Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney struck the highest scores in ICC Women's T20 World Cup final history as record-breaking Australia secured a famous fifth title on home soil, in Melbourne, on Sunday. A record-breaking attendance for a women's cricket match of 86,174 watched on as Australia downed first-time finalists India by 85 runs at the MCG, with the openers setting the tone for a clinical performance.
Meg Lanning's Australia, long the benchmark in women's cricket, will bid for a record-extending fifth T20 World Cup title after a rocky ride to their sixth final. Harmanpreet Kaur-captained India arrive at the MCG undefeated and without having bowled a ball in the rained-out semi-final against England.
Images from the women's T20 World Cup match between India and New Zealand in Melbourne, on Thursday.
Indian women's cricket team would look to extend its domination in the shortest format and achieve a rare double series win
Inability to handle pressure in big finals has kept the women's team away from a major ICC trophy
Jhulan Goswami said winning a World Cup title remains her ultimate dream
The Indian women's team begins its three-ODI series against England at home on Friday in the absence of star player Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been ruled out of the series due to an ankle injury.
Veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami was named in the Indian women's team for the T20 tri-series involving Australia and England with Harmanpreet Kaur back as the leader.
All that's transpired on and off the cricket pitch on Saturday.
The celebrations after the 2017 World Cup went on for the next few months. But there was one question that the Indian cricketers failed to respond to in their interviews. 'What was their next assignment?' Nobody knew; the players were waiting for the BCCI to tell them. The BCCI, with barely any time from its endless legal tangles, had nothing in mind immediately. The likes of Australia and England were back on the field, battling it out in the Ashes in front of sizeable crowds. But for Mithali Raj and team, there was no road ahead.
