Isa Guha (England)

Speaking after the Sri Lanka World Cup group match:

We were happy to get our campaign off with a win, although we were a little bit disappointed by the level of our performance against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
We scored 277-5 but we would have liked to have got more runs on the board, and we expected to bowl Sri Lanka out.

However, we cannot deny that we are happy with a convincing win to start the tournament and we are all thrilled for Claire Taylor that she scored a hundred.

It is the third consecutive World Cup that she has scored a hundred against Sri Lanka and her achievement is testament to her long-term dedication to making herself one of the best players in the world.

There were also some good performances by Sarah Taylor and Caroline Atkins, who bat really well together at the top of the order, and provide a platform for the rest of the team to go on and make runs.

I was quite impressed by the spirit and determination shown by the Sri Lankan team and really enjoyed playing against them. I haven’t seen very much of them before and hopefully we may have the opportunity to play a bilateral series against them in the future.

We will travel back to Sydney from Canberra tomorrow before having an intensive day of training on Monday ahead of the India game on Tuesday.

I am not surprised by the quality of India’s performances since they arrived in Australia, both in the warm-up matches and in their comprehensive victory over Pakistan.

It seems that they have gone back to India and worked very hard after their defeat to Australia and England last year and we know we are going to have to play well to beat them.

I am really looking forward to having the opportunity to bowl again at Anjum Chopra, who is one of the greats of the game, and who seems to be in excellent form at present.

Playing at the World Cup is about challenging yourself to compete against the best players in the world and I am excited about the contest.

Australia Succumb To New Zealand

New Zealand: 205/10 (H Tiffin 57, A Satterthwaite 38)

Australia: 132/6 (J Fields 26*)

New Zealand were left singing in the rain at the North Sydney Oval after overcoming Australia in their opening World Cup match.

The White Ferns triumphed by 13 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method after bad weather finally forced the players off the field for the final time.

Australia were at that stage on 132 for six in the 33rd over chasing a target of 206 in the battle of the trans-Tasman rivals.

Jodie Fields (26 not out) and Ellyse Perry, who was unbeaten on 17, appeared to be setting the game up for a thrilling finish with an unbroken partnership of 32.

Opener Shelley Nitschke had given five-time winners Australia a good start in their run chase, hitting two fours and a six before falling for 27.

Skipper Karen Rolton also managed a maximum, as well as three boundaries in her 21 before becoming the second of three wickets for Kate Pulford.

Jessica Cameron (15) also got going before getting out, and the constant loss of wickets proved crucial for the hosts in the final reckoning.

New Zealand’s total of 205 had been built on a solid half century from right-handed opener Haidee Tiffen.

The 29-year-old faced 113 balls to compile 57, sharing a third-wicket partnership of 67 with Amy Satterthwaite, who made 38.

Suzie Bates and Sara McGlashan both contributed 29 but from 171 for three the innings fell away badly, the last seven wickets going down for 34 runs.

Although expensive, Perry picked up three for 40 in her six overs while there were two wickets apiece from the off spin of Erin Osborne and Lisa Sthalekar.

Australia’s victory hopes were hit throughout by rain and the reigning champions will hope to get their Group B campaign back on track when they face South Africa in Newcastle on Tuesday.

England Win on opening day of World Cup

England: 277/5 (SC Taylor 101, C Atkins 50, L Greenway 32*)

Sri Lanka: 177/7 (S de Alwis 37)

Claire Taylor showed why she is the number one batter in the world with a brilliant century as England defeated Sri Lanka by 100 runs at Canberra on the opening day of the ICC Women’s World Cup.

33-year-old Taylor scored her eighth ODI century as England posted an impressive 277-5 before restricting Sri Lanka to 177-7.

Remarkably it was her third consecutive World Cup hundred against Sri Lanka having scored 137 not out in 2000, her first ODI hundred, and 136 in 2005.

After being put into bat, Caroline Atkins and Sarah Taylor got England off to a solid start, putting on an opening stand of 80 before Taylor (38) fell to the Sri Lankan skipper Shashikala Siriwardena.

Atkins (50) then added 72 with Taylor, who looked in exceptional form, before she fell with the score on 152.

Taylor then received excellent support from England skipper Charlotte Edwards (27 off 27 balls) and Lydia Greenway (32 not out off 45 balls), before completing her century.

Shortly afterwards she was dismissed by Eshani Lokusooriya for 101, off only 95 balls, with 10 boundaries during her superb innings, as England closed on 277-5.

Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Dedunu de Silva and Chamari Polgampola started solidly in reply, putting on 48 for the first wicket, but a combination of poor running between the wickets and good bowling from England’s attack soon had it in trouble as it collapsed to 63-3

Suwini de Alwis (37) and Hiruka Fernando (26) both threatened to make big scores, but got out at crucial stages, and in the end Sri Lanka was left to bat out the overs.

22-year-old Laura Marsh was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-32, with left-arm spinner Holly Colvin also claiming one wicket.

Sri Lanka now faces Pakistan on Monday, while England takes on India at North Sydney Oval on Tuesday.