ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 Final, India vs England: 5 things England did right to clinch the title

After some riveting encounters in the previous 30 matches of the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, it all boiled down to the ultimate showdown at Lord's- the Mecca of Cricket. The match between India and England in front of a packed house in London turned out to be an absolute spectacle as England went on to pocket their fourth World Cup title.

Under overcast conditions, Heather Knight won the toss and chose to bat first. England started off well, but wickets at regular intervals pushed them back and they were able to put a score of 228/7 in 50 overs. During their chase, India lost early wickets but clawed their way back into the game. The match went right down to the wire, but England came back stupendously and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

As we cherish the scintillating moments from the game, we take you through the things England got right on the day.

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#5 A healthy opening stand between Beaumont and Winfield

In a must-win encounter, it’s always necessary to get off to a decent start to set the ball rolling. England did exactly the same with a healthy opening stand of 47 runs in 11.1 overs between Tammy Beaumont - Woman of the Tournament and Lauren Winfield.

They didn’t score big but ensured that England didn’t lose early wickets to hand the initial advantage to the Women in Blue. Both Beaumont and Winfield were cautious but threaded the gaps to get the scoreboard ticking.

They were pretty severe on fast-bowler Shikha Pandey as they got her off to quite a few boundaries. The stand ended when Winfield was bowled round her legs by Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

#4 Jenny Gunn’s frugal spell of bowling

She didn’t pick up a wicket but made sure that she doesn’t leak runs

With 139 matches under her belt, Jenny Gunn is undoubtedly the most experienced head in the English bowling line-up. She brought all her experience into play as she gave literally nothing for the Indian batswomen to work with.

She didn’t pick up a wicket but made sure that she doesn’t leak runs to make things simpler for India. In her spell of 7 overs, she managed to bowl 29 dot balls while conceding 17 runs. She also bowled a couple of maiden overs, which helped England build pressure on the Indian team.

On a day when her team needed her to deliver, she bowled exceptionally well to help England clinch the World Cup title in front of their home crowd.

#3 Runs from England’s lower order

Brunt impressed with the bat this time

After 37.1 overs, England were tottering at 164/6 with not much firepower left in their batting line-up. However, the lower order displayed an unflustered temperament to make sure that England get themselves up to a competitive total.

First it was Katherine Brunt and Jenny Gunn, who stitched together a partnership of 32 runs in 53 balls, which resurrected the innings to some extent. The acceleration came in the final four overs of the innings through a stand of 32 runs between Gunn and Laura Marsh.

The Indian bowlers lost the plot to some extent in the death overs as Marsh and Gunn kept gathering runs. The runs eventually proved to be a bit too much for the Indian batswomen to trace down.

#2 Natalie Sciver and Sarah Taylor rescuing England

Sciver's half-century was probably the most important knock of her life

After a healthy opening stand between Beaumont and Winfield, England stuttered in the middle phase of their innings. Poonam Yadav got rid of Beaumont and their skipper Heather Knight in quick succession to put the skids under the English batting.

The onus was on Natalie Sciver and Sarah Taylor to arrest the slump and bail England out of the precarious position. They brought forward all their experience and compiled together a stand of 83 runs in 99 balls, which threatened to take the game away from India.

They didn’t let the Indian bowlers dictate terms as they picked up singles and the odd boundary to ensure the run-flow. The partnership finally ended when Taylor was caught down the leg by wicket-keeper Sushma Verma of Jhulan Goswami’s bowling.

#1 Anya Shrubsole ripping India apart

She hardly allowed the Indian batswomen to get on top of her by hitting immaculate line and lengths

Anya Shrubsole struck gold for England when it mattered the most. She ripped the heart out of India’s batting line up with a spell of 9.4-0-46-6. She hardly allowed the Indian batswomen to get on top of her by hitting immaculate line and lengths.

She struck first blood for England when she went through Smriti Mandhana’s defence to castle her. She came back in her second spell to trap Poonam Raut in front of the stumps. Veda Krishnamurthy threw her wicket away to an ugly swat, which gave the pacer her third scalp.

In the next ball, she cleaned up Jhulan Goswami for a golden duck. She picked her fifth and the all-important wicket when she foxed Deepti Sharma into playing a false stroke that was pouched by the mid-on fielder. Her sixth and final wicket came in the form of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, which sealed the deal for England.