THERE was only one match overnight at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but it was once again happy days for the Australians, who were even more dominant as they defeated Sri Lanka by 10 wickets to remain undefeated.

In a rare occurrence, Australian captain Meg Lanning won the toss, and decided to have a bowl. Sri Lanka got off to a decent enough start, but once that first wicket fell trouble was brewing.

Their second wicket partnership lasted eight and a half overs, but yielded 39 runs, and things only went downhill from there. Grace Harris struck twice in the 14th over, and Megan Schutt did so thrice in the final over.

Sri Lanka still managed to see out the 20 overs, but only had 112 runs on the board to show for it. Harshitha Samarawickrama topped the run tally with 34, but she was only one of four batters to make a double-figure score, and only one of five batters to outscore the extras tally of seven.

On the flipside, Schutt and Harris were the stars with the ball for the Australians, picking up four and two wickets respectively. Ellyse Perry and Georgia Wareham were the other bowlers to claim wickets.

Australian openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney hardly broke a sweat throughout the chase. Although 16 overs were required to get the job done, both stars carried their bats and peeled off half-centuries, with Mooney (56) making two more runs than Healy (54).

The result sees Australia with one foot in the door of the semis, with victory against South Africa the key to advancing. Lose, and it may come down to net run rate depending on other results.

For the Sri Lankans though, it is only their first loss of the tournament, but with a less than ideal net run rate, their semis spot is far from secure. They need to beat New Zealand and hope the Aussies beat South Africa to guarantee a place in the next stage.

Day 8 Fixture

New Zealand vs Bangladesh – 3pm local (midnight AEDT)
West Indies vs Ireland – 7pm local (4am AEDT)