Kiwis respectful of Aussies but better prepared than in 1997

Lynn McConnell

December 20, 2000

New Zealand captain Emily Drumm believes her side is in much better shape for Saturday's CricInfo Women's World Cup final than they were when meeting Australia in the 1997 Cup final in India.

Australia beat New Zealand then and over half of the New Zealand side, which took a nine-wicket win over India at BIL Oval today to reach this year's final, were in India.

"This is a totally different outlook. The wickets are different, we are playing good cricket on good wickets.

"We are in a much better position than in 1997 because of the experience since then, we are playing in a home tournament in front of our crowd which will lift us that little bit more at vital stages of the game," she said.

Drumm said she was nervous about today's game, more because it was a last chance than anything else.

She wasn't surprised that India changed its batting around.

"Nothing they do surprises me. We took it with a grain of salt and tried to maximise our own performance," she said.

However, India's technical deficiencies had come into play. They lacked the skill and imagination to move the ball around in the field.

"They have a couple of technical problems that limits them with their shot selection. They can't hit to certain parts of the ground to long off and mid-off. Purima Rau hit all her shots to the same places," she said.

The application of a third umpire was something women players were not used to because they rarely have their games covered by television but she said she was pleased they were involved and was delighted to get decisions that might otherwise have just been regarded as part and parcel of women's cricket.

When batting she had no problems had New Zealand taken 40 overs to score the 118 they needed to win.

"We had our time of trying to achieve things by a certain number of overs. The strike rate doesn't matter in semi-finals," she said.

Thinking about the final was not on the official agenda before the game but she said the thought had passed through her mind yesterday that if India could be beaten New Zealand would be in the final.

"I was really nervous about it," she said.

CricInfo Player of the Match Anna O'Leary admitted the fact that everyone had said it would be a New Zealand-Australia final had been at the backs of their minds.

"We just have to make sure we play to the best of our ability," she said.

The best part of the win was that the side could now concentrate on the final.

O'Leary said she knew the Australian bowlers but she had to concentrate on her own game.

A crowd of more than 3000 is expected to make the journey out from Christchurch to watch the game which starts at 10am on Saturday.

© Cricinfo

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