POSTED: Tuesday March 17th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Unbeaten England reaches first final in 16 years
New Zealand stays on course for final showdown against England by overpowering India but needs to beat Pakistan to knock defending champion Australia out of the title race
Video News Release available via SNTV; photos from the NSO and Drummoyne matches available through Getty Images; images from England and the West Indies match also available from the ICC FTP site
England sealed a place in its first World Cup final in 16 years when it extended its unbeaten run at this tournament to five matches by defeating the West Indies by 146 runs, while New Zealand stayed on course for a final showdown with Charlotte Edwards’s side when it overpowered India by five wickets in the penultimate matches in the Super Six stage of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 on Tuesday.
At the Drummoyne Oval, England openers Sarah Taylor (78) and Caroline Atkins (50) featured in a 134-run first wicket partnership before Claire Taylor (65) rescued her side from a middle-order collapse as the two-time former champion reached an imposing 236-8 in 50 overs. Off-spinner Laura Marsh then took 3-17 as the West Indies was bowled out for 90 in 38.2 overs, with Shanel Daly unable to bat due to illness.
At the North Sydney Oval in front of ESPN STAR Sports cameras, New Zealand rode on an excellent 71 by player-of-the-match Kate Pulford and a priceless 47 not out by Suzie Bates to achieve the victory target of 208 runs with five wickets and 15 balls to spare which made it the first side in the tournament to score over 200 runs in the second innings to win a match.
While England is guaranteed a place in the 22 March final after collecting maximum points, New Zealand now has six points and can set up a repeat of 1993 World Cup final at Lord’s against England if it beats Pakistan on Thursday at Drummoyne. And if it manages to do this, defending champion Australia will be knocked out of the final race and instead will be left to play in the third-fourth place-off against India on 21 March at the Bankstown Oval.
Australia’s only chance of reaching the final is if it beats England on Thursday and also hope that eighth-ranked Pakistan turns the table on New Zealand. This scenario will put both Australia and New Zealand on even points and on equal wins which will bring the net run-rate into play.
India can also come into the equation if it beats the West Indies by a convincing margin and both Australia and New Zealand lose their last matches with the net run-rate to decide which team joins England in the final. The calculations are hypothetical and highly unlikely but certainly not impossible.
At Drummoyne, England showed its class in an excellent all-round performance, even though it collapsed from 134-0 to 178-5 and then from 204-5 to 225-8. However, Claire Taylor brought all her experience into play and held the middle-order innings together to help England reach the fourth highest score of the tournament so far.
Claire Taylor, the top-ranked batter in the Reliance Mobile ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for batters, slapped two sixes and six fours in a hurricane 65 that came off 56 balls.
However, it was player-of-the-match Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins who provided England with another positive start. Taylor, the 19-year-old Londoner, was the first batter to be dismissed in England’s innings when she was run-out for a fine 78 that came off 101 balls and included seven fours.
Atkins joined Taylor in the dressing room three balls later when she became one of the three Shanel Daley victims after scoring 50 from 95 balls with three fours. When Atkins reached 49, she became only the 11th Englishwoman to score 1,000 or more ODI runs after Charlotte Edwards (3,639), Claire Taylor (3,541), Janette Brittin (2,121), Laura Newton (1,324), Barbara Daniels (1,309), Sarah Taylor (1,244), Arran Brindle (1,176), Clare Connor (1,087), Carole Hodges (1,073) and Jane Smit (1,003).
West Indies, in its run-chase, never threatened England and was finally bowled out for 90 in 38.2 overs .
Captain Charlotte Edwards was relieved to reach the final with an impeccable record. She said: “It has been our goal since the previous World Cup to make it to the final. I have been in semi-final before so it is great to finally make it to the final.
“But the job is only half done and I am sure we will be ready and waiting for Sunday. We’re on a successful run of form at the moment and we don’t want to slip up. We want to keep the winning run and momentum going into the final.”
Edwards was also happy with Sarah Taylor’s form. “It wasn’t going to be long before she got some runs – she is too talented not to. She is another person firing and we have got everybody where we want them to be. Everybody is in good form and we just have to continue doing the basics well.”
At the North Sydney Oval, India batted first after winning the toss and despite opener Anjum Chopra’s 18th ODI career half-century managed only 207 all out in 49.4 overs. Chopra (52) hit three fours in a watchful 106-ball knock but it was Reema Malhotra’s knock that lifted India to the eventual score after it had slipped to 153-7. Malhotra clubbed eight fours in a 53-ball 59 not out.
New Zealand, in its run-chase, took advantage of India’s sloppy bowling and fielding performance to achieve the victory target of 208 with five wickets and 15 balls to spare.
Kate Pulford and Suzie Bates were the stars of New Zealand’s well calculated run-chase. Pulford shifted gears at the right time and finished with an excellent 71 off 88 balls that included 10 fours. Together with captain Haidee Tiffen (23), Pulford put on 78 runs for the first wicket which was a crucial partnership in the context of the match.
After Pulford’s departure, Bates took the responsibility of carrying her team through by returning unbeaten on 47 that came off 65 balls and included three fours.
Haidee Tiffen said her team had approached the match as a semi-final. “I am really pleased with the way the girls lifted themselves after the defeat against England. I saw India’s last game against Australia and had a fair idea how to take them on.
“I suppose we took the match as a semi-final and came hard at India. I am happy to know that we achieved something which no other team has achieved in the tournament to date (successfully chase a target of 200 or more). I am also happy that we were able to avenge for previous World Cup’s defeat (when India beat New Zealand by 40 runs in the semi-final).”
India captain Jhulan Goswami was emotional and almost in tears in her post-match press conference. “It is a very disappointing day. We worked extremely hard for the World Cup but all has gone down the drain because of one bad performance. It is a devastating blow to all of us as the next World Cup will be after four years and who know who will be there by then.
“It is very difficult to lift your spirits after you know you have been knocked out of the title match. But yes, we have to motivate ourselves and try to win matches against the West Indies and Australia so that we could finish, at least, third in the tournament.”
Scores in brief:
At Drummoyne, England 236-8, 50 overs (Sarah Taylor 78, Claire Taylor 65, Caroline Atkins 50; Shanel Daley 3-31)
West Indies 90 all out, 38.2 overs (Deandra Dottin 23; Laura Marsh 3-17)
England won by 146 runs
At North Sydney Oval, Sydney, India 207 all out, 49.4 overs (Reema Malhotra 59 not out, Anjum Chopra 52, Mithali Raj 21; Sophie Devine 2-35, Kate Pulford 2-38)
New Zealand 210-5, 47.3 overs (Kate Pulford 71, Suzie Bates 47 not out, Haidee Tiffen 23, Aimee Mason 23, Priyanka Roy 2-60)
New Zealand won by five wickets
Fixtures for Thursday
19 Mar – Australia v England, North Sydney Oval
19 Mar – India v West Indies, Bankstown
19 Mar – New Zealand v Pakistan, Drummoyne
Points table
|
TEAM |
PLAYED |
WON |
LOST |
POINTS |
NNR |
|
England |
4 |
4 |
0 |
8 |
+1.77 |
|
New Zealand |
4 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
-0.18 |
|
Australia |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
+0.91 |
|
India |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
+0.02 |
|
Pakistan |
4 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
-0.99 |
|
West Indies |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
-1.56 |
Forthcoming matches:
21 Mar – third-fourth position play-off, Bankstown
21 Mar – fifth-sixth position play-off, Drummoyne
22 Mar – Final, North Sydney Oval
A Video News Release (VNR) from the match is available via ICC’s News Access Licensee, SNTV. Details of feed timings are available on the SNTV advisory.
Photos of the India and New Zealand match and England and the West Indies are available through Getty Images.
To download free images from England and the West Indies match, users need to go to http://iccfiles.sportcentric.
Images are for editorial use only and are copyright of the ICC.
The event logo and more details on the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 can be found at:
# # #
Name: Sami Ul Hasan
Organization: ICC
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