Women's T20 World Cup 2024: 2nd Semi-final, West Indies vs New Zealand - Key players to watch

In the second semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, West Indies Women will face New Zealand Women at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday (October 18) night. It is a great chance for both teams, as they will face South Africa Women in the final of the tournament instead of the six-time champions Australia Women. 

West Indies Women were the Group B champions. Although they also earned six points, just like South Africa Women and England Women, the Caribbean team had the highest net run rate among them. Although they started the tournament with a 10-wicket defeat against South Africa Women, they beat Scotland Women, Bangladesh Women, and England Women to qualify for the semi-finals. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand Women were the runners-up in Group A. Starting the tournament with a big 58-run win against India Women, New Zealand Women suffered a 60-run defeat against Australia Women. In their next two matches, the White Ferns beat Sri Lanka Women by eight wickets, and Pakistan Women by 54 runs. 

In their 23 WT20I meetings, New Zealand Women recorded 15 victories (excluding two Super Over wins), and West Indies Women secured only five wins. However, in their Women’s T20 World Cup meetings, both teams recorded two victories each in their four previous meetings. 

West Indies Women won the 2016 edition, and it was their only final of the Women’s T20 World Cup history. 

On the other hand, New Zealand Women reached the final in the first two editions but finished as the runners-up in both editions. While England Women beat them by six wickets in the inaugural final, Australia Women won by only three runs in the next edition.

 

West Indies Women

Deandra Dottin: Deandra Dottin is a key name for West Indies Women. She scored 13, 28 not out, 19 not out, and 27 in this tournament. Most importantly, she has hit most sixes in this competition with six over boundaries. The right-handed batter has a strike rate of 167.30 in this tournament. 

Hayley Matthews: Captain Hayley Matthews has played her part very well in the recent matches. Although she didn’t have a good start in this tournament, she scored 34 and 50 runs in the last two matches. Meanwhile, in the last three games, the skipper also took four wickets.  

Qiana Joseph: The young all-rounder Qiana Joseph scored a match-winning 52 runs against England Women, where she also won the Player of the Match award. She also scored 31 against Scotland Women. 

Afy Fletcher: Leg-spinner Afy Fletcher has taken eight wickets in this tournament. After she was wicketless against South Africa Women, where they suffered a 10-wicket defeat, she then recorded three wickets, two wickets, and another three wickets in the next three outings.

 

New Zealand Women

Amelia Kerr: The 24-year-old Amelia Kerr has played very crucial roles for New Zealand Women in this tournament. With the bat, she scored 85 runs by playing the knocks of 13, 29, 34 not out, and 9 runs. Meanwhile, the leg-spinner has also taken ten wickets, including a four-fer against Australia Women and three wickets against Pakistan Women.

Georgia Plimmer: Georgia Plimmer is the leading run-scorer for New Zealand Women in this tournament by scoring 108 runs with a strike rate of 122.72. She scored 34 against India Women and 53 against Sri Lanka Women. For her batting against Sri Lanka Women, she won the Player of the Match award. 

Sophie Devine: Captain Sophie Devine was the Player of the Match against India Women for scoring a crucial 57 not out. After scoring nine against Australia Women, Devine scored 13 not out and 19 against Sri Lanka Women and Pakistan Women, respectively. 

Rosemary Mair: Right-arm medium Rosemary Mair has taken seven wickets in this tournament. After picking up four wickets against India Women, she got two wickets against Australia Women.