West Indies Women vs New Zealand Women, 2nd Semi Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Phew, the joy, the agony and the drama of World Cup cricket is something else. So it's South Africa vs New Zealand in the final on Sunday where we'll have a new winner to lift the trophy. Spare a thought for West Indies who were brilliant in the way they bounced back after the opening defeat and had a run of three sensational run-chases - one of which sent mighty England crashing. But this evening, they just couldn't find that extra spark on a sluggish Sharjah pitch. That's all from here. It's goodbye from Sagar Chawla on behalf of Praveen.

Devine | NZ captain: Hasn't sunk in at all yet. Still trying to get my brain back from being fried out there. Really privileged to have an opportunity to play the WC final. Our last couple of overs saved our bacon a little bit. I felt we were looking a bit under par. But the way Izzi batted at the end and scraped through a few extra runs. We thought 130 would be a competitive total - not quite par, but the highest chase here was 127. So we knew we were in with a great shout. This wicket here can be tough. We saw in our innings it can be difficult to get away. But when you've got players like Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin in the opposition, the game is never over. She's a quality player (Dottin). You can set a field for her but she just clears it over the top of them, It's about keeping things clear and not being too frazzled and having a real clear mind of did you execute, or did you make the wrong decision of the ball you wanted to bowl. So having real clarity on that is important for us. Obviously we put down a couple of chances - the game might've been a little bit easier if we had taken them. Full credit to the WI, they've been outstanding. Deandra coming out of retirement, the way Hayley has led this side, we knew it was going to be a tough game. Huge respect for the WI side. Halliday was close to being given the ball as well in terms of being able to take pace off. But to have someone of Suzie's experience - she's been harping on it at training. When you've got that sort of experience, to be able to call on her is pretty clutch with three fielders out. Pretty special for me to throw her the ball. The thing that makes me most proud as a leader is the reslience we've shown and the character we've had, not just in this tournament but the last 12-18 months. Results haven't gone our way and we've had a lot of stick from the outside but the belief in what this group is about, and what we're capable of doing has been there. To be able to go this deep, I'm now really excited about this last match. We've got nothing to lose and that's a pretty cool space to be. We'll celebrate tonight's success but yeah.. we're going to win this thing now. They're an incredible side. The way Laura Wolvaardt leads them, leads from the front. They've got experience, the likes of Marizanne Kapp - one of the best players in the world. In big games, she always seems to stand up. You look at Anneke Bosch - the game against Australia. It's pretty cliche but we focusing on ourselves and we playing to the best of our ability and we'll go a long way towards lifting the trophy. Fingers crossed, hopefully the cricketing gods are on our side as well.

Matthews | WI captain: We bowled really well upfront. Probably just got away a little bit in the end but we can't blame the bowlers. At the beginning of the day we would've taken 127 no doubt. We probably just weren't able to get going early on and that put us under pressure. We felt they were a few runs short based on the wicket. We just wanted to stay positive, same thing with Qiana Joseph up the order. But we never got going. Felt like it never really got out of our hands. Few boundaries and the game was able to change and that showed when Deandra smacked a few over midwicket. Unfortunately she got out after that. Kudos to her - she had a great game firstly with the ball, and then making sure we had a chance with bat too. It is disappointing for the entire group. I'm incredibly proud of everyone within the team. We saw players that haven't been on the circuit very much show up at this WC and I think as a group we've come together and exceeded expectations. We were able to prove a lot of people wrong.

Stats by Roshan Gede

WI-W in Women’s T20 WC semi-finals
Matches: 6
Won: 1 (2016 - Champions)
Lost: 5

New Zealand Women have qualified for the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup for the third time; they were runners-up in the first two editions in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

The White Ferns had lost 10 straight Women T20Is heading into this tournament, their longest losing streak in the format.

WI-W innings
Overs 1-15: 72/5 (RR: 4.8)
Overs 16-20: 48/3 (RR: 9.6)

Most wickets in a Women’s T20 WC edition
13 - A Shrubsole (ENG-W) in 2014
13 - Megan Schutt (AUS-W) in 2020
12* - Amelia Kerr (NZ-W) in 2024
11 - JL Hunter (AUS-W) in 2012
11 - Sophie Ecclestone (ENG-W) in 2023

Most sixes in a Women’s T20 WC edition
13 - Harmanpreet Kaur (IND-W) in 2018
9 - Deandra Dottin (WI-W) in 2010
9 - Alyssa Healy (AUS-W) in 2020
9 - Shafali Verma (IND-W) in 2020
9 - Deandra Dottin (WI-W) in 2024
Dottin now has 31 sixes in Women's T20 World Cup, no one else has hit more than 19.

Eden Carson is in tears | Player of the Match: As you can see, I'm really emotional but really proud of the girls. When Deandra Dottin was pumping us... the girls just believed and stuck it out and we got over the line. We really had to defend another low total, below-par, had to get early wickets against West Indies, they are a dangerous side. We saw how the West Indies bowled, they bowled a bit more back-of-a-length and it worked, we bowled a bit full, it's alright.

21:25 Local Time, 17:25 GMT, 22:55 IST: Big celebrations from the NZ players. Kerr jumps on someone in joy, few others embrace each other and the emotions of making the final are there to behold. On the other hand there are tears for WI. It was the other way around when these two teams met in the semifinal back in 2016, and a couple of players in the current New Zealand setup were part of that agony. Not this time. West Indies look absolutely heartbroken as they walk out for the handshakes. They thought they had done a good job with the ball earlier, restricting the White Ferns to 128. But the pitch at Sharjah, which was used on the first day of the tournament, was a sluggish one, making it very difficult for the batters. New Zealand struggled with it early on as Dottin got on a roll with the ball, and WI struggled even more when it was their turn. Having picked up a four-fer earlier in the evening, Dottin then threatened to pull off a heist with the bat after being given two-three lives in the field. However, it wasn't to be. Eden Carson and Amelia Kerr were sensational with the ball as they have been all tournament, and despite all the dropped catches, New Zealand did just enough to hold on.

Stat: The last Suzie Bates bowled in a T20I was against ENG-W in Wellington in March. The last she picked up a wicket in a T20 World Cup game was back in 2016 - against South Africa in Bengaluru.

Bates to Afy Fletcher, 1 run, swiped across the line, lands safely to the right of long-on but it doesn't matter. The celebrations can begin for New Zealand as they make the final for the first time since 2010

Bates to Afy Fletcher, no run, that should be it for NZ! Length ball darted across off, Fletcher steps across the stumps to slog but is hit on the pad

Bates to Ashmini Munisar, 1 run, tossed up on leg as Bates stays round the wicket to the right-hander. Munisar dances down for a lofted shot and miscues it in the air. Lands safely though in front of long-on

Ashmini Munisar, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Bates to Zaida James, out Bowled!! Double fist-pump and loud roars from Bates as she knocks over leg stump! Length ball sliding in from round the wicket, James looks to slog, misses, and NZ get closer to that spot in the final. Zaida James b Bates 14(8) [4s-2]

Bates to Zaida James, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Bates to Zaida James, no run, drifting in on leg, full ball, James looks to sweep but is hit on the pad

Bates to Zaida James, FOUR, just the start WI needed. Bates is chosen for the final over, tosses it up outside off, it's driven firmly and pierces the off-side ring. Races away to the boundary

New Zealand too have an over-rate penalty. Just the three fielders outside the ring now for them in this over.

Suzie Bates, right-arm medium, comes into the attack

Eden Carson to Afy Fletcher, 2 runs, length ball at the stumps, Fletcher swipes across the line and drags it through square leg

Eden Carson to Zaida James, 1 run, oh this is unbelievable! Another sitter put down! Darted in flat outside off this time, back of a length, James goes flat-batted and slices it in the air. Sub fielder (Penfold) pedals back at mid-off and shells the chance

Eden Carson to Zaida James, 2 runs, tossed up outside off, plenty of air, James goes for a lofted drive over extra cover but slices it in the air. It falls in the gap and she's back for two