Womens cricket: Big day for Ferns

The White Ferns pace bowlers are hoping to bounce their way to victory against the West Indies as close rivals Australia await in the women's Twenty20 cricket world championship final.

New Zealand face the tournament hosts tomorrow (8am NZT) in St Lucia, after the men's semifinal between Australia and Pakistan at Beausejour Stadium.

A place in Monday's (NZT) final in Barbados beckons, with Australia booking their spot today with a seven-wicket win over India.

Captain Aimee Watkins said New Zealand were a confident unit after wins over India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in group play and had a clear plan to quell the West Indies' free-scoring batters.

"The most powerful thing for them is their batting lineup. We've got to look at that as a bowling attack and taking the pace off the ball is something we'll look to do, along with our pace bowlers and a short-pitched attack and try to contain them that way," Watkins said.

New Zealand would be a touch surprised to face the West Indies in the semis after the hosts eliminated tournament favourites England in group play.

Clearly the best team in women's cricket in recent seasons, England beat New Zealand in both major finals last year; the World Cup in Sydney and the Twenty20 world championship at Lord's.

West Indies pose a more unpredictable challenge, particularly through their star batter Deandra Dottin, 18, who slammed 112 against South Africa to become the first woman to hit an international Twenty20 century.

"They're a pretty dangerous team. Us and them are probably two of the most attacking, powerful batting lineups in the tournament," Watkins said.

"The way the English and the Aussies bowled to her (Dottin) showed she wasn't really fully equipped against the pace bowling so that's something we'll look to exploit. Someone who scores a world record hundred is someone to be wary of."

Tall pace bowler Nicola Browne will be a key weapon for New Zealand, after taking four for 15 in their comfortable win over Pakistan this week.

In-form batters Suzie Bates and Sara McGlashan would lead the way against a steady West Indies attack.

Said Watkins: "They don't have any bowlers who are going to rip through us but it's more a case of making the most of the first six overs and accumulate a good score of around 140-150 which should be good enough for our bowlers."

Australia cruised home today thanks to captain Alex Blackwell who scored 61 as they chased down 120.

Blackwell faced 49 balls, including eight fours.

Australia, thanks to tight bowling and fine fielding, restricted India to 119 for five.

Opener Poonam Raut made 44 off 51 balls, with three boundaries, before she became one of three wickets that fell in the 17th over.

- NZPA