All four favourites win in South Africa
New Zealand, England, Australia and India all posted easy wins in the third round
Jenny Thompson
26-Mar-2005
India 81 for 6 (Dhar 33*, Smith 4-19) defeated South Africa 80 (Marathe 4-1) by four wickets
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Scorecard
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India coasted home to a four-wicket victory against the hosts South Africa, overhauling their target of 81 after an early wobble. South Africa had India in trouble at 37 for 4, the top four falling for single figures, but
Rumeli Dhar (33 not out) and Mithali Raj (11) made certain of the victory. Alicia Smith took 4 for 19 from her ten overs, but it wasn't enough and India took the points.
Their left-arm spinner Deepa Marathe did the bulk of the damage, unravelling the middle order with 4 for 1 after fellow left-armer Neetu David had squeezed the batsmen with 2 for 8.
After failing to fire in the opening two matches, South Africa's star batsman Johmari Logtenberg topscored for her team, but her 26 was a lone stand as her colleagues tumbled around her. Logtenberg and Daleen Terblanche (15) had started to build a stand, but just as they nudged the score past the 50-mark, Terblanche fell. Then came the collapse. South Africa lost their last eight wickets for 28 runs, three of them falling with the score on 66.
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England eased to their second victory of the tournament, beating Ireland by 128 runs. After deciding to bat, England were in some trouble at 79 for 4 before Clare Connor and Arran Brindle's stand of 128 lifted them to an imposing 221. World Cup veteran Clare Taylor made sure of an England victory with 2 for 13 from her 10 overs as Ireland fell way short of their target.
Laura Newton and Charlotte Edwards shared a solid, but slow, opening stand of 48 before a minor collapse as Ireland's bowlers worked well as a unit, clamping down and sharing the wickets. Lydia Greenway struggled in particular, her 9 at No. 3 coming from 30 balls. Even Connor, usually so free-scoring, took her time at first, before upping the tempo to scamper a boundary-less 82 not out from 114 balls, while Brindle added 51.
But if England found the going tough, spare a thought for Ireland's Jill Smythe. The hard-working Smythe sweated out a painful 6 from 77 balls, effectively killing off any hope Ireland had of overhauling England's total by the time she was run out.
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Australia posted their second victory, rattling up 230 against West Indies before bundling them out for 151 at Olympia Park. Karen Rolton (69) and Lisa Keightley (56) shared a stand of 54 for the second wicket, before Rolton added another 73 with Mel Jones for the third wicket. Jones made 27. Envis Williams starred for West Indies with the ball, taking 3 for 32, while Pamela Lavine took 2 for 45.
West Indies folded to 151 despite fighting knocks from Juliana Nero (40) and Shane de Silva (39). Lisa Sthalekar took 2 for 16, while Rolton proved her Player of the Match credentials by taking 2 for 23 to complete a strong allround performance. Australia will now face the hosts South Africa and West Indies will take on Sri Lanka.
New Zealand wrapped up an easy seven-wicket victory against Sri Lanka, coasting to their paltry target of 59 with 31 overs to spare. Sri Lanka are fast becoming the whipping girls of the tournament - this is the third time in three matches they have been shot out cheaply.
Only Hiruka Fernando (16) offered any kind of resistance as Sri Lanka capitulated: she was the only batsman to reach double figures after Maia Lewis sent Sri Lanka in, expecting some kind of collapse. It duly came. New Zealand's bowlers posted some impressive, and deserved, figures: Rachel Pullar (2 for 6), Anna Corbin (2 for 15) and Helen Watson (2 for 0) all helped themselves to some cheap wickets.
Praba Udawatte was once more Sri Lanka's most successful bowler, but her 2 for 27 was not enough as New Zealand proved far too strong. New Zealand will now face Ireland on Monday, while Sri Lanka will play West Indies.