The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup started on March 4th, 2022, in New Zealand; plus, there’ve been many fireworks, and the level of playing we have come to expect from this tournament is exciting.
Highlights
New Zealand came out guns blazing in their match against India, and they beat the Indian team by 62 runs, despite Harmanpreet’s half-century. Australia beat the defending champions, England, in their first encounter. Australia batted first, setting up a massive 310 target for the English team. Rachael was spectacular with her 130 runs, and the vice-captain showed what she’s made of. The Australian bowlers were also in top form as King bowled Dunkley for only 28 runs. Australia has been phenomenal in this tournament, and even before the tournament, they’ve been the favourites to lift the ICC Women’s World Cup trophy. Most of the sports bookmaker sites in Australia seem to agree.
In their match with Pakistan, the Australian team passed the 190 runs that Maroof’s team set, finishing at 193/3. This great performance from the six-time world champions continued in their match-up with neighbours, New Zealand, where they scored an impressive 269/8 while limiting their opponents to just 128 runs. Maddy Green took an incredibly acrobatic catch to dismiss Ellyse Perry, she dove long to her left and looked more like gymnastics than cricket out there, and for a split second, it looked like she was going just to nick the ball with her fingers.
Beth Mooney from the Australian squad followed suit with her gravity-defying one-handed catch that saw Amelia Kerr leave the field. Australia has not conceded any games, which currently places them at the top of the leader board. New Zealand has slipped down to the fourth position, a place we hope they’ll fight and claw themselves back up.
South Africa beat England by three wickets; Marizanne Kapp gave a brilliant all-around performance. Kapp took five wickets sending Danielle Wyatt and Heather Knight home early in the match. The English side gave a lacklustre performance and seemed sluggish, dropping three balls and missing stumps. South Africa has won three consecutive games, and England has lost just as many in the same concession. England needs to win all their upcoming games if they’re to stay beyond the group stages.
Upcoming Fixtures
South Africa will face Australia on the 22nd of March with just 2 points separating them, the ladies in green and gold will be fighting for the number one spot. That’s not to say the Aussies will make it easy for them.
England will play Pakistan at the Hagley Oval on March 24th, this match should be intense as both teams have so much riding on this game. England are the defending champions who haven’t had an impact in this tournament, and they’ll need to win this one. Pakistan will also be looking to climb up the rankings.
New Zealand will face Pakistan on Saturday the 26th and India will try to unsettle South Africa on Sunday the 27th.
ICC Women’s World Cup Current Rankings
- Australia 10 points
- South Africa 8 points
- West Indies 6 points
- India 4 points
- New Zealand 4 points
If the rankings remain as they are, we’re in for enthralling cricket as we head into the semi-finals. What are our predictions for the finals, you ask? It’s very difficult to predict an outcome with this calibre of playing. However, it’d be interesting to see South Africa vs Australia final, mainly because their rivalry runs deep, from the days of Shane Warne and Cronje. Alternatively, it could very well be a down under final between Australia and New Zealand. Come April 3rd, 2022, we’ll have a new ICC Women’s World Cup Champion.
