MELBOURNE, March 8: India saved their worst for the last as a brutal Australian side outclassed them by 85 runs for an unprecedented fifth T20 World Cup triumph in a final that promised much but delivered very little here on Sunday.
Batting first after the coin landed in Meg Lanning�s favour, Australia came out in scintillating fashion with their openers Alyssa Healy (75 off 39 balls) and Beth Mooney (78 off 54 balls) laying the foundation with a 115-run partnership in double quick time.
Stirred up by the grand occasion, their onslaught fired Australia to a formidable 184 for four in the stipulated 20 overs.
Overwhelmed by the occasion, India crumbled to 99 all out in front of a turnout of 86174 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, a record in women�s cricket history.
What worked in the home team�s favour was that their openers easily neutralised the threat posed by the in-form spinner Poonam Yadav (1/30 in 4 overs) with percentage game while taking the likes of medium-pacer Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma to the cleaners.
On the day, Pandey was smashed for 52 runs in her four overs. Half the battle was won there for the formidable Australians, who, in stark contrast to India, saved their best for the last.
The manner and magnitude of the defeat, including a few sub plots, were reminiscent of the 2003 men�s World Cup final when Ricky Ponting�s Australia thrashed Sourav Ganguly�s India in an anti-climactic title clash. � PTI
SCORECARD
Australia
Healy c Krishnamurthy b Radha 75
Mooney not out 78
Lanning c S Pandey b D Sharma 16
Gardner st T Bhatia b D Sharma 2
Haynes b P Yadav 4
Carey not out 5
Extras: (B-1,W-2, NB-1) 4
Total: (For 4 wkts in 20 overs) 184
Fall of Wickets: 115-1, 154-2, 156-3, 176-4.
Bowling: D Sharma 4-0-38-2, S Pandey 4-0-52-0, Gayakwad 4-0-29-0, Poonam 4-0-30-1, Radha 4-0-34-1.
India
Shafali c Healy b Schutt 2
Smriti c Carey b Molineux 11
Taniya retd hurt 2
Jemimah c Carey b Jonassen 0
Harmanpreet c Gardner b Jonassen 4
Deepti c Mooney b Carey 33
Veda c Jonassen b Kimmince 19
Richa c Carey b Schutt 18
Shikha c Mooney b Schutt 1
Radha c Mooney b Jonassen 1
Poonam c Gardner b Schutt 1
Rajeshwari not out 1
Extras: (LB-1 W-5) 6
Total: (All out in 19.1 overs) 99
Fall of Wickets: 1-2, 2-8, 3-18, 4-30, 5-58, 6-88, 7-92, 8-96, 9-97.
Bowling: Schutt 3.1-0-18-4, Jonassen 4-0-20-3, Molineux 4-0-21-1, Kimmince 4-0-17-1, Carey 4-0-22-1.
