in Super Over eliminator
AUSTRALIA women   beat England in the Super Over courtesy of their greater number of sixes hit after a dramatic final-over run out sealed a tie at St Kitts.
In a low-scoring encounter England were rolled over for 104 but fought back to take the match into the eliminator over which earned Australia the two points in Group A
(Scores: Australia 104 tied with England 104 (Australia won the one-over eliminator)
. Time and again in a fluctuating contest, it looked as though Australia would stretch clear of England only for the defending champions to surge back and it was fitting that, ultimately, the teams could not be separated.
At 44 for 2 Australia had recovered from a shaky start to take control of the game but Danielle Hazell and Holly Colvin both struck in the space of four balls to pull England back. When three wickets then fell for three runs to leave Australia floundering at 63 for 7 it England were entertaining hopes of remarkable victory but Lisa Sthalekar and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy shared a 23-run stand that looked close to matchwinning.
Healy, the niece of former Australian wicketkeeper Ian, fell to the impressive Nicky Shaw who then removed Sthalekar in her next over to set up seven to win off the final over.
Charlotte Edwards brought herself on and when Rene Farrell took four off the first ball and two more off the third the equation looked easy. But Edwards held her nerve and Farrell lost hers and was runout by Beth Morgan to set up the Super Over finish.
Earlier in the day England’s innings failed to recover from a disastrous start. After losing Edwards to Clea Smith for six, Claire Taylor – their star player – was run out without facing a ball.
Taylor’s reputation since last year’s tournament has swelled to such a degree that her return in the side was assumed to be the panacea to England’s poor form that saw them lose to the West Indies in their recent series, but she did not get the chance to hit a ball.
Sarah Taylor provided the only innings of substance making 46 from 44 balls before she became one of Sthalekar’s three wickets. (Cricinfo)