Defending champions Australia beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in Gakibarha to move within touching distance of the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Beth Mooney scored an unbeaten 56 and Alyssa Healy added an unbeaten 54 to help the five-time champions chase down 113 runs.
Sri Lanka took 112-8 and Australia’s Megan Shutt took 4-24.
Australia will reach the last four as group winners if they avoid defeat by South Africa in their final Group A match on Saturday.
Both the Proteas and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in their final group matches, as well as only losing to South Africa, plus an unexpected run-rate swing, will see Australia miss out on the semi-finals.
Australia’s brilliant chase against Sri Lanka was in stark contrast to their incredible second innings win against Bangladesh last time out.
Mooney scored his first runs of the tournament en route to a one-ball half-century.
Healy, whose 50 came off 38 balls, was fortunate to avoid a stumping attempt in the second over, but otherwise Australia’s opening pair contributed little.
Sri Lanka would have gone straight to their first semi-final with a win against Australia after beating South Africa and Bangladesh in their opening two matches.
And they got off to a flying start after being put into bat, reaching 50-1 after the first seven overs.
But once opener Harshitha Madhavi was dismissed for 34 off 40 thanks to a diving catch by Grace Harris, Sri Lanka’s innings was reduced to just 19 runs in the next seven overs.
Fast bowler Shutt helped clean up the tail with four late wickets after spinners Harris (2-7) and Georgia Wareham (1-20) built pressure with economical bowling.
Sri Lanka can still reach the last four with a win against New Zealand in their final match on Sunday.
Lanning praised Harris – what he said
Australia captain Meg Lanning: “Our bowlers started the win. Grace Harris came in, she didn’t bowl much, and it was great to be able to fill that role.
“I think people stand out at different times. Like I say, with Grace she comes in and plays a special role. Just the ability to call different people and they come out at different moments. “
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapatthu: “We tried our best in the powerplay. After 15 overs we were not batting well and we were not executing our plans and that is why we lost.”
“Mouni and Healy batted really well. We have to take wickets early or we cannot restrict Australia to runs.
“We want to play positive cricket in the next match. We play our natural game in a positive way.”
