close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Australia win T20 World Cup warm-up

By AFP
February 19, 2020

ADELAIDE, Australia: Australia’s women warmed up for their Twenty20 World Cup defence Tuesday with a battling win over South Africa, but England suffered a setback in a shock 10-wicket hammering by Sri Lanka.

Playing their last game before the tournament starts on Friday, Australian skipper Meg Lanning and deputy Rachael Haynes steered them to a four-wicket victory with three balls to spare in Adelaide. Lanning (47 from 36 balls) and Haynes (39 from 35) put on a 90-run stand after they slumped to 35 for four in reply to South Africa’s 147 for six.

England’s final preparations couldn’t have gone any worse. Heather Knight won the toss in Adelaide and batted first but her team never got going, struggling to 122 for 9, with Sri Lanka’s spinners inflicting the damage.

In reply, Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Atapattu smashed 78 from 50 balls with fellow opener Hasini Perera unbeaten on 29 as they reached their target without loss inside 13 overs.

In Brisbane, India warmed up for a tilt at a first ever World Cup crown by beating 2016 champions the West Indies by two runs. They set the West Indies a very makeable 108 to win after being restricted to 107 for eight. But Stafanie Taylor’s side couldn’t reach the target, managing just 105 for seven in their 20 overs. The 10-team World Cup starts in Sydney on Friday when Australia face India.

Scores in brief: Australia beat South Africa by four wickets: South Africa 147-6, 20 overs (Dane van Niekerk 62, Lizelle Lee 29; Delissa Kimmince 2-34). Australia 150-9, 19.3 overs (Meg Lanning 47, Rachael Haynes 39; Marizanne Kapp 4-16).

Sri Lanka beat England by 10 wickets: England 122-9, 20 overs (Amy Jones 23, Tammy Beaumont 23; Shashikala Siriwardana 4-22, Chamari Atapattu 3-21). Sri Lanka 123-0, 12.3 overs (Chamari Atapattu 78 not out, Hasini Madushika 29 not out; Heather Knight 0-7).

India beat West Indies by two runs: India 107-8, 20 overs (Shikha Pandey 24 not out, Deepti Sharma 21; Anisa Mohammed 2-16, Shamilia Connell 2-20). West Indies 105-7, 20 overs (Lee-Ann Kirby 42, Hayley Matthews 25; Poonam Yadav 3-20).

World Cup 2020 warm-up matches: February 19: New Zealand v Thailand; February 20: Bangladesh v Pakistan.