London: West Indies qualified for the semi-finals of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after England beat defending champions New Zealand by nine wickets in the final Group B match at Kennington Oval on Saturday.
This emphatic victory saw England finish the group stage unbeaten with five wins from five matches, while New Zealand crashed out of the tournament. West Indies finished second in the rankings, booking their place in the last four.
Chasing a match target of 164, the brilliant opening partnership of Danny Wyatt-Hodge and Sophia Dunkley saw England cruise to victory with the loss of just one wicket with 16 balls to spare.
Wyatt-Hodge remained unbeaten on 89 off 53 balls with 15 fours and a six, while Dunkley scored 49 off 38 balls including 9 fours.
England’s Amy Jones was the only one to fall, Nancy Patel was dismissed for 17 off 13 balls with 3 fours.
Earlier, New Zealand posted 163-6 in their allotted 20 overs with captain Mellie Kerr, Isabella Gass and Sophie Devine making valuable contributions.
Kerr top-scored with 42 runs off 34 balls including 6 fours while Gass added 28 runs off 27 balls with 4 fours. Devine scored a blistering 30 off 14 balls with a four and 3 sixes.
Although Izzy Sharp was dismissed for a duck off the second ball, Brooke Holliday made 20 off 17 balls, with Maddie Green and Susie Bates scoring 17 and 19 respectively.
For England, Danny Gibson was the best bowler with figures of 2/30 from his three overs. Lauren Bell and Freya Kemp took one wicket each.
As a result, Group B is finalised. England are at the top with 10 points after winning all five of their matches, while West Indies are second with 8 points from three wins and two losses.
India take on Australia and South Africa take on Bangladesh in Sunday’s two semi-finalists from Group A.