Disappointed with fourth place: Bates
First Published : 16 Feb 2013, 10:23
Last Modified : 18 Feb 2013, 11:18
New Zealand finished their 2013 ICC Women’s World Cup campaign in fourth place, after losing their third-place play-off to England by four wickets at the Brabourne Stadium.
Looking back on their performance in the series, White Ferns’ captain Suzie Bates said, “In the last three games, we probably played our worst cricket, which is what we will remember from the tournament. The game against West Indies really hurt us badly. We didn’t play well enough.”
“We bowled well in that game [against the West Indies], and although we lost early wickets, we should have probably chased the runs there. In the first game against England, we played a good game of cricket; we were in a good position to chase it down. We were in a position to win, but we fell away after a good start, which we also did today,” she added.
While discussing their second loss to England in the tournament, the White Ferns captain observed, “Today again I thought we were 30 runs short. We were a little bit inconsistent against the top teams. If you are not executing, then they really hurt you. It probably explains our losses in the three games. Against West Indies and England, we were not consistent enough and we have been punished.”
The tournament though has thrown up major upsets. Commenting on these surprises and the evolution of women’s cricket since the last World Cup, Bates said, “From Day 1, we have had a look at some of the matches, which had been televised. Sri Lanka beating teams for the first time. Then West Indies beat Australia and New Zealand for the first time. We don’t want to be losing to the lower-ranked teams, but it creates such an exciting tournament where every game counts.”
"Four years ago, there were just the four teams [England, Australia, India and New Zealand] competing for a place in the final, whereas now all teams have got genuine chance,”
“The fact more games that have been on TV, I think has really helped. It’s showed how many more boundaries are being scored, the big hitters, the wicket-takers – it all shows how much the game has progressed in four years.
Speaking about their loss and finishing in fourth position, she said, “It is a huge disappointment to finish fourth.”
However, looking forward to the next World Cup, she said, “There are still four years for the next World Cup and we’ve got a group that can challenge for the No.1 spot.”
