A rampant Australia emphatically swept to their fifth women's Twenty20 World Cup title Sunday, crushing India by 85 runs in front of more than 86,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Alyssa Healy smashed a quick-fire 75 and Beth Mooney an unbeaten 78 as the defending champions plundered an ominous 184 for four - the highest score ever in a women's T20 final.
India could only manage 99 all out in reply to end a 17-day tournament that reinforced Australia's dominance, having now won five of the seven World Cups held.
"I'm just really proud of this group of players," said Australian skipper Meg Lanning.
"There was a lot of expectation on us, inside and out. Definitely some tough times in there, but we stuck with each other, had each other's backs.
"It's been massive, 86,000 people at the MCG, I've never seen it before and didn't think I'd be part of it in the middle," she added.
The blockbuster showdown between the world's top-ranked team and fast-improving India was billed as the biggest in women's cricket history.
Australia came into their sixth successive final as heavy favourites, in contrast to India who were playing their first decider.
India had upset Lanning's team in the opening game of the tournament, but they never got a look in on Sunday.
"I still have a lot of faith in my team," said disappointed Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
After Australia won the toss, Healy showed her intent with a boundary off Deepti Sharma's first ball.
She smacked two more in an eventful opening over which also saw her dropped by Shafali Verma. Opening partner Mooney also had an early let-off, with Rajeshwari Gayakwad putting down a caught and bowled chance when she was on eight. India was jittery and an aggressive Healy smashed two big sixes in succession off Gayakwad before bringing up her 12th T20 half-century.
SCOREBOARD
=========================================
Australia
=========================================
B. Mooney not out 78
A. Healy c Krishnamurthy b R. Yafav 75
M. Lanning c Pandey b Sharma 16
A. Gardner st Bhatia b Sharma 2
R. Haynes b P. Radav 4
N. Carey not out 5
Extras: (b1, nb1, w2) 4
=========================================
Total: (four wickets, 20 overs) 184
=========================================
Did not bat: Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux, Delissa Kimmince, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutt
Fall of wickets: 1-115 (Healy), 2-154 (Lanning), 3-156 (Gardner), 4-176 (Haynes)
Bowling: Sharma 4-0-38-2, Pandey 4-0-52-0, Gayakwad 4-0-29-9, P. Yadav 4-0-30-1, R. Yadav 4-0-34-1
===========================================
India
===========================================
S. Verma c Healy b Schutt 2
S. Mandhana c Carey b Molineux 11
T. Bhatiya retired hurt 2
J. Rodrigues c Carey b Jonassen 0
H. Kaur c Gardner b Jonassen 4
D. Sharma c Mooney b Carey 33
V. Krishnamurthy c Jonassen b Kimmince 19
*R. Ghosh c Carey b Schutt 18
S. Pandey c Mooney b Schutt 2
R. Yadav c Mooney b Jonassen 1
P. Yadav c Gardner b Schutt 1
R. Gayakwad not out 1
*concussion substitute
Extras: (w5) 5
===========================================
Total: (all out, 19.1 overs) 99
===========================================
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Verma), 2-8 (Rodrigues), 3-18 (Mandhana), 4-30 (Kaur), 5-58 (Krishnamurthy), 6-88 (Sharma), 7-92 (Pandey), 8-96 (Ghosh), 9-97 (R. Yadav), 10-99 (P. Yadav)
Bowling: Schutt 3.1-0-18-4, Jonassen 4-0-20-3, Molineux 4-0-21-1, Kimmince 4-0-17-1, Carey 4-0-23-1 Result: Australia won by 85 runs
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZL), Ahsan Raza (PAK)
TV umpire: Gregory Braithwaite (WIS)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).
Comments
Comments are closed.