England heroines claim world cup double

England's women put down a marker for the men's team to follow this summer by claiming their second global title inside four months.

After beating New Zealand to win the 50-over World Cup in March, Charlotte Edwards's team repeated the trick at Lord's yesterday by recording a six-wicket victory over the same opponents to collect the World Twenty20 crown. Claire Taylor, who guided the side to a stunning semi-final win over Australia on Friday, was the star of the show with an unbeaten 39, which helped England to victory with three overs to spare.

Skipper Edwards said: "We came back from the World Cup and we have shown that winning that competition was no fluke.

"We're showing that women's cricket is a force to be reckoned with and, hopefully, more people will watch us this summer."

New Zealand were bowled out for just 85 as Katherine Brunt claimed three for six from her four overs.

Brunt said: "Lord's suits my bowling and we want to keep coming here - the crowd were amazing.

"It wasn't a high score to chase but they put us under a lot of pressure and we got a bit twitchy at one point."