Australia Women’s Thrilling Victroy in 2010 T20 World Cup Final
Australia’s women’s cricket team clinched a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the final, showcasing resilience and strategic brilliance in a low-scoring match.
Australia’s women held their nerve in a low-scoring final before mounting a stunning comeback to defeat New Zealand Women.
New Zealand 103 for 6 (Devine 38*, Perry 3-18) were defeated by Australia 106 for 8 (Poulton 20, Browne 2-11) by 3 runs.
After maintaining composure in a low-scoring Barbados final, Australia’s women produced a stunning comeback to defeat the men. After holding Australia to 106 for 8, New Zealand had every right to feel confident. However, they were unable to withstand the intense pressure and lost by four runs in the worldwide final, their third defeat in a row.
Ellyse Perry struck twice in two overs as Alex Blackwell’s team secured the crucial early wickets they needed, leaving New Zealand at a disastrous 29 for 4. Late in the game, fast bowler Perry added another wicket, and he bowled a cool final over, giving up 10 when 14 were needed. In addition to winning player of the match, she concluded with an extremely outstanding 3 for 18, ending Australia’s six-match losing skid against Aimee Watkins’s squad in this format.
Australia triumphed in front of the men’s team, who had earlier in the afternoon been defeated by England, and added the trophy to their collection of five global 50-over awards. Those who stayed to watch the women included Mitchell Johnson, David Warner, and Michael Clarke; the performance uplifted the spirits of the green-and-gold supporters.
In an attempt to calm the nerves, Suzie Bates pulled the opening ball of the chase for two and hit a six over long-on, but Watkins was out of the game early. After pulling to midwicket, she was caught by Alex Blackwell with a spectacular leaping catch, and Blackwell also ran out the formidable Sara McGlashan for 1.
When Bates (18) attempted to knock Perry to the ground and Sarah Elliott spotted him scurrying around from mid-off, Australia began to believe. After Perry removed Amy Satterthwaite’s off stump, Australia found themselves decisively in the lead.
The batters were having trouble scoring at three an over by the halfway point of the chase due to the spin of Shelley Nitschke (1 for 10 off four) and Lisa Sthalekar (0 for 19). When Rachel Priest was declared out stumped, there was momentarily even more fear for New Zealand, but “not out” soon reappeared on the big screen, as third umpire Asad Rauf had mistakenly clicked the wrong button. Priest’s relief was brief; she left after taking a quick shot at Nitschke and ballooning to Blackwell.
Nicola Browne proved to be a useful companion for Sophie Devine, who maintained her unbroken score of 38 off 35 to keep New Zealand in the hunt. Once they settled in, though, even they found it difficult to pinpoint the boundary or spin the strike.
With an edge behind, Browne (20) became Perry’s third wicket, and Devine looked for a late comeback. Off Rene Farrell’s penultimate over, Devine smashed a four and a six, leaving them needing 14 off the final six balls.
After Perry caught the ball and allowed a single on the first play, Devine scored four straight twos. Perry, a gifted football player, stretched out her boot to deflect the ball to mid-on, and New Zealand finished on 103 for 6. Devine needed five off the final delivery to win. In their huddle, the Australians screamed, and their male colleagues enthusiastically cheered.
New Zealand, who lost both the World Twenty20 and the 50-over World Cup finals last year, had a depressing conclusion to the event. New Zealand looked certain to win as soon as Browne took two wickets in her opening over, taking Australia to 20 for 3. With the increased pace available, Browne flourished, taking 2 for 11 in four straight overs, while Devine finished with 2 for 21.
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Brown made the first player, Elyse Villani (6), mishit a drive in order to cover for her first point. Blackwell’s removal for 0 following her cut of a rising ball to Devine, who took a superb catch in the gully, was another crucial wicket.
New Zealand’s attack continued to restrict runs as well as take wickets, much like Australia’s bowlers had done when it was their turn. Australia actually performed well to achieve three figures and a match-winning score because the circumstances were so dire. Unbeaten on 19, Sarah Elliott and Sthalekar (18 off 13) gave the innings the much-needed boost at the conclusion with a vital stand of 27.
Initially, No. 3 Leah Poulton attempted to rebuild by putting on 30 with Jess Cameron, but the batsmen were unable to break free and only managed to get four boundaries. New Zealand scored two fours and two sixes in response.
Cameron was dismissed for 14 off 24 by Kate Broadmore’s opening delivery, while Poulton attempted a catch at cover off Devine for 20 from 28 balls. They were down 51 for 5 following that dismissal, and things got worse when Alyssa Healy (10) was ran out trying to chase a two after McGlashan had dropped her at square leg.
Watkins’ magnificent one-handed catch to remove Farrell and terminate a boundary chase at cover marked the conclusion of the innings. Australia was left hoping for a miracle in the field at that time, as New Zealand had all the momentum. They gave it in a magnificent manner to cap off a contentious afternoon for their nation.
Australia Captain Alex Blackwell on the Thrilling Win
Despite their poor performance in the final, Australia’s skipper, Alex Blackwell, stated she never had any doubts that her team could win the World Twenty20 championship.
Despite their poor performance in the championship match, Australia’s skipper, Alex Blackwell, said she never doubted her team’s ability to win the World Twenty20 championship. New Zealand appeared to have little issue chasing as Australia struggled to 106 for 8 from their 20 overs, but they batted out their overs and could only muster 103 for 6.
“We thought our total would be sufficient,” Blackwell stated. “I know our bowling attack has the level-mindedness to get through whatever challenge was in front of them.”
Ellyse Perry, who is 19 years old, was given the bowling assignment by Blackwell when the New Zealanders required 14 runs off the last over. Perry maintained her composure and prevented Sophie Devine from hitting a clean drive that could have knotted the game when a boundary off the last delivery would have done so.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to win a World Cup for your country rather than lose it,” Perry stated. That’s the proper way to handle situations like that. I am particularly appreciative of Alex’s belief in my ability to succeed and my team’s backing, which was evident when Rene Farrell and Shelley Nitschke were fielded down on the boundary.”
After two sliding saves that prevented final-over boundaries, New Zealand quickly realized they had left too much to accomplish in the last moments. After making a great effort with the ball, they were dismayed to find themselves in difficulty at 36 for 5 after 11 overs due to wickets.
The captain of New Zealand, Aimee Watkins, stated, “I was very pleased with how we bowled but obviously Australia bowled slightly better.” “They bowled hard into the wicket, and the bounce varied a little bit.
They made good use of that to their benefit. However, the early wicket losses left us in a difficult situation, even though Sophie Devine‘s final-inning batting display was superb and gave us a chance.”
