Brilliant win for NZ and much deserved. I am pleased for them to win this trophy and also for Bates and Devine to obtain such a tangible reward after all their time at the top and efforts over the years. NZ are always fun to watch and the performances this comp have needless to say been some of their best. Kerr looked on her last legs at the end, she could hardly walk but still managed to bowl those last overs. A wonderful achievement for a team that are appreciated the world over.
I think SA made a mistake in bowling first, to be honest, the fact that it was a final (and runs on the board are very important – and chasing them is difficult), should have trumped their desire for a stylistic repeat of their victory over Australia.
And what a victory that was. I have been saying for a while that the Aussie bowling attack is not as special as they used to be, and indeed it was ruthlessly exposed by Wolvaardt and Bosch. They couldn’t repeat it in the final, perhaps due to the pressure and a sense that they’d already had their moment, as Syd said, but also because the NZ bowling to them was far better.
As far as the England captaincy situation goes, I think NSB has been badly treated by the management again. She is a reluctant captain yes but a capable one, at least in domestic cricket, as she’s shown with Trent Rockets and other sides over the years. With Jones and Ecclestone in the team as well one would think leadership would be catered for. The issue is that it seems no-one wants to come in and assert themselves, and their own captaincy style that may be different to what Knight does.
The issue for Knight is that this is becoming more and more obviously a problem that’s negatively affecting performances, and her own form and contributions with the bat are struggling to justify her continuing to have such control over the group and its selection. We will have to see what happens but it needs to be sorted out, and fast, as there are some big series coming up and England can’t afford to look as lost as they did against WI.
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