England and
India served up a rollercoaster final at Lord’s to round off an excellent World
Cup tournament, but it was Heather Knight’s side who held their nerve to win
the trophy they last held aloft in 2009.
It was a
cagey but solid start for England. Openers Lauren Winfield and Tammy Beaumont
added 47 before Gayakwad bowled the former round her legs. Beaumont was the
competition’s highest run scorer but she fell to Poonam Yadav for just 23 and when
the same bowler trapped skipper Knight lbw for a single, the home team were
looking shaky. Enter Nat Sciver to join forces with Sarah Taylor. Their stand
of 83 in 16 overs steadied the ship but the veteran medium-pacer Jhulan Goswani
produced excellent figures of 3-23 to turn things back in India’s favour. The
late order couldn’t quite strike the boundaries they wanted but Brunt and Gunn
managed to nudge the total to an acceptable 228-7.
Anya Shubsole
struck an early blow in the second over, swinging in a beauty to send Mandhana’s
middle stump flying. Raj and Raut played sensibly, but when Harmanpreet Kaur
began to punish the bad ball with a couple of sixes, I reckon India fancied
their chances. After all, they had dealt England a blow in their first group match
and their confidence must have been high following the surprise thumping of
Australia in the semis. Kaur had peppered the deep mid-wicket boundary in her
incredible 171 not out but she fell just after reaching her third successive
fifty.
Krishnamurthy
joined Raut and found the gaps to maintain the required run rate. At 191-3 with
more than 7 overs remaining, Hartley and Shrubsole were beginning to falter.
However, in ten crazy minutes, the same pair turned the match on its head,
capturing four wickets in 13 balls. And yet, on 201-7, there were still only 19
runs needed. There was the added issue of the weather. Rain clouds were
hovering menacingly, with some light drizzle, and India were ahead on
Duckworth-Lewis.
Pandey was athletically
run out by the ever-brilliant ‘keeper Taylor, then Sharma, who had plundered 14
from twelve deliveries, mistimed a hoik and Nat Sciver completed a second
skying catch. Eleven to win, eleven balls
and one wicket left, and Shrubsole already with five wickets. A few balls
later, Gayakwad could only scoop Anya tamely to mid-off Gunn – who promptly
dropped it! Had she dropped the World Cup? The Somerset legend ran in again and
this time hit the stumps! England had won an enthralling final!
It had been
an eye-opening tournament throughout. I’d never seen such high scores. Not only
Kaur’s semi-final masterpiece but also Sarah Taylor’s 147 in 104 balls against
Pakistan and Beaumont’s 148 in the same innings. Their stand of 275 was the second
highest in women’s ODI history. Sri Lanka and Australia had produced another
high-scoring group fixture at Bristol, where Chamara Atapattu’s 178 not out was
eventually trumped by Meg Lanning’s superb 152 not out.
The whole
tournament had been another great advert for women’s cricket. Compared with the
men’s game, the boundaries may be shorter, the bowling slower and batting less
muscular. However, there is just as much skill, commitment and excitement. And instead
of the snarling, sniping aggression that has become a staple of men’s cricket,
you have the winning smile and on-field exuberance of Sarah Taylor. What’s not
to love?! Her twelve-month rest from the sport has been bad for England, and
her return has been as important in their run to the World Cup triumph as any
other factor. Let’s hope she maintains her enthusiasm for the game, and England
will be looking to take title number five next time around.
