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Women’s World Cup: Australia deserved the win tonight due to consistency, says Meg Lanning

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Australia skipper Meg Lanning believed her team deserved the 71-run win in the final against England to win the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup due to the consistency shown over a long period of time.

In the tournament, Australia were unbeaten in the league stage and extended their winning streak to the semi-final as well as the final to pocket their seventh ODI World Cup title.

“We have been extremely consistent over a long period of time and to come out and perform so well throughout the tournament. I think we deserve the win tonight. We knew we had to have a number of people contributing which we had throughout the tournament.”

“We had some young players come in and make an impact straightaway which is great for the team and great for the more experienced players to keep pushing them to get better. Off the field we had great support from the coaching staff and support staff to get us to this point,” said Lanning after the match.

In the final at Hagley Oval, Australia’s win was set up by wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy’s whirlwind knock of 170 off 138 balls as they posted a gigantic score of 356/5 after pushed into batting first.

“It was incredible (Healy’s knock), (especially) to do it in a World Cup final. Some of those shots she was playing were ridiculous and I think she set the base really nicely and it is something we have spoken about a lot as a batting group, being patient upfront and building the platform to explode at the backend and that is what happened today,” observed Lanning.

Lanning was quick to praise England vice-captain Nat Sciver for her unbeaten 148 keeping the defending champions in the hunt. “She (Nat Sciver) is an incredible player and played a really special innings, on any other day it would potentially be a match-winning one. We knew England would come hard at us and we expected a contest and we certainly got that.”

Lanning, who marked her 100th ODI appearance during Sunday’s final, appreciated leg-spinner Alana King and teenage pacer Darcie Brown stepping up in the absence of players like tearaway pacer Tayla Vlaeminck, leg-spinner Georgia Wareham and left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux in the mega event.

“There’s some good depth in our squad. Tay (Vlaeminck), Wolf (Wareham) and Soph (Molineux), big shoutout to you guys. We have seen Alana King and Darcie Brown come in and dominate and lift the team, so it is important not to rely on one or two players. Injuries are unfortunately part of the sport and we’ve been able to cover that this time around.”

Lanning expressed gratitude towards England, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and New Zealand for hosting the tournament successfully as well as to her own side as well as support staff members.

“Thank you to Heather and England for the contest today, thanks to everyone at the ICC, New Zealand Cricket for getting this tournament up, it’s been an incredible effort, lots of work going on behind the scenes. I want to thank our coaches and support staff who put so much time and effort behind the scenes to get us up and about to be able to play cricket. Well done to the team and we will certainly enjoy this one.”

Lanning signed off by saying that Australia will celebrate the victory and sink in the feeling of being 50-over World Cup winners for the first time since 2013.

“We will celebrate this one first, important to make sure to look back at this period and see how successful it’s been because there’s been a lot of hard work that has gone into it and hasn’t been easy. There’s been ups and downs through the whole thing, nice to be able to get to the end of this nice little block and be able to say we are World Cup champions.”

International

Violent Clash Erupts Between Rival Supporters During Argentina vs Brazil 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has been marred in controversy as the match between Brazil and Argentina saw violent clashes between rival supporters before the start of it. The high-profile fixture had to be delayed by 30 minutes as the Marcana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro witnessed ugly scenes, with disturbing visuals emerging on social media.

With the Brazilian and Argentinian players lining up for national anthems, the camera turned towards the stands as a section of rival fans exchanged blows. The local police officials could be seen beating up a section of Argentinian fans with batons and it did not go well with the tourists. By pointing at the violent scenes, Messi and co. decided to walk off the pitch.

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International

PAK vs ENG, CWC 2023: ‘Broke 25 Crore People’s Hopes In 5 Seconds’, Netizens Troll Pakistan As England Almost Kill The Game At Toss

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Pakistan cricket fans were left ruing their luck at the toss as it fell in England’s favour at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. With Jos Buttler winning the toss marking the end of Pakistan’s campaign at the showpiece event, netizens have relentlessly trolled Babar Azam and his men for losing the contest at the toss.

Coming into the game, Pakistan were facing a near impossible equation as winning the toss was the first priority. After winning the toss, Pakistan had to beat them by a massive 287-run margin. As things stand currently, Babar Azam and co. must do the unthinkable, bowling out for a mere 20 runs and getting those in only 1.3 overs, which would be their best-case scenario.

As things stand, the target for Pakistan will get bigger and the overs will keep diminishing. Pakistan fans were already irked as Babar was excluded among the list of captains during the light show at the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Thursday. It’s worth noting that Pakistan haven’t qualified for the 50-over World Cup semi-finals since the 2011 edition.

Pakistan have also made one change from their last match, benching Hassan Ali for an extra spinner in Shadab Khan. England have gone ahead with an unchanged line-up.

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CWC 2023: South Africa vs Australia Semi-Final To Be Shifted To Mumbai If Pakistan Reach Knockouts, Confirm ICC Sources

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The ODI World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia will be shifted to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai if Pakistan qualify for the knockouts, sources in the International Cricket Council confirmed to the Free Press Journal on Thursday.

If Pakistan manage to reach the semis then they will face arch-rivals India once again in this tournament. In that case, the semi-final will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 15.

But if Pakistan don’t reach the semis then India will face either New Zealand or Afghanistan in Mumbai and South Africa will take on Australia in Kolkata as per the original schedule.India are scheduled to play their semifinal match in Mumbai only if they don’t face Pakistan. The Men in Green have refused to play in Mumbai due to security reasons.

Pakistan qualification scenario explained

But Pakistan’s qualification depends on the result of the match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka which is being played at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.

If New Zealand manage to beat Sri Lanka by a comfortable margin then Pakistan’s qualification will take a hit even if they defeat England in their last league game. A loss against the defending champions in Kolkata on November 11 will automatically knockout Pakistan from the race for the semis.

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