The Australian team proved their experience as they defeated India by 85 runs in the final of ICC Women’s World T20 tournament played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG on Sunday.
Australian captain Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to bat first. Alyssa Healy was dropped by Shafali Verma in the first over itself which proved costly for the Indian team. Beth Mooney got a reprieve as she was dropped by Rajeshwari Gayakwad on her own bowling. Healy and Mooney took advantage of the chances. At the end of the first six overs, Australia was 49 for 0.
After the power play overs, Healy played with positive intent taking on Indian spinners. Beth Mooney showed her aggression and made the batting look easy. Healy completed his fifty off just 30 balls to put consistent pressure on the opposition. The openers took 23 runs off Shikha Pandey in the 11th over. Trying to hit another six, Healy was dismissed by Radha Yadav for a superb 75 off 39 balls. The Australian openers added 115 runs for the opening wicket. Australian captain Meg Lanning came to the crease and played some lovely shots.
The experienced Beth Mooney continued her aggressive intent and reached her fifty off 41 balls. Deepti Sharma struck to finally get rid of Meg Lanning. Lanning and Mooney added 39 runs for the 2nd wicket. In the same over, Sharma struck to dismiss Gardner. The Indian bowlers did a great job to restrict the run flow in death overs, but Mooney looked in great touch. Australia posted 184 for 4 in 20 overs.
Chasing 185 runs to win, it was not an ideal start for the Indian team as 16-year-old Shafali Verma was dismissed in the very first over by Megan Schutt. Taniya Bhatia who came at number 3 struggled and had to retired hurt due to the ball hitting his head. Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur failed. At the end of six overs, India were struggling at 32 for 4.
After the power play overs, Veda Krishna Murthy and Deepti Sharma tried her best to score runs but till then it became an uphill task. Both added 28 runs for the 5th wicket. Richa Ghosh who came as concussion substitute looked impressive, but the task was too steep to achieve.
Australian women scored 184 for 4 in 20 overs (Mooney 78*, Healy 75, Deepti Sharma 2/38) beat Indian women 99 in 19.1 overs (Deepti Sharma 33, Megan Schutt 4/18, Jess Jonassen 3/20) by 85 runs.
For her superb innings of 75 off 39 balls, Healy was awarded the player of the match. Beth Mooney who scored 259 runs in the tournament was named player of the series.
