Cricket: Tears after White Ferns' 'bad day at the office'

England captain Charlotte Edwards celebrates with her team. Photo / Getty Images

Tears flowed on the women's World Cup podium yesterday as New Zealand rued a poor batting performance that cost them the final against a more composed England.

England confirmed their status as world No 1 with a four-wicket win with 23 balls to spare before a 2300-strong crowd at North Sydney Oval, chasing just 167 to win.

It was their third World Cup title, and first since 1993, while New Zealand suffered their third defeat from four trips to the final.

England received US$45,000 ($80,300) of International Cricket Council (ICC) money to go with the cup while the White Ferns were given a US$25,000 consolation prize, to be split evenly among the 14-woman squad.

An indifferent batting performance cost New Zealand, who won the toss but were skittled for 166 off 47.2 overs after No 9 Lucy Doolan bailed them out with 48.

Captain Haidee Tiffen bravely fronted at the presentation ceremony before making a tearful exit.

She couldn't fault the side's preparation but admitted the occasion could have played a part.

"Maybe there were some nerves in amongst the camp. We didn't hype it up to be anything more than another day at the office, unfortunately it was a bad day at the office," she said.

Defending a substandard total, New Zealand still scrapped to the end and there were jitters in the England camp at 139 for five in the 39th over.

Doolan was the star with the ball, too, taking three of the first four England wickets to fall to end with three for 23 off 10 overs with her offspin.

She and fellow spinner Aimee Mason, with two for 28 off nine, slammed on the brakes after the seamers couldn't quell England's openers Caroline Atkins, who made 40, and Sarah Taylor, 39.

But player-of-the-match Nicky Shaw, a late callup, saw the run chase home with 17 not out after she had destroyed the New Zealand innings with four for 34.

"I thought we had a sniff and I let the girls know and I let England know that we had a sniff. Our girls just kept fighting and fighting and I'm very proud of them for doing that," Tiffen said.

England captain Charlotte Edwards admitted it was a huge relief, having dropped Shaw from the side only to recall her when Jenny Gunn was hurt.

"It's a really special moment and I'll treasure it for the rest of my life. We were up against a very good New Zealand team and they never gave up."

New Zealand were coming off dominant performances against India and Pakistan but never fired with the bat.

By the 20-over mark their prolific top-five - Tiffen, Kate Pulford, Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan - were gone with just 74 on the board.

All were caught, but only Satterthwaite got an unplayable delivery as Shaw seamed one away to dismiss the tall left-hander first ball.

Doolan cracked her highest one-day score of 48 off 57 balls, including eight fours, before she was stumped off a leg-side wide. She threw in a reverse sweep for four off the back of the bat.

She and Nicola Browne, 25, added the only significant partnership, 63 for the eighth wicket.

"It's pretty sombre [in the dressing room]," coach Gary Stead said. "We came into the game expecting to win and wanting to win. There's some upset people in there as you would expect.

If we'd scratched out 200 we would have been pretty competitive."

- NZPA