India, SA qualify for 2014 World T20

Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht's hat-trick was the highlight of India's nine-wicket win against Sri Lanka in a Women's World Twenty20 2014 qualifier in Colombo. Bisht struck with the wicket of Dilani Manodara off the second ball of the 20th over and got Yasoda Mendis and Eshani Kaushalya in the next two balls to record the second hat-trick in women's T20s. There were four wickets in four balls as Bisht ran out Sandamali Dolawatte off the fifth ball of the over as Sri Lanka finished on 100 for 8.

When Sri Lanka chose to bat, it was Bisht in the field who was responsible for the first wicket - that of opener Prasadani Weerakkody - before India's bowlers led by Rasanara Parwin (2-24) started putting brakes on the scoring. Chamari Atapattu (28 off 37), the top-scorer for Sri Lanka, shared a 42-run partnership with Shashikala Shiriwardene (23), but both batsmen were out before they could provide a late boost.

India responded with an attacking 38-run opening stand between Sulakshana Naik and Poonam Raut (45*) in four overs. After the fall of Naik, Mithali Raj joined Raut and drove India home in the 15th over with an unbeaten 64-run stand.

Raj, the India captain, said that she was pleased with the team performance in the match after a difficult time in the group stage. "It's a relief because in the league stage, we lost all our games, so it was definitely disappointing. It really needed a match like this to get the team back into confidence," she said.

Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene said: "We wanted to play this as a normal game, we didn't want to think about whether we are qualifying or not for the next World Twenty20. Today also we had a good start, but in the end, we couldn't make the 20 extra runs as 100 is not enough in a pitch like this."

South Africa qualified for the Women's World T20 in 2014 after a hard-fought five-wicket win against Pakistan in Colombo. Chasing 88, South Africa were under pressure early when they lost Marizanne Kapp hit wicket to Bismah Maroof in the third over. Although there was a partnership of 47 runs for the second wicket between Trisha Chetty and Alison Hodgkinson, Pakistan bowlers kept the scoring in a tight leash. When Maroof had Hodgkinson stumped for 25, South Africa needed 38 runs off 47 balls with eight wickets in hand. But a well-set Chetty was out in the next over, and Sadia Yousuf picked up Mignon du Preez and Susan Benade in consecutive overs to leave South Africa needing 14 off 12 balls before Dane van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail ran hard and got the target with one ball to spare.

Pakistan had chosen to bat and struggled to forge any meaningful partnership as Ismail (3 for 19) and South Africa's fielders struck repeatedly. Maroof top-scored with 32 runs, but didn't receive any support as no one else got into double-figures.

South Africa captain du Preez said: "We are very glad that we have qualified. It was definitely our goal for today. If we couldn't get in the semi-finals we wanted to ensure that we got qualification for 2014. I am very happy and I am very proud of the way the girls batted in the last over."

Sana Mir, the Pakistan captain, expressed her disappointment at the team's batting failure to put up a strong total: "It is the responsibility of the batters to improve, as bowlers cannot again and again defend totals that are lower than 100 runs. We have to get together and see our weaknesses and need to ensure we score at least 120 runs if we are going to win matches on a regular basis."