WEST INDIES JOINED their female counterparts in the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 Cricket Competition, keeping hopes alive of a possible double.
This morning in Bangladesh, the West Indies men beat Pakistan by 84 runs and although the women lost by nine wickets to India, they are also in the semis, qualifying second in their group.
In a rematch of the last final, West Indies will play Sri Lanka on Thursday morning at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur and India will play South Africa on Friday.
The West Indies Women will play Australia on Thursday and the other match will pit England against South Africa.
Today, West Indies routed Pakistan for 82 in 17.5 overs. Captain Mohammed Hafeez topscored with 19. Sohaib Maqsood (18), Shahid Afridi (18) and Sohail Tanvir (14) all got going, but couldn’t build any partnerships in the face of ruthless bowling and good fielding.
Spinners Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine both took three wickets, while Andre Russell and Krishmar Santokie took two each.
A 71-run partnership between finishers Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy lifted the West Indies to 166 for six.
Reeling on 67 for four with Chris Gayle (5), Dwayne Smith (8), Lendl Simmons (31) and Marlon Samuels (20) all back in the pavilion, Bravo and Denesh Ramdin tried to repair the innings in the middle.
Ramdin faced just ten balls before he was caught in the deep by Zulfiqar Babar.
With West Indies on 81 for five, out came Sammy to reprise the role he played against Australia. He hit five fours and two sixes, scoring 42 off 20 balls. Bravo was just as solid, scoring 46 from 26 balls. He hit two fours and four sixes.
Meanwhile at the Sylhet Stadium, Poonam Raut scored 56 and Mithali Raj 55 as India reached 121 for one in reply to West Indies’ 117 for seven.
Earlier, Barbadian Deandra Dottin scored 57 off 51 balls, stroking seven fours and two sixes. Stafanie Taylor chipped in with 17, Stacy-Ann King added 16 and ten Shemaine Campbelle. Harmanpreet Kaur took two wickets for 12 runs. (SAT)
Summarised scores:
West Indies 166-6 (D. Bravo 46, D. Sammy 42, L. Simmons 31, M. Samuels 20). Pakistan 82 in 17.5 overs (M. Hafeez 19, S. Maqsood 18, S. Afridi 18, S. Tanvir 14; S. Badree 3-10, S. Narine 3-16, K. Santokie 2-9, A. Russell 2-15). West Indies won by 84 runs.
West Indies Women 117-7 (Deandra Dottin 57, S. Taylor 17, S. King 16, S. Campbelle10; H. Kaur 2-12). India Women 121-1 in 17.4 overs (Poonam Raut 56, Mithali Raj 55). India won by nine wickets with 14 balls remaining.
