As ever, Australia is setting the standard for women’s cricket.
The seven-time 50-over World Cup champions are looking for their eighth title after England lost by six wickets in Indore on Wednesday.
Australia were unperturbed against Nat Sciver-Brint’s side at the Holkar Stadium and faltered at the start of both innings.
First, they conceded 55 runs in the opening eight overs after bowling a lot of dirty, and then slumped to 68-4 within 16 overs of the chase. But there was normal service around there.
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Former Australian men’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch discusses how England can bounce back from their first World Cup defeat.
Australia’s win with 57 balls remaining showed the level England need to reach. The courage they must show.
The biggest takeaway from this match was England’s spin play. The lack of momentum in their middle bowling style was the root cause of their first defeat in this World Cup.
England scored just 43 runs between 21 and 34 overs. 12 runs from 14 overs were bowled by spinners Alana King and Ash Gardner. Because after a confident start, they got stuck.
In contrast, Australia scored 98 runs between 21 and 34 overs through Gardner and Annabel Sutherland, reducing their requirements to 59 runs from 96 deliveries. Basically, your job is done.
Leg-spinner King was England’s main foe, using impeccable control and sharp spin to take figures of 1-20 from 10 overs. This spell features 41 dot balls out of 60.
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Australian leg-spinner Alana King knotted England up with Nat Sciver-Brunt caught on mid-off by Annabel Sutherland.
King is very good but England need more courage, according to former Australian men’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch. sky sports: “As soon as England came on, there was almost a concession that they would play King.
“You can’t afford to just sit back and wait for the best players in the world to make an easy mistake. That doesn’t happen very often. It’s almost like worrying about them making their own mistakes. At some point, you have to have courage.”
cleaning? Foot movement? Wyatt-Hodge? How do England solve their spin problem?
England skipper Sciver-Brunt, who was dismissed for seven after beating King mid-off, later said his side could have played more leg-spinners on the back foot, while Nasser Hussain lamented the lack of sweep and use of the feet and the absence of left-handed batsmen. Hussain says this is a long-term solution.
King bowled 41 dot balls in 60 deliveries against England.
In the short term, England are likely to make a decision to change their mid-to-lower ranking ahead of Saturday’s final group game against New Zealand and next week’s semi-finals against either Australia or South Africa.
Sophia Dunkley, the team’s No. 5, saw her labors continue against Australia as she averaged 13.20 in the tournament following a tough 48-ball 22 and scores of 18, 11 and 15. Emma Lamb is getting worse.
Batting at No. 6, Lamb bowled Sutherland for 7 against Australia and her average fell to 7.20. She won 13 games, with only two double figures in five innings.
There were calls for the experienced Danni Wyatt-Hodge to join before the Australia game and the idea only gained momentum after England’s defeat. If she plays, Wyatt-Hodge will help solve the problem of being blocked by spin in the middle.
Should Danni Wyatt-Hodge be in England’s lower mid-table?
You probably don’t want a player to come out cold in the semi-finals, so if Wyatt-Hodge can make her mark it will probably be in New Zealand, or never for the 34-year-old.
For Australia, a clash with a resurgent South Africa, who have won five on the trot since being skittled for 69 and losing to England, still remains to be dealt with before they can focus solely on the semi-finals. Whoever wins that match on Saturday takes first place in the group.
Most experts would expect it to be Australia. Because if you see off one of their winners, it’s almost certain that someone else will catch you.
The win over England came with almost nothing in the top order, the new-ball bowlers flapping their lines, but King dominated with the brilliance of his leg-spin and even all-rounders Sutherland and Gardner with bat and ball.
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Annabelle Sutherland’s three wickets against England included 18 bowling Amy Jones.
Australia may get a boost from the return of captain Alyssa Healy after the wicketkeeper and opening batsman, who hit hundreds against India and Bangladesh in the tournament, was ruled out against England with a minor (side hope) calf knee.
It will take some time to pause. And it will take even more courage for England to do that later in this tournament.
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