Crucket

Congratulations to the White Ferns for making it to the final of the Women’s World Cup and for fighting hard when things got rough.

Batting first, the Ferns got themselves in trouble by losing their entire top order for less than 100. Many of the wickets went to rash shots, suggesting that they were having difficulty adjusting after the batting fest against Pakistan. However, a 63 run partnership between Lucy Doolan and Nicola Browne pushed the score up to what turned out to be a fairly competitive total.

In complete contrast, England didn’t lose their first wicket until they were 74. And then in the late-middle overs Aimee Mason and Doolan turned the match around by picking up three quick wickets and stifling the scoring. Suddenly the stroll to victory became a struggle and the game wasn’t won until the 47th over.

Particular praise must go to Doolan whose match figures were quite outstanding: 48 off 57 batting, 3/23 off 10 bowling.

And of course, huge congratulations to the victors England, who played a great game in knocking over the top order and keeping the scoring in check. Nicki Shaw was a star of course with 4 wickets, but all the bowlers got wickets and bowled tight. Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins did excellent work making the chase safe, so even the semi collapse couldn’t threaten the final result.