Meg-Lanning led Australia put their best show in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to beat Harmanpreet Kaur-led India by 85 runs. It is the fifth Women’s T20 World Cup win for Australia. India were amazing in the group stage but failed to bring their A-game in the final and thus missed winning their first Women’s World Cup.
India had a very bad start while chasing the massive target of 185 runs. First India lost their best performing batter of the tournament, Shafali Verma in the very first over. She got out on 2 runs from 3 balls while cutting the Megan Scutt’s slight short length delivery towards backward point region.
Next batter Taniya Bhatia got hit on her helmet while sweeping the ball bowled by Australia’s spinner Jess Jonassen and so she walked back to the dressing room retired hurt on 2 runs from 4 balls, with her hand on the back of her neck.
Jemimah Rodrigues could not handle the pressure and decided to go big while running down the pitch but gave an easy catch to Nicola Carey standing in the mid-on region. She made 0 from 2 balls.
Now the responsibility was on the experienced opener Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur to pull India out from this deep well of impending loss.
But they failed as Smriti Mandhana too gave a catch to Nicola Carey on the bowling of Sophie Molineux, getting out on 11 runs from 8 balls (2 fours) and Harmanpreet Kaur gave a catch to Ashleigh Gardner on the bowling of Jess Jonassen, getting out on 4 runs from 7 balls (1 four).
At this stage, India were 30/4 in 5.4 overs and India were thrown a long distance behind the winning race.
Deepti Sharma’s desperate 33 runs from 35 balls (2 fours), Veda Krishnamurthy’s 19 runs from 24 balls (1 four) and Richa Ghosh’s 18 from 18 balls (2 fours) were obviously not enough in the end.
After their dismissals, India quickly lost the rest of the tailenders as India got all-out on 99 runs in 19.1 overs with Australia winning the World Cup final by 85 runs.
Earlier Australia won the toss and decided to bat first. Opener Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney gave a terrific start to Australia.
Alyssa Healy scored 75 runs from 39 balls, hitting 7 fours and 5 sixes, before getting out on the bowling of Radha Yadav.
Beth Mooney was amazing as she stayed not-out till the end and scored 78* runs from 54 balls, hitting 10 fours along the way.
Captain Meg Lanning scored 16 runs from 15 balls, hitting 2 fours, before giving a catch to Shikha Pandey on the bowling of Deepti Sharma.
Australia finished their innings with 184 runs losing 4 wickets in the 20 overs.
Star Singer Katy Perry had earlier kicked off the ICC Women’s T20 final by her spectacular singing performances of ‘Roar’ and ‘Firework’ which instantly lifted the energy in the atmosphere to yet another level.
Meg Lanning, the Australian captain said after the match,
“I’m just proud of this group. We have had ups and downs. To put this kind of performance on the biggest day is outstanding. There was a lot of expectations from us. We were hoping to be there. To get here was a significant achievement. We had to change our tactics quickly, had to execute on the big stage. I knew she’s (Schutt) going to perform well. I’d like to thank all the support staff, to family and friends. And, also to the fans, I’m happy to play in front of you”
Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian captain, shared her thoughts after the loss, saying,
“The way we played in the league stages, it was outstanding. It was unfortunate to drop those catches today. Upcoming one and half years is important. The future is good for us, we need to trust ourselves. You have to keep learning. The first game was very good, it gave us a lot of confidence. We spent a lot of time together, unfortunate for us not to win today. We have to keep working hard. We are in the right line, every year we are improving. We need to play with more focus. Sometimes, we are not able to give our best. This year we are hoping for some more games in the Women’s T20 Challenge. That tournament is very important. Hopefully, we do get more players.”
Australia are extremely happy to win their fifth women’s T20 World Cup and that too on their home soil. On the other hand, Indian fans are sad and hurt. A few weeks back, India’s Under-19 men’s team too lost in the final of the U-19 World Cup against Bangladesh. So this double final disappointment in a matter of a few weeks will be hard for them to come to terms with for a long time.
Beth Mooney who scored most runs in the tournament ( 259 runs) was awarded as the player of the tournament.
The second-highest run-scorer of the tournament (236 runs), Alyssa Healy, was awarded as the player of the match in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 for her spectacular show of 75 runs from just 39 balls, hitting 7 fours and 5 sixes.
Check the full scorecard of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final.
Check the squads, past winners and other info here
Top Performers In ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 (Runs, Wickets, Catches, Sixes)
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