Women’s T20 World Cup: India to face Australia in 1st semi-final after England hammer Pakistan by 114 runs

India and Australia are set to face each other in the first semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on Thursday, February 23 at the Newlands in Cape Town.

The fixture was decided after Heather Knight’s England defeated Nida Dar’s Pakistan by 114 runs in a Group B match at the Newlands. Before the match, there was a mathematical chance of England finishing second in the table provided Pakistan beat them by a massive margin.

But it was exactly the opposite as England romped to victory and finished the Group stage unbeaten with eight points and a net run rate of +2.860.

After opting to bat first, England racked up a massive score of 213 for the loss of five wickets. Danielle Wyatt started the innings with a knock of 59 after which Nat Sciver-Brunt took charge.

Sciver smashed her way to an unbeaten 40-ball 81 with 12 fours and one six as England became the first team to breach the 200-run mark in the history of Women’s T20 World Cups.

Amy Jones injected impetus into the innings with a knock of 47 runs off 31 balls with five fours and one six. Nida Dar became the leading wicket-taker in WT20Is after she went past West Indies’ Hayley Matthews.

Pakistan stumbled in their run-chase after finishing with 99 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean accounted for two scalps each.

Sciver, Sarah Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone picked up one wicket apiece. The fixture of the second semi-final will be decided after the match between Nigar Sultana Joty’s Bangladesh and Sune Luus’ South Africa on Tuesday.

While Australia topped Group A with eight points from four matches, South Africa and Sophie Devine’s New Zealand are fighting for the last semi-final spot.