Christchurch: Australia won the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup for a seventh time after crushing the defending champions England by 71 runs in the 2022 edition final at Hagley Oval here on Sunday.
Alyssa Healy's monumental knock of 170 off 138 balls powered Australia to an imposing total of 356/5.
In reply, barring the lone warrior Natalie Sciver (148 not out off 121 balls), no English batter could manage to contribute as England folded for 285.
Megan Schutt gave Australia the perfect start with an absolute peach of a delivery. The inswinger was too good for Danni Wyatt as she sent her packing for four. Wyatt's opening partner Tammy Beaumont (27) initially took on Australian pacers.
However, Schutt trapped her plumb in front of the stumps. Skipper Heather Knight joined Sciver in the middle and stitched a 48-run partnership in an attempt to take England out of troubled waters.
Alana King then worked her magic as Knight (26) was lbw. Amy Jones (20), Sophia Dunkley (23) and Charlie Dean (21) played second fiddle to Sciver. But with regular dismissals, Sciver eventually ran out of partners.
Earlier in the day, openers Healy and Rachael Haynes (68) started off cautiously, weathering out the powerplay after being put in to bat. After the completion of first 10 overs, the duo came out all guns blazing against the defending champions.
Healy, who smashed 26 fours, started attacking as soon as Dean was handed the ball. The right-hander then came down the track to punish the England bowlers with her cut, drive, scoop and pull shots. Haynes, on the other hand, was once again steady.
Haynes went onto break the long-standing record of the most runs ever in a World Cup by New Zealand great Debbie Hockley (456 runs at the 1997 World Cup).
Soon out of nowhere, Healy (509) overtook Haynes (497). Both Healy and Haynes piled on England's misery, stitching 160 runs together. In the 30th over, England finally found their first success as Haynes, who looked to go over the off side ended up mistiming it off the bowling of Sophie Ecclestone.
Australia changed their line-up according to the match situation and sent in left-hander Beth Mooney ahead of skipper Meg Lanning at No.3.
The plan paid dividends as Healy and Mooney, both who open innings in T20Is, added 156 runs for the third wicket, taking Australia past the 300-run mark. England finally got rid of Healy as wicket-keeper Jones pulled off a stunning stumping off the bowling of Anya Shrubsole, the hero of the 2017 final.
Australia continued with their change of plans and sent power-hitter Ashleigh Gardner. However, this time it didn't work as Garner was run out for 1. Shrubsole picked two wickets in two balls - Lanning (10) and Mooney (62) - but missed out on completing a hat-trick.
Towards the end, Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry slapped three boundaries to take Australia past the 350-run mark.
Brief scores: Australia 356/5 in 50 overs (Alyssa Healy 170, Rachael Haynes 68; Anya Shrubsole 3/46) beat England 285/10 in 43.4 overs (Natalie Sciver 148 not out; Jess Jonassen 3/58, Alana King 3/64) by 71 runs. (UNI)
