Last Updated on 3 months by Charbel Coorey
Australia Women’s beat England Women’s by 21 runs in the second ODI as the fans in Melbourne’s Junction Oval witnessed an absolute thriller. It is safe to say that the ongoing Women’s Ashes is well and truly living up to the hype.
After being bundled for a sub-par total of 180, England had a good chance to chase the total and level the series. However, the Aussie bowlers were sensational as they regularly picked wickets to ensure that the Heather Knight-led side didn’t get ahead of the game.
In the end, the Alyssa Healy led-side dismissed England for just 159. It all changed in the 36th over when Kim Garth picked up the wicket of Alice Capsey, triggering a collapse. Lisa Sthalekar, who’s part of the commentary team for this series, was also thrilled with this match.
During an interview with Arvind Kalyana Krishnan for CricBlog right after the game, Lisa drew light on this thriller and summarized the same. The former Australian cricketer also spoke about Women’s cricket in general, and named some of the best players in the world. Further on, she also gave her thoughts on the “Aussie mentality” of winning games.
Also, Lisa Sthalekar gave a detailed explanation of how the Australian player have a knack for performing under pressure. It is to be noted that the term ”clutch” has often been associated with Australian players and thus, Sthalekar spoke about the same. Lastly, the former cricketer had heaps of praises for the BCCI, and the growth of women’s cricket in India. She stated that women’s cricket in India is heading in the right direction.
Lisa Sthalekar interview – Australia have a habit of winning
Below is the audio and full transcript of CricBlog’s interview with Lisa Sthalekar.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: My first question to you is that the match (second ODI between Australia Women’s and England Women’s) we just saw, I mean what is the best way to summarize this match?
Lisa Sthalekar: Yeah, it was an incredible 50-over game and sometimes you don’t need all the hard-hitting and the 250-300 runs, and sometimes the lower scores make it interesting. I thought England bowled exceptionally well, having lost the first one-day international….To bowl Australia out for 180, they (England) needed to get to a good start. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and Australia…..As soon as the Australians were able to open the door and they could sense that England were struggling with the pressure, the tensions, more dot balls. I didn’t think that we were even gonna get into the 45-over mark. I thought that the Australians needed to pick up 10 wickets before that and Amy Jones was excellent at the end to get them very close, but in the end, I think she probably miscalculated and could’ve come back for a single in that second-last over to be able to face that last over and the first ball. But not to be and Australia have done a wonderful job.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Yeah, and my next question to you is that Australian cricket as we know, be it men’s or women’s…..The world “Clutch” is always with them. They always play well under pressure. So what in your opinion is the formula behind Australians being so good under pressure?
Lisa Sthalekar: Yeah, I think because there’s a habit of winning. So they believe they can win from any situation. So even if there was 3 wickets required and 3 runs then there would still be a belief that they can win. So when you have that kind of belief and when you see the other team kind of falter, tense-up…..Those type of things…..That’s when the Australian team tends to jump over. We saw a prime example there! (Australia Women’s team)
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Yeah, and my next question to you is that if you were to pick three or four best players in the world in women’s cricket at the moment, who would you pick?
Lisa Sthalekar: Yeah, it’s tough. There’s some amazing players from a lot of countries. Hayley Matthews has been pretty exceptional for the West Indies. Nat Sciver-Brunt….We know what she’s able to do, and then literally the GOAT Ellyse Perry, she got 60 in a low-scoring affair in the second ODI. So just shows you the class of her. But seriously, you can add probably another four or five players there so yeah, there’s some great players out there in the women’s game which is exciting to see.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Thank you, and my last question to you is that you have covered games in India and Australia and as we know right now the Women’s T20 League in India (WPL) is slowly gaining attention. So in your opinion, what do you think is the best way for WPL to be there like you know, like the way women’s cricket in Australia is rated so highly? What do you think the BCCI can do to ensure that?
Lisa Sthalekar: Yeah, the BCCI is doing a great job. The fact that they have got the Women’s Premier League. They’re looking to expand I think after this year maybe. So they’re building the foundations currently. In state cricket, there are a lot of females playing state cricket, obviously in the different zones and conferences. So more opportunities for those players and they’re more opportunities for an India A. Under-19 World Cup is about to start so everything’s moving in the right direction.
