On Sunday when Australia and India locked horns against each other in the World T20 final at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, an in house crowd of close to 86,000 and over a million viewers across the globe expected a cracker of a contest. However, India playing their first-ever World T20 final clearly were not able to hold their nerves and it seemed as if the bug of anxiety had bitten them as they took to the field.
A dropped catch of Alyssa Healy in the very first over of the match did them no good as the swashbuckling wicket-keeper bat punished the Women in Blue with a ferocious 75 (39) to stitch a solid opening partnership of 115 in 11.4 overs with southpaw Beth Mooney (78). The Indian bowlers had no answer to the Aussie onslaught as the four-time champions massacred the bowling attack. Deepti Sharma struck with 2-38 in her four overs, with Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav picking up one wicket each.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH – T20 WORLD CUP FINAL.
ALYSSA HEALY! ❤️#AUSvIND #T20WorldCup #INDvAUS #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/zxXYj2opmO
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 8, 2020
Chasing a mammoth 185 in the final required a special effort from Harmanpreet Kaur and co. However, the otherwise powerful batting succumbed to the pressure of the final as the batters could not withstand the Aussie bowling attack. Apart from Deepti Sharma (33), none of her other teammates looked in shape as each of them bit the dust in quick succession. Jess Jonassen (3-20) and Megan Schutt (4-18), who was wary of India’s openers Shafali Verma (2) and Smriti Mandhana (11), wreaked havoc with their disciplined bowling.
With India bundled out for 99 in 19.1 overs, it was as if the two teams batted on two different wickets. A defeat by 85 runs was a disappointing one as India who had an invincible run in the tournament ended on a low.
The mighty Australians continued their strong dominance over the World T20 as the reigning champions won their fifth title in seven editions.
🏆 CHAMPIONS! 🏆
2009 – England
2010 – Australia
2012 – Australia
2014 – Australia
2016 – West Indies
2018 – Australia
2020 – Australia#T20WorldCup #AUSvIND #Shafali #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/M6OTpajoNg— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 8, 2020
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.