West Indies beat Bangladesh to boost semi-final hopes

Women's T20 World Cup, Group B, Sharjah

Bangladesh 103-8 (20 overs): Joty 39 (44); Ramharack 4-17

West Indies 104-2 (12.5 overs): Matthews 34 (22)

West Indies won by eight wickets

Scorecard. Table

West Indies starred with the bat as they boosted their T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with a clinical eight-wicket win to all but eliminate Bangladesh.

Led by captain Hayley Matthews' fluent 34 off 22 balls, West Indies easily chased down 104 with 7.1 overs to spare.

With the ball, Windies spinner Karishma Ramharack took 4-17 and sparked a Bangladesh collapse from 73-2 to 103-8.

Victory improved West Indies' net run-rate and moved them top of Group B on four points, level with South Africa and England - with the latter having played one game fewer.

West Indies will give themselves a strong chance of reaching the final four if they beat England in their last group match on Tuesday.

Bangladesh need to beat South Africa by a substantial margin in their final group game on Saturday and hope other results go their way.

Windies fluent after Bangladesh struggle

West Indies won the toss and squeezed Bangladesh, who found it difficult to score against their opponent's spin attack.

There was a stark contrast in the second innings where the runs were free-flowing and West Indies raced to 48-0 at the end of the powerplay.

Marufa Akter removed opener Matthews in the eighth over but by that stage West Indies were halfway to Bangladesh's total.

Stafanie Taylor was dropped on 23 by Sobhana Mostary before she retired hurt with a leg injury on 27 off 29.

Shemaine Campbelle also contributed with 21 from 16 and Deandra Dottin scored the winning runs with a huge six over long-on.

After losing their opener to South Africa, West Indies have won each of their past two matches.

Bangladesh have lost their last two since beating Scotland in the tournament's opener.

'Back-to-back wickets cost us' - reaction

Player of the match, West Indies bowler Karishma Ramharack: "We knew they had a couple of batters that could hit well but we stayed patient, the wickets came after we were patient.

"The way the girls went about the chase, I was really happy. It will be good to have a couple of days off."

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty: "We had a very good start. We played so many dots and back-to-back wickets cost us.

"Their bowlers bowled really well in the middle overs and didn't give us room to play our shots."

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews: "We spoke about being disciplined with the ball and getting them to hit where we wanted them to.

"More than likely we're going to have to win our last group game. If you're going to compete in a World Cup, you're going to have to beat the best."