1988 Women's Cricket World Cup final

1988 Women's Cricket
World Cup Final

Event	1988 Women's Cricket World Cup
England Australia 127/7 129/2 60 overs 44.5 overs
Australia won by eight wickets
Date	18 December 1988
Venue	1993 →

The 1988 Women's Cricket World Cup Final was a

Australia and England finished first and second in the league-stage to claim their places in the final. England batted first in the final, but were hindered by a slow outfield, and found scoring difficult. The humid conditions helped Australia's spin bowlers, Lyn Fullston and Lyn Larsen, who combined for five wickets. Jan Brittin top-scored for England with 46 runs, as they made 127 for seven. In response, Australia initially struggled, losing two early wickets for 14 runs. An unbroken partnership of 115 runs between Lindsay Reeler and Denise Annetts saw Australia to victory with more than 15 overs remaining.

Background

The

Each team played eight matches during the round-robin stage of the tournament, facing each other twice. The top two teams would progress directly to the final. Australia won all but one of their matches. Their 255-run win over the Netherlands on the opening day of the tournament remained the largest win by runs until 1997.^[2][3] Australia's only loss came against England, who beat them by 15 runs. Australia's opening batters, Lindsay Reeler and Ruth Buckstein, scored four of the five centuries made during the tournament; Reeler's 108 not out against New Zealand was the only one that was not scored against the Netherlands.^[4] England won six of their matches, and lost two; against Australia and New Zealand. Australia finished top of the group with 28 points, followed by England whose 24 points were four more than New Zealand in third. Ireland and the Netherlands were well behind, with 8 and 0 points respectively.^[2]

Match

Summary

The final was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 December. The match was broadcast live on radio and on ABC Television in Australia,^[5] and in front of a crowd of 3,326.^[6] The Melbourne Cricket Ground was a large ground, capable of seating 90,000 people;^[7] England's Jan Brittin later said: "The ground was wall-to-wall seating with no one sitting in them, which didn't lend itself to a big-match atmosphere."^[8] There had been a thunderstorm overnight, and the rain had left the outfield very wet. The England captain, Jane Powell, won the toss and decided to bat first. Her decision was primarily based on Australia's public aversion to batting second, and having to chase a target.^[2] Heather Smith of The Sydney Morning Herald suggested that, due to the wet conditions, "England may have unwittingly helped their own downfall".^[9]

After lunch, Brittin and Jo Chamberlain scored more quickly for England, earning praise from both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Times,^[9][6] but after putting on 26 runs together, Chamberlain was run out for 14 after the ball deflected off the bowler. Woodcock suggested that Brittin was England's only remaining hope.^[6] Patsy Lovell was trapped leg before wicket for four runs, while Suzie Kitson remained one not out at the end of the innings. Brittin had made England's highest score, 46 not out. Woodcock said that: "It was a pity, really, that Brittin had not got in before the 27th over, with the touch she has."^[6] England scored 127 runs, a total The Sydney Morning Herald said "was never going to be enough".^[9] Throughout their 60-over innings, England scored two boundaries.^[10] In humid conditions, they especially struggled against spin bowling;^[9] Fullston took three wickets and allowed 29 runs, while Larsen took two wickets for 22.^[10] The wet outfield also slowed scoring; this dried as the match went on, giving Australia the better of the batting conditions.^[6] In the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Carol Salmon estimated that the slow outfield cost England between 20 and 30 runs.^[2]

Aspinall, who opened the bowling for England, struggled for accuracy;^[6] conceding extras, particularly wides, had been a problem for England all tournament and the final was no exception.^[2] In spite of this, England made an early breakthrough: Chamberlain, who according to The Age "worried the Australians with her accurate medium-pacers",^[10] trapped the Australian opener Buckstein leg before wicket without scoring in the second over.^[9] Australia's next batter, Sharlene Heywood only scored five runs in nine minutes until confusion between herself and Reeler led to Heywood being run out, leaving Australia on 14 for two.^[11] Annetts joined Reeler at the crease, and early in her innings was criticised by The Age for "[dangling] a dangerously limp bat".^[10] Reeler was troubled by the quicker bowling of Kitson, and in the 14th over, England were convinced that they had dismissed her, caught behind, but the umpire turned down the appeal. Reeler claimed the ball had clipped her pads, rather than her bat, before being caught by the wicket-keeper. After the appeal, Reeler played more circumspectly for a while, before taking the offensive with "elegant driving and delicate cutting", according to The Age.^[10] In contrast to Reeler's technical style, Annetts played powerful shots, predominantly into the leg side. Reeler brought up her 50 and Australia's 100 from successive deliveries; the first a cover drive which went for a boundary, and the second an on drive. Annetts secured victory with a pull through the on side.^[10] Reeler finished with 59 runs, and Annetts with 48.^[9] The pair shared an unbroken 115-run partnership,^[10] and secured victory for Australia with eight wickets and more than 15 overs remaining.^[2]

Scorecard

• Toss: England won the toss and elected to field first
• Result: Australia won by eight wickets^[12]

Umpires:

• Robin Bailhache and Len King

Key

• * – Captain
• † – Wicket-keeper
• c Fielder – Indicates that the batsman was dismissed by a catch by the named fielder
• b Bowler – Indicates which bowler gains credit for the dismissal
• c & b Bowler – Indicates that the batsman was dismissed by a catch by the bowler

Aftermath

Reeler finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer, with 448 runs, while for the second successive World Cup, Fullston took the most wickets, with 16.