Sciver was on a hiding to nothing after England’s bowlers had been toothless in opposition to Healy and fellow opener Rachael Haynes, with whom she shared a 160-run opening partnership, to not point out Beth Mooney’s fast half-century.
Then there was England’s top-order collapse that decreased the defending champions to 38 for two and 86 for 3, resulting in the inevitability that Sciver would run out of companions, however a fifth-wicket stand with Sophia Dunkley price 50 and the 65 she placed on for the ninth wicket with rookie offspinner Charlie Dean.
“After the first match, getting so close, I guess the disappointment was something that stuck with me,” Sciver mentioned. “Getting a century against the top-ranked team was really special as well, so it’s weird how it’s worked out, how it’s been against Australia.
“With my batting over this match, I felt fairly assured and I would in all probability not accomplished in addition to I had anticipated having felt that means, so it is good to finish with a great rating, however it might have been nicer to have the trophy.”
Australia won their group game by 12 runs after Haynes’ 130 put England’s target of 311 just out of reach, despite Sciver’s 109 not out. And Sciver was left wondering what might have been had those two half-century stands in the final – not to mention the 48 she shared with captain Heather Knight – gone bigger.
“When Charlie Dean was there, we had a very good chat,” Sciver said. “If we had been there with two or three overs to spare, we knew that it might be an enormous ask however there could be an opportunity we may recover from the road.
“You could tell that the Australians were really keen on taking our wicket and changing the momentum again, because we did have a bit of momentum, I guess.”
Because it occurred, Dunkley fell for a run-a-ball 22 and Dean for a assured 21 off 24 to Alana King and Jess Jonassen, respectively, because the Australian spinners claimed three wickets apiece.
And whereas Healy had hoped her innings could be seen as “brave” in that she performed her means, whatever the event, Sciver may maybe take some solace from the truth that she had accomplished the identical.
“When you’re chasing 350-odd, there’s only really one way you can play it,” Sciver mentioned of her boundary-laden innings that featured the one six of the match, a pull off King over deep midwicket. “When you’re chasing, the mentality of scoring runs takes care of itself. You know that you need to be out there for a long time but also pick up boundaries where you can. Luckily, that seemed to come naturally, but it just got a bit too much at the end.”
Knight mentioned it had been a “50-50” name when she put Australia in upon successful the toss however, in hindsight, she would not have modified it.
“Something Australia do really well as a batting unit is when they get a partnership together they really make it a match-defining partnership,” Knight mentioned. “They’re really ruthless with that and they extend those big partnerships, and I think it’s something we can certainly do a little bit better as a side.
“Tonight, Nat had an excellent innings, however we’ve got another person along with her and with the potential of chasing that rating – though we allow them to get just a few too many with the ball.
“I’m very disappointed but really proud of Nat and the fight she put on to give us a chance of winning. We, unfortunately, didn’t have anyone with her to be able to really maximise two set batters. We can take a lot of pride in what we’ve done as a group, the way we fought throughout the competition to be in this position and the way we fought tonight.”
“It’s nice to end with a good score, but it would have been nicer to have the trophy.”
Nat Sciver
Lanning was additionally filled with reward for Sciver.
“There were a few nervous moments, there’s no doubt about that,” Lanning mentioned. “She also played an incredible innings, Nat Sciver, that was something really special, and on another day, that wins your team the game, so we always felt under the pump a little bit while she was at the crease in particular.
“However we had been in a position to get wickets on the proper time – every time they had been in a position to construct a partnership we felt like we had been in a position to break it. Chasing that complete, it’s important to maintain going the entire time, so we knew that if we may stick with our weapons and simply maintain it actually easy, it ought to have been sufficient, however completely, there have been some nerves there.”
The key feature of England’s campaign was that they bounced back from a three-match losing streak at the start of the tournament to win their next five games and earn the right to defend their title against an Australian side building a reputation as the best in women’s cricketing history. As a result, Knight said there were “loads of positives” to take away.
“The character and the resilience within the group to show it round after these first three video games when clearly we had been in a reasonably robust scenario reveals volumes about this group and the individuals that we have in it and the employees we have as effectively to get right here with an opportunity of successful,” Knight said.
“By way of issues we have to do otherwise, it is going to take somewhat little bit of time to digest what went incorrect and I feel additionally, it is honest to say, credit score to Australia they’ve outplayed us tonight.”
Valkerie Baynes is a basic editor at ESPNcricinfo
