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'It was like amateurs playing professionals' - Stead

It was a terrible mismatch as the previously unbeaten New Zealand crashed to a six-wicket victory against England in a one-sided World Twenty20 final at Lord's

Cricinfo staff
21-Jun-2009
England held their sway over New Zealand in two World Cup finals in the last three months  •  Getty Images

England held their sway over New Zealand in two World Cup finals in the last three months  •  Getty Images

New Zealand coach Gary Stead has said there was clearly a mismatch evident in their six-wicket defeat to England in the final of the World Twenty20 at Lord's. England's win ensured they held sway over New Zealand in two World Cup finals in the last three months. "They've won two World Cups and today felt a little bit like the amateurs playing the professionals, Stead said. "It's the first time we've been knocked over and overall they are setting the standards at the moment and it's something we need to get better at."
Having secured the ODI World Cup at Sydney in March, England were looking for a repeat performance and did well to dismiss New Zealand for a lowly 85 after choosing to field. Katherine Brunt claimed 3 for 6, and an unbeaten 39 from Claire Taylor during the chase meant England had accomplished their task.
England captain Charlotte Edwards admitted they had a far easier win than they expected. "It was a lot easier than I thought it might be," Edwards said. "New Zealand were playing good cricket coming into this game and I would have taken 85 coming into today.
"A lot of credit has to go to our bowling attack because they bowled superbly well, the best bowling performance of the tournament. The 50-over was the ultimate prize but this, for the profile of the game and the coverage we're probably going to get around the world, it's probably up there with that."
"We're just delighted. We came back from the World Cup and we wanted this trophy and now we've got it to show the 50-over wasn't a fluke."