Date 22 March 2009 | Attendance 2,300 | |
 | ||
Event 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup Venue North Sydney Oval, North Sydney Umpires Steve Davis and Brian Jerling | ||
The 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup Final was a cricket match between New Zealand and England played on 22 March 2009 at the North Sydney Oval in Australia. It was the culmination of the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup, the ninth Women's Cricket World Cup. England won the final by four wickets, clinching their third World Cup title and their first outside England. It was the second time that the two teams had met at this stage of a World Cup – England won their previous final contest in 1993.
Contents
After winning the toss, New Zealand captain Haidee Tiffen opted to bat first. Her side were bowled out in 47.2 overs for a total of 166 runs. All-rounder Lucy Doolan, batting at number nine, was the highest scorer for New Zealand with 48. England bowler Nicky Shaw took a career-best four wickets for 34 runs. In their response, England built an opening partnership of 74 runs and continued to score steadily. Despite regularly losing wickets, they reached the winning total with 23 balls to spare, earning England their first World Cup title for 16 years. Shaw, who had initially not been included in the England team, was named player of the match after replacing the injured Jenny Gunn just minutes before the start of the match.
Group stage
New Zealand were drawn in Group A of the competition, along with the West Indies, South Africa and their "traditional rivals" Australia. They started their campaign against Australia. Haidee Tiffen scored a cautious half-century for New Zealand, but her dismissal triggered a collapse in which the team lost seven wickets for the addition of 34 runs. In their reply, Australia regularly lost wickets, and a six over bowling spell by Kate Pulford, in which she took three wickets for 30 runs, slowed the run chase. After an initial rain delay held up the game, a second downpour finished the match, with Australia 13 runs short by the Duckworth–Lewis method. Tiffen missed New Zealand's second match, against the West Indies, with an injury, and Aimee Mason deputised as captain. For the second time in as many matches, New Zealand suffered a collapse, losing their first six wickets for 104 runs. A seventh-wicket partnership of 57 between Mason and Sarah Tsukigawa helped New Zealand to remain competitive in the match, and they completed their 50 overs with 192 runs. According to Cricinfo, the West Indian reply "was devoid of momentum". Spin bowlers Mason and Lucy Doolan took three wickets apiece to limit the West Indies to 136 runs for the loss of eight wickets from their overs. In their final group stage match, New Zealand ensured that they won the group with a big win over South Africa. Amy Satterthwaite, Sara McGlashan and Nicola Browne all scored half-centuries as their team reached a total of 250 for five. South Africa struggled in their chase: only Cri-Zelda Brits reached double figures in an innings dominated by the bowling of Mason and Suzie Bates, who collected four wickets each.
England were placed in Group B, alongside India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In their first contest, against Sri Lanka, they scored 277 runs, aided by a 95-ball century from Claire Taylor, and a half-century by Caroline Atkins. Sri Lanka batted their full allocation of overs, but lost by 100 runs. Laura Marsh took three wickets, and three of the Sri Lankan batsmen were run out in their chase. Following the match, Jenny Gunn's bowling action was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) as being potentially illegal, but she was cleared a few days later. England faced India in their second match, in a contest billed as the battle for top spot in the group. England won the match easily, bowling India out for 169; with Gunn and Holly Colvin each taking three wickets, and unbeaten half-centuries from both Atkins and Claire Taylor. Another large win, over Pakistan, guaranteed England finished as group winners. Marsh took a career-best five wickets to help bowl Pakistan out for just 78 runs, a total which her side reached in less than half of their allowed overs.
Super Sixes
England and New Zealand met each other in the first match of the Super Sixes. England batted first, and despite being 96 for four at one stage, 57 runs from captain Charlotte Edwards, and a rapid 22 runs from Gunn, helped their side recover to post a total of 201 for five. In response, New Zealand began positively, and were boosted by a half-century from their captain, Tiffen, but the spin bowling of Edwards, Marsh and Colvin controlled the run rate, and New Zealand were eventually bowled out for 170, Edwards taking four wickets. England's following match was against the West Indies, and they once again surpassed 200 runs after batting first. Sarah Taylor, Claire Taylor and Atkins all scored half-centuries to propel England to their total of 236 for eight. The English bowlers then dismissed the West Indies for 90 runs, with Marsh collecting three wickets. The win secured England a place in the final, irrespective of the result in their final match against Australia.
In their second match, New Zealand faced an Indian side which had beaten Australia in their first Super Six contest. India batted first and scored 207, during an innings in which they lost four batsmen to run outs. New Zealand began their response well, putting on a partnership of 78 runs for the first wicket between Pulford and Tiffen. After Tiffen's dismissal, Bates supported Pulford, who eventually fell for 71 runs, and New Zealand reached their target with 14 balls to spare. New Zealand set a record partnership for the second wicket in women's ODIs in their final match: Bates scored 168 and Tiffen 100 as the pair put on 262 runs together. Bates played an aggressive innings, scoring her runs from 105 balls, including 6 sixes and 19 fours. New Zealand reached 373 from their overs, and bowled Pakistan out for 150, granting themselves a 223 run victory, and qualifying for the final. England were outplayed by Australia in their final Super Six match: Shelley Nitschke slowed the run rate during her bowling, taking two wickets and restricting England to just fourteen runs from her ten overs. England were bowled out for 161, a total Australia chased down within 34 overs.
Build up
Prior to the start of the competition, Jenny Roesler of Cricinfo suggested England and New Zealand, along with Australia, as the favourites to win the competition. The final was a repeat of the 1993 final, when England won at Lord's. Both sides had won the World Cup previously, but only when hosting the tournament. New Zealand achieved the feat in 2000, while England were winners in both 1973 and 1993. In addition to losing the 1993 final to England, New Zealand were also finalists in 1997, losing to Australia in India. England had contested five previous finals; losing to Australia in subsequent tournaments in 1978, 1982 and 1988. England all-rounder Gunn aggravated a calf-strain during the warm-up, and was replaced by the team's vice-captain Nicky Shaw, who had previously been omitted from the side. Huw Richards, writing for the International Herald Tribune, described both England and New Zealand as worthy finalists, and noted that he was disappointed with the performance of Australia, who finished fourth.
Summary
The final was played on "a gloriously sunny day" at the North Sydney Oval, a multi-purpose stadium in North Sydney, New South Wales. The ground had hosted a number of matches earlier in the tournament, and during the 1988 Women's Cricket World Cup, but has never hosted men's international cricket. The match, played in front of 2,300 people, began at 10:00 AEDT, with a scheduled lunch interval from 13.10 to 13.55. Steve Davis, of Australia, and the South African Brian Jerling were appointed as the on-field umpires for the match. Davis was a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, the highest designation for an umpire, while Jerling was on the International Panel of Umpires and Referees, the next most senior designation. Tyron Wijewardena and Jeff Brookes fulfilled the off-field roles of third and fourth umpires respectively, and Brian Aldridge served as match referee. Aldridge had previously umpired the 1992 Cricket World Cup Final.
Despite conditions conducive to swing bowling, New Zealand's captain, Tiffen, chose to bat first after winning the toss. England opened the bowling with seam from one end, provided by Katherine Brunt, and spin at the other, from Isa Guha. Brunt's bowling spell was described by the BBC's Aimee Lewis as "superb", and teammate Shaw credited her with putting the New Zealand batsmen under pressure. New Zealand progressed to 46 for the loss of just the opener Pulford, before England made their first bowling change. The England vice-captain, Shaw, was brought on, and made an immediate impact. From her third ball, Bates mistimed an attempted loft over mid-on, and was caught by Atkins. The following ball, Satterthwaite fell for a duck, edging an outswinging delivery to the wicket-keeper, Sarah Taylor. Four overs later, Tiffen was also dismissed by Shaw, providing a thick edge to Sarah Taylor. Although middle-order batsmen McGlashan and Mason both got starts, New Zealand collapsed to 101 for seven. Doolan joined Browne at the crease, and the pair provided their side with some degree of a recovery: Doolan scored 48 runs in a partnership of 63 to help New Zealand to their total of 166. After the dismissal of Doolan, who was stumped off a wide delivery, New Zealand subsided rapidly, losing their final two wickets for just two more runs. The New Zealand Herald criticised the batting as being "indifferent", but Richards credited England for their "tight bowling and fielding" to restrict New Zealand.
In their response, England began confidently: opening batsmen Atkins and Sarah Taylor built a partnership larger than any managed by New Zealand, scoring 74 runs before the dismissal of Taylor for 39. Atkins played a more patient innings than Taylor, and scored the most runs for her side, accruing 40 from 85 balls. Claire Taylor came to the crease upon Sarah Taylor's dismissal and played with a similar attacking intent, striking four boundaries during her 21 runs before she was bowled by Mason. England's middle order suffered their own collapse against the opposition spin bowlers Doolan and Mason, their scoring rate slowing significantly from 4.78 runs per over at the end of the fourteenth over to 3.58 twenty overs later. Edwards was given out after being caught by wicket-keeper Rachel Priest for 10 runs, though she did not actually hit the ball. Despite their struggles through the middle overs, Richards opined that "England never looked like losing." It was Shaw who once again galvanised England, batting with a more attacking style than those that had struggled before her. Her score of 17 not out pushed England towards the winning target, and a single from Colvin secured victory for England with 23 balls remaining in the innings. Shaw's contribution earnt her the player of the match accolade.
Scorecard
Match officials
Key
Aftermath
The ICC awarded England US$45,000 for their cup win, while New Zealand received $25,000. The team of the tournament included seven finalists: England's Edwards was selected as captain, and was joined by teammates Brunt, Marsh, Claire Taylor and Sarah Taylor. Bates and Pulford represented New Zealand in the team, while Sophie Devine was named as the team's twelfth woman. Claire Taylor, who finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer, was named as the Player of the Tournament. The month after the final, Taylor became the first woman to be selected as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year.
The two sides met again three months later to contest the final of the 2009 Women's World Twenty20. England once again won the contest, and in doing so became the first team of either sex to be champions in all three cricketing formats: Test, One Day International and Twenty20. Each of the top four in the 2009 tournament automatically qualified for the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup. Neither England nor New Zealand reached the final of that tournament, but instead met in the third-place playoff, which England won by four wickets.