England will look to break the spell
Series: ICC Womens World T20, 2016 Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Date & Time: Mar 30, 02:30 PM LOCAL
An edge over the opposition: Having won its last two league games at the
same venue, Australia has the advantage over England of being more
acclimatised to both the conditions and the surface. Photo: Sandeep
Saxena
And
with the English men and women playing their semifinals of the World
T20 here on Wednesday, albeit against different opponents, Charlotte
Edwards’s girls will be hoping to not only avenge their defeat to
Australia in the previous two editions, but also set a template for the
men to follow.
The England and Australian women have
faced each other in a World T20 title clash in the last two editions,
with the Southern Stars emerging winners on both occasions. In terms of
T20I results, though, England has the upper hand, having won 14 of its
24 battles with Australia.
The world’s top-two
ranked sides have quite a history between them and neither has made a
secret of its intent to continue the same.
England
has been unbeaten in the competition so far despite a few scares,
including against host India, and Charlotte knows the team will have to
be on top of its game in every department if it has to have a chance of
bettering its record against the defending champion.
Having
won its last two league games at the same venue, with a dominant
performance, Meg Lanning-led Australia has the advantage of being more
acclimatised to both the conditions and the surface.
Barring
the blip against New Zealand, Australia’s bowling has struck
consistently. The only issue for the team will be its untested middle
order.
England, on the other hand, has been hugely
reliant on veteran captain Charlotte Edwards, the side’s top-scorer, and
tournament’s joint-top, so far.
It has the seam attack to make any batting uncomfortable, but is matched in that department.
“We
weren’t favourites to win the semifinal in 2009 so this is a similar
kind of situation and I hope to have a similar result,” Charlotte
admitted, making no secret of her wish for Wednesday.
England
as host had won the first meeting between the two in the competition
seven years back, though a lot of water has flown under the bridge
since.
With both sides promising to play hard,
aggressive cricket “on the front foot” as Lanning said, it would be a
delight for the fans.
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