England ended New Zealand’s reign as Women’s T20 World Cup champions with a nine-wicket victory at The Oval on Saturday.The defending champions bowed out after losing three of their five games in the group stage.Earlier in the day, New Zealand got an unexpected boost as Ireland beat West Indies by six wickets in Bristol, keeping their semi-final hopes alive.Ireland’s victory also ended a 21-match losing streak at the five Women’s T20 World Cups in 12 years.“Some of us are half-Irish now,” quipped New Zealand veteran Sophie Devine. “(Our) destiny is in our hands.”However, New Zealand still needed to beat unbeaten England to advance to the semi-finals ahead of West Indies.
Wyatt Hodge helps England catch up easily
After New Zealand scored 163/6, England easily chased the score, reaching 164/1 with 16 balls remaining.Opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge led the way with an unbeaten 89 off 53 balls, hitting 15 fours and one six in front of a crowd of 21,018, the highest ever attendance in a Women’s T20 World Cup group match.The two remaining semi-final spots will be decided on Sunday, with Australia, South Africa and India still in contention.
Wyatt Hodge breaks championship record
Wyatt Hodge continues her impressive run of form in the Championship after scoring a goal in England’s opening match. She now has scores of two, fifty and a hundred.She was easily the highest run-scorer in the tournament with 282 runs. She also broke the record for most runs in a single edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup, surpassing Beth Mooney’s record of 259 in 2020, with possibly two matches remaining.England capitalized on two chances in their first game. She was thrown behind stumps before opening her account and was given another lifeline when she missed a chance at stumps in the 13th.Her fifty came off just 33 balls. She scored 128 runs off 80 balls along with Sophia Dunkley, who remained unbeaten on 49 runs off 38 balls with nine boundaries. Dunkley became England’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 120 runs.
New Zealand lags behind despite good start
New Zealand chose to bat first and got off to a good start as Isabella Gaze and Melie Kerr combined for 70 runs.But the game lost steam when Getz, Cole and Izzy Sharpe were eliminated in a four-pitch span. Brooke Halliday and Sophie Devine both scored 74 points before both falling in the same round.Maddie Green and Susie Bates tried to finish strongly, but New Zealand’s total was well below what was needed against England’s potent batting line-up.
The end of an era in New Zealand
The defeat also marked the end of the international careers of Sophie Devine, Suzy Bates and fast bowler Leah Tahuhu.The trio signed after playing nearly 900 international games for New Zealand.
