England will look to win their second major trophy against New Zealand in a matter of months when they face the White Ferns in the women’s Twenty20 World Cup final at Lord’s today.
That match will be a repeat of the 50-over World Cup final which England won by four wickets in Sydney in March.
England won through to the showpiece match by beating old rivals Australia by eight wickets at the Oval on Friday when, after chasing an imposing 164 to win, they finished on 165 for two — the highest total of the tournament.
PHOTO: AP
Claire Taylor (76 not out) and Beth Morgan (46 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 122 that saw the hosts home with three balls to spare. It was a win made all the sweeter for England captain Charlotte Edwards following suggestions from the New Zealand camp that the hosts had a “fragile” middle-order.
Edwards, looking ahead to her side’s latest clash with the White Ferns, told reporters at the Oval on Friday: “We’ve played them a lot in the last year and we’ve won a lot of games.”
“Seeing the way the girls batted today, I am sure they will be slightly worried now,” the opener said. “They were reported as saying we’ve got a fragile middle-order, but I hope we proved a few people wrong. It’s going to be who plays the best cricket on Sunday. They are going to have a hell of a lot to prove to us after losing out to us in Sydney, so we are going to have to be at our very best on Sunday if we want to win that final.”
“We’re really confident now and we’ve got a huge incentive to win in a Lord’s final,” Edwards said.And with the women’s final taking place hours before the corresponding men’s showpiece between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Edwards encouraged ticket-holders to get to Lord’s early today.
“I know we have an early start, but I’m hoping people will come out and watch,” Edwards said. “You never know, if people read their tickets and realize we’re on. It’s an early start, but we’re hopeful people will get out of bed.”
New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins led her side to Lord’s by making 89 not out in their 52-run win over India at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
“I’ve played some good innings, so I can’t really say,” Watkins said when asked if that was the highlight of her career. “But this would be one of my best.”
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