Beth Mooney dominated with the bat with her 60 from 50 balls leading the charge after New Zealand had put the hosts in at Junction Oval.

Wickets at regular intervals thwarted Sophie Devine’s side with leg-spinner Georgia Wareham brilliant with the ball, dismissing Suzie Bates, Maddy Green and the captain herself.

Katey Martin (37 not out) threatened to win the day but the White Ferns fell just four runs short of victory as their hopes of Women’s T20 World Cup glory ended in disappointment.

But it wasn’t all perfection for Australia, with star all-rounder Ellyse Perry forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury midway through the chase.

“Ellyse has been a massive part of our squad and team for a long time and you can’t replace her,” said captain Meg Lanning.

“But we’ve got 15 players here who can do a job and you need a squad to win a World Cup. You can’t rely on one or two players and use the same 11 players every game

“We’re going to have to use the depth we’ve got — that’s just the reality of elite sport, unfortunately.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but I have full confidence that whoever comes in can play a role.

“Today’s performance was our best of the tournament so far. I don’t think we could be better placed for the semi-finals.”

New Zealand skipper Devine added: “We let them off the hook at the end of the innings. It would have been a masterstroke at the end if we could have won.

“Certainly skill-wise we’re there. Everyone knows we’re a really talented side. Whether it’s a mindset, game awareness of experience playing in those high-pressure situations. When we get back home, we’ll certainly go through everything.

“That’s the thing about Australia. It doesn’t matter who on the day but someone always seems to step up for them.

“We’re actually really close. To think we’ve taken both Australia and India within five of six runs.”

Sri Lanka’s perfect finale for Siriwardena

Taking four wickets in a nine-wicket win - Shashikala Siriwardena couldn’t have asked for much more in her final outing for Sri Lanka.

The spinner finished with four for 16, the best figures of this edition to date, to help restrict Bangladesh to 91 for eight in their last Group A match.

Chamari Athapaththu, as she has so often in this tournament, shone with the bat to lead Sri Lanka’s chase with 30 from 22 balls.

But this time she had some top-order support through Hasini Perera (39 not out), guiding her country to fourth spot in the group by winning with four overs remaining.

“From the beginning of the day it was very hard as I knew I was playing my last game,” said Siriwardena.

“I was kind of nervous knowing I would be wearing national colours for the last time. It was pretty emotional, but I told myself it wasn’t the time to get emotional.

“I knew my contribution would be important so I told myself to not think about my retirement until the match ended. I really love to perform, but the main thing was getting the win for the team.

“I’m truly satisfied that I did something to help my country. I’ll miss being with these girls. I have spent more time with this team than with my family.”

Bangladesh captain Salma Khatun added: “We need to keep regularly playing the top-ranked teams in order to improve. The more we play with them, the more we’ll improve. That’s the key for us.

“In one match we batted well, in another we bowled well but our fielding has been a constant concern.

“This experience will help us to move forward. The most important things we need to improve on are our power cricket and level of fitness.

“Our fitness is the main thing that will help us improve our skills and performance.”

Scores in brief

Australia beat New Zealand by four runs, Junction Oval, Melbourne

Australia 155-5, 20 overs (Beth Mooney 60, Ellyse Perry 21; Anna Peterson 2-31)

New Zealand 151-7, 20 overs (Katey Martin 37 not out, Georgia Wareham 3-17, Megan Schutt 3-28)

Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by nine wickets, Junction Oval, Melbourne

Bangladesh 91-8, 20 overs (Nigar Sultana Joty 39; Shashikala Siriwardena 4-16, Achini Kulasuriya 2-19)

Sri Lanka 92-1, 15.3 overs (Hasini Perera 39 not out, Chamari Athapaththu 30; Nahida Akter 1-18)

The 29-year-old suffered the problem when fielding at mid off as she attempted to run out New Zealand captain Sophie Devine during Australia's four-run win.

Perry immediately went to the ground clutching her right hamstring and a scan on Monday revealed a high-grade tear that will rule her out of Australia's semi-final on Thursday and, should they progress, Sunday's final.

It is a huge blow to Australia given Perry's status as the number one all-rounder in T20 cricket, a position she shares with Devine in the ICC rankings.

"She's obviously been a massive part of our squad and our team for a long time," Australia captain Meg Lanning had said of Perry after the win over New Zealand.

"You can't replace her, but we've got 15 players here who can do a job and you need a squad to win the World Cup."

The Caribbean women were ignominiously bowled out for 83 runs in 27.3 overs, one of their lowest-ever ODI scores. Amidst the carnage, Aaliyah Alleyne showed promise, standing tall amidst the falling wickets.

She managed to score an impressive 35 runs from just 39 deliveries, including seven boundaries. Her innings was a lone bright spot in what was otherwise a gloomy day for the West Indies Women.

The Australians, however, were on top of their game with Kim Garth leading the bowling attack. Her outstanding figures of 5.3-2-8-3 made her a major headache for the West Indies batting line-up. Not far behind, Ash Gardner also showcased her talent by taking two wickets for just 17 runs in her 5 overs.

Chasing a low score, the Australian team made quick work of the target.

Player of the Match, Captain Alyssa Healy, took charge and scored a brisk 38 off 36 balls, inclusive of seven boundaries. Veteran player Ellyse Perry provided a steady hand with 20 not out, while Beth Mooney added six runs not out to the tally.

The West Indies bowlers found little success, but Karishma Ramharack managed to shine with figures of 3-0-13-1, followed closely by Cherry-Ann Fraser who claimed a wicket at the expense of 28 runs in her 5 overs.

Head Coach Shane Deitz acknowledged the team's shortcomings, but he emphasized the learning curve the youngsters are on.

"We sent some youngsters out to give them the opportunity and they did their best," said Deitz, "They’re learning international cricket, but they’ve got a lot to learn. I'm confident that with time and exposure against world-class teams like Australia, they'll mature into formidable players."

Deitz also touched upon the team's strategy and expressed satisfaction with some aspects of their game. He appreciated how the players "moved into the ball and attacked it."

The absence of star player Hayley Matthews was felt during the match, but Deitz reassured fans, saying, "We decided to give her the time to heal and be ready for the next game. We'll monitor her closely."

With this game in the rearview, the focus now shifts to Melbourne's Junction Oval, which is all set to host the remaining two ODIs on Thursday, October 12, and Saturday, October 14.

Stokes ends India batsman Virat Kohli's three-year reign in possession of the honour and becomes the first Englishman since fellow all-rounder Andrew Flintoff to be considered the best player in the global game by the esteemed publication.

The body of work amassed by Stokes over the course of an outstanding 2019 made him an obvious frontrunner for such recognition.

He top-scored with an unbeaten 84 as England took the World Cup final into a super over, where Stokes and Jos Buttler scored 15 before the hosts won on the boundary count back rule at Lord's.

Remarkably, that was not Stokes' finest hour of the English summer, as he went on to score 135 not out to seal an enthralling one-wicket win over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley – an innings to rank alongside the all-time greats in cricket's longest format.

Jofra Archer, another standout performer in England's World Cup and Ashes campaigns was named as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year for 2019, along with Australia duo Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins.

Labuschagne's introduction to the series came as a concussion substitute when Steve Smith was struck by a brutish Archer bouncer and he went on to make the number three position his own, averaging 112 in the Australian summer that followed.

Cummins underlined his status as the number one pace bowler in the world with 29 wickets against England in an urn-retaining 2-2 draw.

That is a standing Archer can certainly aspire to, having claimed 55 wickets across all formats in his breakthrough international year.

Wisden's five cricketers of 2019 were rounded out by Simon Harmer, the Essex spinner whose 83 wickets gave him 12 more scalps than any other bowler on the way to County Championship glory, and Ellyse Perry.

Perry was Australia's leading run-scorer (378) and wicket-taker (15) in the 2019 Women's Ashes and was also named the leading women's player in the world.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell is the leading T20 cricketer.

The West Indies Women’s captain smashed 132 from just 64 balls as the West Indies Women, needing 213 for victory, scored 213-3 from 19.5 overs to level the series at a game apiece. Matthews got help from former captain Stafanie Taylor, whose half-century proved crucial in a 174-run second-wicket partnership that put the Caribbean women on course to what seemed  an unlikely victory.

No team had ever successfully chased a score over 200 runs against Australia at home.

The 425 runs scored in the match was a world-record for a women’s T20 international.

Coming off an emphatic eight-wicket victory over the West Indies on Sunday, Australia seemed on course for another victory after Ellyse Perry scored 70 from 46 balls and Phoebe Litchfield plundered an unbeaten 52 from just 19, the joint fastest 50 in a T20 international, as the hosts piled up 212-6 from their 20 overs. Georgia Wareham was not out on 32 from 13 as she and Litchfield shared in an Australia T20 record seventh-wicket stand of 66 that propelled the hosts to their challenging total.

Matthews was the best of the West Indies bowlers taking 3-36 from her four overs. She took the wickets of Beth Mooney for 29, the dangerous Tahlia McGrath for four and Annabell Sutherland for 13. Shamilia Connell took 2-35 to support her captain, whose best was yet to come.

West Indies Women lost Shabikia Gajnabi for just one in the third over, paving the way for Stafanie Taylor and Matthews to mount the a stand of 174, the highest partnership for any wicket for the West Indies Women, breaking the previous record of 162 between Matthews and Chadean Nation.

Taylor’s contribution of 59 included 11 fours as she recovered from a slow start to blossom as the partnership grew. When Taylor was bowled by Megan Schutt in the 17^th over, Matthews was on 114 and the West Indies needed 28 from the last 18 balls to secure victory.

With the match balanced on a knife’s edge after Annabel Sutherland only conceded three runs from in the 18^th over, Matthews swung the match heavily towards in the West Indies’ favour when she struck four consecutive boundaries off the first four balls of the 19^th bowled by Jess Jonassen.

The spinner got a measure of revenge when she bowled the West Indies captain, going for a sweep, behind her legs with the West Indies still needing nine to win from seven balls. Matthews’ masterclass that included 20 fours and five sixes, is the highest score ever by a West Indian woman surpassing the 112 made by compatriot Deandra Dottin. Her 100 came off just 53 balls.

It was left to Chinelle Henry and Shemaine Campbell who each scored four to take the West Indies Women to a memorable victory.

Matthews, who was winning her seventh consecutive T20I Player of the Match award, credited learning more about her game for her incredible consistency. In those seven matches she scored 452 runs including three 50s and a century at an average of 90.40 and a strike rate of 138.22.

"I think I've learned more about myself and my batting. The areas I want to access. It's been working really well for me. The leadership of the team has made me take a lot more responsibility,” said Matthews who was unbeaten on 99 during the first T20I.

She revealed that the team took the lessons learned from the last game that the West Indies lost by eight wickets to their opponents, stating, “Last game we spoke about learning. We came in with the exact same team for that exact reason. Obviously the last game was a bit tough for us with the ball but we backed the bowlers to come back today and we saw from the start they were right on the mark.”

 Matthews also welcomed Taylor’s return to form which helped set up the record chase.

“Batting with Stafanie helps a lot and I think she really got into her groove today. To chase down over 200 is something we've never been able to do let alone against the best team in the world. I'm incredibly proud of this squad and hopefully we can keep moving forward."

The teams meet again in the third T20I on Thursday.

Chasing 191 for victory, the West Indies Women failed to capitalize on another good start provided by Captain Hayley Matthews. The Windies skipper, who was named Player of the Series, scored 79 from 40balls in an opening partnership of 97 with Shabika Gajnabi.

However, once she got out, the rest of the batting failed to take advantage with the Caribbean women losing their last nine wickets for 46 runs. Following Matthews’ dismissal, the Windies Women lost their next four wickets for seven runs in 13 deliveries. The under-cooked Gajnabi struggled, making 16 off 27 balls before she needlessly ran herself out. As the batting crumbled, other than Aaliyah Alleyne, whose 26 came from 23 deliveries, no other batter got to double figures as Darcie Brown 3-20, Ashleigh Gardner, 3-32, and Kim Garth 2-24 scythed through the line-up.

Earlier, Australia posted another solid total on the board, scoring 190-9 thanks mainly to Tahlia McGrath, who returned to form with a well-played 65. Ellyse Perry added 40 and Phoebe Litchfield followed up her world-record half century in the second T20I with 36 from 17 balls.

Shamilia Connell was the best of the Windies bowlers with 3-25. Matthews took 1-34.

Matthews was named Player of the Match for the eighth consecutive match, said conditions for batting were more challenging than the previous two matches but hinted that her players need to improve.

"It was a bit tougher to start today, pitch was a bit slower. I want to be able to go out there and lead by example. Unfortunately, we couldn't get over the line today...but want to see the girls grow."

The Barbadian all-rounder, the number one batter in the world, had scores of 99 not out, 132 and 79 and five wickets during the series.

RCB posted 135-6 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and batting first. Australian star Ellyse Perry led the way with a crucial 66 off 50 balls including eight fours and a six.

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews starred with the ball for the Indians with 2-18 from her four overs while English all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt had identical figures from her four over spell.

Saika Ishaque took the other two wickets to fall while conceding 27 runs in three overs.

Mumbai were then restricted to 130-6 from their 20 overs in reply.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led the way with 33 while Amelie Kerr made 27* and Nat Sciver-Brunt made 23. Matthews contributed 15 at the top of the order.

Shreyanka Patil was the best bowler on the day for RCB with 2-16 from four overs.

Matthews, who made 55 in a losing cause on last, got a fairly decent start, and though she failed to push on, it mattered little, as Mumbai Indians made light work of the modest target set by Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chasing 132, Mumbai Indians got to their target with 29 balls to spare, with Matthews contributing a brisk 21-ball 26.

She struck three fours and a solitary six in a 45-run opening stand with Yastika Bhatia, which laid the foundation for the run chase. Bhatia lashed a 15-ball 31. 

Matthews added a further 24 runs for the second wicket with captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (27), before holing out to cover off-spinner Shreyanka Patil.

From there, it was left for New Zealander Amelia Kerr to apply the finish with a snappy 40 off 24 balls, including seven fours, that fuelled an important 49-run third wicket partnership with Sciver-Brunt.

Earlier, RCB stumbled their way to 131 for six off their 20 overs after being sent in, Australian Ellyse Perry holding the innings together with an unbeaten 44 off 38 balls.

With the innings in trouble at 42 for four in the ninth over, Perry put on 29 for the fifth wicket with fellow countrywoman Sophie Molineux (12), before adding a further 51 for the seventh wicket with another international teammate Georgia Wareham, who made 27 from 20 deliveries.

The win was Mumbai’s third in four games, putting them top of the standings on six points.

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been shortlisted for women’s T20 player of the year in the International Cricket Council’s 2023 awards.

The left-armer, the world’s number one ranked bowler in both white-ball formats, claimed 23 wickets in 11 games last year at an average of 10.60 despite spending four months out with a dislocated shoulder.

The 24-year-old was the top wicket-taker at the T20 World Cup in February with 11, but could not inspire England beyond the semi-final stage.

She is up against three high-class all-rounders, with Australia’s Ellyse Perry, West Indian Hayley Mathews and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.

Ecclestone’s team-mate Lauren Bell is also up for an award after making the cut for women’s emerging player of the year. The tall seamer established herself as a first-choice across all three forms, picking up a total of 22 wickets.

She goes up against Scotland’s Darcey Carter, who made 224 runs and took 13 T20 wickets in her first six months as a full international, Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield and Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter.

The men’s T20 shortlist included 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) compete for the men’s emerging player. Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.

Asked to bat first, Australia posted 259-7 from their 50 overs.

Ellyse Perry top-scored with 62 off 85 deliveries and Annabel Sutherland supported with 54 not out. Stafanie Taylor led her team from the front with the ball, taking 3-51 followed while Anisa Mohammed finished with figures of 2-45 and Hayley Matthews 2-45.

In their reply, West Indies Women reached 169/9 in 50 overs.

Taylor led with the bat scoring 66 from 128 deliveries. However, the next best effort came from Matthews with 24.

Ellyse Perry was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 2-6 while Tahlia McGrath, Alana King and Annabel Sutherland took two wickets each.

West Indies Women's vice-captain Anisa Mohammed said despite losing, there were some positives to extract from the match.

"The bowlers bowled really well and we had Australia under some pressure up until the 45th over but with wickets in hand a long batting line-up, it was expected they would go after it (our bowling),” Mohammed said.

“It's good to see Staf (Stafanie) getting back into the runs and taking wickets. We just need a couple more batters to get going and come that first game with New Zealand I think we will be ready."

West Indies will play their final warm-up match against India on Tuesday at Rangiora Oval before taking on home team New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament on March 4 in Tauranga.

Matthews, the number one-ranked ICC Women's T20I all-rounder put together a remarkable series of performances last year, as she racked up 700 runs in the year, the most by any player in a year in Women's T20Is. She also picked up 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in a mere 14 matches for the year.

The 25-year-old Barbadian is up against three high-class players, with, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, the top ranked T20 international bowler, Australia’s Ellyse Perry, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu also nominated.

Matthews’ stellar display against Australia in a bilateral T20I series in the second half of the year, was one for the ages. During that series, she posted scores of an unbeaten 99, 132 and 79, as she proved to be a thorn to the Australian side.

Matthews’ extraordinary unbeaten 99 in the first game of the series was overshadowed by her mind-blowing 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney. The world-record run-chase in women's T20Is saw Matthews break several records, including that of the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase.

Her overall tally of 310 runs in the series is the most by any player in a women's T20I bilateral series. Matthews also enjoyed good form in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, where she tallied 130 runs and took four wickets and four catches.

The hard-hitting Matthews produced a match-winning performance in a tight encounter against Ireland at the T20 World Cup. In that contest, she picked up four wickets and made a 34-ball 48, but her remarkable 132 against Australia overshadowed it all.

Having taken three wickets for 36 runs with the ball as Australia made a whopping 212, West Indies were faced with a daunting task in the run-chase, but nothing could have prepared anyone for Matthews’ innings.

She hit two fours and a six in the 17th over of the run-chase to raise her century off just 53 balls, and then clubbed Jess Jonassen for four fours in a row in the 19th over to bring the equation down to eight runs needed off six balls.

While Matthews was dismissed in the over, she had set the stage for one of the most outrageous women's T20I wins of all-time with her blistering 132 off just 64 balls. The innings was studded with 20 fours and five sixes, as 110 of her 132 runs came in boundaries.

Meanwhile, the men’s T20 shortlist includes 2022 winner Suryakumar Yadav of India, New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani – who helped his side qualify for their first ever World Cup.

Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka) and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand), compete for the men’s emerging player.

Nominees for Test and ODI awards will be released later this week.