A whopping 86,174 attendees, a world record for any women’s cricket match in history, turned up for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final on this day, last year at the MCG
ICC celebrated the 2020 International Working Women’s Day by scheduling the final of the Women’s World T20, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on 8 March. The tournament was the biggest event for women’s cricket with respect to usage of technology, media coverage and fan following at the venue as well as on media and social media.
Fittingly the best two teams of the tournament faced each other, hosts Australia playing their sixth final and India their first. Australia’s route to the final was smooth, barring a defeat in the first match of the tournament to the Indians – though South Africa pushed them hard in the semi-final. The Australian opening pair of Beth Mooney and Alyssa Healy was in great form, and they looked a formidable unit despite the injury to Ellyse Perry.
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The young Indians, on the other hand, surprised everyone with their win over Australia to initiate the campaign. They won every match in the group stage as well to finish at the top in Group A, a detail that helped them qualify for the final after their semi-final against England was washed out. Only 16, batting sensation Shafali Verma impressed one and all with her audacious strokeplay. She made 161 runs – a tally that included 18 fours and nine sixes. The other star for India was leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, whose nine wickets included a four-wicket haul against the Aussies.
A whopping 86,174 attendees, a world record for any women’s cricket match in history, turned up for the final on that day at the MCG. Countries across the world would go into lockdown over the next few weeks, but at this point crowds still flocked to the ground.
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Source: Twitter (CricketAus)
But let’s get back to the final. Shortly after a dazzling performance by Katy Perry, Australia captain Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to bat first Perry. This was a departure from their usual strategy of chasing.
The plan had been to bury India under the weight of runs; and Healy raced off the block right from the beginning. She hit three fours off the first over, bowled by Deepti Sharma. The over set up the mood for the match as the pair kept hitting boundaries at will. After five overs they were 47 without loss with the aid of nine boundaries.
There was no respite. Healy hit two consecutive Sixes of Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the eighth over. Dropped by Verma, Healy reached her fifty off 26 deliveries with a four in the tenth over; but she had just begun. The next over, from Shikha Pandey, went for 23, Healy striking three sixes after Mooney hit a four. Healy finally fell for 75, caught at long-on off Radha Yadav.
Now Mooney took charge. Lanning scored a quickfire 16 before she and Ashleigh Gardner were dismissed in the same over by Sharma. India made a comeback of sorts as the last three overs only went for 27 runs. But at the end Australia reached 184 and Mooney remained unbeaten on 78. For India, Sharma picked up two wickets and the two Yadavs – Poonam and Radha – one apiece.
India counted on Verma and Smriti Mandhana to provide them with a quick start. But Healy took a great catch to dismiss Verma off the third ball of the first over. India’s move of sending wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia at three did not work out. Bhatia was injured in the second over, and was replaced by Richa Ghosh as concussion substitute.
The Indian innings never took off as wickets kept falling. They were soon 30/4 with both Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur back in the hut. Sharma and Veda Krishnamurthy added 28 runs but it was never enough. Megan Schutt returned to take three more wickets in her second spell and finished with 4-18, while Jess Jonassen got 3-20. For India, Sharma top-scored with 33. They were bowled out for 99, losing the final by 85 runs.Australia got their hand on the trophy for the fifth time. Healy was named Player of the Match, while Mooney was Player of the Tournament. Despite the one-sidedness of the final, however, it was a great advertisement for women’s cricket.