Australia and India remain undefeated after round three of the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, with both teams on course to secure semi-finals berths. If they win a couple more matches, Australia and India will qualify for the last four irrespective of other results. On Sunday, defending champions Australia defeated New Zealand by five wickets, while India struggled to 169 against Pakistan but bowled them out for 74 thanks to left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht's figures of 5-18. England and South Africa have each won two matches so far in the tournament.

1. Australia and India on course for semis
AbuDhabi:DefendingchampionsAustralia,andIndia,are verymuchinline tosecure the semi-finals
berthsaftertheywontheircontestsagainstNew ZealandandPakistanrespectivelytoregistertheir
thirdsuccessive victoriesinthe ICCWomen’sWorldCup2017 onSunday.
Australia’sremainingmatchesare againstPakistan,England,IndiaandSouthAfrica,whileIndiahasto
playSri Lanka,SouthAfrica,the AussiesandNew Zealand.
If eithersidesmanage to registeracouple more winstheyare certainof a lastfourberth,irrespective of
the resultsof othermatchesinthe groupstage.
Afterroundthree of seven,AustraliaandIndiaare the onlyteamswhoare unbeateninthe tournament.
Englandand SouthAfricahave wontwo matchesapiece whileNew Zealandhave registeredone win.
Pakistan,Sri Lankaand the West Indiesare still searchingfortheirfirstvictory.
On Sunday,NewZealand’sSuzie Bateswasplayingher100th ODI but the Aussiesmade sure thatthe
momentousoccasionwasspoiledbysurpassingthe targetof 220-runs inthe penultimate overlosing
five wickets.
Indiastruggledinthe battingdepartmentandonlymanagedtopost169 for nine inthe derbymatch
againstarch-rivalsPakistan.Whatlooked like aneasychase wasmade impossiblebyleft-armspinner
Ekta Bisht.
Bisht’sfiguresof 5/18, the bestbowlingfiguresbyanIndianinWomen’sWorldCuphistory,saw
Pakistanbeingbundledoutfor74 in38.1 overs.
Indiawiththat winalsocompleteda‘perfect10’overtheirarch-rivalsinODIs,havinggone intothe
match witha 9-0 record.
“It feelsgood,the planwasto pile onthe dotballsbecause we were confidentof (defending) the total,”
saidEkta adding,“I don’tface much of a problembowlingwiththe new ball.The trackspunmore thanit
had duringourgame againstEngland.Irrespective of how the pitchis,myjobis to bowl andtake
wickets,andIhope I can continue doingthatfor myteam.”
Also,Englandrompedhome toa comfortable seven-wicketvictoryoverSri Lankabysurpassingthe
target of 205-run withmore than19 overstospare inTaunton.
SouthAfricatoo registeredacakewalkwinoverWestIndiesafterrestrictingthemtojust48 — the 17th
lowestscore inthe historyof women’sODIs. The Proteasoverhauledthe targetinsidesevenoverswith
all 10 wicketsintact.
Brief Scores:SouthAfricabeatthe West Indiesby10 wicketsinLeicester.WestIndies48 all out,25.2
overs(ChedeanNation26,Dane van Niekerk3.2-3-0-4,Marizanne Kapp 7-2-14-4, ShabnimIsmail 2-16)
SouthAfrica51-0, 6.2 overs(Lizelle Lee 29not out,Laura Wolfvaardt19 not out).Playerof the match:
Marizanne Kapp(SouthAfrica)

2. AustraliabeatNewZealandbyfive wicketsinBristol.New Zealand219-9,50 overs(Katie Perkins52,
Suzie Bates51, Erin Bermingham35, AmySatterthwaite 21;JessJonassen3-33, MeganSchutt 3-40).
Australia220-5, 48.4 overs(Ellyse Perry71,Meg Lanning48, Alex Blackwell 35notout, BethMooney32,
Nicole Bolton26; AnnaPeterson2-27,AmeliaKarr2-42). Playerof the match:Ellyse Perry(Australia)
EnglandbeatSri Lanka bysevenwicketsinTaunton
Sri Lanka204-8, 50 overs(Hasini Perera46,Ama Kanchana34 notout, ShashikalaSiriwardena33,Dilani
Manodara 28, Oshadhi Ranasinghe 26;Laura Marsh 4-45; Natalie Sciver2-32)
England206-3, 30.2 overs(HeatherKnight82, Sarah Taylor74 not out, LaurenWinfield26;Ama
Kanchana2-38). Playerof the match — Laura Marsh (England)
IndiabeatPakistanby95 runs inDerby.
India169-9, 50 overs(PunamRaut 47, SushmaVerma33, Deepti Sharma28; NashraSandhu4-26, Sadia
Yousuf 2-30) Pakistan74 all out,38.1 overs(SanaMir 29, NahidaKhan23; Ekta Bisht10-2-18-5). Player
of the match: Ekta Bisht(India)
Nextfixtures:Wednesday,5July:Englandv SouthAfrica,Bristol;Sri Lanka v India,Derby;Pakistanv
Australia,Leicester.Thursday,6July:New ZealandvWestIndies,Taunton.