Cape Town, Feb 27 (IANS) After winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for a record sixth time, Australia captain Meg Lanning acknowledged her side for putting in a ‘pretty special effort’, which saw them go undefeated throughout the tournament, including beating South Africa in the final by 19 runs.
“It’s a pretty special effort from the group. All teams came hard at us – we knew that was going to happen. But we performed well throughout the tournament, so super proud. We felt like it was a good score, but we had to bowl well.”
“The wicket wasn’t as good as it was in the semi-final. We felt confident if we could hit the right lengths and target the stumps. We had to put pressure on South Africa,” said Meg after the match ended.
With the title win at Cape Town, Meg also overtook Ricky Ponting for captain with the greatest number of ICC titles. She had previously captained Australia to 2014, 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cup wins and 2022 ODI World Cup title, apart from a gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“We knew it would be an amazing atmosphere, which it was. It was a great event. It was about keeping things simple when the pressure is on, and getting things done. Nice to finish off with a win with this group. It’s a special group. Not just the players, but also the support staff that put in a lot of work behind the scenes, and allow us to go out and play our cricket,” she added.
The 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup victory came after Meg returned to the sport after a five-month break. Co-incidentally, the victory at Cape Town was Meg’s 100th T20I as captain of Australia. Beth Mooney, Player of the Match in the final with a breezy 74, was thrilled to have Meg, also her coffee and game-day breakfast buddy, back to playing the sport.
“When Meg retires – hopefully not for a few more years, hope you’re listening Meg – she’ll go down as one of the greatest leaders, not just in cricket but in sport and just generally as well. She’s got an immense cricket brain.”
“She’s cool, calm and collected under pressure and she’s got empathy as well, she understands how people feel in certain situations because she’s been there before and she’s experienced a lot as a person and as a leader and as a cricketer. Absolutely she’ll go down as one of the greatest ever for our team and we’re very lucky to have her.”
–IANS
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