All of the talk has been about the disappointing performances by the Australian men in this World Cup. However, the Australian women's cricket team beat England last night by five runs to secure their place in the Grand Final. They will play the winner of tonight's second semi final between New Zealand and the West Indies.
Last night's five run win for Australia means that they now have the opportunity to play for their fourth consecutive World Cup. It was a bowler's pitch last night, so there were no surprises when England won the toss and chose to bowl first. Although, England didn't get their way early as Australia got off the marks quickly. Opener Elyse Villani knocked the ball around for a handy 19 runs before being given out LBW, bowled by Natalie Sciver. Natalie was lucky to still be out there bowling after copping a knock to the head the ball before. A team mate had thrown the ball to her, but she had taken her eyes off the ball and it had thumped into the side of her head. Luckily, she was able to recover and finish with bowling figures of 2-22 off 3 overs. The other opener, Alyssa Healy, was slightly more effective, hitting 25 runs off 15 balls.
Captain Meg Lanning showed why she is one of the worlds best female cricketers, finishing with 55 runs before a sharp piece of fielding ran her out. Some late wickets restricted Australia's middle order, and kept them to 132/6 off their 20 overs. Laura Marsh was outstanding for England, taking one wicket for just 18 runs off her four overs. Katherine Brunt was more expensive, going for 25 runs off 3 overs.
It was going to be a long run chase, and England were keen to get off to a good start. Both openers, Tammy Beaumont and Charlotte Edwards, managed over 30 runs, before some good catching from Meg Lanning dismissed both the openers. Sarah Taylor came in at number three and contributed 21 runs off 23 balls. An English middle order collapse resulted in the next six batsman combining for just for just 27 runs. However, England managed to bring it down to the last over, where they needed 13 runs off 6 balls. Desperate bowling from Rene Farrell restricted England from hitting any boundaries in the last over, and Australia were able to come out with a 5 run victory. Megan Schutt was a standout for Australia, finishing with figures of 15-2 off her 4 overs.
Australian Captain Meg Lanning talked after the game about the importance of their good start to the match in the power play, stating "it got us ahead of the game".
"It wasn't quite meant to be for us today", said English Captain Charlotte Edwards in the post game interviews.
So, although the Australian men struggled throughout the tournament, the women will have a chance to do Australia proud when they play in the final on Sunday the third of April.
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