London: Australia produced another commanding performance to book their place in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final, defeating West Indies by eight wickets in the first semi-final at The Oval on Wednesday. Chasing a modest target of 126, Australia cruised to 127/2 in just 13 overs, powered by Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 61 off 29 balls and a quickfire 35* from Ashleigh Gardner.
Earlier, Australia's spin attack dismantled the West Indies batting line-up after captain Hayley Matthews made 30 at the top. Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux shared the wickets to keep the Caribbean side under pressure throughout the innings. Despite the collapse, Deandra Dottin showed remarkable determination, recovering from an earlier medical scare to remain unbeaten on 26 and guide West Indies to 125/7
Australia lost Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield early in the chase, but Mooney took complete control with a blistering knock that included her second half-century of the tournament. Gardner provided the finishing touches as the pair stitched together an unbeaten partnership to seal victory with seven overs to spare.
The win sends Australia into yet another ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final, where they will face the winner of the second semi-final between England and South Africa at Lord’s. It also extended Australia's dominant record over West Indies, marking their 10th victory in the last 11 meetings between the two sides.
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