India ride Mithali fifty, beat Ireland to enter semi-final

NEWDELHI:INDIA overcame minor batting hiccups to sweep aside Ireland by 52 runs in Group B to join Australia in the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 in Providence, Guyana on Thursday.

Mithali Raj’s second successive fifty (51 – 56b, 4x4, 1x6) was the cornerstone of India’s 145/6 after being put in to bat. In reply, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (3/25) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2/15) together strangled the chase.

Ireland bowlers restricted the innings in the later half to raise hopes of an upset, but their batsmen were found wanting.

India, who registered their third win like Australia, had a steady start with Mithali and Smriti Mandhana (33 – 29b, 4x4, 1x6) raising a 67-run opening stand. Mandhana was bowled trying a heave across the line against seamer Kim Garth at the end of the 10th over.

Mithali, who hit 56 against Pakistan, and Jemimah Rodrigues added 39 runs before the latter was stumped for 18. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has stood out with her power-hitting, but she failed.

Harmanpreet (7 - 3b) hit a straight six off Eimear Richardson, but the off-spinner fed a full toss outside off-stump. She could not clear extra-cover and Shauna Kavanagh took a brilliant catch on the boundary.

Mithali reached her half-century in the 18th over, and neither the former skipper nor her partners could produce the big shots, leaving India to depend on a solid bowling performance.

Mithali was eventually out in the 19th over, caught behind trying to hit out. She became the highest T20 run-getter for India, male or female. Rohit Sharma tops the aggregate among men.

Kim Garth (2/22) stood out for Ireland, also helping to run out D Hemalatha.

Mithali Raj was injured making a diving stop to prevent Isobel Joyce (33) taking a run. She was helped off the field.

Ireland made a steady start before Indian spinners took over. Even Harmanpreet joined in, having Joyce caught at backward shortleg by Poonam Yadav.

Brief scores: India 145/6 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 51, Smriti Mandhana 33, Kim Garth 2/22) bt Ireland 93/8 in 20 overs (Isobel Joyce 33, Radha Yadav 3/25, Deepti Sharma 2/15) by 52 runs

SA COLLAPSE

Defending champions West Indies cashed in on a sensational batting collapse to defeat South Africa by 31 runs in Group A at St Lucia. The hosts were restricted to 107/7 but South Africa were 76 all out after losing their last nine wickets for 28 runs. Off-spinner Stafanie Taylor, back after a neck injury, took four wickets.

Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 25 runs in another low-scoring affair in Group A.

Brief scores: West Indies 107/7 in 20 overs (Knight 32, Mclean 28; Ismail 3/12) beat South Africa 76 all out in 18.4 overs (Kapp 26, Lee 24; Taylor 4/12) by 31 runs.

Sri Lanka 97/7 in 20 overs (Siriwardene 31; Alam 3/21) beat Bangladesh 72 all out in 20 overs Sultana 20; Atapattu 3/17) by 25 runs.