USA bagged their first win of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier with a 6-wicket win over Namibia with seven balls remaining at Arbroath Cricket Club.
As has previously happened with Namibia this tournament, they got off to a nightmare start losing their first wicket (van der Merwe run-out for 0) without a run on the board.
A 44-run stand for the third wicket provided Namibia with hope of building a defendable total to claim their first win, but Akshatha Rao (1/13) had other ideas as she came back in the 10th over to remove Yasmeen Khan for 16 and induce a collapse of 5-34.
With 84/7 on the board from Namibia, USA would have fancied their chance to chase 85 and bag their first win of the tournament in the 7th place play-off fixture.
A late run of form with the bat from Nadia Gruny – recently posting the USA’s first T20i half-century with 53* against Netherlands – saw USA get off to a comfortable start as the top-order batter again contributed with a handy 33 off 54.
By the time Gruny was dismissed at the end of the 15th over with 68/3 on the board, USA needed 17 runs from 30 balls with Bhaskar (15) and Chandhrasekar (2*) at the crease in attempt at securing their first win.
Yasmeen Khan (0/4) leaked just three runs from the sixteenth and eighteenth over to cause a few nerves in the USA camp and with six runs required from 12 balls, a run-out on the first ball saw the back of Bhaskar for 15 to offer a twist in the tale.
However, Kodali (5*) and Chandhrasekar (2*) saw USA to their only victory by 6-wickets to finish 7th in the tournament.
Results
Qualifier group stage
31 August: USA v Scotland – Lost by 30 runs
1 September: USA v Bangladesh – Lost by 8 wickets
3 September: USA v Papua New Guinea – Lost by 22 runs (DLS)
Finals stages
5 September: Semi-Finals/5th-8th Place Play-off Semis – Lost by 9 wickets
7 September: Final/5th-8th Place Finals – Won by 6 wickets
