SOUTHAMPTON, England – A dramatic, last-ball finish at the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup kept New Zealand’s faint hopes of defending their crown alive on Friday, as the defending champions squeezed out a four-run victory over a valiant Ireland side that came agonizingly close to a historic win.
The tournament had gotten off to a disastrous start for New Zealand, which stumbled to back-to-back defeats against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, undone by 10 dropped catches across both opening matches. Heading into Friday’s group stage clash, elimination was staring the side in the face: with only two group matches remaining, a loss would end their campaign before the knockout rounds, against an Ireland side that had also failed to pick up a win in their opening fixtures.
Ireland got off to a dream start after winning the toss and opting to bowl first, reducing New Zealand to a shaky 10 for three wickets inside just four overs, with tight early work from bowlers Orla Prendergast and Aimee Maguire. But the defending champions clawed their way back into the innings, with captain Melie Kerr grounding out a valuable 30 runs, before a 62-run fifth-wicket stand between Brooke Halliday and Izzy Sharp off just 50 balls steadied the New Zealand innings.
The turning point of the entire match came in the final over of New Zealand’s batting, when veteran all-rounder Suzie Bates – who only made her first tournament appearance after fellow soon-to-retire star Sophie Devine fell ill – stepped in at number seven, an uncharacteristic spot for Bates in T20 career. The veteran delivered a stunning cameo of 19 runs off 12 balls, capping her innings with a six off the final ball that cleared the long leg boundary, pushing New Zealand to a final total of 140 for six wickets.
In the chase, Ireland’s batting lineup got a late boost from a massive 110-run partnership between captain Gaby Lewis and Prendergast that stretched into the 18th over, weathering strong early bowling from New Zealand pacer Bree Illing, who finished with impressive figures of one wicket for just 18 runs off her allocation. The stand put Ireland on the cusp of breaking a 19-match World Cup losing streak to claim their first ever win at the tournament.
But New Zealand struck back when Prendergast was caught near the boundary for 59 runs, followed just one over later by Lewis, who was caught at cover by Bates for a polished 58. The wickets left Ireland requiring 15 runs from the final over to pull off the upset. Bates, who stepped up to bowl the final over, restricted Ireland to just 10 runs off the six balls, finishing the match with Ireland all out for 136 runs, four runs short of the target.
Captain Melie Kerr, who was named player of the match, said after the game that the win marked a critical mental shift for her side after their poor start. “It has been a disappointing start to the tournament so today was just about body language and turning up,” Kerr said. “We need to turn and believe we can still win games of cricket.”
The group stage of the Women’s T20 World Cup continues Saturday with three fixtures: Australia faces Netherlands, Pakistan takes on Bangladesh, and hosts England play Scotland.