Taunton, 16 June 2009
India faces New Zealand in other semi at Trent Bridge on Thursday
Skippers Karen Rolton and Charlotte Edwards set up a mouth-watering England v Australia semi-final in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2009 tournament on Tuesday with mirror-image performances in their final group matches at Taunton.
Both made 43, Rolton to set up Australia’s 24-run win over South Africa in Group A and Edwards to anchor England to a 63-run success against Pakistan in Group B. The sides meet at The Oval on Friday as the first part of a double-header with the men’s semi-final.
It was also a day for left-arm spinners, with England’s Holly Colvin taking 3-18 and Australia’s Shelley Nitschke 4-21.
Unbeaten England, though, ended the day with serious concerns after its middle order, highlighted by its rivals as the team’s Achilles heel, failed miserably again.
“We can do better than that,” said Edwards. “It’s still not good enough, it’s disappointing. The run-outs were schoolgirl errors. Every time we seem to have a telling off from our coach we seem to turn it around, so I’m hoping we will do that again.
“There is pressure on our top order to score runs but we have total belief in the whole of our batting line-up and I’m absolutely certain that these girls are going to come good.”
The other semi-final pits New Zealand against India at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Put in to bat by Pakistan, England looked in total control as Edwards and Sarah Taylor put on 43 inside six overs. But when Urooj Mumtaz’s leg breaks accounted for both Sarah and Claire Taylor – Sarah falling lbw and Claire chipping weakly to mid off - the innings deflated.
The World Cup winner still looked well placed at 71-3 at halfway but panic set in when Edwards was caught behind off spinner Sana Mir after a 32-ball stay. Extraordinarily, the last five dismissals were all run-outs.
Pakistan, though, was never able to mount a challenge in the face of fine England fielding. Restricted to 36-3 at halfway, it was dismissed for 60, the lowest total of the tournament.
In contrast to England, the Australians, who beat Edwards’s side in a warm-up before the tournament and are convinced they hold the psychological edge, showed great strength in depth after slipping to 79-5.
Rolton and the powerful Alex Blackwell, with a bruising 40 not out off 22 deliveries, hammered 68 off 6.3 overs to take Australia to a tournament-high total of 164-6.
All rounder Nitsckhe, giving the ball air, then took three wickets in an over on her way to the player-of-the-match award as South Africa ended on 140-7.
South African openers Shandre Fritz (39 off 23 balls) and Trisha Chetty (36 off 25), though, showed that the Australian attack can be put under pressure, sharing 73 for the first wicket inside eight overs.
“They put us under a bit of pressure but I wasn’t worried,” said Rolton. “It only takes a couple of overs to change a game. Shelley really got us back on track.”
ICC MEDIA RELEASE