Good friends (and better enemies) Australia and New Zealand met in the final of the women's edition of the 2010 World Twenty20. After their male counterparts failed to topple the auld enemy England, it fell to Alex Blackwell and her team to ensure that the green and gold would take home some gold on the day. In her way was Aimee Watkins and her White Ferns, who had enjoyed a good run up to the tournament and were in their third consecutive World Cup final. They were 0-2 going into this one, and would have hoped that the third time was their charm.
With the Aussies in trouble at 20/3, it seemed fortune was on their side. Nicola Browne did the most damage, her four overs going for just 11 runs, with a Test-like economy rate of 2.75 an over. When Alyssa Healy was run out off a dropped catch in the 16th over with the scoreboard reading 71/6, an innings total of 100 would have seemed like a luxury, but Lisa Sthalekar struck two boundaries in the 19th over, bowled by Sophie Devine. Devine had her revenge when she bowled Sthalekar, but the 100 was up. Rene Farrell and Sarah Elliott took six runs in Lucy Doolan's final over, and Farrell might well have hit a boundary off the final ball of the innings were it not for a magnificent catch by Aimee Watkins at cover. The Australians were kept to a below-par 106/8; Leah Poulton top-scored with 20, and the White Ferns conceded only four 4s in the 20 overs.
In reply, Suzie Bates struck a big six off Rene Farrell, but Aimee Watkins fell to Clea Smith the next ball. Sara McGlashan was run out thanks to a bad mix-up with Bates, and Ellyse Perry grabbed two wickets to leave the White Ferns at 30/4. New Zealand crawled at 3.27 an over, and Shelly Nitschke dismissed Rachel Priest to reduce the Kiwis to 36/5. Going into the 19th over, the White Ferns needed 14.50, and Devine caused jaws to drop when she took the last two balls off Rene Farrell for 4 and 6. 15 runs from the final six deliveries, and Ellyse Perry bowled a tight five balls to bring the equation down to 5 required off the last ball. Devine drove the ball straight down the ground, and it might well have gone to the boundary to tie the match - but Perry's soccer skills kicked in, and she deflected the ball to keep the Kiwis to a single, delivering Australia a World Cup win.
Heartbreak for the White Ferns, who have only themselves to blame; their batsmen did a terrible job of pacing their innings, undoing all the hard work that their bowlers did. That said, the Australians typically never gave up, even with a paltry total to defend. Nineteen-year old Ellyse Perry picked up the Player of the Match award for her brilliant 4-0-18-3, and cheered on by the defeated (but relieved) men's squad, Alex Blackwell had the honor of ensuring that Australia didn't leave the Caribbean empty-handed.