The ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 came to a riveting end on Sunday at the Lord’s. The final between India and England was played in front of a packed Lord’s crowd. England women’s team fought tooth and nail and won the final by nine runs against a resurgent, fiery Indian women’s team. The finale went down to the wire and at the end of the day cricket was the real winner. Indian eves won hearts of millions of people and have set an agenda for girls in India and proved that, if you work hard anything is possible.
The final started with hosts England winning the toss and rightfully in a big pressure match decided to bat first. English team riding on Natalie Sciver’s 51 and some late order runs from Katherine Brunt (34) and Jeeny Gunn (25*) put respectable 228/7 in 50 overs. For India, experienced Jhulan Goswami playing in possibly her last World Cup picked up 3/23 and was very well supported by the rest of the bowlers. At the half way mark India were in the driver’s seat and it was their match to lose.
The thing about finals is that nerves play an important role and India were more nervous and anxious than their counter parts. The team of Mithali Raj faltered at final stage and made some basic mistakes that cost them the game. For example, skipper Mithali’s dopey run out, when she was unsure about the run and rather than diving to save her wicket, she just ambled and gave away her wicket very naively. India were over dependent on Punam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur and when they got out panic set in and India lost their last seven wickets for 28 runs (yes! You have read it right). India, if you put it harshly choked badly and all the hard work of the past four years went in vain.
India despite being in the command of the game for the majority of time couldn’t cross the final hurdle and fell short by a whisker and ended up on the losing side. England, playing in front of their beloved home fans rose to the occasion and got their hands on the coveted trophy for the fourth time (Australia, six time winners). The performance of speedster Anya Shrubsole made all the difference in the end (6/46, best figures in World Cup final) and English team snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat.
The result aside, this Women’s World Cup will be remembered for the quality of cricket, intensity and the coverage it got from the world media. The performance by the young and dynamic Indian team will be remembered for ages and the young girls would now look up to the likes of Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma and will believe that women’s cricket can be taken as a career.
