(Photo ICC)
Shemaine Campbelle’s stunning 90 not out led the West Indies to a statement seven-wicket win over New Zealand in Southampton.
The wicketkeeper-batter’s career best T20I score spearheaded a pursuit of 163, the second-highest successful run chase in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup history, which was completed with just one ball to spare.
Holders New Zealand, who had earlier been pegged back by Aaliyah Alleyne’s four wickets, were left to rue a string of dropped chances and missed stumpings as captain Amelia Kerr’s landmark 100th T20I appearance ended in defeat.
New Zealand, ranked fourth, were put in after losing the toss but Isabella Gaze was quickly into her stride.
An audacious scoop over the wicketkeeper’s head in the second over set the tone and she dominated an opening partnership of 49 with Georgia Plimmer, who picked out Deandra Dottin at deep backward square leg from the penultimate ball of the powerplay.
Amelia Kerr’s milestone innings ended on just five when she chipped straight to Karishma Ramharack at mid-on off the bowling of Alleyne, with Gaze following suit in identical fashion two balls later.
From 56 for three, Sophie Devine and Brooke Halliday rebuilt with a stand of 45 before Devine was excellently caught by Jahzara Claxton running in from the deep.
Halliday kept the White Ferns on the front foot before she became Alleyne’s fourth scalp, though Maddy Green’s unbeaten 35 from 22 balls injected further late momentum as the seventh ranked West Indies were set 163 to win.
The chase got off to a shaky start as a mix-up between Matthews, who had just struck consecutive boundaries, and her opening partner Qiana Joseph saw the latter run out in the second over.
Matthews survived a let-off in the next over, Izzy Sharp putting down a chance at deep backward square leg from the bowling of Rosemary Mair with the batter on nine.
Campbelle settled in alongside her skipper and the pair took the score to 69 for one at the halfway stage, the wicketkeeper-batter successfully reviewing when originally given out lbw to Amelia Kerr in the 10th over.
Both batters were dropped in the following over, which also saw Matthews hit an imperious six over extra cover, but the skipper’s lives ran out on 48 when Green held on to a routine chance at long-on from the bowling of Jess Kerr.
Campbelle became the aggressor, clearing the ropes twice in the same Amelia Kerr over to bring up her maiden T20I half century.
She kicked on brilliantly from there, despite losing the company of Dottin, to leave four needed from the final over.
That became one from two balls, with 20-year-old Claxton on strike, and the pair scrambled through for a leg-bye to start the celebrations.
Campbelle finished with seven fours and three sixes in her sparkling 62-ball knock, which will go down in Caribbean cricket folklore.
Spin quartet guide Australia to opening win over South Africa
Australia’s spinners shone in a 65-run win over South Africa as the six-time winners made a successful start in their quest to regain the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Phoebe Litchfield’s quickfire fifty gave the top ranked Australia energy after they had been reduced to 24 for two inside four overs before Georgia Wareham and Ellyse Perry combined for the biggest partnership of the innings.
South Africa, ranked fifth, failed to get a stranglehold on their chase of 173, with Sophie Molineux taking two for 17 in her first T20 World Cup game as captain as Australia gained revenge for their semi-final defeat against the Proteas in the 2024 edition.
South Africa struck early with the ball as Kayla Reyneke took a diving catch to dismiss Georgia Voll for a four-ball duck from the bowling of Marizanne Kapp.
Kapp’s roaring celebration was matched by Shabnim Ismail, making her T20I return for South Africa after three years away, after she dismissed Beth Mooney for seven.
With Australia at 24 for two, pressure was heaped on Phoebe Litchfield but she delivered the impetus Australia needed and left the legendary Ellyse Perry as a temporary bystander at the opposite end.
Litchfield took Ismail for 15 runs in the sixth over before the youngster’s bulldozing knock ended the ball after she brought up her 23-ball fifty with Australia at 62 for three.
The Proteas were back in the ascendancy when Ashleigh Gardner departed four balls later, only for Perry and Georgia Wareham to build a 58-run partnership.
Wareham fell for 32 in the 13th over and regular breakthroughs followed as Australia finished on 172 for eight, Nonkululeko Mlaba taking two for 22.
Aiming to pull off the biggest chase in T20 World Cup history, South Africa got off to a difficult start as Suné Luus and Annerie Dercksen departed cheaply to leave the Proteas seven for two.
Gardner was left looking at her hands as she let Nadine de Klerk slip through her grasp on 11, with the ball dropping over the boundary for six to add insult to injury.
De Klerk, who had been promoted up the order, added only 14 more to her total before she was clean bowled by Wareham, as Australia’s bowling options kept South Africa guessing.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt had barely been on strike before De Klerk’s dismissal at the end of the seventh over but the onus fell on her with the required rate reaching 10 an over.
Instead, Kapp was run out diving for a second run having taken the single too slowly before Wolvaardt was caught low by Wareham for 44 from 39 balls for Molineux’s second.
Alana King’s inclusion as an extra spinner in place of Tahlia McGrath was vindicated as she posted figures of two for 26, dismissing Reyneke and Sinalo Jafta in the same over to leave South Africa 99 for seven.
Wareham finished the job with the final two wickets to end with three for 13 as South Africa fell comfortably short of their target.
Scores in brief
Australia v South Africa – Old Trafford, Manchester
Australia 172/8 in 20 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 50, Ellyse Perry 36; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2/22, Ayabonga Khaka 2/33)
South Africa 107 all out in 16.4 overs (Wolvaardt 44, Nadine de Klerk 25; Georgia Wareham 3/13, Sophie Molineux 2/17)
Result: Australia win by 65 runs
West Indies v New Zealand – Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
New Zealand 162/6 in 20 overs (Brooke Halliday 40, Izzy Gaze 39; Aaliyah Alleyne 4/27, Deandra Dottin 1/22)
West Indies 163/3 in 19.5 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 90 not out, Hayley Matthews 48; Jess Kerr 2/17)
Result: West Indies win by seven wickets
