Geoffrey Boycott Takes A Subtle Dig At England’s Men Side After Ladies Script Dramatic World Cup Win
Jul 24, 2017 at 2:02 PM
The Story:
England claimed their fourth World Cup in a highly anti-climactic fashion which saw them pip challengers India narrowly by nine runs.
India was sitting pretty at 191 for three in 42.5 during the chase of 229 runs before a batting collapse, triggered by seamer Anya Shrubsole, saw them get bundled out for just bowled out for 219 in 48.4 overs. The striking factor in the loss was the lower middle order which committed a suicide, losing seven wickets for 28 runs in 5.5 overs.
England displayed nerves of steel throughout the match. After early successes in the form of the wickets of Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj, opener Punam Raut (86), Harmanpreet Kaur’s (51) and Veda Krishnamurthy (35 off 34 balls) set the platform for the victory.
England was almost out of the game but last ditch efforts of not letting the game slip away without a fight eventually did the work. Spinner Laura Marsh and Hartley kept the run rate under control to keep the English fans interested before Shrubsole affected the dramatic turnaround.
Legendary Boycott Impressed
Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott was highly impressed with the performance by the ladies. He took the opportunity to congratulate Heather Knight & Co but with the witty twist to it.
His congratulatory tweet was a subtle dig at the men’s team that recently collapsed to lose the 2nd Test against South Africa at Trent Bridge.
England Ladies wonderful match! Fantastic win! You are playing better than the men 😂 #worldcup https://t.co/gPzHpcKQQ3
— Sir Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) July 23, 2017
Following the game, the stylish batsman of his time was deeply unimpressed with the collapse which saw England bundle out for 133 all out.
“They need better batsmen and a better attitude. Only Alastair Cook made any effort to play in the sort of the way that the situation demanded, Boycott, himself a former England captain, told BBC Radio’s Test Match Special.