England beats NZ to win cricket Women's World Cup

SYDNEY: Caroline Atkins top-scored with 40 runs and late replacement Nicky Shaw took four wickets for 34 as England beat New Zealand by four wickets Sunday to claim the Women's World Cup.

It was England's third World Cup win and came after the side dismissed New Zealand for 166 in the 47th over at North Sydney Oval after the Kiwis won the toss and chose to bat.

England scored 167-6 and surpassed New Zealand's total with 23 balls remaining.

Fast medium bowler Shaw received a call-up just a few minutes before the team list was submitted after Jenny Gunn aggravated a calf strain during her team's warmup. Shaw's figures of 4-34 from 8.2 overs were her best one-day international totals of her career.

Shaw (17) was at the crease when Holly Colvin (5) hit the winning runs for England.
Earlier, New Zealand slumped to 101-7 after 29 overs and at one stage went scoreless for 23 balls.

An eighth-wicket partnership of 63 off 99 balls between Lucy Doolan (48) and Nicola Browne (25) added some much needed respectability to the Kiwi total.

England captain Charlotte Edwards said the win was a big relief after having dropped Shaw from the side only to recall her when Gunn suffered her injury.

"It's a really special moment and I'll treasure it for the rest of my life," said Edwards. "We were up against a very good New Zealand team and they never gave up."

New Zealand captain Haidee Tiffen said her side might have been caught up in the emotion of the day.

"Maybe there were some nerves in amongst the camp," Tiffen said. "We didn't hype it up to be anything more than another day at the office. Unfortunately it was a bad day at the office."

On Saturday, India beat Australia by three wickets in the match for third place, ensuring the hosts posted their worst performance at any Women's World Cup. It was the first time in nine tournaments Australia has finished lower than third and the first time they had lost three times in the one tournament.

At Bankstown Oval in Sydney, India clinched the win with 13 balls to spare in a match that was reduced to 46 overs after a 104-minute morning rain delay. Australia was dismissed for 142, with veteran skipper Karen Rolton top-scoring with 52 in possibly her final World Cup innings.

Player of the match Rumeli Dhar (24 not out; 2-21) and captain Jhulan Goswami (18 not out), who was playing her 100th one-day international, also combined at the end in a decisive unbroken stand of 41 off 51 balls to guide India to a winning total of 145-7.

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Score of final:

England 167-6 (Caroline Atkins 40, Sarah Taylor 39; Lucy Doolan 3-23, Aimee Mason 2-28) def. New Zealand 166 all out (Lucy Doolan 48, Haidee Tiffen 30, Nicola Browne 25; Nicky Shaw 4-34, Laura Marsh 2-34) by four wickets at North Sydney Oval.