By Deepika Sarma
Yes, that’s right! Team West Indies are the champions of the world!
Having reached the WT20 semi-finals to win against heavyweights New Zealand, they took their amazing fight all the way to the finals for the first time ever, and upset three-time defending champions Australia in a brilliant, smashing finish.
What started off as a quiet match with few in the audience grew to be a loud, raucous game with a thrilling end. Australia batters started off by setting a formidable score for their opponents to chase – the highest ever in a women’s WorldT20 final. Elyse Villani and captain Meg Lanning had a great partnership, each scoring half-centuries and 17 fours between them. Ellyse Perry, who followed, hit two great sixes to put some energy into Australia’s finish. West Indies, for their part, got off to a somewhat sloppy start, with patchy bowling and clumsy fielding at times, but were able to keep the wickets coming towards the end, and managed to restrict Australia’s score to 148 for 5 wickets.
In the second innings, what West Indies lacked in terms of fielding, they more than made up for with their batting. Openers Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor (the team’s captain) set up a great partnership of 117 runs, with Matthews, who turned 18 in March, scoring 66 of 45 balls (six 4s, three amazing 6s) and Taylor hitting a half-ton. Having set to work right away, with a steady run rate and some thrilling shots, West Indies met their target comfortably with three balls to spare. They won the WorldT20 with a record-breaking score of 149 for 2.
And now, if you’ll excuse us, it’s pardy time.