Women’s T20 WC 2023: India edge out Ireland to go through to semi-final

India and Ireland locked horns in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 at St George’s Park, Gqeberha in the Match 18 of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat as openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma gave a blazing start to the team.

Mandhana falls short of her century

Mandhana looked in fine touch right from the word go as she scored freely all around the ground, however, Shafali struggled to put the ball in the gaps. The duo added 62 runs for the first wicket in 57 balls before Laura Delany broke their partnership. Shafali walked back for 24 off 29. However, Mandhana continued her brilliant innings and got involved in a 52-run partnership with Harmanpreet Kaur.

Ireland’s captain once again got into the act and ended the partnership by dismissing Kaur for 13 off 20 balls. She further got rid of the in-form Richa Ghosh on the very next ball. However, Mandhana was unfazed by anything at the other end and continued her marvellous innings.

The left-handed batter put on an exhibition of her wide array of shots to score 87 off 56 balls, smashing nine fours and three sixes to help India post 155/6 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.

Gaby Lewis, Laura Delany bring Ireland back before rain

Ireland had a terrible start in their reply. They lost Amy Hunter to a miscommunication on the very first ball resulting in a run out. Renuka Singh added to their troubles by destroying the stumps of Orla Prendergast, who returned for a duck.

Gaby Lewis and Laura Delany stabilized the innings by adding 53 runs for the third wicket at a decent run rate. However, the rain arrived just when things seemed settled for Ireland. Unfortunately, they were five runs behind the DLS par score at that point. The rain was relentless, leading to India qualifying for the semi-finals and winning the match by five runs (DLS method).