England have edge over NZ The captain of the England female cricket team, Charlotte Edwards, thinks that their excellent record against New Zealand in the big matches will give them a psychological edge in their Women's World Twenty20 semi-final this Thursday. The England side beat New Zealand in the finals of both the 50-over World Cup and World Twenty20 in 2009. Charlotte says, "I think it has to play a part. We've played the two World Cups against them and we've been successful to date so hopefully that continues." The England female squad won the inaugural World T20 title on home soil in 2009, but unfortunately were knocked out at the group stage in 2010 following defeats by Australia and West Indies. Edwards said the current side are determined to erase the memory of that disappointment as they target a place in Sunday's final. "We've worked towards this for 18 months," she said. "We want to be in that final on Sunday and we know that if we play our best cricket we should be there, but we all know about the T20 format and we're going to have to play 120 balls in both innings better than the Kiwis, which I believe we can do." Australia will play West Indies in the other semi-final on Friday, with the final to be played in Colombo on Sunday, before the men's final. Edwards, the highest run-scorer in women's T20 internationals, says the standard of cricket at the tournament has improved markedly since the 2010 edition. "Scores are getting larger and people are playing more shots," she said. "There are the reverse sweeps, that's a normal option now - and the fielding, that's gone up another notch. "There has been some unbelievable fielding and catching, and more sixes hit than in previous tournaments." New Zealand captain Suzie Bates said it would be a difficult game for her side but backed her players to rise to the occasion. Meanwhile, South Africa and India both sealed their places at the 2014 World Twenty20 after victories over Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively |
