England captain Charlotte Edwards admitted Australia handled the occasion better than her side after their five-run defeat in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 semi-final in Delhi.
Edwards and Tammy Beaumont’s opening stand of 67 set England on their way in pursuit of 133 but, like previous batting collapses in the tournament, they lost seven wickets for 50 as they suffered an agonising defeat to their old rivals.
Australia are now on course to record their fourth consecutive World T20 triumph as they await the winner of New Zealand and West Indies and Edwards feels the collapse was a crucial factor in the loss.
“We came back brilliantly with the ball,” she said at the post-match presentation.
“We dragged them back, then we started brilliantly with the bat but we lost our way between (overs) 10 and 14.
“We showed at the end we could have got it (the target), but it wasn’t meant to be today.”
England have now been beaten by the Aussies in the last three World T20s, settling for runners-up in the previous two before defeat in the last four today.
In the build-up to the match, Edwards was quoted as saying that both teams saw each other as “frenemies” but believes their counterparts dealt with the pressure in decisive moments in the match.
“I think we a lot about each other now,” Edwards added.
“There isn’t any secrets between the two teams. Australia held their nerves today and we didn’t so that was probably the difference.”
Head Coach Mark Robinson remained positive in the midst of their defeat, insisting that the result should not overshadow their efforts in the tournament.
“We’ve had a fantastic tournament,” he told Sky Sports.
“The team have learned a lot from pressure situations. Twenty20 is a cruel game at times. It was five runs, one boundary and just a few runs.
“There’s no difference between those sides, skill-wise, but there’s huge talent in this dressing room, and we’re going to have an exciting time going forward.”
Source: ECB