The Australian women’s team made light work of arch-rivals England in the final of the tri-national T20I series also involving India. They won by 58 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. Captain Meg Lanning ended their tour of India on a brilliant note as they clinched the ODI and the T20 series with utmost dominance.
It also ended Australia’s drought of winning a T20I series. It came after a gap of two and a half years. England suffered a big blow before the final when Danielle Hazell replaced Heather as the skipper as the later sustained a hamstring injury. For Australia Beth Mooney recovered in time to be available for final of the tournament.
It was England who won the toss and put the oppositions in. Tash Farrant provided an early breakthrough, but they soon recovered as Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner stitched together a useful partnership. Both scored 33 each before being sent back by Gunn.
However, the main drama was yet to unfold as Meg Lanning, and Ellyse Villani shared a sensational partnership of 139 runs where they simply tormented the English bowlers and registered the highest score in a women’s international T20I match. Lanning smashed a scintillating 88, Villani contributed a well crafted 51. Out of 205 runs, a massive 158 runs were scored of boundaries.
It also ended Australia’s wait for a piece of T20 silverware in the shortest format of the game after a long span of almost two-and-a-half years. In reply, England got off to a pretty wobbly start and never really recovered. Danielle Wyatt scored 34 and went to end the series as the leading run-getter of the tournament.
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