The two powerhouses of women’s cricket- reigning champion Australia and former champion England will lock horns with each other in the final of the Women’s World Twenty20 which is scheduled to start at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at 2:30pm today. Australia are looking forward to clinching their hat-trick World T20 title while England are eyeing their first since 2009.
The two sides have played each other 14 times in all three formats of cricket in the last eight months as England pacer Anya Shrubsole mentioned after their semifinal that there was nothing they didn't know about each other. So the final promises to be a cracker considering their recent meetings.
The 14 matches include England’s tour of Australia where Charlotte Edwards’ side came out as victorious in the Ashes but the home side managed to win both the ODI and T20 series 2-1. It is worth mentioning in this regard that Australia have won three World titles in the last four years including the last two World T20 titles. Coincidentally, it was against England that they earned a four-run victory in the 2012 final in Colombo to make it two in a row.
Despite having world class batters like captain Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor, England’s main strength lies in their bowling where they rely mostly on their pace-duo Shrubsole and Natalie Sciver, especially on the former one who is currently tournament’s top wicket-taker with 12 wickets. Their brilliant fielding in the last match against South Africa should also give them confidence to save a few runs.
However, these bowlers will have to be on their toes as they face the biggest scorers of the meet. With a record-breaking individual score of 126 along with an aggregate of 213 runs from five matches so far in the tournament, Australia’s skipper Meg Lanning undoubtedly poses the greatest threat which could make the ultimate difference in the match. Sadly for the English bowlers, Lanning would not be the only one they should watch out as the Aussies had different match winners including Alyssa Healy and Elyse Villani in different games.
"We know each other inside out. So we're able to do our planning and so will England. It's a really big stage, probably the biggest we've played on. So it's about being able to perform on the day and execution. Hopefully we can do that better than them," said the 22-year-old Lanning.
England captain Charlotte Edwards is also ready for the biggest rivalry and wants her teammates to be calm ahead of the big final.
"What we’re focused on is winning this trophy and for that, you need to be calm. Those who can deal with the bigger occasion, will come out winners tomorrow," said Charlotte yesterday. “I think we get on really well off the field. It is the biggest rivalry in cricket but we have a huge amount of respect for each other but we will try and do all our talking with the bat and ball.”
Fans would hope the biggest rivalry produces an thrilling contest for all.