and she closes it out! Gardner comes sprinting in from the midwicket boundary to hold on to this attempted slog. That's four wickets for Schutt, who was tied with Poonam Yadav for wickets before this match began. She closes it out with the wicket of Poonam
AUS Women vs IND Women, Final at Melbourne, T20 World Cup, Mar 08 2020 - Match Result
Alyssa Healy has broken the record for most sixes (39) in WT20Is for AUS-W, going past Meg Lanning's 36
Shikha Pandey has conceded the most runs in an innings (52) in WT20Is for IND-W, going past Mansi Joshi's record of 49
9:39pm Lanning sprints across to take the trophy from Belinda Clark. Here they are: Australia - the women's T20 champions. They're belting out the team song. The perfect match for them. And a pretty damn good tournament this one, the bar keeps rising in women's cricket. We've had a lovely time covering it - we're not done of course, watch out for the pieces from our writers at the ground. But from commentary, this is Varun signing out on behalf of Alex and Chandan.
Meg Lanning: I'm just really proud of this group of players and staff. We've had everything thrown at us, ups and downs. It was tough, definitely, especially after we lost that first game. 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. Coming in they [the injured players] were a big part of our plans, we had to go to Plan B and C. It's been massive, 86000 people at the MCG, i've never seen it before and didn't think I'd be part of it in the middle.
9:34pm Kaur walks off to applause and now the Australian team step up for their medals.
Harmanpreet Kaur: The way we played in the league games was outstanding. Today it was unfortunate that we dropped those catches. I still have a lot of faith in my team. The upcoming one-and-a-half years is very important. We need to focus, especially in fielding. But I trust this team. It's part of the game, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. You have to keep learning. [The eight day break] Sometimes it does happen, but we spent a lot of time together which is important for us. This is part of the game, sometimes you don't get games on schedule. If we talk about the last T20 World Cup, we got to the semis, and this time to the final. I think we're on the right path. Every year we are improving. We just need to think of how we play with focus in the main games. Sometimes we don't manage that. This year we are hoping for some more games in the Women's Challenger, that tournament is very important for us because it is high quality. From there we already got two good players, and hopefully in the upcoming tournaments we can get more.
9:29pm India's players walk on to collect their respective runners-up medals to loud applause from the crowd.
Beth Mooney: I'm a bit lost for words. It's been an unbelievable tournament. The crowds have been great throughout the tournament. [Playing spin] Didn't really do anything differently. We had some plans that we didn't execute in that first game [against India]. I'm just very fortunate and grateful to be given the opportunities I've been given by Cricket Australia.
Beth Mooney is the Player of the Tournament.
Alyssa Healy: That was unbelievable, thank you everyone. You cannot wipe the smile off the my place. Even if we lost this game. I never thought I would get this opportunity. It was something really special. I go out there and take my game on, it's the nature of my game. Just feeding off the crowd tonight was something different for us tonight. Moons was sensational tonight, she sort of got off strike and let me do my thing. We're having a lot of fun at the top and hopefully we can stay together at the top a little bit longer.
Alyssa Healy is the Player of the Match.
9:18pm Contrasting emotions all around, as expected. Shafali Verma being consoled by her team-mates. The 16-year-old has become a genuine new star in the women's game over the course of this tournament. Realistically in the hunt to finish top-scorer, even Player of the Tournament, coming into this game. She dropped a catch in the first over and couldn't get past the first over in the chase. Heartbroken right now, but definitely one of the best things to come out of this campaign for India. Stand by for presentations...
Jack: "All right male side, the marker has been laid! Congrats to Australia tonight. They have played the perfect T20 game in their history. Credit to India for the brave and youthful energy they have provided. They will be back for sure"
Shashank: "Hats off to the Indian ladies for making everyone stand up and take notice. In a country where none of the Indian players are even known by almost anyone, we need to support and applaud them for getting to the final. Hard luck today but a big step this year towards being world beaters. "
Emanuel Raj: "The thing I Liked about Australian team(both Men's and Women's) is the execution of their plans. It's one thing doing the homework and it's another thing to execute it under pressure. Which I think is quality of a Champion Side. It's the difference between the two team today."
Dave: "Well done Australia, deserving champions. Schutt for player of the tournament?"
Tasmeem: "Carnage with both bat and ball. Congrats to the Australian ladies. What a performance!"
Calitha: "It's been a superb tournament all round. So many new players to follow and some very, very good cricket. Here's hoping that the ICC and the boards around the world see there's value in promoting women's cricket."
9:06pm Champions for the fifth time! And they have looked it from the first ball of this match. A record crowd for women's cricket, a record crowd for a women's sporting event in Australia. More than 86,000 people showed up to watch this absolute champion side tonight, and they have decimated their opponents. An 85-run win against the team that had put them in a very precarious position after their first match of the tournament. They wobbled in their second one too, but they've picked themselves up and been perfect in the final. Not a chance for India, not once, tonight. They're huddled up, looking somber. It's been a perfect campaign until tonight. They were blown away by Alyssa Healy at the start and made mistakes from which they got no time at all to recover from. You don't get that in a World Cup final, unfortunately. But there are players in this team that will last another generation, and they will have more matches like this. One way or another, they've been part of a game-changing event for women's cricket. A massive night for the game. A lot of kids have new heroes tonight.
And now here is Megan Schutt, top wicket taker of the 2020 Women's World Cup.
End of a fantastic spell from one of Australia's top performers over the last few months.
length on middle stump, steps out and drives down the pitch. Jonassen gets down and parries it into the midwicket region
length on off stump, solidly defended on the front foot
length and in at the stumps, hurriedly swept out to deep backward square
length at off stump, bunted back down the pitch on the rise
length on off stump, blocked on the front foot
Hugs already in the Australian dugout. Any minute now...
they just can't get past her! Length on middle stump, steps out and yorks herself, almost. Looks to drill that over mid-on, but it's off the toe-end and there is Mooney again to lap it up
legcutter, short of a length outside off. Backs away for the cut and is beaten
length on off stump, driven on the rise to mid-off
just past Mooney! That would have been the best of them all if she'd hung on. Length on off, steps out and looks to punch it over the bowler. Comes off the toe-end and is straight up behind the umpire. Mooney sprints to her right and stretches with both hands, but can't get to that
comfortably taken at midwicket. Length on middle stump, looks for the slog, gets it off the high inside part of the bat. It floats up feebly in the leg side. Carey gets under it and focuses hard by the looks of it. Then grabs a simple one. Not a bad outing for Richa Ghosh, the concussion sub
short and wide outside off. Backs into the leg side and reaches out for a cut. Thick outside edge to the third man boundary
pedals backwards at mid-off and hangs on. Mooney again! Full slower ball outside off, looks to loft, inside-out. Skews it off the outside part of the bat and Mooney runs to her left, keeps her eyes on it, and holds on well
Leigh Godson: "Has there been any mention of the total attendance?" --- Think I might have heard 81,000 mentioned on air. Stunning...Update: 86,174 according to the broadcasters
full on middle stump, thick inside edge on the attempted slog
full at off stump, inside edge onto the pad as she looks to drive
full slower ball on middle, mistimed slog to deep midwicket
slower ball and in at off stump, into the body, deflected into the off side
and nearly a run-out next ball! Jonassen at mid-off. Length ball outside off, clears the front leg and drills it to mid-off. She picks up low to her left and has a shy, can't hit at the non-strikers where Ghosh is diving
Rahul Sargam: "High pressure games like this should be played studied Aussies did their home work, they knew that Pressure does everything, Healy stepped out on the very first ball to hit the boundary and remember when verma was batting Healy kept the wickets close so that verma doesn't stand ahead of crease to use the swing, this shows how well they did their home work and they are absolutely brilliant with their fielding today. "
taken at long-on! They just keep piling on the awesomeness, this team! Looking well and truly like world champions. Mooney, after batting an entire innings, has lunged forward to take a low catch at long-on. Slower ball, short of a length in the corridor. Flat-bats that and gets little elevation. Dipping quickly on Mooney but down she goes to take that safely
length at off stump, steps out and tickles it through square leg with the turn
1W | 2W | |||
1W | ||||
3W | ||||
Melbourne Cricket Ground | |
Toss | Australia Women, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2019/20 |
Player Of The Match | |
Player Of The Series | |
Series result | Australia Women won the 2019/20 ICC Women's T20 World Cup |
Match number | WT20I no. 866 |
Hours of play (local time) | 18.00 start, First Session 18.00-19.30, Interval 19.30-19.50, Second Session 19.50-21.20 |
Match days | 8 March 2020 - night (20-over match) |
IND-W Player Replacement | Substitute: in, out (2nd innings, 11.3 ov) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |