AUS Women vs ENG Women, Final at Christchurch, Women's World Cup, Apr 03 2022 - Match Result

Right then! That concludes the month-long fiesta that was the Women's World Cup. The year ahead is filled with action as far as the world of women's cricket is concerned. There's the Commonwealth Games in July before the T20 World Cup early next year. Rest assured, the women will be in action and news regularly. And of course, we would be around to get every bit of it to you.

For now, it's time for me to bid you all goodbye on behalf of Vishal and all the other commentators and scorers who had been part of our coverage. In case you want to relive the game, you can check out Valkerie's report. You can get our full coverage from this tournament here. And yes, do not forget to send in your #PoliteEnquiries on #CWC22 for Annesha Ghosh and Firdose Moonda on Twitter! Don't forget the hashtag. Hope you have enjoyed our coverage as much as we did in getting it to you. Till the next time, thank you and take care. Ciao!

8:28pm Greg Barclay, the ICC chair, hands over the trophy to Meg Lanning and the entire team poses on the podium to kickstart the celebrations! After a short while with the team, Lanning calls on stage the support staff and coaches for more clicks and laughs. Now they walk across from the podium to pose behind a board that reads 'CHAMPIONS'! The champagne is sprayed and the laughs only get brighter in the dark skies in Christchurch. And be assured, that they would light up wherever the team goes tonight because it will be a long night for each and every member of that victorious Australian side.

The title win is a just reward for whatever Australia did over the past five years. What a journey this has been. It saw a record 26-match winning streak, that beat the record of 21 held by Ricky Ponting's team. It also saw them plan backup for backups in order to keep the domination alive and that was evident in how King stepped up when Wareham and Molineux were ruled out due to injury. Even Brown's role in the absence of Vlaeminck highlights the point. Perry's injury also didn't hamper the women in yellow because they had a McGrath, Sutherland and Carey ready to fill in for her.

Meg Lanning: I think we have been extremely consistent over a long period of time. It's been a long time coming. I think we deserved a victory today. We came over with a mentality of number of different people contributing. We've had a number of young players coming in and contributing. Off the field we have had the support staff helping us to get this stage. Healy's knock was incredible. To do it in a World Cup final, I am not surprised, she's done it before as well. We've spoken about being patient at the start before exploding and that's what happened. I was nervous with Sciver batting. She's an incredible player and would have been a match-winning one on any other day. Tay (Vlaeminck), Wolf (Wareham) and Soph (Molineux), big shoutout to you guys. Brown came in and lifted our team with her performances. We'll celebrate this one first. We have not looked ahead too far to be honest. It hasn't been easy but it is nice to be able to get to the end of this block and say we are the champions. Thanks to Heather and team, we knew it would be a competitive game. Thanks to the ICC, our coaches and support staff. Appreciate for all that you do and to the team, well done and we'll celebrate and enjoy this.

The victorious Australian team now collects its medallions from Lisa Sthalekar, the ICC Hall of Famer.

Heather Knight: I think it was a 50-50 decision at the toss. Credit to Australia for bringing such a performance in the final. It was one of the best innings I have seen in my life from Healy. If we would have kept them just above 300, we would have been in with a chance. Unbelievable from Nat. The skill against spin and seam, unfortunately we couldn't have someone stand with her in the middle. They were ruthless and take the game away from the opposition. Massively proud of the group, given how we managed to turn in around. Unfortunately one win was too many for us. We have got a big year with the Commonwealth Games at home and then the T20 World Cup. Special mention to Sophie Ecclestone, gives me pleasure to see the youngsters doing well. The staff have been on the road for two-three months. Thanks for keeping us going. Lovely to see the big crowd here tonight.

The English side now collect their medallion from the ICC chair.

Player of the match as well as the tournament, Alyssa Healy. Not much of a surprise given she has the most runs in a single edition of a Women's World Cup: At 32, I have seen it all (laughs). Not too sure. Our team sets out to win events like these. Everyone is just keen to get out and do this. Grateful for the opportunity. I think I hit one ball in the air and got dropped. Couldn't ask for anything more. I am proud of our batting unit. We have done it all but to do it on the biggest stage, I never imagined in my wildest dreams. We knew the first ten was challenging, you had two world class bowlers swinging the ball. We had to set up the game for the middle order. I enjoy batting with Rach, not sure if she says so. No way (on two fifties and two hundreds). I shouldn't have received this award but Rach should have because I just turned up for the last two games. I enjoyed being out there.

First up, the match officials collect their medals.

8:10pm Hush! Let's rewind another segment of what we just witnessed. The surface was good for batting. It was continuously being referred to as a 'road'. England got a good start, thanks to Tammy Beaumont, who managed to get boundaries regularly. Once Sciver was in the middle, one end was taken care of. What she lacked was support from the other end. Dunkley, Jones and Knight should have stayed longer in order for this script to be different than what it is now.

But Australia! What about them? They are domination personified. Didn't drop a game despite being challenged on more than just one occasion. Generally law of averages catches up at some point or the other, but such is this side in its methods and approach, they nullified every single thing. Healy came to the party belatedly but ensured that she walked back as an unforgettable star from it. Two successive tons, both in knockouts with that monumental score of 170 today. Take a bow, Lanning & co! Now, on to the presentation.

Rachael Haynes: Nice to contribute and get some runs, to start of well and the nature of this tournament is such with back to back games. Nice to make a decent contribution and get the win tonight. It's a lot of fun watching Healy bat, and it takes the pressure off me, she was phenomenal. It's one of the best knocks I've ever seen and she saved it for the big occasion. A bit of a crucible moment for our group (2017), it didn't go as per plan. And it was a big moment for us, to understand our roles and dealing with pressure, to build on that. To have such a consistent game out in this tournament has been special.

Ellyse Perry: They are all unique but today was just wonderful. For Midge (Healy) to do what she did was amazing. We had a wonderful crowd in. It was pretty close but a huge amount of gratitude for our medical team for helping me get there. From a personal perspective, it was wonderful to be involved. I did mark my run-up when we got to the ground but it was a long shot. Just a shift of attitude and mindset, the way the group has dealt with is impressive. It hasn't always gone our way and that's a huge shift from 2017.

Alana King: I'd tell them they'd be joking (that I'd win the World Cup soon after my debut). I'm so proud of this team to win the way we did and shows the character of this team. Pretty much sticking to my process with our bowling coach, sticking to what works for me, I know the batters are going to come hard at me and I love that challenge. It's a big family, the Australian camp. The moment I walked in I was welcomed with open arms and credit to the girls for building that culture for the last few years. I came in fresh from the WBBL. Healy played an outstanding innings, I was enjoying the show with popcorn on the side. The top order gave us the start and in the final too, shows the kind of players, and the hunger they have for the big stage.

Alyssa Healy: Not sunk in yet. Special game of cricket, very high scoring. It is something we have been working towards for a long period of time. To get over the line was pretty cool. The job was half done, we knew we had a good total. But we knew their lineup was peaking at the right time. The bowlers held their nerves. Sciver played a special knock, almost got them over the line. It was nice to get out there and put up a good total on board. Proud of the batting group and whole group. (Hip) Find me later! I think everyone has worked very hard for this. It has been a five-year wait for a title people said we would have had. Will reflect on the three months that we have had.

7:55pm Australia form a huddle in the middle to soak in everything before spreading away to start the celebrations. This was all what they were planning for for the last five years - a World Cup win. They had crashed out of the semis the last time around. Matthew Mott jumps up from his chair. Lanning screams in excitement. And it has been a tournament of domination for Australia right from get go.

Spare a thought for a certain Nat Sciver, though. 148 not out in a run-chase, single-handedly kept England in it when all seemed lost. The cuts, pulls, scoops and whatnot - played it all but unfortunately, ended up on the wrong side of the result. If only somebody would have hung alongside her, the result could have been a lot different. Perhaps any other team would have given up looking at a 357-run target, but England did well to hang in it till the very end. If only they had had more wickets in hand...

Let's hear from some of the players now!

Mid-off and mid-on in.

Hergu: "Thanks Kartik for your jinx. It worked. :))"

Anya Shrubsole is the last batter in. Hit the winning four in the semi-final against South Africa in 2017 World Cup. Played a good hand against New Zealand earlier in this tournament. Walks in with England still 78 away...

Kartik: "Early days but Super Over anyone?"

Gardner continues.

Sam: "Dean looks as though she could comfortably play a couple of spots higher in the order, really tidy player who rotates the strike well. Lovely stuff, this has been a really good final!" She does bat higher in the order in domestics.