later, Perry fell for a 26-ball 36. Twice in the innings Australia lost wickets in quick succession; the phase between those gave them a base to put up a score that would eventually prove enough.

With two right-handers in the middle after Litchfield’s fall, South Africa introduced left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba and she struck with her second ball. Ashleigh Gardner looked to take her down but miscued her inside out shot straight to extra cover. She bowled three overs in the middle phase and also accounted for the set Perry’s wicket in the 16th over.

This performance of Mlaba’s showed a glimpse of why she has been so successful in T20Is for a while now – her 41 wickets since the start of 2024 are the most for South Africa. However, her effort ended up in a losing cause.

In a departure from their tactics from the warm-up fixtures, Sophie Molineux took the new ball against South Africa, and the move paid off early. Sune Luus moved back to pull a length ball across the line but it skidded on to trap the South Africa opener lbw in the first over. Kim Garth was at her accurate best from the other end, castling Annerie Dercksen who batted one-drop.

But Molineux had seen enough to not feed South Africa the pace that their batters so enjoy. She kept rotating her bowlers and the fast bowlers bowled only four overs. Alana King, perhaps brought in because of her superior ODI record against South Africa, almost struck in her first over. Nadine de Klerk, batting at No. 4, slog swept her straight to deep midwicket but Gardner parried it over for a six.

Fellow legspinner Wareham eventually dismissed de Klerk and picked up two more towards the end. Molineux also returned in the 14th over to dismiss Wolvaardt with South Africa’s asking rate mounting. Australia’s spinners picked up 8 for 72 in 12.4 overs. A satisfying win to send a timely reminder to the other teams, after being challenged at various points in the game.

SCORES:

Australia Women 172 for 8 in 20 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 50, Ellyse Perry 36, Georgia Wareham 32, Annabelle Sutherland 21, Mlaba 2-22, Nicola Carey 13*; Marizanne Kapp 1-29, Shabnim Ismail 1-33, Ayabonga Khaka 2-33,  Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-22, Nadine de Klerk 2-35) beat South Africa Women  107 in 16.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 44, Nadine de Klerk 25, Matizanne Kapp 12; Sophie Molineux 2-17, Kim Garth 1-13, Alana King 2-26, Georgia Wareham 3-13, Ashleigh Gardner 1-16 ) by 65 runs

[Cricinfo]

Shermaine Campbelle converted her maiden T20I fifty into a mighty, match-seizing knock of 90 not out from 62 balls, as West Indies did to the defending champions, New Zealand, what they had done to England in another famous victory in Dubai at the last T20 World Cup – and outmuscled them in a raw display of power-hitting that induced error, after error, after error from a shell-shocked fielding unit.

No fewer than seven clear-cut chances went begging for New Zealand’s fielders – not to mention the opportunities that didn’t go to hand quickly enough – as Campbelle crashed seven fours and three sixes to overhaul a taxing target of 163 with a solitary ball to spare.

The back of the chase was broken in a 74-run stand for the second wicket with her captain, Hayley Matthews, who regained her composure after the shocking second-over run-out of her opening partner, Qiana Joseph, to set the tempo with 48 from 37 balls.

New Zealand’s missed opportunity was summed up by the inordinate tension of the contest’s closing moments. With just four runs to defend, New Zealand’s oldest stager, Sophie Devine, did her damnedest to pull off a miracle.

Despite two runs off the first ball of the over, she restricted West Indies to two scrambled leg-byes from the next four, with an air-shot from Jahzara Claxton adding to the tension. But Campbelle put her head down for one last charge, and beat Izzy Gaze’s breaking of the stumps by a whisker to land a famous win.

Barbecued, and beef

If only New Zealand’s fielders had stood up to Matthews with the same intent that her own opening partner had shown, in what briefly looked like being the true flashpoint of the night.

The innings was just ten balls old when Matthews, fresh from lacing back-to-back fours through deep third off Bree Illing, patted a third shot in the same direction and instinctively set off for a single. There was never a run as point charged in, but rather than accept her own fate, she chose to jog past a dumbfounded Joseph, and sacrifice her instead.

Joseph was livid, and bumped shoulders with her captain while giving her a piece of her mind as she stalked back to the pavilion. Her indignation could have been righteous just two Matthews balls later, when a top-edged sweep sailed high to deep backward square, but Izzy Sharp made a meal of the opportunity.

Matthews was somewhat chastened for the remainder of a 35-run powerplay, and hampered too by an attack of cramp after pulling out a dive for a tight second run. But the longer she lurked, the more uncomfortable New Zealand seemed around her.

New Zealand drop the ball – literally

A 13-run seventh over played its part in Melie Kerr’s crass review for lbw that came straight off the toe of Matthews’ bat, whereupon Campbelle – barely less of a threat on a run-a-ball 19 – survived a clanger of a stumping chance from Gaze as she ran straight past Devine’s first ball of the night.

Melie Kerr thought she’d broken through when Campbelle missed a reverse sweep on 24 but was shown to have been struck outside the line, but when Matthews landed her lustiest blow of the night – a massive inside-out six over extra cover – the wheels came off New Zealand’s fielding effort. Nensi Patel immediately dropped a leading edge off her own bowling to give Matthews another life… one ball later, Melie Kerr spilled a dolly on the cover ring, as Campbelle miscued a hoick down the ground.

Green did manage to buck the trend when Matthews finally holed out to long-on off Jess Kerr, and she then bettered that effort three overs later with a startlingly composed take at the opposite end of the ground, reaching up then clawing down a typically huge mow for the fences from Deandra Dottin.

In between whiles, however, West Indies had galloped out of sight. Campbelle battered a brace of huge sixes off Melie Kerr, either side of another drop off her own bowling, to march through to a 39-ball fifty. She then added another in Kerr’s final over, when – with 27 needed from three – the time was nigh for the pain train to arrive at its destination.

Gaze starts with a blaze

New Zealand’s composure hadn’t seemed quite so brittle at the outset of the contest, while Gaze was launching their innings with enterprise in glorious batting conditions. Twice in the opening over she guided Zaida James behind square on the off-side, and she had picked off eight fours in the first five overs, almost before her new opening partner, Georgia Plimmer, had had a look-in.

In a sign of things to come, Gaze did benefit from a significant let-off, when Matthews failed to cling onto a regulation return chance in the third over, stooping to her right. Her frustration was compounded when Gaze took her for three more fours in her next over to march along to 37 from 23 balls. At 49 for 0 in the sixth over, the defending champions were playing with the freedom that their captain, Melie Kerr, had promised on the eve of their campaign.

Stars align for Alleyne

Aaliyah Alleyne was an unassuming means for West Indies to come roaring back into the contest. Defiantly medium-pace, albeit with a high nagging action, she put the skids under New Zealand with three prime wickets in six balls. Plimmer was the first to succumb, as she looked to launch a short ball high over the leg-side but picked out the bucket hands of Deandra Dottin at deep backward square.

Then, after Kerr had announced her intentions with a ramp for four through deep third, Alleyne ripped the guts out of New Zealand’s innings with a rinse-and-repeat pair of breakthroughs. Kerr tried to launch her next delivery clean down the ground, but found herself cramped for room as Alleyne shaped the full length into her pads, and Karishma Ramharack scooped up her nothing shot at mid-on.

Moments later, after a first-ball single for the incoming Devine, Gaze gave it away in identical fashion. Another fluffed drive through the line looped off the toe of the bat for Ramharack to seal the deal once more. At 56 for 3 in the eighth over, that flying start was a thing of the past.

Halliday, Green hold the line for NZ

New Zealand had hinted at a changing of the guard at the toss, when it was confirmed that Suzie Bates would be missing from their XI for the first time in the entire history of the Women’s T20 World Cup. Their other old stager, however, had another important holding role to perform. Just weeks after an incredible knock of 87 from 57 balls had rescued New Zealand from 11 for 4 against England, Devine joined Brooke Halliday in a vital injection of impetus.

She made just 22 from 15 balls before succumbing to another sharp catch in the deep, this time from Claxton, but the stand of 45 from 29 balls helped to signal New Zealand’s charge through the back end. Halliday took control, alternating powerful thumps down the ground with well-timed reverse-sweeps to make 40 from 32, before Alleyne – inevitably – induced another scuff to mid-on, to close out the impressive figures of 4 for 27.

New Zealand weren’t done yet, however. Green put the hammer down in the closing overs, making 35 not out from 22, including a lusty straight six off Afy Fletcher, and four fours from her final eight balls as West Indies struggled to close out a battling display in the field. Ultimately, their struggles weren’t a patch on those that they’d inflict on their opponents.

SCORES:

West Indies Women 163 for 3 in 19.5 overs  (Hayley  Matthews 48, Sherfaine Campbelle 90*; Jess Kerr 2-17 ) beat New Zealand Women  162 for 6 in 20 overs ( Issabella Gaze 39, Sophie Devine 22, Brooke Halliday 40, Maddy Green 35*; Hayley Matthews  1-31, Deandra Dottin 1-22, Aaliyah Alleyne 4-27) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

The amount of respect and admiration that Chamari Atapattu commands in England is quite remarkable. In this part of the world, women’s cricket is firmly established, with schools embracing the sport wholeheartedly. In Sri Lanka, however, netball and basketball continue to dominate girls’ schools, a far cry from the passion for cricket seen in boys’ schools.

The other reason England admire the Sri Lankan skipper so much is that she has been a thorn in their flesh for years.

England captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt summed it up perfectly when she spoke about her opposite number.

“Chamari has been an absolute role model for the game and an opponent who has given us such hard times. There have been so many games she has won single-handedly for her side. We spend a lot of time in team meetings discussing how to dismiss Chamari,” Sciver-Brunt said.

This is the tenth edition of the Women’s World Cup and a little known fact is that Chamari has featured in every single one of them. Her debut came in the inaugural tournament in 2009 at Taunton and since then she has travelled the globe carrying Sri Lanka’s hopes on her shoulders.

Thanks largely to Chamari’s exploits, Sri Lanka are ranked sixth in T20Is and her dream remains to take the team to the semi-finals of a global event.

“When I started with the Sri Lankan team it was so different. We didn’t have a sponsor. Our games weren’t televised. Nobody bothered about us. But these days sponsors are lining up. Every game we play is watched around the globe, Sri Lankans around the world send us goodwill messages and there are numerous requests for tickets as well,” Chamari told the Sunday Island.

Interest in women’s cricket has gone through the roof and money is flowing into the game as never before. Each participating nation is guaranteed a minimum purse of USD 250,000 and with every win, the prize money swells further. Even if the Sri Lankan girls fail to reach the semi-finals, there is a good chance they will return home with half a million dollars in the bank account and that should make Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe smile from ear to ear given the way the dollar has surged over the last two months.

“We had our chance in South Africa a couple of years ago to reach the semis, but we missed out on Net Run Rate. We believe we have a good opportunity this time around. England are the biggest challenge and so are New Zealand. If we are able to win one of those games, we will be closing in on a semi-final berth.”

More than 12,000 tickets were sold for Sri Lanka’s opening game against the hosts at Edgbaston. Two days later comes the marquee clash between nuclear armed neighbours India and Pakistan and needless to say, that game is a sell-out.

The arrival of Jamie Siddons as Head Coach has brought noticeable improvements. There has been a greater emphasis on power-hitting and catching. Fielding, of course, has cost Sri Lanka dearly in recent years and a conscious effort has been made to raise standards.

For years, the team relied heavily on spin, but they have now invested more in pace, something essential when playing in these conditions.

All in all, there is genuine hope that the Sri Lankan girls can make an impact this time around. England, Australia and India are the leading contenders for the title, but T20 cricket is the most unpredictable of formats, as New Zealand demonstrated by lifting the trophy last time around. On their day, underdogs can become giant killers and Sri Lanka will be hoping to write a chapter of their own.

Rex Clementine in Birmingham