Australia Women 356 for 5 (Healy 170, Haynes 68, Mooney 62) beat England Women 285 (Sciver 148*, Jonassen 3-58, King 3-64) by 71 runs
Australia had both hands on the World Cup after an innings for the ages by Alyssa Healy and, despite Nat Sciver holding on with everything she had, they ultimately ripped it from defending champions England with a 71-run victory in the final in Christchurch.
The undefeated Australians’ dominance of this tournament was complete with Healy’s magnificent 170 off 138 balls setting England a mammoth target of 357. It proved a step too far for a team that had shown plenty of character to overcome a three-match losing streak at the start which had left their hopes of even reaching the knockout stages in jeopardy, although Sciver refused to give up with a classy unbeaten century.
The result ended Australia’s five-year quest to win their seventh ODI title after they had been knocked out by India in the 2017 semi-finals.
Healy had danced up and down the pitch, and along her crease too, as she worked England’s bowlers round the ground on the way to her career-best score and cut down records as effortlessly as wielding her bat.
She posted the highest individual score of the tournament and the highest score by anyone in a World Cup final, passing Adam Gilchrist’s 149 against Sri Lanka in 2007, Sciver ending up just one run behind him with 148 not out.
