Mithali, Raut guide India to consolation win

Half-centuries from Mithali Raj and Poonam Raut gave India Women a consolation nine-wicket win over West Indies Women in Sylhet. A win would have meant West Indies finished top of the Group B table. Instead, they finished behind England by virtue of net run-rate, and will therefore face Group A toppers Australia in the first semifinal on Thursday.

Having chosen to bat first, West Indies lost Kycia Knight to the first ball of the match, lbw to Shubhlakshmi Sharma. Stafanie Taylor then steadied the innings in Deandra Dottin's company before she was out for 17 after a 61-run second-wicket partnership. Dottin was next to go, for a 51-ball 54, with West Indies' score 87 in the 15th over.

From there, the innings failed to gather any momentum, and West Indies lost four more wickets to finish on 117 for 7. Seamers Shubhlakshmi, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan Goswami shared four wickets between them, while spinners Poonam Yadav and Archana Das took a wicket each.

The target proved far too easy for India to chase down, and they nearly did it without losing a wicket. Raut was out for a 52-ball 56, having struck seven fours, with the scores tied. Mithali, India's captain, was unbeaten on 55 off 52 balls, with six fours, when Smriti Mandhana came in and struck the winning boundary with 14 balls remaining.