Jun 23 2009
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2009!!!
The first ICC organized Women’s World Cup ’09 was very entertaining and a successful event! The strong performances of the teams, batsmen friendly pitches, good weather made a two-week happening event a feast for the spectators not only in Australia but round the globe as the tournament was telecast on ESPN and Star Sports. Not only the top teams like England , New Zealand, India and Australia but the minnows like Pakistan and the weaker teams like South Africa and SriLanka made an impact by playing competitive cricket, impressing the experts like Wasim Akram who is a keen follower of women’s cricket!
Charlotte Edwards led England put up a fantastic show beating the runners-up NewZealand team by 4 wickets to bag the 2009 Women’s World Cup..
India finished third in the World Cup which was not good enough for the side who were the runners up of the last world cup. The spectators back home were not happy with the third position of Indian eves at the World Cup stage.
Indian captain and the fast bowler,, Jhulen Goswami, though couldn’t get the team going but took back her No.1 ranking from England’s Isa Guha. “The five wicket loss to New Zealand was the turning point of the tournament for us said the young Indian captain. The World Cup was a great experience! The current Indian team is very young, and some of them are the debutants. The positives we took from the tournament was the great exposure for our players playing against seven international teams.”
The other two star performers to watch from the Indian side were the former captain Mithali Raj and the veteran Indian batswomen Anjum Chopra! Mithali Raj was one of the top performers of the world cup. Mithali though was not captaining India this time but her consistent performance speaks the volume of the talent she posses. Mithali was also the lone fighter of Indian side which tour to England and Australia. “It was a great experience! Playing in Australia and beating them twice in World Cup. It was a good tournament; though we could reached the finals!” When asked how do you keep yourself cool when wicket falls on the other end, the ace cricketer said, “When you have enough wickets in hand, you have the freedom of going for the big shots, but when situation gets tough your job is to stabilize the innings and improvis the game!
The match we lost to England has put pressure on us to win against New Zealand but we could not beat them thus we failed to qualify for the finals. I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup and it was nice to have commentators and legends like Wasim Akram praising women’s cricket..”
Anjum Chopra who was playing in her 4th world cup was a match winner throughout the tournament. “ It is always a pleasure and pride to play for the country!” said the most experienced campaigner, “ Wearing tri-colours and entering the ground is a great feeling.. we went there with the goal of winning the cup. I was happy that I could contribute in all our wins. The crowd was great and supported all the teams..! We were decently looked after throughout the tour and it was nice to get appreciation from great achievers like Wasim Akram.”
The World Cup tournament actually started with a bang for India who beat Pakistan in the opening tournament by 10 wickets. India and England were batting for the no.1 spot in the group B at that stage. England also won their opening encounter by defeating SriLanka with the margin of 100 runs. England secured the top spot in the group by defeating India comprehensively by 9 wickets in their first tussle. England bowlers out casted the Indian batswomen with the exception of Mithali Raj, who scored 59 runs to shape up the Indian score which was limited to 169 after a decent attack from England bowlers Holly Covin and Jenny Gun, claiming 3 wickets each. The rest of the show was carried well by England’s Caroloine Atkins and Claire Taylor who scored half centuries to see their team home in the 39th over.
Indian eves qualified for super-six after defeating SriLanka in a low scoring game played at the Bankstown Oval. Mithali Raj who was playing consistently since 2008 , scored unbeaten 75 runs and with a solid partnership with Jhulen Goswami put up a score of 137/7 on the board. The former captain deserves all the accolades for her superb performance. The understanding she has for the game is astonishing. Her controlled batting demonstrates her patience. She just hit a single boundry in her unbeaten knock of 75 runs.
