New Zealand held their nerve with bat and ball to beat Scotland by six wickets and keep their Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive in 2026.
Brief scores: New Zealand 132 for 4 (Izzy Sharp 62, Brooke Halliday 41 not out; Kathryn Bryce 2 for 13, Abtaha Maqsood 2 for 22) beat Scotland 131 for 7 (Darcey Carter 72 not out, Sarah Bryce 25; Melie Kerr 3 for 17, Sophie Devine 2 for 19) by six wickets.
After choosing to bowl first, New Zealand conceded 51 runs in the opening seven overs but pulled Scotland back to 131 for seven. With net run-rate calculations in play, they wanted a fast chase — yet Scotland struck early with three wickets in the powerplay and briefly threatened a second win of the tournament.
Experience told in the middle. Sharp and Halliday added 101 for the fourth wicket, with Sharp making a career-best 62 as New Zealand reached the target in the 19th over. Scotland were knocked out of semi-final contention, while New Zealand moved into positive net run-rate territory and remain alive in the race — though they likely need to beat England at the weekend and hope other results favour them.
Lea Tahuhu marked her first appearance of the tournament by taking her 100th T20 international wicket. Scotland had their own milestone as Darcey Carter scored her second half-century of the event and moved to the top of the tournament run charts ahead of Smriti Mandhana, albeit from one extra innings.
Costly missed chances
New Zealand have tried to move on from a difficult start to the campaign, but dropped catches continue to hurt them. They had put down ten in their first three matches and added another when Katherine Fraser, yet to score, edged Bree Illing behind — only for wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze to spill a straightforward take.
Fraser eventually fell for 7 at extra cover, limiting individual damage but not partnership cost. Scotland’s openers raced to 51 in seven overs, with Carter contributing 41 of those runs.
New Zealand tightened control when Kathryn Bryce was caught at deep backward square leg off Melie Kerr’s googly, leaving Scotland 58 for two after nine overs. Fielding frailty returned when Carter, starved of strike through the middle overs, sliced Melie to backward point on 47 and Nensi Patel dropped a regulation chance.
Carter still finished unbeaten on 72 to give Scotland a defendable total, but Sharp and Halliday’s stand ensured New Zealand crossed the line with wickets in hand and their tournament calculations still intact.