Australia v West Indies: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 semi-final – live!

22nd over: West Indies 91-3 (Taylor 19, Campbelle 0) Matthews had the right idea, at least. Might as well swing for it as sputter out.

The demand takes its toll. The number one bowler in the world hasn’t even been called on upon until this point. Comes on, sends down a few darts, and gets a wicket in her first over. Easy peasy. Matthews down the track trying to thump six over long-off, instead sends it high and short and it comes down at mid-off.

22nd over: West Indies 88-2 (Matthews 33, Taylor 17) Gardner bowling well, has Matthews top-edging a slog sweep, then beating Taylor on the cut. Three singles only. The squeeze goes on.

21st over: West Indies 85-2 (Matthews 32, Taylor 15) Five singles from King’s over, a better sort of approach. That’s the way they needed to be playing 20 overs ago, though.

20th over: West Indies 80-2 (Matthews 30, Taylor 12) The West Indies skipper finally stops hitting the snooze button, lining up Gardner for a lofted straight drive down the ground. Four runs, then a leg bye. Still only six from the over though, as Matthews can’t score from the final three.

25 overs left now to score 226 more runs.

19th over: West Indies 74-2 (Matthews 29, Taylor 8) Again they look clueless against King, taking three singles from the leg-spinner.

18th over: West Indies 71-2 (Matthews 27, Taylor 7) Ash Gardner on with her finger-spin, right-arm around the wicket to the right-hander which is an interesting line, and it almost works right away as she gets the straight break to sip on past the outside edge and the off stump of Matthews. Two singles and a two from the over, the required rate is approaching nine and the real rate drops below four. Somebody has to make a move.

17th over: West Indies 67-2 (Matthews 26, Taylor 4) Alana King comes on, and the leg-spinner gets a decision given out but loses that wicket on review. Taylor sweeping, the umpire thinks she’s gloved it over the keeper to slip, but the review shows it was all forearm. Ball-tracking shows it was going over the stumps. It’s probably in Australia’s interests to keep Taylor out there anyway – the reprieve is the fifth dot ball of the over, and she takes a single from the sixth to keep the strike. That makes 4 from 25. Sorry, this is horrible batting.

16th over: West Indies 66-2 (Matthews 26, Taylor 3) Matthews willing to do the work between the wickets, running two on three occasions against McGrath. Drink break arrives. West Indies now need more than eight per over and are scoring at four.

15th over: West Indies 60-2 (Matthews 20, Taylor 3) Sutherland to Matthews, who does her best with a brace to midwicket and a single. Then Taylor faces out three more dots. She has 3 from 19 balls now. This is bonkers cricket. Play yourself in, sure, but this extreme does not help anyone but Australia.

14th over: West Indies 57-2 (Matthews 17, Taylor 2) Having kept strike, Taylor takes most of the McGrath over and they take two singles. Like the morning session of a Test match.

13th over: West Indies 55-2 (Matthews 16, Taylor 2) Same story for Sutherland. Taylor faces all seven balls – there’s a wide in there – and the extra is the only score from the over until the final ball, a single. She even leaves two deliveries.

12th over: West Indies 53-2 (Matthews 16, Taylor 1) The runs aren’t coming quickly enough. Just two singles from McGrath’s over.

11th over: West Indies 51-2 (Matthews 15, Taylor 0) To add to West Indies’ problems, Matthews looks like she has a hamstring twinge. Maybe just cramp. She’s moving gingerly though. Still has the poise to clip Sutherland for four. Midwicket the spot. Hustled a single, looking hampered. Stafanie Taylor her new partner.

As early as it is, that’s pretty much the ball game. McGrath comes on to bowl her seamers. Dottin slams a wide ball over cover for four, more toe than middle but still enough bowler. But comes undone attacking a full ball, for reasons best known to her hitting aerially and straight with a long-on in position. Straight to that fielder.

10th over: West Indies 46-2 (Matthews 16, Taylor 0)

9th over: West Indies 39-1 (Dottin 30, Matthews 8) That’s nasty. Sutherland on to bowl, on the pads, Matthews clips it to midwicket. Alana King is there but it takes a horrible bounce off the edge of one of the other strips, skipping up to hit her in the throat. She ends up on all fours, coughing hard, and eventually comes off the field to be checked. Matthews backs up with the same shot when play resumes, getting a single this time. Dottin lines up Sutherland for a big drive but gets an inside edge to deep backward for a single. Matthews pulls nicely but finds the same outfielder. Dottin switches it up for the last ball, flat-batting a short one over the off side instead, scoring four to deep third.

Fielding restrictions end. It’s a 45-over match. West Indies need 267 more in 36 overs, which is 7.42. They’re at 4.36.

8th over: West Indies 32-1 (Dottin 25, Matthews 6) Dottin goes back to pull Schutt, the same ball that Williams got out to but this time it’s hit along the ground. Two runs, then a nudged single to follow. Matthews glances another, moving across. Schutt responds with one that swings and then cuts off the seam, starting way outside off stump and ending up over the leg bail as it saws through Dottin. Bounce the only thing that saves her.

7th over: West Indies 27-1 (Dottin 21, Matthews 5) And attack Brown! Four more from the first ball as Dottin rasps a shot off the pads through square. Then she climbs into a pull shot but only gets a single with long leg placed quite square. Matthews follows suit, getting off the mark with a boundary, hers an elegant drive through long-off. Then guides a single. Ten from that over, more like it. West Indies need 278.

6th over: West Indies 17-1 (Dottin 16, Matthews 0) Defend Schutt, attack Brown. That seems to be the Dottin tactic so far. A wide and a single from the Schutt this time, which makes four runs from her three overs. The extra is also the first non-Dottin run for West Indies today.

5th over: West Indies 15-1 (Dottin 15, Matthews 0) Another bash from Dottin against Brown, over mid-off this time but only getting two runs as the ball slows up. A single to follow. Going at three an over when they need 7.5.

4th over: West Indies 12-1 (Dottin 12, Matthews 0) The opening combo should probably have been Dottin and Matthews anyway, with a chase this big, so effectively that is now the case. Just having wasted 10 balls on Williams. The catch from Mooney was a beauty, to be fair. One hand, wrong hand, diving lengthwise to her right. Williams looked incredulous.

Schutt hoops the ball in, Dottin drives back to the bowler. Hard to line up a delivery doing that much. Eventually Dottin manages to turn the face and flick through midwicket, wants two runs but has to settle for one. Brings Williams on strike, who gets a short ball, pulls it savagely, but has the misfortune to pick out square leg.

3rd over: West Indies 11-0 (Dottin 11, Williams 0) First ball, four. Same again between Brown and Dottin, this time a leg-stump ball that Dottin flicks behind square. Brown switches to the short-ball approach and it works, Dottin hooking twice without success. A leading edge through cover lets her keep the strike.

2nd over: West Indies 6-0 (Dottin 6, Williams 0) Megan Schutt’s big inswingers from the other end. Again Dottin scores off the first ball, a single, and again Williams can’t score off the next five. Nought from nine, already getting bogged down in a way her team can’t afford.

1st over: West Indies 5-0 (Dottin 5, Williams 0) Darcie Brown starts off to Deandra Dottin and Rashada Williams, and Dottin scorches the first ball of the innings through cover for four. Throws her bat again at the speedster but only get a single behind point. Williams looks far less convincing, missing a couple of attempts to jab the ball to the leg side.

But first here’s centurion Alyssa Healy, on that total given the difficult conditions earlier in the day: “300’s a pretty good score I would have thought,” she says.

West Indies will need to score at run rate of 6.80 if they are to win this one. Game on!

It’ll have to be a big run chase if West Indies are to reach Sunday’s final. They have 45 overs to knock off the 306 required. Stay tuned for the chase, Geoff Lemon will be here to take you through it.

45th over: Australia 305-3 (Lanning 26, Mooney 43) Mooney picks up a couple of runs after Dottin slips in the outfield, letting the ball under her body but managing to recover and save the ball from trickling over the ropes. It’s a decent final over from Connell, who is aggressive, throwing down a bouncer at one stage and only conceding just five in total. And that will be that!

44th over: Australia 300-3 (Lanning 25, Mooney 39) Williams sprints down to fine leg to save four after Lanning pulls very fine. But Australia soon bring up the 300, a magnificent effort. Seven runs of the penultimate over, with Connell to bowl the final one…

43rd over: Australia 293-3 (Lanning 21, Mooney 36) Lanning skies one off the top edge while trying to pull Taylor. But it lands safely! On the next ball Mooney finds the middle of her bat, and the boundary, after bludgeoning Taylor back over her the bowler’s head. Then another four, through the off side, and another, this time through the leg side! Explosive from Mooney as the 50-partnership is brought up and Australia plunder 16 runs from this over.

42nd over: Australia 277-3 (Lanning 18, Mooney 23) The sun is out in Wellington! The morning’s mist and rain has dissipated and Basin Reserve is now covered in glorious Wellington sunshine. Matthews continues, as do Australia in their relentless run-getting. Another six runs. Three overs remaining now.

40th over: Australia 265-3 (Lanning 15, Mooney 14) Thanks Jim. Three singles before Mooney offers West Indies half a chance, with a slightly lofted drive that lands just in front of the fielder. Five off the over in total, and five overs remaining.