Vanuatu Women Storm Into Semifinals With Clean Sweep

Port Vila, 12 September 2025 — Vanuatu’s women’s cricket team have clinched their place in the semifinals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier after a

dominant 91-run victory over Fiji, completing a commanding clean sweep in their Group 2 matches.

Vanuatu Women's Cricket Team celebrates a dominant victory by 89 runs in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier. Congratulations to the team for their impressive performance!

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Vanuatu piled up their highest total of the tournament so far, reaching 149 for 3 in their full quota of 20 overs. Captain Rachel Andrew anchored the innings with a solid 42 off 34 balls, while contributions from Valenta Langiatu (26 off 30), Nasimana Navaika (20 off 24) and a rampant Selina Solman — unbeaten 41 off 31 — provided depth and momentum. Even at the close, Susan Stephen remained unbeaten with three runs.

Fiji’s chase was derailed early, suffering two run-outs inside the first four overs. When experienced batter Tabitha Saville was bowled by Rayline Ova at the edge of the powerplay, Fiji had already slipped to 3/20. A further run-out deepened their woes and they were eventually skittled out for 58 in 17.5 overs.

Vicky Mansale shines as Player of the Match with an impressive 4-wicket haul for just 15 runs in 4 overs at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier against Fiji.

Vicky Mansale led the bowling charge with an impressive 4-for-15 in her four overs, including a catch. Rayline Ova supported strongly with 2-for-14, and Navaika chipped in with 1-for-10 from 2.5 overs. The attack was well backed by tight spells at the top: captain Rachel Andrew giving away just six runs across three overs, and Vanessa Vira delivering two overs for mere four runs. Captain Rachel Andrew praised her side’s execution. “I think the girls did great. We played according to the plans… I think we got to a pretty good total. The bowlers did their job as well, defending that and getting through the innings.” Looking ahead to Saturday’s semifinal, she added: “We’ll just do some recovery after this and get ourselves ready for whichever team we play tomorrow.”

Player of the Match Mansale said her approach was simple. “My plan was just to execute the team’s plan in general — just to attack the stumps.” Looking to the knockout stages, she added: “We came to this tournament as the defending champion, and we’d like to keep it that way and leave with the same title.”

With this result, Vanuatu finish top of Group 2 and will meet Japan in the semifinal on Saturday at 12:30pm. In the other semifinal, Papua New Guinea will take on Indonesia, with both winners advancing to Monday’s final.

Beyond the opportunity to qualify for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier, Vanuatu are also competing for the chance to be the best-performing team outside of PNG, which would secure them a spot in the new ICC Global Challenge Trophy T20 league. Currently ranked 30th in the world, Vanuatu head into Saturday’s clash in strong position versus Japan at 39th.