Clinical Kiwis deflate Sri Lankan spirits in Women's World Cup

MUMBAI: A dominant New Zealand got their Super Six sojourn off to a perfect start when they beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets with little fuss at the BKC Ground, in Mumbai, on Friday.
The Lankans' tag of 'giant killers' preceded them in the Super Six opener, but the Kiwis took as little as two overs to dismiss it.
Winning the toss, Kiwi skipper Suzie Bates asked Lanka to bat and her opening bowling pair of Sian Ruck (3-16) and Lea Tahuhu (4-27) vindicated the decision when they reduced the Lankans to 61-5 in a little more than 25 overs.
Dilani Manodara was the only batter to offer resistance (34) in a line-up that saw the destructive Eshani Kaushalya run herself out as the Lankan innings folded up at 103 in 42 overs.
Clearly in no mood to sweat it out as Frances Mackay's first-ball four suggested, New Zealand coasted home in 23 overs when Sophie Devine chose to slam a six for the winning runs.
Mackay (39) and Bates (37) looked like finishing things themselves before the skipper missed out on what would have been a fourth consecutive half century when she nicked one to 'keeper Surangika off the bowling of Inoka Ranaweera.
Three balls later, Ranaweera caught Amy Satterthwaite off her own bowling but it was only a matter of time before the White Ferns finished the issue.
Bates admitted that the win came far more easily than her team had expected. "Given the way Lanka have come into the Super Six stage, we thought we would have to work hard for the win but it ended up being a lot easier," said Bates for whom, personally, this has been a dream tournament so far.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka: 103 (Manodara 34; Ruck 3-16, Tuhuhu 4-27); New Zealand: 108-2 in 23 overs (Mackay 39, Bates 37; Ranaweera 2-27).
Windies beat South Africa: The West Indies made heavy weather of a reasonably easy chase before clinching a two-wicket victory over South Africa, in Cuttack, on Friday.
Set a target of 231, the Caribbeans lost their way after a decent start before managing to seal the issue with two wickets and 27 balls to spare.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 230-7 (Chetty 45, Brits 44, van Niekerk 33 n.o, Preez 31; Smartt 2-43); West Indies: 234-8 in 45.3 overs (Taylor 75, Knight 46; van Niekerk 3-47, Kapp 2-42).