England women qualify for semis

ICC Women's World Twenty20, Taunton
Group A: Australia 136-2 beat West Indies 135-8 by eight wickets
Match scorecard
Group B: England 140-7 beat Sri Lanka by 69-8 by 71 runs
Match scorecard

England restricted Sri Lanka's run chase to 69-8 as they comfortably won their World Twenty20 encounter to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

Newly honoured MBE Charlotte Edwards fell early but Claire Taylor hit an undefeated 75 as England posted 140-7.

Isa Guha returned figures of 2-4 with two maidens from her four overs as Sri Lanka fell 72 runs short of victory.

Australia restricted West Indies to 135-8 before Shelley Nitschke hit 58 as her team won by eight wickets.

Deandra Dottin struck 53 off just 25 deliveries at the top of the innings for the West Indies, with nine fours in her belligerent knock.

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But Sarah Andrews and Lisa Sthalekar both took two wickets as Australia ensured they had a manageable target to chase.

And after Nitschke fell with the score on 83, Rene Farrell and Sthaleker saw the Australian team home, with both woman scoring undefeated 30s.

The result also means that unbeaten New Zealand are guaranteed to reach the semi-finals.

England's Claire Taylor struck 11 boundaries in her innings while seamer Eshani Kaushalya was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, taking 4-18.

England's bowlers were extremely miserly in the field, while there were two run outs in the Sri Lanka innings, and the home nation were always in control after reducing their opponents to 12-3.

It continues the fine start to the tournament for Edwards's team after the 10-wicket win over India on Thursday.

Fixture list in full: Women's World Twenty20 2009

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