OTD| New Zealand beat Australia by 4 runs to win the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2000

On this day New Zealand won their first and solitary Women’s World Cup title by defeating Australia by a narrow margin of 4 runs. The World Cup was hosted by New Zealand and they reigned supreme in their home. It was a historic victory for New Zealand as they defeated the mighty Australia who are in the league of their own in women’s cricket. 

First Innings

The New Zealand skipper Emily Drumm won the toss and opted to bat first in the all-important final. The Kiwi team had a forgettable start to their innings as they lost their opener Anna Smith very early. Rebecca Rolls and captain Emily Drumm stitched a small partnership to progress the Kiwi innings but Drumm could not stay on the crease for too long. Her dismissal was quickly followed by Rebecca Rolls.’ 

The Kiwis kept losing wickets at regular intervals and at no point in the first innings they could build a substantial partnership that could hurt the Australians. Kathryn Ramel tried to do something in the middle order but her efforts were not enough. New Zealand ended the first innings with a low total of 184 runs and Australia’s Cathryn Fitzpatrick emerged as the highest wicket-taker for Australia with 3 wickets in her account. 

Second Innings

The Australians were supposed to chase the total comfortably but the Kiwi bowling unit had other plans. They started the second innings on a high with a couple of wickets in the first 3 overs. Captain Belinda Clark was solid at one end and she tried to extract the team out of a poor start. She played a 91-run knock but there was no other batter who could assist and complement the captain in the same way. 

The collapse of the wicket halted for a while but when it restarted it did not stop. The Australian team got very close to the total but could not cross the final hurdle. They fell short by 4 runs in the end and New Zealand clinched their first-ever World Cup title. It still remains the only World Cup victory for New Zealand in Women’s cricket which establishes the significance of this moment in Kiwi cricket.