The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier has come to an end, with the hosts, the United States of America (USA) advancing to the Global Qualifiers of the event. The USA showed complete domination throughout the tournament winning all of their 6 games. The tournament consisted of 4 teams, the USA, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.
The first match of the tournament was played by the hosts USA and Argentina, with the US team starting the tournament on the right foot. US batters Disha Dhingra and Anika Kolan stitched together an unbeaten 116-run partnership for the second wicket, with both batters scoring unbeaten fifties. In return, Argentina got bundled out for a paltry score of 53, with Isani Vaghela picking 4 wickets from 4 overs while conceding just 7 runs.
Just like the USA, Canada started the campaign on the front foot, defeating Brazil by 53 runs. Canada managed to score 98 runs from 20 overs, but their bowlers made sure that a low target of 99 runs looks like 180+ total. The Brazilian team got bowled out for just 45 runs.
Outstanding performance 🔥
USA reigns supreme, defeating Canada by 30 runs in the ICC Women's T20 CWC Americas Qualifier final!#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/brPOR6NAr6
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 12, 2023
Brazil faced the USA next on the same day, and the result was not quite different with the USA winning the match by 39 runs. Isani Vaghela was again the star bowler as she picked 3 wickets from 4 overs.
At this stage, it was quite sure that one of the USA and Canada was going through, as the performances of Brazil and Argentina were not quite up to the mark. When these two teams faced each other for the first time, it was one of the more competitive games played in this tournament. The United States of America defeated Canada by 25 runs, with all-rounder Ritu Singh winning the Player of the Match award. Ritu Singh’s blitz knock of 37 off just 16 deliveries powered USA to a total of 133 at the end of 20 overs. Canada managed to score 108 runs from 20 overs to lose the match by 25 runs.
The scenarios in the reverse fixtures were again similar, with the USA and Canada both completely outclassing the likes of Brazil and Argentina.
The qualifying scenario went straight down the wire, with everything to play for in the final game of the tournament, as the USA faced Canada for one last time in the tournament. Before the match, the USA was sitting at the 1st position with 10 points from 5 games, whereas Canada was 2nd with 8 points from 5 matches. Canada needed to win quite comprehensively here to qualify for the next round, whereas the hosts needed to win the match irrespective of any scoreline.
The match went exactly how the hosts would have hoped for. 16-year-old opener Disha Dhingra notched up her 2nd half-century of the tournament to score a total of 58. The USA managed to post a total of 128 runs from their quota of 20 overs, in return, the hosts’ bowler really stopped the run flow of Canadian batters, to restrict them to a total of 98.
The United States topped the table courtesy of them being unbeaten. Canada finished second, as they lost 2 matches against the USA. Brazil ended the tournament with just 2 wins, both of them coming against the hapless Argentinian side. On the other hand, Argentina was totally winless in the tournament, failing to notch up a single victory.
Canada’s Captain Divya Saxena was the top scorer of the tournament, scoring a total of 174 runs from 6 innings. USA’s Disha Dhingra was the second-highest run-scorer, amassing a total of 158 runs. Canada’s Amarpal Kaur and USA’s Isani Vaghela both ended up taking 15 wickets each.
This victory meant that the United States qualified for the Global Qualifiers of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup 2024.
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