Australia in semis

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 -- Australia managed a glorious victory over South Africa at Taunton to clinch the last semi-final berth in the Women's World Twenty20. South Africa lost the Group A fixture by 24 runs.

Batting first, the Australian top-order failed to perform in the opening stages of the match, while Karen Rolton and Alex Blackwell held their ground at 79 for 5 and gradually built up the target up to165. Shelley Nitschke impressed with the ball and picked up four important wickets for Australia.

Shabnin Ismail shun for South Africa taking 3 for 27 in four overs, and batsmen Shandre Fritz and Trisha Chetty put on a score of 73 and managed to build the score up to 140 for 7.

Australia's captain Rolton’s post match comments were, "They put us under a bit of pressure but I wasn't worried. It only takes a couple of overs to change a game."

Australia join India, England and New Zealand in the semi-finals of the tournament.

English march ahead

England also managed a comfortable 63-run win over Pakistan at Taunton, credit to Charlotte Edwards who scored 43 and Holly Colvin with 3 wickets.

England were all out for 123 in 20 overs with Edwards scoring 43 off 32 balls while Pakistan continued losing wickets and ended up with only two batsmen – Bismah Maroof and Sajida Shah who recorded a total of 60 to lose the match.