Jess Cameron won her second World Cup with the Australian Women’s T20 team earlier this month. 85651_01 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By LIAM TWOMEY
A BRILLIANT knock from Jess Cameron in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup has lifted Australia to champion status.
Playing in her second T20 World Cup, the Werribee resident saved her best performance for last, blasting 45 runs from just 34 balls in the final against England.
Her innings, which included five fours and one six, lifted Australia to 4/142 from its allotted 20 overs.
The target proved to be too great for the old enemy, with England falling four runs shorts in a nail-biting finish.
With an early flight home the next day, Cameron said celebrations had been restricted to the change rooms but was rapt to lift her second World Cup trophy.
“We actually had a flight at 3am that morning so we had a little celebration in the rooms and then it was straight off to the airport,” she said.
“Going into the tournament we definitely wanted to win from the outset. I mean it is a World Cup and we were defending our title so we were aiming to hold that trophy and fortunately for us we were able to get the win.
“To do that (defend the title) we had to make sure we did all the little things right.”
Cameron was one of the star performers for Australia throughout the tournament, scoring 36 not out in the opening match win against India before adding another 42 runs three days later against Pakistan.
Despite her outstanding tournament, the 23-year-old said she was feeling the pressure going into the final.
“I was actually really nervous to be honest,” she said.
“I was really fidgety because we sort of had to wait around until about 2.30 so I was really nervous and just wanted to get out there and play. I had to try and keep myself occupied and just went around to all the rooms and sort of annoyed everyone to see what they were up too.
“It was good to have an individual performance like that but as I keep saying to everyone, it is better to have a win than an individual effort so I’m just happy we got over the line and I got to hold that cup up.”
Cameron will now turn her attention to the Women’s National Cricket League to play for the Victoria Spirit.
With one eye already on next year’s 50 over World Cup, Cameron is hopeful the latest win will encourage more females to become involved in cricket.
“I think the sport is getting some good exposure at the moment,” she said.
“We have had a lot of people tweeting at us and things like that so that’s really good.
“Playing in front of a big crowd has given us that little bit more exposure as well. Hopefully they are inspired by that and they can start playing cricket a little bit earlier now.”
