England’s women added the World Twenty20 title to their World Cup crown with a convincing six-wicket win over New Zealand at Lord’s yesterday.
England fast bowler Katherine Brunt took three wickets for just six runs as New Zealand were dismissed for 85 and the hosts reached their modest victory target of 86 for the loss of four wickets with three overs to spare.
It was the second time this year that England had defeated New Zealand in the climax of a major tournament after their four-wicket win in the 50-over World Cup final in Sydney in March.
PHOTO: AP
Claire Taylor, dropped before she scored, hit the winning boundary off Nicola Browne to finish on 39 not out after making an unbeaten 76 in Friday’s eight-wicket semi-final win over Australia at The Oval.
Amy Satterthwaite’s 19 was the top score in a New Zealand innings where only four batsmen made double figures.
England, after captain Charlotte Edwards won the toss and elected to field, took their first wicket with the fifth ball of the innings. Off-spinner Laura Marsh deceived Suzie Bates and the opener was stumped by wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor.
PHOTO: AP
New Zealand then saw captain Aimee Watkins, who made 89 not out in their semi-final win over India, clean bowled by Brunt for just 2 on the drive.
The White Ferns then suffered two setbacks in the eighth over as Brunt finished her spell with a double-wicket maiden.
Lucy Doolan, on 14, tried to play a ‘ramp’ shot off Brunt, but got an edge and was caught brilliantly by a diving Sarah Taylor. Three balls later, Rachel Priest miscued a pull and was caught and bowled for a duck to leave New Zealand in dire straits at 23 for four.
The collapse continued as Browne played on to Nicky Shaw and pace bowler Jenny Gunn (two for 19) took a wicket with her third ball to remove Sara McGlashan, sister of New Zealand men’s international Peter.
New Zealand had a glimmer of hope when Sian Ruck bowled Edwards for 9.
However, defending such a low score, they needed every catch to go to hand, but Claire Taylor had still to get off the mark when she edged a ball from Kate Pulford, only for wicketkeeper Rachel Priest to drop the one-handed diving chance before the ball went for four.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
RSS