Gunn: A win is a win

Posted By on March 24, 2016

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Jenny Gunn declared she does not mind how wins arrive at the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 after England overcame a major batting collapse to edge past West Indies in a last-ball thriller.

Having beaten India by two wickets on Tuesday, England were involved in another dramatic finish in Dharamsala today, this time against the Windies.

Charlotte Edwards’ side may have emerged with another win, their third in Group B to put them on course for the semi-finals, but were again left biting their nails at the death after a collapse of eight wickets for just 42 runs.

Seven were needed from the final over, bowled by Deandra Dottin, and the equation was narrowed down to three from two balls when Anya Shrubsole was bowled.

But Natalie Sciver and Rebecca Grundy kept cool heads under intense pressure to steer England over the line, sparking wild celebrations from their relieved dugout.

The triumph left England two points clear of the Windies and Pakistan, who they play in Chennai in their final Group B match on Sunday, and Gunn was delighted despite the late drama.

“It is three wins out of three,” Gunn told ecb.co.uk. “It was a bit closer than we thought, even closer than the other day, but a win is a win. It’s three from three so we are happy.

“It is nice to have three wins on the board in some close games, so hopefully we will go there and play a bit more relaxed and there is no nail-biter there.”

There were no signs of a close chase when Tammy Beaumont and Edwards got England off to a flyer, hitting 59 in 8.1 overs.

But spinners Afy Fletcher and Shaquana Quintyne returned figures of 3-12 and 3-19 respectively to set up the nervy finish.

“We just like to make it hard for ourselves,” Gunn explained. “We were cruising and I can’t really explain what happened.

“The wicket was good, credit to the West Indies bowlers and fielders, they did bowl really well and knuckle us down in the middle and took wickets. In the end, we kept a calm head and got over the line.”

Beaumont contributed a Twenty20 international-best score of 31, hitting five fours and a huge leg-side six during her 23-ball knock.

“Tammy has batted well all tournament really,” Gunn said. “It shows for a little one how hard she can hit the ball, hitting a six on quite a big boundary. She is coming into her own as an opening batter.”

Gunn was at the heart of a disciplined bowling display that restricted West Indies to 108 for four after they won the toss and opted to bat on a slow wicket.

West Indies’ big hitters Stafanie Taylor and Dottin struggled to get the right-armer’s medium-pace away as she conceded only 15 runs from four overs while also removing the latter in the final over.

“I felt really good, especially bowling at Dottin and Taylor who can hit the ball quite far at times,” Gunn said.

“Danni Hazell keeps taking the mickey out of me saying I’m bowling slower than her but at the moment it is working so it is a plan I will stick to.

“The wickets have helped me out here. When we move on we will have to assess the pitch and see what will work there. But this pitch was ideal to bowl slower balls.

“They didn’t lose many wickets, we thought they would come harder towards the end. Taylor and Dottin did try but credit to Anya at the end, she bowled well. We didn’t let them get after us.” 


Source: ECB

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