New Zealand claimed a dramatic eight-run victory over West Indies to reach their first Women's T20 World Cup final since 2010, with Eden Carson starring with the ball.
The Black Caps will face South Africa in Sunday's showpiece match, with a first-time champion guaranteed after New Zealand held firm in a tense finale in Sharjah.
New Zealand were limited to 128-9 with the bat as Deandra Dottin finished with fine figures of 4-22, including the crucial wickets of opener Amelia Kerr (7) and Brooke Halliday (18) – the latter with a zipping delivery that crashed into off stump.
The Windies took up the bat in confident mood after two final-over wickets further dented New Zealand's hopes, but Carson turned the momentum by removing both of their openers within five overs.
Having hit middle stump to send West Indies' group-stage star Qiana Joseph walking for 12, Carson had Shemaine Campbelle (3) caught by Suzie Bates to drop them to 20-2.
Carson had her treble soon afterwards as Stafanie Taylor was dismissed for 13 runs, and the Windies failed to recover any momentum from there, only reaching 48 runs by the midpoint of their innings.
Dottin (33 off 22) and Afy Fletcher (17 not out) both attempted to spur the 2016 champions into life, but some efficient New Zealand bowling kept them at bay, Bates only conceding six runs from the all-important final over to get them over the line.
Data Debrief: Long wait over for Black Caps
New Zealand's victory ended their 14-year wait for a final appearance at the Women's T20 World Cup, showing impressive calm to hold off a team that blew England away in the group stage on Tuesday.
Carson chose the ideal time to produce just her second three-wicket haul in T20Is, finishing 3-29 having previously posted figures of 3-18 versus Bangladesh in 2023.
Her eight wickets at this tournament have only been bettered by four players, with team-mate Melie Kerr (12) and South Africa's Nonkululeko Mlaba (10) the only two to remain active in the competition.
West Indies suffer narrow eight-run loss to New Zealand in Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final
The West Indies Women came agonizingly short of a second trip to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final after suffering an eight-run loss to New Zealand in their semi-final in Sharjah on Friday.
New Zealand first made 128-9 off their 20 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Openers Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates were the main run getters with 33 and 26, respectively, while Isabella Gaze made a crucial 20* off 14 balls at the backend of the innings.
Deandra Dottin produced an excellent spell of bowling with 4-22 from her four overs while Afy Fletcher continued her good form with the ball in the tournament with 2-23 from three overs.
Karishma Ramharack and Aaliyah Alleyne split the other two wickets.
The West Indies then came up just short of their target in the end, reaching 120-8 off their 20 overs.
Openers Qiana Joseph and captain Hayley Matthews put on 16 for the first wicket before Joseph went for 12 with two balls remaining in the third over.
The wickets of Shemaine Campbelle (3) and the returning Stafanie Taylor (13) followed soon after leaving the Windies 41-3 in the ninth over.
Not long after, all hope seemed lost as Matthews went for a hard-fought 15 off 21 balls in the 11th over before Aaliyah Alleyne’s wicket for four in the 14th over left the West Indies looking all but beaten at 63-5.
A fighting 33-run sixth wicket partnership between Deandra Dottin and Afy Fletcher made things interesting including 23-run 16th over that left the West Indies needing just 34 from the final 24 deliveries.
Dottin’s wicket off the third ball of the next over for a 22-ball 33 pretty much ended all hope for a West Indies victory.
After Chedean Nation came and went for a duck, Fletcher was joined by Zaida James and the pair tried their best to combat some smart bowling from the New Zealanders.
Eventually, the West Indies got to the last over needing 15 to win.
A boundary from James off the first ball produced some nerves for New Zealand but that was followed by a dot ball and then a wicket, putting an end to the West Indian charge.
Fletcher finished 17* while James made 14 from eight balls.
Eden Carson finished with 3-29 from her four overs while Captain Amelia Kerr took 2-14 from four overs.
New Zealand will now take on South Africa in Sunday’s final with both teams looking for their first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title.
Full Scores:
New Zealand Women 128-9 off 20 overs (Georgia Plimmer 33, Suzie Bates 26, Isabella Gaze 20*, Deandra Dottin 4-22, Afy Fletcher 2-23)
West Indies Women 120-8 off 20 overs (Deandra Dottin 33, Afy Fletcher 17*, Eden Carson 3-29, Amelia Kerr 2-14)
Masood relieved by 'important win' for Pakistan cricket
Pakistan captain Shan Masood says their 152-run victory over England in the second Test to level the three-match series was an "important win" for the team.
Pakistan had lost each of their last 11 Test matches on the bounce as hosts, a run stretching back to 2021, and were on a six-match losing streak overall in the longest format.
However, their spinners, Sajid Khan (2-93) and Noman Ali (8-46) ensured that run came to an end on Friday as they orchestrated England's second-innings collapse.
They combined for all 20 wickets in Multan, playing on the same pitch as the one they lost the first Test on, becoming the first pair to achieve such a feat since Dennis Lillee and Bob Massie in 1972.
For Masood, it was a first win since becoming captain, and he was proud of how the players rallied to end such a torrid run.
"This was a very important win for Pakistan cricket," he said. "The recent results were unacceptable.
"There is relief. This is a long process and journey. It won't be fixed overnight. It's been three years and 10 months since we last won a Test at home. That's not acceptable for Pakistan cricket.
"We pride ourselves on how well we play this game and how we see ourselves as a team. For us to get a result and hopefully start something here in our own conditions is exciting.
"Going through that adverse situation for years and still getting a result: that's the character you want from your players, staff and cricket board. Everyone's responded well after the [first Test] loss, which is very heartening."
England are looking to claim a second consecutive series win in Pakistan, but after their history-making first Test, which saw them win by an innings and 47 runs, they struggled to match that on the well-used pitch.
Ben Stokes, who missed that last week due to a hamstring injury, was left frustrated by the result and acknowledged it hinged on the coin toss.
"They used the home conditions in their favour," he said.
"If we had won the toss, it could have been completely different, and it would have looked like a silly decision.
"The toss was always going to be massive; me and Shan knew that."
Kohli restores India hope with landmark run-score
Virat Kohli became just the fourth Indian batter to reach 9,000 Test runs as he restored some hope on day three against New Zealand.
The tourists carried over their momentum from Thursday, though stuttered at the start as Daryl Mitchell's (18) involvement was cut short early on, having only added four runs to their 180-3 overnight score.
However, Rachin Ravindra started in fine form at the crease as he brought up 134 off 157 balls to set them on their way.
Ravindra Jadeja (3-72) helped keep the scores down after that, though Tim Southee's 65 helped push New Zealand towards their 402 total before Jadeja caught him.
Set a target of 356 to chase at the start of their second innings, India made a strong start, surpassing their first innings total of 46 by the end of the 12th over.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (35) and Rohit Sharma (52) got them going early on before Kohli brought up his landmark, finishing with 70 as he was caught on the final ball of the day.
India reached stumps at 231-3, trailing by 125 runs, and Sarfaraz Khan (70 not out) will be looking to help them close in on what could be an unlikely victory.
Data Debrief: Kohli's landmark day
Kohli did not start the Test in the best way, being dismissed for a duck in his first innings, but he made up for that on Friday.
His knock of 70 was enough to take him past the 9,000 run mark (now 9,017), with only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar previously reaching that total.
He has now scored 50+ in three of his four Test innings against New Zealand at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru (103 and 51* - September 2012, 70 in October 2024).
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