Edwards woe despite award

 
Charlotte Edwards
Tom Collomosse8 October 2012

Charlotte Edwards admitted that being named player of the tournament was scant consolation for England’s narrow defeat in the World Twenty20 final.

England were favourites to regain the title they won in 2009 but came up agonisingly short, losing against Australia by five runs.

Despite the defeat, Edwards’s outstanding efforts in the competition were duly recognised. The England captain finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer, with an aggregate of 172 from her five matches at an average of 43. Despite the individual accolade, Edwards is still struggling to find a way to ease the disappointment.

“I would have liked to lift the World Twenty20 trophy but it wasn’t to be for us,” she said. “However, it’s obviously very humbling to be named player of the tournament and it will be something that, in time, I will reflect upon and take great pride in.

“I’m very disappointed we lost but I said to some of the Australian players that if we have to lose, I’d much rather lose like that.

“It was great to see some of the shots and to still be in with a chance of victory off the last ball. It was a great spectacle for the women’s game and I’m very proud of that. But we have to say that Australia were better than us. We were under par with the ball and that, along with our lack of discipline, really cost us.

“We’ve got to go away now and look forward to the 50-over World Cup next year.”

Australia had posted a competitive 142 for five and when England slipped to 101 for seven, it seemed they would be defeated convincingly. Despite the lower-order rally led by Jenny Gunn and Danielle Hazell, Australia held on to claim the crown.

After the tension of the women’s final, the result of the men’s match was far more emphatic. West Indies broke the hearts of the home supporters by defeating Sri Lanka to claim only their second major international trophy since the World Cup in 1979.

The Windies celebrated after Marlon Samuels’s performances with bat and ball inspired them to victory, and captain Darren Sammy hopes his side’s achievement will revive cricketing fortunes in the Caribbean in all forms of the game.

“This is the start of something special for the West Indies team,” said Sammy. “We won’t say ‘We’re back’ but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.”

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