New Delhi: Australian eves today rallied into the fourth consecutive final of Women’s World T20 after beating fierce rivals England by 5 runs, who were undefeated in the tournament so far.
Defending a meagre total of 132 runs, Australian women managed to restrict England at 127 runs at the loss of seven wickets.
The loss dashes England’s hopes of being third time lucky against Australia. The two rivals have faced each other in the last two World T20 finals where Australia clinched the title both the times.
Australian captain Mag Lanning proved to be the saviour of her team scoring 55 runs off 50 balls in this crucial match. No other player managed to keep the scoreboard ticking for Australia as their innings came to halt at 132/6.
In reply, England started off extremely well with the openers putting up a 67-run partnership for the first wicket. But, soon their batting line up crumbled like a deck of cards and they could only manage to put 127 runs on the scoreboard.
England’s Captain Charlotte Edwards, on their loss in the semi-final, said, “We know a lot about each other. No secrets between the two teams. Australia held their nerves today, we didn't and that was the difference. We did well with the ball; dragged it back after a poor start. We were happy chasing 132 and got to a good start to. It wasn't meant to be. We missed Danny Hazel throughout the tournament but the replacement did really well.”
On the other hand, the excited Australian Captain Lanning said, “We knew it was going to be harder to bat. We didn't start as well as we would have liked but we knew that if we hit the stumps, we'd be back and our bowlers did a great job. We don't mind who we face in the final. New Zealand are playing some great cricket but with West Indies, you never know what you will get. They're very capable of coming out and scoring 160-170. It's going to be a great game tomorrow.”
