Super Six stage of ICC Women's World Cup 2009 begins on Saturday
New Zealand takes on England at Bankstown, Australia faces India at North Sydney Oval in front of ESPN STAR Sports cameras and Pakistan meets the West Indies at Drummoyne England three wins away from eclipsing Australia’s record of 17 consecutive ODI victories
The battle to win a place in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 continues when six teams go head-to-head in the Super Six stage to be played in Sydney from 14 to 19 March.
The three sides in each group from the group stage, which concluded yesterday, play the teams which have qualified from the other group. As such, 2000 winner New Zealand, defending champion Australia and the West Indies from Group A will play two-time former champion England, India, runner-up at the Women’s World Cup in 2005, and qualifier Pakistan from Group B with the top two teams progressing through to the 22 March final.
England and New Zealand will take forward four carry-over points while Australia and India will go into the Super Six stage with two carry-over points. The West Indies and Pakistan, after having lost to the teams in their respective groups who progressed to the second stage of the competition, will start with zero points.
The Super Six stage is also important for the fact that the top four teams will automatically qualify for the 2013 event to be staged in India while the fifth and sixth-placed teams will earn direct spots in the 10-team ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2011 where they will be joined by eight other sides – two each from Asia, Africa and Europe, and one each from Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions – who will qualify from their own regional qualifying tournaments.
England and New Zealand are the teams on a roll after putting up commanding performances in the group stage. England defeated Sri Lanka by 100 runs, India by nine wickets and Pakistan by eight wickets while New Zealand upset Australia by 13 runs (D/L method) in its opener, the West Indies by 56 runs and South Africa by 199 runs.
However, one of the two teams is set to lose its unbeaten record when they meet in the Super Six opener at Bankstown on Saturday in what promises to be a cracking match. For England, it will be one step forward in its attempt to eclipse Australia’s record of 17 straight ODI wins. England currently sits on consecutive 15 wins and if it wins its matches against New Zealand and the West Indies, it will face Australia on Thursday needing a victory to break the record.
England captain Charlotte Edwards said there was more to come from her team. “It was our goal before the start of the tournament to go into the Super Six stage with a clean record. We have done that successfully but now we have got a massive game against New Zealand and we are preparing hard for this game,” she said.
“I still think there is more to come from this England team. You haven’t seen the bottom order as yet. It’s not good peaking in the group stage as next week is the most important week of the tournament. It’s good that we are gaining confidence but the next three games are going to be massive for us.
“Australia had a close game against New Zealand and it still on a high. Australia is playing decent cricket.
“I still think three or four teams have a good chance of doing well and it all depends on which team peaks at the right time and whose key players perform at the right time. We are quietly about our business and keep preparing for the big games and hopefully we can keep winning,” she added.
England’s Claire Taylor is in excellent form and has scored 170 runs in two innings, while Caroline Atkins has shown sparks of brilliance while scoring 119 runs in three matches. In the bowling department, off-spinner Laura Marsh is the joint-leading wicket-taker with the West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor and New Zealand’s Aimee Mason with eight wickets, while Holly Colvin has supported Marsh well by bagging five wickets.
For New Zealand, Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan have been the leading batters contributing 148 and 131 runs in the three matches while Mason has shouldered the bowling responsibilities.
New Zealand captain Haidee Tiffen is pleased with her team’s performance so far but believes the England match will be a tough one. “Our goal was to pick up maximum points in the group stages. But now we are down to the business end of the tournament and we know that we need to work hard,” said Tiffen.
“We will enjoy our victories, but will keep our feet on the ground as well. We have a big game on Saturday and we know that England is playing great cricket at the moment so it should be a good game.
“It was one of the favourites ahead of the event and it deserves that title. It has played consistent cricket over the last three years and has worked hard to get a stable team together.
“We need to bowl good lines and lengths and the key will be taking early wickets against them. It is going to be a great game and a good challenge and we are all really looking forward to Saturday,” she added.
New Zealand has dominated England in the previous 48 encounters, winning 29 and losing 17 of the matches played against each other with one tie and one no-result.
In the other big match on Saturday, Australia takes on India in a repeat of 2005 World Cup final. The two teams played a five-match ODI series last year with Australia winning all the games. However, Australia will be under slight pressure after having dropped two valuable points following its defeat by New Zealand in the group stage.
On top of the batting order, Shelley Nitschke and captain Karen Rolton have done bulk of the scoring, contributing 159 and 119 runs respectively while Lisa Sthalekar, Ellyse Perry and Erin Osborne have claimed five wickets apiece.
In sharp contrast, Mithali Raj stands out for India having scored 134 runs so far while none of its bowlers figures in the top 10 wicket-takers’ list.
The two teams have met 32 times before with Australia winning 27 matches and India just five.
Australia captain Karen Rolton, who needs 127 more runs to become the fourth player in ICC Women’s World Cup history to score 1000 runs, looking ahead to the Super Six stage, said: “We will go into the Super Six stage as if it was the start of the tournament, going game by game. We will treat tomorrow’s game as important as the other two games against England and Pakistan.
“It can be (a disadvantage) to go into the Super Sixes with two carry-over points. But England is playing New Zealand tomorrow while we play England in the last match. I mean, the last match can change the whole tournament. So we just need to wait and see what happens. Who knows what could happen as still a lot of important game to go in the next stage,” she said.
India captain Jhulan Goswami said her team has yet to play its best cricket and hoped her players would fire in the next stage. “We haven’t been playing up to our standards, but Saturday’s match is very important and we have to play good cricket and play positively.
“Last time we learnt lots of things and I am hoping we won’t make the same mistakes again. Hopefully we will play sensible cricket and perform like a champion.
“Australia is playing on home soil, the players will have a lot of support from their families, friends and supporters, but we have to be mentally tough and enjoy our cricket.”
At Drummoyne, Pakistan will take on the West Indies for only the ninth time in its history, with the West Indies holding a 6-2 advantage in matches played to date.
Fixtures and umpires appointments for Super Six stage:
14 Mar – Sri Lanka v South Africa, seventh-eighth position play-off, North Sydney No.2 Oval – Jeff Brookes and Neil Harrison, Gerard Abood (third)
14 Mar – Australia v India, North Sydney Oval – Brian Aldridge (referee), Brian Jerling and Tony Hill, Sarika Prasad (third), Cathy Cross (fourth)
14 Mar– New Zealand v England, Bankstown – Shahul Hameed and Tyron Wijewardena, Mick Martell (third)
14 Mar – West Indies v Pakistan, Drummoyne – Andrew Craig and Lakani Oala, Tony Ward (third)
16 Mar– Australia v Pakistan, Bankstown – Neil Harrison and Tony Hill, Kathy Cross (third)
17 Mar – India v New Zealand, North Sydney Oval – Brian Aldridge (referee), Steve Davis, Shahul Hameed, Brian Jerling (third), Nickl (fourth)
17 Mar– England v West Indies, Drummoyne, Jeff Brookes and Sarika Prasad, Lakani Oala (third)
19 Mar – Australia v England, North Sydney Oval – Brian Aldridge (referee), Brian Jerling and Sarika Prasad, Neil Harrison (third), Graeme Redman (fourth)
19 Mar– India v West Indies, Bankstown – Kathy Cross and Tyron Wijewardena, Shahul Hameed (third)
19 Mar – New Zealand v Pakistan, Drummoyne – Steve Davis and Lakani Oala, Jeff Brookes (third)
21 Mar– third-fourth position play-off, Bankstown – TBC
21 Mar – fifth-sixth position play-off, Drummoyne – TBC
22 Mar– Final, North Sydney Oval – TBC
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