Karen Rolton

'Playing the series in India helped a lot'

Nagraj Gollapudi

April 13, 2005

Karen Rolton is happy that her unbeaten century was instrumental in Australia's thumping victory over India, which won them the Women's World Cup. Rolton, who scored only 1 in the previous final against New Zealand, which Australia lost, ended up as the Player of the Tournament this time around. Speaking exclusively to Cricinfo, she tells us about the final, the competition's standards, and more:

'It was good to make up for that loss four years back' © Getty Images

Did this win make up for 2000, when you lost the final to New Zealand by just four runs?
It was good to make up for that loss four years back, but we can't change what happened then. But it was a great win this time around, and everyone played well throughout the tournament.

You seem to enjoy playing against India ...
Yes, playing the series in India helped a lot. The wicket in Centurion didn't take much turn, and that helped us a lot. And since we had played them just recently we had our plan. Also I wanted to make up for the 2000 final disappointment, and was happy that I could contribute well to the team total.

You scored at a consistent rate throughout your innings - was the wicket a good one for batting?
Yes, there wasn't a lot of bounce off the wicket and it was really quite hard to bowl on it. Winning the toss was vital, and we were always going to bat. There wasn't a blade of grass on it, and it was full of runs.

What about the strategy when you batted - you scored at about three an over till the 40-over mark, then accelerated to get 82 off the last ten overs ...
Initially we had to apply ourselves. The field was set back so we were looking to get a boundary an over and steal a couple into the gaps, and try and get five to six runs an over and then go for the hits around the close. That worked quite well, and we got a big enough total.

'Winning the toss was vital and we were always going to bat. There wasn't a blade of grass on it and it was full of runs' © Getty Images

How about India. Where did they go wrong in the field?
They started off really well by bowling and fielding well initially - they got a couple of our wickets early on, and we were scoring slowly. I guess they would have been happy if they could restrict us to around the 180 mark, but we ended up on 215, which put them under pressure. And that showed in the running between the wickets, which caused quite a few run-outs.

You won the World Cup, but the newspapers back in Australia didn't have much coverage. How do you take that?
We were happy that FoxTel was broadcasting the final back home in Australia, where our family and friends could enjoy the game. And we are happy with whatever publicity comes our way, as that would benefit the game.

What about the other teams - is the talent out there?
Yes, the teams have the right attitude and the talent could be seen by how close the top four are to each other. Australia, New Zealand, England and India are pretty close, and any one could have been the final winner. Most of the matches between these teams are closely fought contests, so the competition is tough and good.

How did you celebrate your triumph?
We just had a few drinks with the the teams from India, New Zealand and England.

And finally, will we see you back in the next World Cup?
It's a long way ahead, but I hope to be there.

© Cricinfo

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World Cup final bulletin

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Karen Rolton

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Women's World Cup

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