Dream IPL
That's all we have from this game. England, Australia and South Africa are through to the semis. India vs New Zealand will be a virtual...
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Bates: I thought it was gettable (target) if the top-order got going. We brought it back in the later part of the innings, but that partnership was the difference. (when asked about the drop of Sciver on 58) Any drop against a top team is going to hit you. We could have dismissed them a bit early. If top 5 don't score much, it's tough to beat a team like England. (When asked about their plans against India) We're playing good cricket. We lost 2 games to two top teams. We have to turn up. If we don't we head home.
Knight: Really pleased and that partnership (between Sciver and Beaumont) was brilliant. It was a hard wicket to bat. To secure that semifinal berth was important. Winning is a habit and we'd like to keep that going. Really put in some good performances. You want your top five to play well. It's very nice to see them perform and hope they keep up. The fielding is a bit scrappy, we need to improve on that. We've got one game to go and we'll look to keep the winning habit. We wanna keep winning. We can finish on top. We'll try to play with the best team.
Natalie Sciver (Player of the Match): Pretty high (when asked to rate her innings). We just knew we needed to get a partnership. It was a bit tricky than the previous games (About the pitch). It was just about playing smart cricket and happy that it paid off. There is a bit of pre-planning against each bowler. (When asked about her shot that she hit through her legs being termed as 'Nat'meg) Sounds pretty good. Not quite intentional, but working on that. Tammy recognized starting is the difficult part. We needed to take it deep and we did that.
17:12 Local Time, 16:12 GMT, 21:42 IST: England and South Africa make it to the semifinals after Australia. A good all-round performance from the hosts. 284 was a very good score batting first - thanks to the mammoth stand between Beaumont and Sciver. The English bowlers were on the money from the word go. The destructive Priest was dismissed cheaply. Though the second wicket stand between Bates and Satterthwaite was building, they never looked threatening to up the ante. They were scalped within a span of 15 balls and from thereon the White Ferns were always behind the eight ball. Laura Marsh and Hartley strangled them with their subtle variations. Perkins fought a lone battle in the end with an unbeaten 43, but that was always going to be in vain. Stay tuned for presentations.
46.4 Alex Hartley to Huddleston, out Lbw!! It's over! England win by 75 runs. Huddleston misses the sweep and is caught plumb in front. It was a straight ball from round the wicket. The impact was adjacent to the middle pole. That would have gone onto hit middle and leg. Huddleston lbw b Alex Hartley 0(13)
Alex Hartley to Huddleston, THAT'S OUT!! Lbw!!
46.3 Alex Hartley to Huddleston, no run, slow and turning away, Huddleston scythes it to cover
46.2 Alex Hartley to Huddleston, no run, cut to cover
46.1 Alex Hartley to Perkins, 1 run, looks to ramp and adjusts at the last moment and sends it to third man
Second-chance checking re-opens doors to banking
45.6 Shrubsole to Huddleston, no run, short of length wide of off, dabbed to backward point