It was a great final as England women defeat Indian women by 9 runs at the iconic Lords Cricket Ground just finished a few moments ago. Winning the toss, England made 228 for 7 in 50 overs and while chasing, India was well placed at 191 for 3 with Raut and Krishnamurthy at the crease but their inexperience cost them the match.
England captain Heather Knight won the toss and elected to bat earlier today. Their openers Beaumont and Winfield gave the team a solid start. Jhulan Goswami did not allow the England openers to score runs easily while Shikha Pandey gave runs. At the end of first 10 overs, hosts scored 43 runs.
In the 12th over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad got the breakthrough taking the wicket of Winfield for 24. Beaumont and Sarah Taylor struggled against the Indian spinners. Poonam Yadav took 2 wickets in quick succession to leave England at 63 for 3 in the 17th over. Sciver and Sarah Taylor steadied the innings with a positive approach from both the batters. Both of them added 83 runs for the fourth wicket. Jhulan Goswami was brought in the 33rd over taking 2 back to back wickets of Sarah Taylor and Wilson. Sciver completed her fifty in 65 balls and was dismissed by Jhulan Goswami. Brunt and Gunn added 32 vital runs for the 7th wicket. The 8th wicket pair of Gunn and Marsh added 32 vital runs to help the hosts post 228 for 7 in 50 overs.
Chasing the target of 229, the Indian innings got off to a worse start losing the wicket of Smriti Mandhana in the second over for 0. Mithali Raj and Punam Raut played positive strokes off the pace bowlers scoring 31 runs during the first powerplay. The captain Raj was run out to leave India at 43 for 2. Harmanpreet Kaur and Punam Raut showed confidence with their style of play. Kaur played slowly and then showed intent with her footwork. Raut completed her half century in 75 balls while Kaur also gave her full support completing the half century in 79 balls. Both of them put on 95 runs before Kaur was dismissed for 51.
Veda Krishnamurthy came to the crease and played with positive intent while Punam Raut struggled with cramps but continued to play. At 191 for 3, the thing was looking good for India but Raut was dismissed for 86. Then wickets fell in quick succession which put the Indian eves under pressure. The well set Krishnamurthy was dismissed playing a poor stroke. With 11 runs required from the 2 overs, Deepti Sharma and Gayakwad lost wickets which gave England 9 runs win. It is their fourth World Cup.
England Women 228 for 7 in 50 overs ( Sciver 51, Taylor 45, Goswami 3/23) beat Indian women 219 in 48.4 overs ( Punam Raut 86, Shurbsole 6/46) by 9 runs.
Indian captain Mithali Raj said: It was a great performance by the Indian team who played well in the finals but deserve goes to the England team who handled the pressure much better than us. I am proud of my girls. England has lots of experience and the youngsters in our tried their level best. It has changed the way of thinking for women’s cricket in India.
England captain Heather Knight said: Our girls held the nerves and we have worked in the last 18 months to deal with tough situations. The Indian batters had two good partnerships but the crowd support was great.
Player of the match Anya Shurbsole: It was a great game of cricket. The partnership between Kaur and Raut was taking the game away from us but the wicket of Kaur gave us belief, then quick wickets got us back into the match. It is a dream true to win finals at Lords.
Player of the Series Tammy Beaumont said: It feels great to win the World Cup in front of capacity crowd at Lords. Our batting order has been brilliant. I and Winfield gave the team a solid start in every match. It was a good start by both of us in today’s match. The partnership between Kaur and Raut was excellent but one wicket changed the course of the match. It has been a great tournament.
