England 94 for 3 (Edwards 33, Ruck 2-22) beat New Zealand 93 for 8 (Satterthwaite 30, Colvin 2-15, Wyatt 2-15) by seven wickets
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England produced an accomplished fielding display in enervating heat
before solid contributions from the top order helped secure a
seven-wicket win and safe passage to their second Women's World Twenty20
final. The result was a repeat of England's victory over New Zealand in
the inaugural Women's World T20 final at Lord's in 2009, with a Taylor, Sarah instead of Claire, once again hitting the winning run, with almost three overs to spare.
Although New Zealand managed to dismiss both openers, Sarah Taylor
combined with Lydia Greenway for a 40-run partnership in 39 balls. When
Taylor was stumped off the bowling of Frances Mackay with 19 still
needed, only to be reprieved by a no-ball, the jig was as good as up for
New Zealand - though Greenway's attempt to win the match with a miscued
reverse-sweep meant that Arran Brindle had to leave the shade of the
dugout and wander out to help Taylor complete the chase
England's bowling was just as impressive in oppressive conditions and it
was backed up by fleet-footed fielding and faultless catching. England
have benefited from increased coaching support in the last year and
their pre-eminence at this form of the game is demonstrated by the fact
that they have now won 23 of their last 24 completed T20 internationals.
Having beaten Australia by seven wickets in the group stage and West
Indies 4-1 during their series last month, they will not mind which of
the other semi-finalists they meet on this ground on Sunday.
Charlotte Edwards,
who top-scored with 33, and Laura Marsh form a resourceful, aggressive
opening pair and backed up by Taylor, the top-ranked women's T20
international batsman, England have one of the most powerful front ends
in the game.
In fielding an unchanged side at this tournament, and winning all four
of their matches so far, their plans for regaining the title they won in
2009 have been impeccable, after a disappointing defence two years ago
in the Caribbean when they stumbled out at the group stage. Something
like the opposite was the case for the their male counterparts.
"It was another good team performance for us and our best with the ball
so far," Edwards said. "Lydia sets the standard for us in the field and
it was a good all-round effort. It turned a lot more here and it was
tough, but we pride ourselves on playing spin and we did well to work
the ball into the gaps."
Marsh was the first to depart as New Zealand sought early breakthroughs.
Having seen out the Powerplay overs in tandem with Edwards, she drove
uppishly to mid-off. Edwards then survived a close run-out call, failing
to slide her bat in but just getting it down across the line as Taylor
risked a single to midwicket off the bowling of Morna Nielsen. That
moment of sloppy practice was followed up by a loose shot in the
following over, as one ball after hitting Erin Bermingham down the
ground for four Edwards looped a cut shot to point to give the
legspinner her seventh wicket in the tournament.
That moved Bermingham ahead of Stafanie Taylor as the outright leading
wicket-taker and she made one spit and bounce out of the rough to Sarah
Taylor later in the same over. Nielsen, however, could not maintain the
pressure, and Taylor crashed a full toss over deep midwicket for the
first six of the match to ease any nerves England may have been
experiencing.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, the first over, a wicket
maiden, could not have gone much better for England. With Katherine
Brunt, whose three overs cost just seven runs, maintaining a
parsimonious line, the New Zealand captain, Suzie Bates, seemed anxious
to get off the mark. Although the R Premadasa stadium is being used for
both the men's and women's semi-finals, with tickets valid for both
games, the few who turned up for the start could have had their pick of
seats. Bates wasn't able to use the noise as an excuse after calling for
a single that wasn't there, ending up standing next to opening partner
Amy Satterthwaite as the ball was lobbed to the wicketkeeper.
The gap between start times for the two games, potentially leaving an
idle window of two hours or more, did not help the attendance, although
with the sun blazing down on empty bleachers, the locals may simply have
chosen cooler locations to spend the afternoon.
It was certainly suffocating at the crease. Sophie Devine bottom-edged
the first boundary of the innings in the fifth over but she then picked
out Brunt a few yards in from rope when trying to hit Danielle Wyatt
over midwicket.
The six Powerplay overs brought just 22 runs - with four coming off the
last ball as Wyatt misfielded off her own bowling. New Zealand needed
someone to stay with Satterthwaite but Mackay became the third wicket to
fall when Anya Shrubsole looped an inswinger past the bat and trapped
her in front of leg stump. The experienced Sara McGlashan did not last
long, either, beaten in the flight by Holly Colvin and smartly stumped
by Taylor as the ball gripped and turned past the outside edge.
Satterthwaite, who hit three of her side's six fours, was the batsman
most likely to haul New Zealand to a more imposing total but she holed
out for 30 at the start of the 15th over when trying to up the run-rate.
Cameos from Nicola Browne and Katey Martin helped New Zealand add a
further 36 but England's spinners continued to chip away on a slow pitch
with some variable bounce. Two wickets fell in the 19th over and
another in the last but by then New Zealand's chances of reaching a
third consecutive Women's World T20 final had already been fatally
undermined.
Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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