BBC Sportcricket

Charlotte Edwards wants to take women's cricket "to the next level" after captaining England to the World Twenty20 final on Sunday at Lord's.

England, who are 50-over world champions, won a place at Lord's with an eight-wicket win over Australia.

"The 50-over format was the ultimate prize but to win the Twenty20 could mean the whole profile goes from strength to strength," said Edwards.

"Hopefully we can take the game to the next level."

Edwards won the toss at The Oval and may well have regretted her decision to bat first as she saw Australia make 163-5.

But a superb third-wicket partnership between Claire Taylor (76 not out) and Beth Morgan (46 not out) saw England pull off an unlikely victory with three balls to spare.

"At half-time I thought maybe 164 was a bit too much," admitted Edwards.

It's an early start but we're hopeful people will get out of bed Charlotte Edwards on Sunday's final, which starts at 1030 BST

"But then when I played the first ball and realised how good the wicket was I knew that if we batted well we got close. The longer Claire and Beth were there the easier it became.

"A lot of people in the press have written about our 'fragile middle order' and so the most pleasing thing for me was Beth Morgan's knock.

"She's one of the hardest trainers in our team and to perform on the biggest stage today I'm really pleased for her."

Sunday's final against New Zealand takes place before the men's match, and Edwards said she hoped fans who had been dreaming of seeing the England men's team in action would get to the ground early to watch the women instead.

"I know we have an early start at 1030am but I'm hoping people will come out and watch," she added.

"You never know if people read their tickets and realise we're on; it's an early start but we're hopeful people will get out of bed."

Defeated Australia skipper Karen Rolton, who is stepping down as captain, said: "To England's credit they batted really well with that partnership and that won them the game.

"I'm very disappointed and I would have loved to finish (as captain) playing in the final at Lord's but we weren't quite good enough.

"It was a great wicket to bat on. I think for both teams it was hard to defend the boundaries but to England's credit they came out and batted well with the partnership that won them the game."

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