Women’s T20 WC: Molineux hails Australia’s clinical display after crushing WI to reach eighth final

London, June 30 (IANS) Australia captain Sophie Molineux praised her team’s composure and all-round performance after the six-time champions stormed into their eighth ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final with a commanding eight-wicket win over West Indies at The Oval on Tuesday.

Australia once again underlined why they remain the benchmark in women’s cricket, restricting West Indies to 125/7 before chasing down the target with 42 balls to spare. Beth Mooney (61 not out) and Ashleigh Gardner (35 not out) combined for an unbroken stand of 84 for the third wicket to see the chase through. Earlier, Molineux, Gardner, and Georgia Wareham claimed two wickets apiece to set up the crushing win.

Reflecting on Australia’s unbeaten run to the final, Molineux said the team had focused on enjoying the tournament, rather than looking too far ahead.

“Umm, you just have to ride it in the T20 World Cups. It’s full of momentum and swings. I have really enjoyed it. The group has really enjoyed it. That’s probably the biggest thing for us. We have helped and stopped ourselves from thinking too far ahead, and now we can think about the final, which is pretty cool,” she said.

The Australian captain also explained her decision to persist with the seamers during the powerplay, a move that eventually paid dividends after Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph made a steady start.

“Kimmy (Kim Garth) shapes the ball beautifully both ways and bowls beautifully in the Power-play. Lucy did a really good job as well. I just thought it was the best matchup between those two (Matthews & Joseph). I thought we bowled really well. Hayley and Joseph tried to go hard at us, but we managed to hold our nerve, which was pretty cool,” Molineux said.

Australia never allowed the modest target to become complicated despite early wickets, with Mooney and Gardner ensuring there were no late nerves.

“No. We just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible. Moons and Ash were clinical. Volly played a good hand to get us away and just calmed our nerves in the change room. It was really good to see,” she said.

There was a brief concern when Ellyse Perry walked off during the chase with quad awareness, but Molineux played down fears over the veteran all-rounder’s availability for Sunday’s final.

“Yeah, bit of that again (precaution). It was just quad awareness. Sounds like she will be more than okay to go on Sunday,” she said.

With five days before the title clash, Molineux said the squad would first enjoy the achievement before shifting its focus to the championship match.

“Sleep (laughs). I am looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight. We will make sure that we celebrate what’s been a pretty cool two weeks for the girls. We will make sure we do that. We will rest and recover for a little bit and then build up without thinking too much. We will play the game over and over in our heads. We will make the most of the week and ensure we enjoy every part of it,” she added.

–IANS

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