To reach the final of the World Cup, the West Indies had to beat both New Zealand and Australia, who they had never beaten before. Nobody can deny that they deserve their place in Sunday’s showpiece, where Australia will attempt to reverse the outcome of today’s eight-run defeat. The West Indies are just the fifth team to make the final while New Zealand at least maintained their proud record of never finishing lower than fourth in a World Cup.
That result rendered the outcome of the England-New Zealand game – which actually produced a decent match – almost completely meaningless. England could have hit every ball for six, scored 1,800 runs and then dismissed New Zealand for no runs in 10 balls and the two sides would still be meeting in two days time where the world number three ranking is at stake.
And there was to be no late surge into the top four from Sri Lanka, who lost seven wickets for seven runs to crash to a huge 110-run defeat against South Africa. They will also play again on Friday with fifth place up for grabs.
With no coverage from the Australia-West Indies game again highlighting issues with the tournament organisation, it is difficult to offer much in the way of analysis. We can deduce that the West Indies showed plenty of resolve to continually fight back and never gave up even when Australia looked to be cruising to victory. Australia missed the experience of Ellyse Perry and Sarah Coyte and were quick to discount any notion that they had deliberately underperformed. That they felt moved to do so reflects badly on those with the disingenuity of giving the idea credence.
All credit to the West Indies, who finish on top of the Super Six table, making happy reading for them as they prepare for the game of their lives. For the second time in as many global tournaments (men and women), the side from the Caribbean is guaranteed at least a runners-up medal. Like the men, they have achieved their target of reaching a global final ahead of schedule.
Onto England and New Zealand. Four years ago, they were the class of the field and contested an absorbing final. It has been clear for all to see that this is no longer the case. England have been sloppy in the field and with the ball on occasion and both sides tend to rely too heavily on the same players with the bat. Runs for New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite and England’s Sarah Taylor will have been welcomed but there was little else from the others; although Danielle Wyatt deserves some credit for helping Edwards set up a platform and there was some good late hitting from Heather Knight and Jenny Gunn.
England were poor with the new ball, although not helped by Anya Shrubsole’s absence and it took spinners Holly Colvin and Wyatt to wrest back some control. Once Bates and Satterthwaite were gone, it was England’s game to lose, and they weren’t about to let another one slip through their fingers. They put their disappointment to one side to retain their recent run of good firm against New Zealand, who patently need to improve if they are to claim third place on Friday.
It was great to see plenty of attention being given to the women’s event throughout the day and much debate about the format of the competition. It is a quirk of the fixture computer and coincidence that the final group games end up as the same as the knockout games and for all that players say that the Super 6 format ensures that all games count, it seems slightly odd that the very final game, didn’t.
Before the tournament began, I disagreed with England’s position as tournament favourites, but even I did not expect them to fail to reach the final. Sri Lanka and the West Indies producing brilliant performances to shake up the order have been a massive fillip for the game and kept the tournament interesting right up to the end. Australia remain favourites for the final, but today’s performance has reminded us again – if we needed it – that we should take nothing for granted.