Graham Croker
Universities Cricket Club members Alex Blackwell and Lisa Sthalekar recently returned from the West Indies where they were members of the Australian team which won the 2010 Women’s World Twenty20 Championship.
In a tense final, Australia – captained by Blackwell – amassed 8-106 off their 20 overs and fought hard to restrict New Zealand to 6-103 to take the title.
Elyse Perry, who studies at Sydney University, was adjudged star of the final, taking career best figures of 2-4 from her two overs.
Australia advanced to the final with pool wins over England and South Africa and a semi-final win over the West Indies, while New Zealand had wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India.
The title capped a great couple of seasons for the two Universities players. Blackwell was the NSW Women’s Cricketer of the Year for 2009-10, while Sthalekar was the Australian International Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2008 and 2009.
Blackwell and Sthalekar literally led from the front for Australia and NSW during the 2009-10 season.
As stand-in captain of Australia, Blackwell cracked 92 in the third one-day international win over New Zealand to secure the Rose Bowl for 2009-10, while Sthalekar led NSW to their fifth consecutive National League title with a win over Victoria in the final.
