User:Harrias/2000 Women's Cricket World Cup Final

The 2000 Women's Cricket World Cup Final was a women's One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and Australia played on 23 December 2000 at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, New Zealand. It was the culmination of the 2000 Women's Cricket World Cup, the seventh Women's Cricket World Cup. New Zealand won by 4 runs, clinching their first World Cup title, after finishing as runners-up in both the 1993 and 1997 tournaments. Rick Eyre of ESPNcricinfo suggested that it was "the greatest World Cup final ever."

Background
The 2000 Women's Cricket World Cup was the seventh Women's Cricket World Cup. The first had been held in 1973, pre-dating the first men's Cricket World Cup by two years. The 2000 tournament featured eight teams; Australia, England, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The tournament took place between 29 November and 23 December 2000, featuring 31 matches over 25 days. Australia and England had won all of the previous tournaments; Australia, the holders, had four titles, and England two. New Zealand had been losing finalists in 1993 and 1997.

Route to the final
Australia and New Zealand finished first and second in the round-robin group stage of the tournament, and then won their respective semi-finals against South Africa and India to meet in the final for the second consecutive tournament.

Summary
The final was held at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, in Lincoln, New Zealand, on 23 December, in front of a crowd of around 3,000. The New Zealand captain, Emily Drumm, won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that according to the BBC report was expected to be good for batting. Anna O'Leary and Rebecca Rolls opened the batting for New Zealand, sharing a partnership of 17 runs before O'Leary was dismissed in the fourth over, bowled by Terry McGregor for one run. That wicket brought Drumm into bat; her and Rolls played attacking cricket that took advantage of the fielding restrictions which applied for the first 15 overs of the innings. Their partnership was interrupted by rain, which delayed the match by half an hour. Ultimately, both were dismissed in quick succession: Drumm was caught behind off the bowling of McGregor for 21 runs, and two balls later Rolls hit a ball from Charmaine Mason to deep backward square, where she was caught by McGregor, having scored 34 runs. The wickets left New Zealand on 60 for three.

Old
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first, but according to Eyre, they "crumbled to be all out" for 184 runs. Kathryn Ramel scored the most runs for New Zealand, accruing 41 from 63 deliveries, while Terry McGregor bowled particularly economically for Australia. In their response, Australia lost the early wickets of Lisa Keightley and Karen Rolton, but Belinda Clark remained at the crease, and scored 91 runs before being bowled in the 42nd over. Australia kept losing wickets, and from the first ball of the final over, requiring five more runs to win, Charmaine Mason was caught behind, leaving Australia all out for 180. Katrina Keenan, Clare Nicholson and Rachel Pullar took two wickets apiece for New Zealand, with Keenan in particular restricting the run-rate effectively. Clark's batting, which accounted for three fifths of the runs scored while she was at the crease, led her to be presented with the player of the match award.



Scorecard

 * Toss: New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first
 * Result: Australia won by four runs

Umpires:
 * On-field umpires: Peter Parker and Dave Quested
 * TV umpire: Brian Jerling

Key
 * * – Captain
 * † – Wicket-keeper
 * c Fielder – Indicates that the batter 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 batter was dismissed by a catch by the bowler
 * lbw – Indicates the batter was dismissed leg before wicket