Dubai: Australia’s dominance in World Indoor Cricket Federation World Cup continued with both their men’s and women’s teams reaching the final to be played on Saturday at Insportz, Dubai.
Meanwhile, India defeated hosts UAE 73-57 in the Plate semi-final to book their place in the Plate Final.
The Australians got the better of New Zealand in both semi-finals. The Australian women’s team, eight-time champions, reached the final after beating New Zealand 97 to 56.
Their men’s team reached the final with an emphatic 73 to 19 win against New Zealand. Incidentally, it won’t be a clean sweep for the Australians as the New Zealand Under-21 men’s team reached the final defeating their cross-Tasman rivals 63-58. New Zealand will meet England in the final of the Under-21 event.
However, the most-watched contest was the India-UAE plate semi-final, with a vociferous crowd cheering on both teams.
After reaching the final, a delighted Anis Sajan, the mentor of the Indian team, said: “Our boys played great cricket. We had only eight guys as four of our players had got injured and the boys showed character to beat an UAE team made up of experienced players for the second time to make the plate final.”
Australian women’s top scorer Nicole Martin, who scored 25 runs in the semi-final victory, announced that her team were looking forward to defending their world title for a record ninth time. “This was the result we were looking for, we concentrated on our own game and got the result we were after. Pressure is a funny thing, we have been trying hard as a team, and we work together well as a team, it is all a part of the process and just building up for tomorrows grand final.”
Australian men’s team captain Lyle Teske too expressed a desire to remain unbeaten in the showpiece. “New Zealand on their day are a quality team, and so you can’t write anyone off. Finals is a different story, you just have to turn up and anything can happen. We just keep sticking to our game plans and worrying about what we can do and improve every game and hopefully that will be enough.”
India captain Girish Kyatanahalli, who used to play in UAE’s domestic cricket for Danube with some of the UAE players, said: “Our boys were very charged up to win. We know the UAE players quite well, and off the field we are good friends. But, on the field, even if you play against your brother, you are rivals. Once the game is over we remain friends.”
Brief scores:
Open Men: (Men’s SF 1 vs 2) Australia (M) 73 (Lyle Teske 17, Nick Ward 2 wkts) def. New Zealand (Victor Davies 14, Vinesh Bennett 3 wkts). Player of the match Lyle Teske (Australia) and Victor Davies (New Zealand)
Women’s Semi-Final 1 vs 2) Team Australia (W) 97 (Nicole Martin 25, Jacinta Savage 2 wkts,) def. Team New Zealand 56 (Gemma Krebs 15, Ashleigh Doble 2 wkts) Player of the Match – Ashleigh Doble.
Under-21 -Semi New Zealand 21 (M) 63(Dion Joll 21, Alexander Floros 2 wkts) def. Australia 58 (Blair Oakley 16, Taine Jolley 3 wkts) Player of the Match – Taine Jolley
England Under-21 (M) 83 (Ben Silver 23, Mandus Venter 1 wkt) def. South Africa 74 (Marne Welthagen 15, Oliver Green 2 wkts) Player of the Match Ben Silver
(Men’s SF 3 vs 4) South Africa (M) 54 (Myles Simpson 20, Nilantha Wijekoon. 2 wkts) def. Sri Lanka (M) 40 (Salman Faris 15, Myles Simpson 2 wkts) Player of the Match: Myles Simpson - South Africa
(Men’s Plate SF 5 vs 6) India (M) 73 (Daivik Rai 16, Nashwan Nasir 1wkts) def. UAE (M) 57 (Prasath Kumara 17, Aries Aziz 2 wkts). Player of the Match: Aries Aziz India
(Men’s Plate SF 7 vs.8 )Team England (M) 98 (Thomas Roe 20, Sharan Swaminathan 2 wkts) def. Team Singapore (M) 91 (Mustafa Kathawala 23 runs, Mubeen Rashid 3 wkts). Player of the Match – Mubeen Rashid (17 runs, 3 wickets)
Team South Africa (W) 121 (Nadine Moodley 23, Beth Unwin 1 wkt) def. Team England (W) 88 (Beth Unwin 16, Jenna Hambrook 2 wkt) Player of the Match – Jenna Hambrook.
