West Indies vs Australia, T20 Women’s World Cup 2016 Final: 5 reasons why Southern Stars lost
West Indies vs Australia, T20 Women’s World Cup 2016 Final: 5 reasons why Southern Stars lost
An exceptional performance was needed to end the Southern Stars’ dominance in the World T20s. Winning the previous three editions—2010, 2012 and 2014—they had once again made it to the final of Women’s World T20 2016 and this time they were facing the mighty West Indies. While it was Australia Women’s fourth final, it was maiden appearance for Stephanie Taylor’s women. The Southern Stars had all the experience of handling pressure on the platforms of World tournaments, which was witnessed during their fight till the last minute of the final at Eden Gardens on Sunday. This bunch of Southern Stars has won every possible trophy in cricket in the recent times—ICC women’s Cricket World Cup 2015, three World T20s and Women’s Ashes—they were the automatic favourites ahead of the World T20 2016 final. Full Cricket Scorecard: Australia Women vs West Indies Women, Final match, ICC Womens T20 World Cup 2016
Nevertheless, the Windies ensured the Australians were dethroned. Here are the five reasons why the Southern Stars lost the Women’s World T20 2016 final:
Alyssa Healey’s poor form: The wicketkeeper-batter failed to give Southern Stars the required start throughout the tournament. The scores of 5, 2, 12, 6, 25 and 4 easily showed she had struggled in the World T20 and it eventually turned out to be one of the major reasons for their loss in the final. Although 148 was the highest-ever total in a world T20 final, the way the West Indies chased that down demonstrated, the Southern Stars had fallen short of at least 20-30 runs at the end. Had it not been Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani’s fifties, the Southern Stars would have got restricted under 100.
Kristen Beams and Megan Schutt: The duo was the regular wicket-takers for Australian Women prior to the final of Women’s World T20 final. Kristen and Megan had five and seven wickets apiece each prior to entering the final on Sunday. They have played the crucial role in helping the Southern Stars defend their totals in the tournament. And when the side desperately wanted them to strike, only Kristen managed to make a breakthrough. She dismissed Hayley Matthews but it was too late as Hayley had done the damage already. Hayley shared a stand of 120 runs for the first wicket with skipper Stephanie Taylor before she was dismissed for 45-ball 66. Meanwhile, Megan was smashed for 26 runs in 3 overs and was never recalled. Kristen finished with figures of 1 for 27 in 4 overs. READ: Hayley Matthews, Stephanie Taylor help West Indies win maiden World T20 title, beat Australia in T20 Women’s World Cup 2016 final by 8 wickets
Stephanie Taylor’s form: The West Indies Women lifted the World T20 trophy on Sunday due to one woman—their skipper. She has led the side successfully with her all-round performance. Her 3 wickets against New Zealand in the semi-final led them to their first-ever place in the final before she repeated the same destruction in the final, this time with the bat.
The Southern Stars surely had some plans for Stephanie, who was later named Women of the tournament, but failed to execute it. Stephanie was the top-scorer of the tournament with 246 runs at an excellent average of 41. She could have finished as West Indies’ highest wicket-taker as well, provided she would pick wickets in the final. At the end she had eight scalps to her name, while her teammate Deandra Dottin had 9.
Australians underestimated the Windies?: While Southern Stars are top-ranked in the ICC Team Rankings, West Indies Women are down in the fifth position. Too add to this, the former were the three-times defending champions and it was only Windies’ first appearance in the final of a World T20. Although the Australian skipper Meg Lanning had suggested prior to the Women’s World T20 final that Australia would not let their pass success distract them. However, it is not wrong to assume the Southern Stars must have entered the final with a win ensured already in mind.
They won the semi-final against England in the very last over by five runs and that match demonstrated their dominance in Women’s cricket. Barring the match against New Zealand in the group stage, Australia won other matches without any hurdles before the final. Moreover, it is not wrong to assume a young Southern Stars side can get carried away after being a part of immense success in a small span of time.
Poor fielding: The Southern Stars’ side is easily one of the best fielding unit in Women’s cricket. The semi-final against England was won by these women mainly due to their fielding. After an excellent start by the English side, the Southern Stars turned the game around with their fielding. Their alertness and quickness on field put brakes on the flow of free runs which forced England to go for big shots and eventually throw away their wickets in doing so.
The final on Sunday was still alive in the final over when West Indies needed three runs off six balls with Elyse Perry, Australia’s best bet in that crunch situation, was given the ball. The first ball went for a single. Perry stuck back with a dot and pressure was still on. Australia had an incredible chance to twist the game in the very next delivery when they got a chance to run Britney Cooper out while she ran for a single in desperation. To make it worse, the missed run out turned into an overthrow that ended the game and dethroned the Australians as World T20 champions.
Brief scores:
Australia Women 148 for 5 in 20 overs (Elyse Villani 52, Meg Lanning 52; Hayle Matthews 1 for 13, Deandra Dottin 2 for 33) lost to West Indies Women 149 for 2 in 20 overs (Hayle Matthews 66, Stephanie Taylor 59; Kristen Beams 1 for 27) by 8 wickets.
(Sakshi Gupta, reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)