England beat India to win Plate Grand Final.
Australia Open Men closed the day with their 10th world title in hand. Speaking later Australian captain Lyle Teske said: "I am ecstatic, the boys played really well, to come out today, batting first, and get that score, that pretty much won us the game. The processes we follow, always puts us in good stead."
With nine teams on board, this has been the most successful running of the Indoor Cricket World Cup said Greg Donnelly, President of World Indoor Cricket Federation. "The World Cup has been fantastic, it has been a huge success, it was brought here to Dubai on the back of WICF discussions some two years ago, and it was a strategic move on our behalf to bring it here, hoping to attract the attention of the ICC. The media response has been astounding, better than we could have expected."
The Women's Open final was won by a dominant Australia who beat South Africa 121 to 52. The defending champions excelled in every department of the game.
Australia Open Women's captain Jude Coleman who has been captain of the side for the past 12 years said winning the World Cup a record ninth time was special, even if the team has won every world cup title so far. "It is always a thrill, you can never get used to it, because you put in so much hard work, so every single one means something different. This time we had a lot of new players so it was a sort of rebuilding really,"
Australia were crowned 21-under women's champions for a sixth consecutive time. New Zealand's run chase was on course, until the final pair came into bat. The final four overs saw an Australian comeback, New Zealand finding it hard to cope with the pressure.
Australia captain Adelaide Campion said: "We definitely left it to the last minute, which wasn't great for us, but good for the spectators. It has been awesome being here in the UAE and doing all the sight-seeing. Everyone has been so friendly and helpful, the set-up here is brilliant we definitely have to come back here."
The 21 under Men's final also went right down to the wire. New Zealand falling short by just three runs. Australia's 21 under team winning a sixth world Cup in a row.
Australia captain Ryan Dowse: "It is unbelievable, a wounded Aussie is a dangerous Aussie, they fired us up yesterday when we lost, and it was always going to go one way from there. Fair effort to those boys, they pushed us hard all week.
"When we were batting, in about the 12th over, we managed to get our way back into the game, at that stage it was very ,much looking like a New Zealand victory, but we came back and changed the momentum of the game. I think handling the pressure is one thing, but it is all about being able to compose yourself in the situation. We had our plans that we wanted to follow, but we strayed away from those plans at time, but in the end the boys dug deep and it is wonderful when plans work out in the end."
The Men's Open Plate final drew in a large crowd of supporters for both India and England. Both corners had plenty to cheer, with both teams gaining the advantage at different points. England who were at the losing end of a few close matches through the tournament, were relieved to finally get across the line first. With the Plate trophy in hand the captain Anish Patel hopes, Indoor cricket will get a boost back home in England.
England captain Anish Patel: "The previous games gave us a bit of practice, not being able to cross the line in close situations, but we have done it, we have chased it, yes it went to the last over, but this time we held our nerve. That is a big positive for us to take from the whole tournament. We have become better at handling pressure especially in the last moments and it is great to get the win."
"Hopefully the ECB will look at what we have achieved, and back us a bit more in our feature cricket, and this is good for the game itself as we try to get more juniors to play, this could help us achieve that growth amongst the youngsters."
