Blackwell believed in her bowlers

Australia's captain Alex Blackwell insists she never doubted her team could take home the World Twenty20 title despite their low score in the final. Australia battled to 106 for 8 from their 20 overs and it looked as though New Zealand should have little trouble with the chase, but they batted out their overs and could only manage 103 for 6.

"We believed our total was going to be enough," Blackwell said. "I know our bowling attack has the level-mindedness to get through whatever challenge was in front of them."

The New Zealanders needed 14 off the final over and Blackwell entrusted the bowling to the 19-year-old Ellyse Perry. She kept her cool and when a boundary from the final delivery would have tied the game, Perry stuck out her foot to stop a cleanly-hit straight drive from Sophie Devine that might have decided the outcome.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to win a World Cup for your country rather than lose it," Perry said. "That's how you have to approach things like that. I feel very grateful to Alex for believing I could do it and I felt I had the support of my team which was really obvious in the fielding of Rene [Farrell] and Shelley [Nitschke] down on the boundary."

There were two sliding saves that saved final-over boundaries and New Zealand soon discovered they had left too much to be achieved at the death. Wickets halted their momentum and they were disappointed to find themselves in trouble at 36 for 5 after 11 overs, following their strong effort with the ball.

"I was very pleased with how we bowled but obviously Australia bowled slightly better," the New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins said. "They bowled hard into the wicket and we saw a few variations in bounce.

"They used that well to their advantage. But the loss of early wickets put us in a hole although the way Sophie Devine batted at the end was outstanding and it gave us a chance."