Probably, one of the best finals in the history of the World Cup was played twenty years go on this same day. Australia took on the hosts New Zealand at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln.
The visitors came into the final as the favourites after winning all their league matches. New Zealand, on the other hand, ended up in the 2nd. Their only loss came against Australia.
In the semi-final, South Africa took on Australia while India took on New Zealand. Australia’s Charmaine Mason had 3 for 39 as South Africa made only 180. Lisa Keightley led from the front by scoring 91* as Australia defeated South Africa with ease by 9 wickets.
In the other semi-final, India managed only 117, thanks to brilliant bowling effort by the hosts, led by Kathryn Ramel’s 2 for 12. Purnima Rau was the lone warrior for India, she ended up with 67 runs. While chasing a tiny total, Neetu David was the only successful bowler. She picked up the only wicket that fell as New Zealand won the game by 9 wickets.
In the final, Australia had the upper hand right away as they went on to dismiss Anna Michelle Smith early. Rolls and Drumm added tiny partnership followed by Kamel’s 41 as the team ended up with 184 on the board. It wasn’t a tough target considering the batting order of Australia. New Zealand needed wickets.
The bowlers did exactly the same and went on to reduce Australia to 2 for 2. However, Belinda Clark stood tall, as always. Though she kept running out of partners, she managed to score whenever she could and rose to 91. Nicholson did the magic to remove Clark as Australia began to feel nervous for the first time. They were reduced to 150 for 7. Soon, the lower order couldn’t do much as they fell four runs short of the target in the final over. Clark won the player of the match award for her brilliance.
This marked the last appearance for a few of the biggest stars of the game starting from Debbie Hockley.
Rolton made 393 runs, Mason had 7 wickets, and the player of the tournament was given to Keightley for her all-round performance.
Here is the match video:
