Watch: Was This The Game Changing Over In Women's World Cup Final Between Australia And England?
ICC Women's World Cup Final: Dropped catches were England's biggest nemesis in the summit clash against Australia as Meg Lanning's side posted 356/5 in 50 overs.
Australia brought their A game to the Hagley Oval in Christchurch as they posted 365/5 in the ICC Women's World Cup final against England on Sunday. Alyssa Healy registered 170 runs as England were left chasing the leather for the entire duration of 50 overs after sending Australia into bat. However, the fate of the innings might have been completely different if England had held on to their catches. For the entire duration of the ongoing tournament, England have been bogged down by poor fielding and in the group stages, their fielding was even criticised by Nasser Hussain.
Danni Wyatt and Natalie Sciver dropped two catches in the 21st over of Australia's innings and as a result, both Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes got a reprieve.
On the first ball of the 21st over, Wyatt dropped Haynes' catch at backward point. Wyatt dived with both her hands; the ball hit her on the right hand but she was not able to hang on.Â
Two balls later, Sciver gave Healy a reprieve. Healy pulled the ball to mid-wicket, Sciver went with both her hands, but she too was not able to hang on.
Owing to Healy's 170-run knock, Australia posted 356/5 in the allotted 50 overs. With this knock, the right-handed batter registered the highest score in World Cup finals. She also holds the record for scoring most runs (509) in a single edition of the Women's World Cup.
In the summit clash against England, Healy was finally sent back to the pavilion in the 46th over but it was not before she scored 170 runs to propel Australia's score. In the ongoing contest, England won the toss and asked Australia to bat first.
Healy (170), Haynes (68) and Beth Mooney (62) all came to the party to help Australia post more than 350 runs on the board.
Australia Women
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