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Scorecard:
Australia: 184-4 (20 overs)
Beth Mooney 78*(54), Alyssa Healy 75(39); Deepti Sharma 2/38
India: 99 all-out (19.1 overs)
Deepti Sharma 33(35), Veda Krishnamurthy 19(24); Megan Schutt 4/18
For live cricket scores and commentary, click here.
Australia won their fifth women's T20 World Cup as they beat India by 85 runs. The stars of the game were the Australian opening pair of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney as it was their attacking batting that helped the hosts post a total that was well beyond India's reach in the end.
Chasing a mammoth 185 runs to win, India got off to a horror start as Shafali Verma was caught behind on just the third delivery of their chase. After Taniya Bhatia left the field due to concussion, Jemimah Rodrigues could not handle the pressure and departed soon, holding out to mid-on. India's last hopes were on the experienced Smriti Mandhana and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. However, the horrible run of form for the skipper continued and Mandhana too could not make an impact as India were soon four down. Deepti Sharma tried to keep the scoreboard ticking along with some contributions from Veda Krishnamurthy and Richa Ghosh but in the end, it all proved too much for the Indian team to achieve.
Also see – Indian Premier League 2020 schedule
Earlier, Australia opted to bat first with the intention of putting the runs on the board in the final. Alyssa Healy made her intentions very clear by coming down the track and hitting the first ball over mid-wicket for a boundary. Healy played a counter-attacking brand of cricket and did not let any bowler settle. She and Beth Mooney added 115 runs for the first wicket. After Healy's dismissal for 75, Mooney took the initiative and began to change gears. She found the boundaries at the right intervals and stayed unbeaten on 78, which helped Australia get to a huge total of 184-4 in their 20 overs, setting the highest total scored in a T20 World Cup final.
Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney help Australia post daunting total
Australia got off to a flying start as Healy got 14 runs off the first over from Deepti Sharma. She began to play her natural game and attacked the Indian bowlers, taking full advantage of the field restrictions. Mooney played an excellent role of the second fiddle while Healy was going hard. The duo added 115 runs for the first wicket, out of which Healy scored 75 off 39 balls, which included seven fours and five huge sixes.
Healy's wicket meant that Mooney had to continue the momentum and she made sure that it was the case. She began to find the boundary regularly and scored an unbeaten 78 off 54 balls in a knock that included ten fours. Mooney played the role of an anchor to perfection throughout the innings and helped Australia post a mammoth 184-4 in their 20 overs.
Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen help Australia sink Indian ship
The Indian batting had got off to a poor start as they lost Shafali Verma, who was caught behind in the very first over off the bowling of Megan Schutt, and Taniya Bhatia walked back into the hut due to concussion. It was Jess Jonassen who had the best impact from the Australian bowlers as she first picked up the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues, who was caught at mid-on, and then the wicket of the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, whose horror form in the tournament continued.
No Indian batter was able to withstand the pressure of the final as the Australian bowlers were all over them like a rash. Jonassen came back into the attack towards the end by taking the wicket of Radha Yadav and ended up with figures of 3/20 off her four overs. Schutt performed the final rites as she came back to pick wickets of Richa Ghosh, Shikha Pandey, and Poonam Yadav to end up with figures of 4/18 and help bowl out India for just 99 runs.
Megan Schutt grabbed the telling blow by sending back the number one ranked T20 batter Shafali Verma back in the hut in the very first over and set the tone early for Australia. She was the pick of the Australian bowlers with figures of 4/18 and was absolutely over the moon with the team's title defense.
These were her thoughts after the game:
I am absolutely overwhelmed, the atmosphere couldn't have been any better. I was excited and ready to go, been waiting for this since a long time. They came out with so much confidence, the openers. We all are happy to be here and be a part of this event. We just want to enjoy every moment.
Jess Jonassen had figures of 3/20 and was instrumental in picking key Indian batters.
These were her thoughts after the game:
Feels absolutely incredible at the moment. How good was that (the Mexican wave). We had a massive 12 months leading to this and we didn't have the smoothest of the tournaments, but we had our best game today.
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