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Keith Barker hits back with four wickets as Hampshire find late new-ball breakthroughs

Cameron Ponsonby21-Apr-2022Daniel Bell-Drummond’s 12th first-class century dominated day one, but a late collapse and a four-wicket haul from Keith Barker would see Hampshire finish the day slightly on top with the score at 271 for 7.It is easy to forget that Bell-Drummond is still only 28. His professional debut in cricket came over a decade ago and he was just a teenager when England’s new managing director Rob Key dubbed him as a player with the potential to play 100 Tests. And even ten years on, he is still England U19’s all-time leading run-scorer.Key’s prediction seemed particularly astute when Bell-Drummond, aged 21, scored a 92-ball century against Australia in 2015 and followed it up in 2016 with a first-class season where he averaged 68.07. Glory awaited.But then the runs dried up. Whereas he scored nine first-class centuries in the first five years of his career, the following six would add just three more (including today), as his red-ball runs were replaced with white. His form with the bat mirrored the wider pattern of the domestic game, where England’s short-format batting stocks are growing deeper than ever, while anyone with a pulse and Ed Smith’s phone number got a go at the Test team’s batting order. It is a recognition of Bell-Drummond’s lack of form in 2017 (avg 24.39) and 2018 (19.00) that even from the highs of the previous years the call never came.Nevertheless, given the clear potential Bell-Drummond had shown in the first half of his career, and the subsequent England selection policy of backing the potential of youth, you could be excused for wondering whether Bell-Drummond ever felt hard done by that the punt on potential that others have since received was never an opportunity afforded to him a few years earlier.”No, not at all”, Bell-Drummond said at the close of play. “I think if I was good enough then, I should be good enough now. I probably haven’t been as consistent as I’d have liked since 2016, so not at all. If anything, I see it as the opposite. Obviously, everyone loves a cap but I want to make sure I’m good enough if I get to that level. I think times are changing as well, Alastair Cook was playing then and a few runs were being scored. It’s been in the media about the wickets – obviously, we’ve had some really good ones here this year, but I think it’s a really different time. I don’t have any regrets.”It would be too much to describe this innings as a redemption for Bell-Drummond but it will hopefully be a new beginning for a player who only last year had found himself out of the Kent side. And lessons too can be taken from the success of Bell-Drummond’s team-mate Ben Compton, who today scored 27 in his first innings in a Kent shirt that hasn’t finished with him reaching three figures.Compton, a late entrant to the first-class game, has been celebrated as an example of where determination and commitment to a goal can take you. His reward would appear to be the potential of a long professional career now ahead of him. And yet the newbie Compton and the veteran Bell-Drummond are, of course, the same age.”I definitely do take admiration from Compton and how he’s started,” Bell-Drummond said. “It’s been unbelievable, to be honest. Maybe he expected it, but I don’t think we thought we’d signed this calibre of player. But he’s an awesome player and he’ll go from strength to strength.Related

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“But it just shows his ambitions and how strong he is mentally. I take a lot from that. That’s the main thing I’ve learnt. In terms of my career, I just try to take each day as it comes. I know how good I can be, but I just really want to be more consistent. I’ve done really well in white-ball cricket, so now it’s just about adding the red-ball side to it.”Both sets of skills were on show today as Bell-Drummond played the seam of Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas and Keith Barker with patience while targeting the short leg-side boundary when facing the leg spin of Mason Crane.And for as long as Bell-Drummond was at the crease, the day looked set to be a dominant occasion for Kent, whose only brief wobbles with the bat were right at the start of the day when Zak Crawley edged behind off the bowling of Abbas and then, 100 runs later, when Compton and Tawanda Muyeye fell in quick succession.The double breakthrough had sparked some life into Hampshire, with captain James Vince bellowing “150 for 5!” across the ground in both hope and expectation as the hosts stood at 113 for 3.But Bell-Drummond and Jordan Cox, who made 51, would take Kent past 200 and beyond, and it was only in the last hour of the day that Hampshire looked like taking any sheen off their efforts, with Kent sitting pretty at that stage on 239 for 3.But when Bell-Drummond was given lbw off the bowling of Abbott for 149, Kent proceeded to collapse. It is the nature of the four-day game that while good things take a long time to arrive with the bat, bad things can happen very quickly. And in the final hour Kent would lose four wickets for just 26 runs as Barker struck twice with the second new ball to add to his earlier wickets of Muyeye and Compton.”They bowled well with the second new ball so the game’s still in the balance,” Bell-Drummond said. “Obviously we’d have liked to have gone in three-, four- or five-down at the end of the day but we’re still pretty content and for the most part it was a good day.”

The two teams are scheduled to play a World Test Championship series in Sri Lanka starting October 23

Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2020Disagreements over Covid-19 protocols continue to dog Bangladesh’s World Test Championship series in Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to begin in late October. Last week, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that the Bangladesh players would need to be in quarantine for one week upon landing in the island, before being able to train.SLC has now increased the quarantine period to 14 days, and BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said it won’t be possible for his players to be confined to their hotel rooms for that long. Immediately after the BCB had spelled out its stance, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Namal Rajapaksa tweeted that he has asked the SLC to consult the Covid task force to reconsider the matter.After an emergency board meeting, Hassan said that they had been working on a schedule with a seven-day quarantine in mind. But a 14-day period would mean that the Bangladesh Test squad, all of whom haven’t played a competitive match in six months, will get just one week to prepare for the first Test scheduled on October 23.”We cannot play World Test Championships with these term and conditions,” Hassan said. “Until their letter yesterday, both boards were having discussions along the lines of a seven-day quarantine,” Hassan said. “But now their terms and conditions are nowhere near those discussions, and neither are they anything close to what other countries hosting cricket in the pandemic are doing. There are three or seven-day quarantines in those places where the players can either train among themselves or use the gym.Hassan said that the SLC’s limiting of their entourage, while at the same time refusing to give them net bowlers, would be further troubling for the touring side.”[SLC] have told us that our players can’t even step out of the hotel room. Not even for food. They have also chosen Dambulla as the venue for the initial training camp which would leave us isolated in any case. They can have the domestic league with so many players nationwide but we have to face such tough restrictions. I have found out that other teams haven’t faced such conditions. We are astounded.” When the tour was first agreed upon, the BCB had planned to send their High Performance team over as well so that they can play the Test team and help them prepare over the first two weeks of their tour. The BCB would bear all costs even if it meant at least a 60-member contingent traveling together from Dhaka, and then returning from Colombo, after both teams’ tour ends in mid-November. Bangladesh’s first two practice matches were also scheduled against the HP side, after which the SLC was supposed to take over and host one practice match before the Test series. But the SLC was handed these stricter conditions by the country’s health authorities this week, which they conveyed to the BCB.”Seeing that they started domestic cricket, we informed the SLC that we are coming with a big squad so that we can have our training camp there,” Hasan said. “But they will not allow us to train when our players have been inactive for seven months. They won’t even let us take net bowlers and neither are they going to provide us with any net bowlers. How can we play World Test Championship without any training? So it is not possible for us.”Bangladesh were scheduled to leave for Colombo on September 27, with the first Test slated to begin on October 23.

Batsman added 118 in 19.5 overs alongside James Bracey as Lions rack up mammoth first-innings total

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2020Dan Lawrence made 190 to put continue his stellar form and put England Lions into a commanding position on the second day of their tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in Hobart.Resuming on 103 not out overnight, Lawrence put his foot down on the second morning, adding 118 in just 19.5 overs for the sixth wicket alongside James Bracey, taking him to 190 before he was eventually dismissed by Jake Lehmann’s part-time spin. Lawrence has been the standout player across the tour, his innings in this game following scores of 50*, 35 and 41 as well as six wickets in the one-day leg of the tour.Bracey made 58 before becoming Brendan Doggett’s fourth victim, while Lewis Gregory put on 78 in 13.3 overs with Craig Overton before declaring at the fall of his wicket. The total of 613 for 8 declared was the second-highest in the history of England Lions and England A sides, behind only a score of 624 for 8 declared against South Africa A in 2015.Gregory struck almost immediately with the new ball, having Caleb Jewell caught behind with the third delivery of the reply, before Sam Whiteman and Jason Sangha provided some resistance. Richard Gleeson, the Lancashire fast bowler, made the breakthrough by bowling Whiteman, but Sangha continued to frustrate the Lions with an unbroken stand of 79 with Lehmann.”I’m really proud of the boys who’ve helped us rack up this formidable total to put us in a strong position to win this match,” said Gregory. “Dom [Sibley] and Keaton [Jennings] batted beautifully yesterday, with Dan carrying on his day-one form to propel us even further today with great support from James.”I enjoyed my partnership at the end with Craig to push past the 600 mark and we’ve started well in the tough task of taking 20 Australian wickets. The next two days will be a great test for us.”

Next year’s edition will be the fourth time Bangladesh women will participate in the T20 World Cup after 2014, 2016 and 2018

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2019Thailand women made history on Thursday by qualifying for their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup, to be played in Australia next year. They did so with an emphatic eight-wicket win by chasing 68 against Papua New Guinea in Dundee, where Thailand dominated the game with an all-round display that saw a frugal bowling performance, two run-outs and a convincing batting show.Thailand’s feat was achieved in the 18th over with 15 balls to spare when left-handed Nattaya Boochatham flicked a full toss from medium-pacer Ravina Oa to midwicket where a fumble helped the batsmen complete a quick single. As soon as Boochatham and her partner Nannapat Koncharoenkai completed the winning run, their team-mates burst on to the ground, some with arms raised, some running joyously towards the pitch, and eventually all of them huddled around the two unbeaten batsmen. After the necessary handshakes with their opponents and match officials, the entire team came together once again to form a line and thank the crowd with their hands pressed together and a slight bow, before breaking out into wilder celebrations.Thailand’s journey to the 2020 T20 World Cup first saw them winning the seven-team T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier at home in February this year, which was part of a 17-match winning streak in T20Is from July 2018 to August 2019 that saw them qualify for the main qualifiers in Scotland. In this tournament, they topped Group B with three wins out of as many matches to set up semi-final clash with PNG. The winners of the two semi-finals were to qualify for the T20 World Cup and Thailand did so along with Bangladesh, who beat Ireland earlier in the day.Thailand’s chase was led by No. 3 Naruemol Chaiwai, who scored 32 runs out of their total of 68. She scored briskly in the two substantial partnerships for Thailand, of 31 and 33. Thailand were only four runs away from the historic moment when Chaiwai lobbed a simple catch to mid-off in the 16th over, before Boochatham scored the winning runs nine balls later. Chaiwai struck two fours whereas her opening partner Nattakan Chantam scored three during her 31-ball 18. PNG used as many as seven bowlers but their total wasn’t big enough to provide a fight.PNG had opted to bat but their battling line-up stuttered to 27 for 4 in the tenth over and then 46 for 6 in the 16th. Only three batsmen, including opener Sibona Jimmy, were able to score in double-digits as their biggest partnership could put together only 16 runs, for the seventh wicket. Kaia Arua’s unbeaten 16 stretched the score past 50 with Chanida Sutthiruang’s medium-pace fetching her two wickets, and two run-outs denting PNG further. Sutthiruang is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker so far with an impressive tally of 12 from four innings, averaging only 3.91 and conceding 3.52 runs per over.In the end, Thailand won their fourth straight match and made history by chasing down a total for the first time in the tournament.ACC

Bangladesh sealed their berth for the T20 World Cup, with a four-wicket win against Ireland in the first semi-final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Dundee. Next year’s edition will be the fourth time Bangladesh women will participate in the T20 World Cup after 2014, 2016 and 2018.Bangladesh chased down their target of 86 with nine balls to spare after bowling out Ireland for 85 in 20 overs. Ireland couldn’t build much on their decision to bat as their top three batsmen scored only eight runs in all. Jahanara Alam, Nahida Akter and Salma Khatun made the early strikes. Captain Laura Delany steered the innings after they were reduced to 44 for 5. Delany’s innings of 25 and her partnership of 30 for the sixth wicket with the experienced Eimear Richardson, who struck a quick 25 off 17, helped Ireland along but legspinner Fahima Khatun dismissed both of them within the space of three balls in the 18th over. From 75 for 7, Ireland managed another ten runs in the last two overs as Fahima struck again to finish with 3 for 18.Bangladesh were also led by their No. 4, Sanjida Islam, whose unbeaten 32 off 37 balls saw them home. They were given a scare when they were 30 for 4 in the ninth over before Sanjida and Ritu Moni stitched together a stand of 38 runs for the fifth wicket. Bangladesh lost two wickets to run-outs from there but Sanjida sealed their win.

They have a young captain in Jason Sangha and Daniel Sams will have a vital role with bat and ball

Andrew McGlashan12-Dec-2022Captain Jason Sangha
Coach Trevor Bayliss

Squad

Ben Cutting, Ollie Davies, Brendan Doggett, Fazalhaq Farooqi (Afghanistan), Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Alex Hales (England), Baxter Holt, Nathan McAndrew, Usman Qadir (Pakistan), Alex Ross, Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Daniel Sams, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, David Warner, Sam WhitemanIn Rilee Rossouw, David Warner, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sam Whiteman, Usman Qadir
Out Sam Billings, Usman Khawaja, Jonathan Cook, Saqib Mahmood, Chris Tremain, Mohammad Hasnain

What happened in the draft

It felt like they had done well with Alex Hales, David Willey and Rilee Rossouw. Willey was an enticing platinum pick with his availability for most of the season, but he recently withdrew from the deal sending Thunder back to the drawing board and they brought in Afghanistan left-armer Fazalhaq Farooqi. Hales will return to his long-term club on the back of T20 World Cup success and Rossouw has had an impressive season in the format. Both, however, will only be around until early January.Related

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Last season: Knockout

Thunder reached the finals on the back of a strong mid-season run where they won six games on the bounce including a 129-run hammering of Melbourne Renegades where Daniel Sams hit an astonishing 98 off 44 balls. But they fell short against Adelaide Strikers where they had got the equation down to 39 off 23 balls then 14 off the last over which Harry Conway was able to defend. Jason Sangha led the run-scoring with 445 at 49.44 and a strike-rate of 132.04 and Sams was the leading wicket-taker with 19 although Tanveer Sangha and Gurinder Sandhu were the most consistent performers.

International impact

The return of David Warner to the BBL was the big off-season story, but the window for his availability after the South Africa series may shrink with the squad due to depart for India in late January. Still, when he does suit up in green it will be one of the most anticipated moments of the tournament – especially the derby clash with Steven Smith’s Sydney Sixers. Beyond that, and the overseas players, Thunder are unlikely to be hit by international call-ups as they have no one else in the Test set-up with Usman Khawaja having moved to Brisbane Heat.

Key player

Daniel Sams is another player who might feel he has a part to play in the future of Australia’s T20 side after being on the fringes in recent seasons. For Thunder, he will have a big role to play with bat and ball, although with the later bringing down his economy rate a touch may help his international ambitions. In terms of the batting, it will be interesting to see how and where he is used. As he showed last season with that 98 he has the potential to be destructive, although that innings was an outlier in the campaign. But since then he has produced equally powerful innings in the T20 Blast (71 off 24 balls) and the Hundred (55 off 25 balls).

Young player to watch

Tanveer Sangha’s stress fracture is a blow to their bowling attack, but Ollie Davies caused instant excitement when he struck two quickfire innings at the start of his BBL career in late 2020, but things have been tougher since then making 74 in 11 innings. The early stages of this season were hindered as he came back from a hip injury but in November in made 115 off 106 balls playing for the combined NSW/ACT XI against West Indies in Canberra.

Former Surrey and Somerset chief executive will join from Bristol City FC in January 2023

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2022Richard Gould, a prominent critic of the Hundred during his tenure at Surrey, has been appointed chief executive at the ECB, beating Durham’s Tim Bostock to the role. Gould has spent the last 18 months as CEO at Bristol City Football Club but was previously involved in county cricket for 16 years, spending six years as Somerset’s chief executive before another decade in the same role at Surrey.Gould’s ECB-appointment comments focused on discrimination and inclusivity, with the ECB’s own statement noting his influential role in launching Ebony Rainford-Brent’s ACE Programme while at Surrey.”I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead our game forward in England and Wales as part of a talented and committed team that encompasses the ECB, every cricket club in the land, all the counties, our partners, sponsors, fans and the army of players and volunteers that support the game in every corner of our country,” he said.Related

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“Cricket is a national asset that can be played by all, and helps strengthen and enhance communities across the nation. It can inspire the country and provides opportunities for all. But we have also seen the pain suffered by those who have experienced discrimination. We are determined to repair this damage, and show that cricket can become the most inclusive and welcoming sport of all.”I look forward to taking up the role in the new year, but for now will be an armchair fan supporting our men’s team in the T20 World Cup in Australia, whilst the women prepare for their T20 World Cup challenge in February.”The ECB said in a statement that their nominations committee had “unanimously recommended” Gould to their board, which had then ratified the appointment on Friday after a lengthy recruitment process.Gould will take up his post at the end of January, with Clare Connor – who has been interim chief executive since Tom Harrison’s departure earlier this year – continuing in that role over the next three months.Gould is the second recent Surrey employee to move into a senior ECB role, after Richard Thompson was appointed as chair in August. The pair worked closely together during their time at The Oval, where they were outspoken critics of the Hundred.However, Thompson conceded shortly after starting as chair in September that his stance has softened, saying: “If the Hundred can generate significant value to the game then that’s got to be a good thing.”The competition also forms part of the ECB’s TV deal with Sky Sports, which runs until 2028, so there is no realistic prospect of it being scrapped imminently.Gould’s own position had become more conciliatory by the time he left Surrey. Shortly before leaving the club in 2021, he told Sky: “We hope the Hundred is a great success, we hope that every match here plays to a sell-out attendance and we’ll be doing our absolute utmost to make sure that is delivered.”Thompson added: “When I joined the ECB, I said that this was a reset moment for our organisation and our sport. Recruiting a CEO who can lead the organisation forwards and deliver on the vision of becoming the UK’s most inclusive sport was one of the first important steps in that. With his outstanding leadership skills and experience of managing transformation, the Nominations Committee felt that Richard Gould was the outstanding candidate.”I am looking forward to working with Richard to not only bring our game together, but to show how cricket can do so much more in bringing communities together. We will work in a spirit of collaboration and partnership with the whole cricket network to do this.”I’d also like to express my sincere thanks to Clare Connor who has done an outstanding job as Interim CEO at an incredibly challenging time for the organisation. I look forward to her continuing to play a leading role in growing our game as part of the ECB’s leadership team when Richard joins.”

ESPNcricinfo’s live updates and analysis on India v Sri Lanka

Varun Shetty06-Jul-2019

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it motivates him to be a better cricketer

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2020Adam Zampa is four years old in international cricket, and is Australia’s first-choice white-ball spinner, but he still doesn’t feel “comfortable” at this level. Although that may not necessarily be a bad thing.”Even now I don’t feel comfortable, which is probably a good thing to be honest – same as any professional cricketer at this level,” Zampa said after Australia won the Cape Town decider to seal the T20I series against South Africa. “I probably feel the same, but I haven’t been comfortable since I’ve been playing professional cricket. So, hope it’s a good thing that keeps me driven and as I said earlier, I hope for constant improvement. As I get older, get more experience, train harder and think about the game a bit different and think about it…”Zampa and left-arm fingerspinner Ashton Agar had played central roles in Australia’s 2-1 victory. While Zampa picked up five wickets at an economy rate of 5.89, Agar emerged as the top wicket-taker in the series, with eight scalps at an economy rate of 5.66. Agar took a career-best 5 for 24 in the T20I series opener, and Zampa said he relished bowling in tandem with Agar.”I’m really confident after the Big Bash and it’s nice to bowl well in this series too, but yeah it’s probably very similar for Ash,” Zampa said. “We speak about spin bowling a lot, we speak about our roles – we do a lot of preparation on the opposition and things like that we talk about a lot. And Ash keeps getting better and better every game as well. He is still a pretty young guy too. Probably took him a little bit longer because of the [holding] role he played at Perth Scorchers for a long time. But, yeah he’s a frontline bowler now, and that’s for sure. The more he plays, the better he gets.”Zampa also put the recent success down to his chemistry with Agar off the field.”Yeah, really good combination,” he said. “The best thing is we’ve got a really good friendship, and as I said before, the way we talk about it and understand that our roles might change day in and day out. So, yeah communication is huge and preparation and as I said our friendship is really close.”Australia will now turn their focus to the three-match ODI series, which begins in Paarl on Saturday, and Zampa touched upon the challenge of adapting to ODI cricket and tuning up for the T20 World Cup at home later this year.”It actually takes a bit of adapting from T20 cricket to one-day cricket,” he said. “It’s not [similar], I don’t find it to be similar at all to be honest – yeah it’s going to be a good couple of days preparation and good confidence after this win. But, I think there is a different thought to how T20 works from one-day cricket.”Yeah, I think we’ve found a really good combination. The batting side basically picks itself and then our bowling combination is really working at the moment. So, the line-up of our team is great and if we play that team going into the T20 World Cup and keep playing the way we do, we’re going to give that a serious nudge.”Zampa had just played two T20Is when he was thrown into the previous T20 World Cup in India in 2016. Zampa, 23 then, was simply happy to be part of the tournament in which Australia exited without qualifying for the semi-finals. Four years on and armed with more experience playing for Australia and Melbourne Stars in the BBL, Zampa wants to win games in the upcoming T20 World Cup.”I was just excited to be there [in 2016] and it was disappointing to lose,” he recalled. “I just look back and think wow! I’ve played a World Cup, but I think it’s a little bit different now. I’ve got the drive to win games for Australia. I think I can help that rather than thinking I’m just happy to be there.”

Play was briefly interrupted on the opening day by a small fire caused by an air conditioning unit

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2019Marcus Stoinis responded to his omission from Australia’s T20I squad by top-scoring for Western Australia and Tasmania debutant Lawrence Neil-Smith claimed three wickets on a closely-contested opening day at the WACA that was briefly interrupted by a small fire.Stoinis’ 61 was the only half-century in Western Australia’s 337 as five other batsmen fell between 30 and 48. Neil-Smith finished with 3 for 81 while Jackson Bird and Riley Meredith also took three wickets apiece before Tasmania’s openers survived five overs to the close.Western Australia were in some early bother after winning the toss, losing Sam Whiteman and Shaun Marsh cheaply to be 2 for 19. Cameron Bancroft and Mitchell Marsh steadied the innings until Bancroft was caught in the gully short before lunch.The interval was called a few minutes early in unusual circumstances when there was smoke spotted behind the pavilion. Firefighters were called and the fire, caused by an air conditioning unit, was soon under control although WACA employees were pictured receiving treatment for smoke inhalation.WACA staff members were treated for smoke inhalation after extinguishing an electrical fire behind the players pavilion•Getty Images

Mitchell Marsh soon departed on resumption and at 4 for 99 the innings was in the balance. Then came Western Australia’s most dominant period of batting as Stoinis and Josh Philippe added 120 in 23 overs which included a pulled six onto the grass bank by Philippe.The breakthrough came from 20-year Neil-Smith who claimed his maiden first-class wicket when he removed Philippe shortly before tea and Stoinis followed in the next over from Bird as Tasmania went into the break on a high.In the evening session Western Australia’s lower provided useful contributions as runs continued to come at a healthy rate. Josh Inglis (42) and Ashton Agar added 51 for the seventh wicket before both fell to Neil-Smith. The home side’s total was boosted by 39 extras which included 14 no-balls, 11 of them from Sam Rainbird.

India came undone in the face of a spectacular onslaught in front of an MCG crowd of 86,174

The Report by Andrew McGlashan08-Mar-2020″We haven’t played our best game of cricket yet and that’s still out there somewhere and hopefully it happens tomorrow,” Meg Lanning said on Saturday. Her team delivered in magnificent fashion, riding on the coattails of an audacious innings from Alyssa Healy, to claim a fifth T20 World Cup title with a crushing 85-run win in front of an MCG crowd of 86,174, just marginally short of a new world record for a women’s sports event.
.There were so many bigger-picture narratives about the day, but there was only one thing in the minds of the two teams for the few hours on the field. It was Australia’s day from the moment Lanning won the toss. They set the tone with the first over of both innings. Healy was dropped in an over that went for 14, making a similar statement that her husband, Mitchell Starc, who was among the thousands watching, did against New Zealand in 2015 men’s World Cup final. In the field, Megan Schutt got the better of Shafali Verma who had previously won their head-to-head hands down.That winning feeling – Meg Lanning is over the moon•AFP via Getty Images

It had not just been about Healy with the bat. Beth Mooney, who was also dropped on 8, finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 259 at 64.75 after an expertly-paced 78 of 54 balls to ensure the opening stand was built on even if India clawed things back somewhat in the final five overs.That was the only period where the contest was even close. After Verma’s early departure things quickly got worse for India when Taniya Bhatia was forced to retire hurt after a blow on the neck (and was later subbed out with concussion) and before the end of the fourth over both Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandana had picked out mid-on against left-arm spin. All that was left was for Australia to finish the job.Powerplay statementAgainst the first ball of the final Healy came down the pitch against Deepti Sharma and swung a boundary through midwicket. The same could easily have happened the next two deliveries as well as Sharma took until her fourth delivery to pitch the ball. Then came a moment India will rue for a long time when Healy drilled a chance to cover where Verma shelled it. Another boundary, driven beautifully through the covers, signed off the first over which cost 14 runs. Even that early in the match it felt like a huge swing towards Australia. After two overs Healy had five boundaries and though she only added one more in the next four, by the end of the powerplay Australia had a firm grip at 49 for 0.Healy’s awesome strikingImmediately after the fielding restrictions were relaxed, India turned to their trump card on Poonam Yadav. Her first delivery was a perfectly decent googly that was nudged into the off side by Mooney. It might sound like a very small moment, but that was the delivery that caused so many problems in the opening match at the Sydney Showground. Australia’s strong start meant they could also sit on her somewhat, especially when the carnage continued at the other end. Healy was taking things to a new level. Two consecutive sixes straight down the ground off Rajeshwari Gayakwad – the first 83 metres – powered her towards a 30-ball fifty, the fastest by a male or female in any ICC global limited-overs final. Even better was to follow, though, when she launched three consecutive sixes off Shikha Pandey, the third of them a drive over cover that was eye-poppingly brilliant.Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney rode their luck to give Australia a great start•Getty Images

Mooney trademark inningsMooney’s innings summed up so much about her career: overshadowed, for a large period, by a team-mate but when you look she has top-scored with a defining innings. She was the perfect foil for Healy’s early onslaught, feeding the strike to her partner as often as she could although not without some eye-catching shots of her own. When Healy fell, picking out long-on trying for a sixth six, Mooney went to a 41-ball half-century and followed it with a pristine inside-out cover drive off Radha Yadav. To India’s credit, they did not completely fall apart. Sharma struck twice in her last over to exact a modicum of revenge by claiming Lanning and Ash Gardner. Having started the last five overs with nine wickets in hand they only brought 42 runs.Schutt fires back, India foldSchutt’s first over the tournament, against India, went for 16 as Verma took hold of her. “Clearly, I don’t think I’m the best match-up to those two in the powerplay, they find me easy to play,” she said after the semi-final. It was a very different story this time. Verma laid down the gauntlet with a wonderful lofted drive first ball, only for it to plug in the outfield, but two balls later edged a back-of-a-length delivery with Healy following her runs with a superb catch up to the stumps. The first three bowlers used by Australia – Schutt, Jess Jonassen and Sophie Molineux – all struck in their opening overs. It was complete dominance.Finishing touchesHarmanpreet Kaur has done some magnificent things against Australia, but this has not been a great tournament for her and it ended with a slog-sweep that found deep midwicket to leave India 30 for 4. It was another wicket for Jonassen who, like Mooney, is such a key part of the team but does not always get the airtime of others. Australia could easily have drifted through the closing overs, but their fielding and catching was a final statement of how they peaked when it mattered. Mission accomplished.