Matthews, Taylor power West Indies to third consecutive win

At the County Ground in Bristol on Sunday, West Indies defeated Sri Lanka for the third time in a row, helping them advance to the semifinals. Sri Lanka were quickly derailed by Hayley Matthews' three-wicket burst with the new ball, and they never really recovered. West Indies achieved their goal of 99 runs with relative ease, despite some setbacks in their pursuit.

Sri Lanka's reaction when asked to bat first was one of agitation and disorientation from the get-go. Chamari Athapaththu survived as many as three run-out opportunities in the first two overs before falling to Matthews in the third. Matthews also caught Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama on either side of her wicket, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 9/3. Before Kavisha Dilhari was bowled by Chinelle Henry in the sixth over, neither Imesha Dulani nor Kavisha Dilhari appeared to be confident at the crease. This left Sri Lanka on 23/4 at the conclusion of the Powerplay.

After that, Dilhari and Nilakshika Silva put together a 34-run stand to bring some stability back. However, the partnership came to an end when Dilhari returned a catch to Aaliyah Alleyne to end the 10th over. Sri Lanka fell to 57/5 at the halfway point and never achieved the partnership or acceleration required to score competitively. Kawya Kavindi's sluggish 28-ball 17 provided the only support for Silva, who fought hard for a 26-ball 30. In the end, they were run out for 98 in the 20th over.

West Indies had high hopes for a straightforward chase, but it wasn't. Mithali Ayodhya and Nimasha Meepage each scored an opener in the Powerplay after making strong starts with the ball. Sri Lanka bowled well to keep the West Indies at 36/2 in the Powerplay, with the exception of a reckless fourth over by Sugandika Kumari that scored 15 runs.

Even after Shemaine Campbell was run out for a shaky 4 off 12 balls in the ninth over, West Indies continued to make steady progress rather than rapid ones. Sri Lanka's hopes were briefly rekindled when Dilhari hit a double in the 12th over, but the target was too small to defend. Not helping their cause was the fact that they gave up 23 extras, which was the second most in a Women's T20 World Cup innings. Jannillea Glasgow and Stafanie Taylor made sure that the West Indies crossed the line without any more problems in the 18th over.