BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Australia captain Alex Blackwell has cited self-belief and confidence as the recipe for their success in the narrow three-run defeat of New Zealand at Kensington Oval Sunday.
The Kiwis bowling limited the Aussies to a manageable 106 for eight but Blackwell marshaled her troops to a staunch defence of the total.
“We believed that we could defend that total. In a final you just never know what’s going to happen,” the 26-year-old said.
“We had a similar sort of total that we posted against England [in the first round] and that came right down to the last ball and we had to go into a super over.
“We believed that it was going to be enough and I know that our bowling attack has the sort of level mindedness to be able to execute their plans and get through what ever sort of challenges confronted them and they did that today.”
The victory compensated for their men’s loss to England in the preceding final, and left their fans with something to celebrate.
Australia’s women owed their success to 19-year-old fast bowler Ellyse Perry who snared three for just 18 from her four overs to clinch the Player-of-the-Match award.
With New Zealand needing 14 from the last over, Perry held her nerve to restrict the Kiwis to 10 runs and ensured Australia lifted the title.
“It had a big part to play in our success the whole way through the tournament. We’ve worked really, really hard on it,” Perry said.
“We have our keeping coach and fielding coach Christina Mathews, she’s also our manager and selector. She made quite a big difference, pushing us in training to see how far we can actually go in training and when we get out on the field, you see the results.
“I think our fielding has been spectacular throughout the tournament and certainly tonight it was very good.”
Perry said she was aware that the Kiwis had batting deep in their line up and knew the match was likely to go down to the final ball.
“From all the games that we played against New Zealand – and they are a true rival of ours and we play them a lot – they never give up and nor do we and we all expected it to go down to the wire,” she said.
