West Indies women held their nerves in the death overs and turned an almost certain semi-final defeat against New Zealand into a thrilling victory to gain entry into the ICC World T20 summit clash, in Mumbai on Thursday.
Chasing a decent target of 144, they reined in the Kiwis, who appeared to be cruising along to a comfortable win, at 137/8 and won the match by a mere six runs. With this victory, The Windies women made their maiden entry into a WT20 final and will take on three-time defending champions Australia in Kolkata on April 3 for the maiden title.
The Kiwis got off to a poor start, losing opener Rachel Priest on 11. Then, Sophie Devene hit four boundaries in her quick knock of 22 off 14, before being brilliantly run out by Diandra Dottin in the seventh over.
Skipper Suzie Bates (12 off 17 balls) was out in the same over. Sara McGlashan (38 off 30 balls) and Amy Satterthwaite (24 runs off 29 balls) then rallied the innings and tried to take the Kiwi side home but both these players departed in successive balls in the 17th over, paving the way for West Indies win.