Four reasons why Australia won the ICC Women's World Cup

It has been a week since the ICC Women’s World Cup has ended and cricket has moved onto the next big thing – Australia’s tour of India! Yet somehow, the memory of the Southern Stars picking up the World Cup is as fresh as it can be. Right from the outset, the Australian girls had dominated the competition, losing only one game in their entire campaign, ironically, to the West Indies in the Super Six stage. The 114-run win margin was the highest margin in a final, surpassing the 98-run win that Australia had recorded after beating India in 2005. The total of 259 was also the highest in a Women’s World Cup final, surpassing the previous best of 215.

Let’s have a look at what the Australians did different from the Caribbean girls to have won the coveted trophy for the sixth time:

Team spirit

The entire team played like a unit and contributed to the win. Not one, not two, but all the players had a role to play in the victory. Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes started off strongly and thereafter, Jess Cameron took over to ensure Australia had a good total to defend. Fields, along with Perry’s blows at the end, took Australia to 259. Perry was the star dismissing the top three West Indian batters along with Megan Schutt who has been brilliant throughout. Sthalekar was her brilliant self, chipping in with two wickets and taking that stunning one-hander to win Australia the cup.

Play to their strengths

The girls came out with the primary intent to win. After winning the toss, they wanted to put up as many on the board and go all out to defend it; they had a plan in place. They brought in their best for the final in Ellyse Perry and it paid off. They played to their strengths with their batters having been in great form coming in to the cup; although they struggled during the tournament, they put up a brilliant performance when it mattered most.

Adept captaincy and fielding

Jodie Fields

Like the Australian boys, the girls showed their proficiency in the field. The West Indians erred in the field on more than one occasion and gave away too many runs in the bargain; the Australians, however, saved more than the West Indians would have liked. Fields’ captaincy could be best described in one word: aggressive. In tandem with her bowlers and fielders in sync, she attacked the opposition from the first ball and it paid off. The pressure got to them and they crumbled. Attacking fields, bowlers on the money and pugnacious fielding made all the difference on the day.

Belief

They always felt they were in to win; they believed they could do it a record sixth time. Fields’ faith in her star Perry was a gamble, but she trusted her enough to give her a go ahead of Ferling, who had been such a vital part in Perry’s absence. Perry struggled in her first over and was limping her way through, but she continued to bowl determinedly and struck for her team. She made the difference to the team. Schutt, Sthalekar and Osborne chipped in and with every player in the team playing her part, they picked up the trophy for the sixth time!