Lydia Greenway's KOS blog - entry five

WITH another convincing win under our belts we were keen to continue to improve our game for our next challenge, Pakistan. Although on paper and past results we should easily beat them we were not going to take any games lightly.

Winning the toss the Pakistan captain elected to bat. Their openers came at us and it would be fair to say we were a bit surprised that they managed to achieve 50-1 off 18 overs. We thought we were in for a tough game. This feeling changed though when the spin twins came on. With the Pakistanis reluctant to use their feet they found it hard to get the ball away, so much so that we put in a short leg, and it was me who was the lucky one who got put under the helmet!

Holly (Colvin) and Boggy (Laura Marsh) gave them nothing and Boggy deservedly finished with five wickets for next to no runs. They were eventually bowled out for 78, something we were all pleased with. Going into bat we felt confident. Ebony (Rainford-Brent) and Sarah (Taylor) opened and got us off to a solid start. The wicket of Sarah brought Lottie (Charlotte Edwards) to the crease who always looked comfortable. The Pakistanis were bowling well and then another wicket fell, which brought me to the crease to join Lottie and I helped her finish the job off. Winning this game meant we went through to the Super Six stage where we play the top three teams from the other group.

With only a day in between games we had a light training session to prepare ourselves as best as we could for what was going to be our biggest game of the World Cup so far. New Zealand are always tough competition and in our team meeting that night their batting order confirmed this.

There was no doubt that all the girls were up for the game and although there were a lot of nerves around there was also a lot of excitement. We won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket that we thought would deteriorate throughout the day. It became clear that the wicket was a grafting one and this is exactly what Caroline (Atkins) and Charlotte did. Even though we got off to a relatively slow start we set it up so that we still had a lot of wickets in the last 10 overs, which incidentally were brilliant. Jen (Gunn) and Beth (Morgan) hit the ball to all parts of the ground with Jen hitting one of the biggest sixes I have seen for a while. We finished on a score of 201-5, something we were more than happy with. We knew though that this game was only halfway through.

It was important to keep the bowling tight early and create pressure which is what both Nunny (Katherine Brunt )and Isa (Guha) were doing – anything under four runs was good for us. Throughout the whole game we never relaxed or thought the game was won, but with some brilliant bowling again form Holly and Laura the run rate was creeping up and wickets started to fall. We eventually got over the line and the kiwis fell short by 31 runs.

This was definitely our biggest win so far and with news filtering through that the Indians had beaten the Aussies our spirits were lifted even more. The results mean that if we beat the West Indies tomorrow we are definitely in the World Cup final. As exciting as this is though we are still looking to improve and our only focus now is beating the West Indies.

Personally I have been pleased with my own contributions, both batting and fielding-wise, but like the team I still want more. Off the field spirits have been high. My roomie (Beth Morgan) and I have been regular viewers of CSI and seem to have fallen into a bit of a routine – dinner is never complete until we have visited the local 7/11 convenience store where we buy a paddle-pop each (very nice ice-cream). It’s obviously very low in fat and GI! It’s virtually one of our five daily fresh fruit and veg portions – that’s what we keep telling ourselves anyway!

Also Anya Shrubsole is a new woman – we all chipped in $5 for a makeover. The money paid for a haircut and highlights and some of the girls learnt their saloning skills for free! This included eyebrow plucking and make up tips. Jealousy probably isn’t the word but I don’t remember being the youngest member of the squad and having perks like that!

Lydia