London, 19 June 2009
Thrilling run-chase by Taylor and Morgan sets up Lord’s showdown with New Zealand on Sunday
Claire Taylor and Beth Morgan helped England to set up a repeat of the ICC Women’s World Cup final with a thrilling victory over Australia in the second semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20 at The Oval on Friday.
World Champion England now heads to Lord’s on Sunday to face New Zealand after the pair put on 122 for the unbroken third wicket to chase down Australia’s highly competitive 163-4 with just three balls to spare.
Taylor, who struck a magnificent 53-ball 76, paced the chase superbly with Morgan, who chose the right moment to make 46 from 34 balls, her second highest score in 75 international matches and highest in 13 Twenty20s.
“At half-time I thought maybe 164 was a bit too much,” admitted Edwards. “But then when I played the first ball and realised how good the wicket was I knew that if we batted well we got close. The longer Claire and Beth were there the easier it became.”
England lost two of their three stars early, after Sarah Taylor holed out to midwicket – “I just seem drawn to the fielders,” she admitted recently – while Edwards departed flashing an edge behind to leave England 23-2 in the seventh over.
The side was behind the pace for most of the match, but Taylor and Morgan kept their nerve on the big stage to see their side home and into the final much to Edwards’s delight.
“A lot of people in the press have written about our ‘fragile middle order’ and so the most pleasing thing for me today was Beth Morgan’s knock,” she said.
“She’s one of the hardest trainers in our team and to perform on the biggest stage today I’m really pleased for her.”
It was a superb exhibition of women’s cricket in front of around 10,000 people, with plenty of hard hitting fours and even a pulled six from Karen Rolton, who made 38 in what was her last match as Australia skipper.
“It’s very disappointing to go out like this,” Rolton said. “I would have loved to have finished my time (as captain) playing in the final at Lord’s but today we weren’t quite good enough. But it was a fantastic game of women’s cricket out there.”
Rolton will continue to play for Australia to help the new generation but it was not quite the ending she may have envisaged after Australia racked up the second-highest total of the tournament, just one run shy of its own best of 164-6 against South Africa in the final group match.
Leah Poulton (39 runs from 31 balls) and Shelley Nitschke (37 from 25) combined to set Australia on its way with an opening stand of 78. Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar (28) then added 50 for the third wicket after the first pair fell in consecutive balls.
“It was a great wicket to bat on,” said Rolton. “I think for both teams it was hard to defend the boundaries but to England’s credit they came out and batted well with the partnership that won them the game.”
England now has the chance to justify its favourite tag when it faces New Zealand on Sunday, where the winner will be crowned the first ICC World Twenty20 women’s champion.
ICC MEDIA RELEASE
Custom Search