Australia Women vs England Women, Final - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Before we let you go, here's a lyrical remix of the Official song of the tournament which, pretty much, captures the thrills and spills of the most-competitive World Cup in the history of Women’s cricket. Sing along, dance along coz, the night is still young. Until next time, this is Raju Peethala bidding goodbye on behalf of Akshay Maanay, Hariprasad Sadanandan and the scoring duo of Venky and Praveen. Cheers!!

It's a girl gang
boy, you wish you could join
It's a sure thing
We’re taking over the world

Started off with a super thriller
Chinelle Henry's catching stunner
Sophie Devine, that splendid ton
Healy swats the ball for fun
Ecclestone claims her best milestone

Laura Wolvaardt’s rising stock
Smriti lights up Seddon Park
Ash Gardner, catching freak
The Aussies on a winning streak

Haynes hit a ton in Hamilton
Fatima, the little sensation
Lots of rain, in Dunedin
The Windies peak
By the skin of the teeth

Trans-Tasman, Fahima Khatun
England win, Charlotte Dean
Lanning is the chasing Queen
Proteas end the Indian dream

It's a girl gang
boy, you wish you could join
It's a sure thing
We’re taking over the world

PS: The original anthem was written by Kiwi popstar Gin Wigmore for the Ivory album which the ICC chose to be the promotional track of this World Cup.

30 days, 30 games and Australia have their third title in a row. And to imagine that this Australian side is missing a couple of key players....gee! The other teams have a lot of catching up to do. We hope you enjoyed the tournament as much as we did in bringing it to you.

Why do they rate Lanning so highly? Anyone who'd watched enough of Meg Lanning would tell you that she is one of those gritty-crafty characters who'd never wilt under pressure. The fact that she got 10 centuries while chasing could be a nice parameter to judge her tenacity, Lanning just goes about her business in a very tranquil manner. Never takes the opponents lightly and treats every game with equal intensity. When Australia got knocked out in the 2017 World Cup, Lanning looked visibly hurt but never revealed too much of it to the press. A few months later, she was ruled out of Ashes due to shoulder injury and missed cricket for a good part of next 12 months. It was that phase that stuck with Lanning, the player. On her road to recovery, she felt like an outsider within the team not knowing where to sit in the dressing room as she never knew what it was like to be dropped from the squad (made her debut at 18). The empathy factor and the emotions propelled Lanning into a better skipper. Since her return, Lanning always ensured that the players within the group felt secure and comfortable.

So, what makes Australia tick? The sheer athletic ability. Urgency at the crease. Pinching quick singles inside the ring. Leaders within the group. Incredible batting depth. Players with the ability to adapt to any situation. Years of experience of playing in the WBBL - arguably the best domestic T20 league in the world. And of course, a dynamic domestic structure. You don't become champions overnight, do you? All the aforementioned 'ah-so-impressives' might sound cliched, but everytime these girls take the field, the aura is evident and they just look the part no matter the situation and opposition.

Lanning is off.....ICC Chair Greg Barclay hands over the trophy to the Aussie skipper. Huge roar, poses for the photographs and they now get behind the 'CHAMPIONS' hoarding before unleashing the champagne. Skipper Lanning is now completely soaked. Grace Harris is busy emptying whatever's left on one of her mates. Lots of emotions packed in a frame. Time for selfies now, ah they are gonna celebrate all night long.....

Meg Lanning | Australian skipper: We have been extremely consistent over a long period of time and to come out and perform so well throughout the tournament, I think we deserve the win tonight. We knew we had to have a number of people contributing which we had throughout the tournament, we had some young players come in and make an impact straightaway which is great for the team and great for the more experienced players to keep pushing them to get better. Off the field we had great support from the coaching staff and support staff to get us to this point. It was incredible (Alyssa Healy's knock), to do it in a World Cup final. Some of those shots she was playing were ridiculous and I think she set the base really nicely and it is something we have spoken about a lot as a batting group, being patient upfront and building the platform to explode at the backend and that is what happened today. She (Nat Sciver) is an incredible player and played a really special innings, on any other day it would potentially be a match-winning one. We knew England would come hard at us and we expected a contest and we certainly got that. There's some good depth in our squad. We have seen Alana King and Darcie Brown come in and dominate and lift the team, so it is important not to rely on one or two players. We will celebrate this one first, important to make sure to look back at this period and see how successful it's been because there's been a lot of hard work that has gone into it and hasn't been easy. There's been ups and downs through the whole thing, nice to be able to get to the end of this nice little block and be able to say we are World Cup champions. Thank you to Heather and England for the contest today, thanks to everyone at the ICC, New Zealand Cricket for getting this tournament up, it's been an incredible effort, lots of work going on behind the scenes. I want to thank our coaches and support staff who put so much time and effort behind the scenes to get us up and about to be able to play cricket. Well done to the team and we will certainly enjoy this one.

The Aussie girls now walk up to the podium to receive the 'winner' medals from their former skipper and legend Lisa Sthalekar....

Heather Knight | England skipper: Probably it was a 50-50 decision at the toss, but credit to Australia to bring that sort of performance in a World Cup final. Alyssa, that was a remarkable innings and not really a pleasure to watch but it is one of the best innings I've seen live. I guess we didn't find an answer and it was an amazing wicket and really hard to defend and if we had kept them to just about 300 which would have been par then we were in with a good chance of chasing it down. From Nat, the skill against spin and pace scoring all-round the ground and it is unfortunate we couldn't have someone to stay with her, guess the runs on the board forced us to take few more risks and we couldn't have that big partnership and I think that is something Australia do outstandingly and so we could learn from that, on how they take the game away from the opposition after getting set. Super proud of the group. We managed to turn things around and in with a shot of winning the World Cup, ultimately got beaten in the final. Some of the players have been outstanding in the group and special mention to Sophie Ecclestone, leading wicket-taker and most wickets in a World Cup ever I guess and seeing those younger players perform gives me real pleasure and they can certainly be proud of themselves. Want to thank the staff and lovely to see the big crowd tonight.

England players mosey along to receive their runner-up medals....

Alyssa Healy | Player of the Match and Tournament: I'm 32 and I've seen it all. Our team sets out to win events like these and everyone is sort of keen to get out there and do just that, grateful for the opportunity. You probably couldn't have asked for anything more. Proud of the batting unit. We have done some amazing things this whole tournament, so to be able to do it one more time on the biggest stage was impressive. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever thought I'd do something like that so it is pretty cool. We knew the first 10 overs was going to be the most challenging part of the game and we got two world class bowlers swinging the ball. We just knew we had to hold our nerve. I enjoy batting with Rach and it's what we set out to do and we ticked that box.

The match officials receive their medals first

Time for presentations

Ellyse Perry: They are unique (the other WC wins) and for Midge (Healy) to do what she did was amazing to watch. We had a wonderful crowd in and it has been a fantastic tournament for the game. The teams that have played have competed so hard, there have been some amazing contests and for Australia to finish the way we did was just awesome. It was pretty close in the end (if she would make it or not for the final). Huge amount of gratitude to our medical staff over the last 10 days to help me get there. Equally a hard one as someone had to miss out and Annabel is a great mate of mine and disappointed that she was the one. I did mark my run-up when we got to the ground but I definitely wasn't needed. I guess just the shift in the attitude to take the game on all the time and to deal with pressure along the way. Just that mentality is the huge shift from the 2017 World Cup.

Alana King: I am just so proud of this team. To go 9-0 in the tournament shows the character of this team. I am just sticking to the process and what works for me. I know the batters will come for me and I like that challenge. It is a big family in the Australian camp. From the moment I walked in I was welcomed with open arms and it is credit to the girls, a culture that has been built for years. She (Healy) played an outstanding innings. I was eating a bit of popcorn on the side and enjoying all the shows she was putting out. It all comes from our top order and how good they have been right through the tournament.

Alyssa Healy: Not quite yet (sunk in). First of all it was a special game of cricket. Very high-scoring but that was pretty?special from our group. Something we have been working towards for a long period of time, everyone's been talking about it, so to finally get over the line was pretty cool. The job was halfway done. We knew their line-up and they were peaking at the right time and you never know what's going to happen. It was a very professional chat during the innings break. Credit to the bowlers, they held their nerves, Sciver played a special innings and could have gotten them over the line. Pretty tired towards the end, never batted for that long, it was nice to get out there and put a total on the board. Proud of the batting group. Everyone has worked really hard for this and it has been a long five year wait. Full credit to the girls and we will sit back and analyse what an amazing three months it has been.

Rachael Haynes: It was nice to contribute and get some runs. Start off well. Nature of these tournaments is such that you can get on a roll. Good to make contributions along the way. Important to get the win today. Yea, it's a lot of fun (batting with Alyssa). She takes the pressure off me with the way she plays. That was an incredible innings from her, one of the best I've ever seen. 2017 didn't exactly go to plan but it was a great moment for our team to realise the kind of cricket we wanted to play going forward. To do that for a long period of time and to do it in this tournament is really special.

21:02 Local Time, 08:02 GMT, 13:32 IST - 7th World Cup win for Australia: "There is daylight after them (Australia) and then the rest. They are probably the greatest ever women's side to have ever played the game," - When Nasser Hussain comes up with such lines, there's gotta be something incredibly significant about this wonderful Australian team. To cite an example, Ellyse Perry - who had issues with back spasms and was picked purely as a batter for this game - was almost ready to mark her run-up on seeing Sciver shift gears. She threw herself on the field like a teenager on debut, and as if they had only 100 runs to defend. Whew, this Lanning's side is something I tellya. After being put into bat, both Healy and Haynes continued from where they left off in the last game and the difference, if any, is that the latter launched a boundary attack, playing with the field whilst displaying her full array of shots en route to the highest ever individual score in the history of a World Cup final. Chasing 356, England had no option but to go hard from ball one. As many as four batters got starts, but none hung around to play the second fiddle to Nat Sciver, who played one of the best knocks in a losing cause. All said and done, you do not win too many games when you drop Haynes and Healy in the space of 4 balls. While one nearly doubled their score, the other quadrupled after the missed opportunity making England pay and causing immeasurable torture while at it...

20:58 Local Time, 07:58 GMT, 13:28 IST: Celebrations aplenty in the Australian camp. They just wander off the field as if it's business as usual. Coach Mathew Mott pumps his fists and celebrates before walking up towards the girls. Nothing too exuberant about the celebrations and it just goes onto reflect the nonchalance with which they approached the final. They win by 71 runs. Plenty of player reactions coming right up, stay tuned...

Jonassen to Shrubsole, out Caught by Gardner!! Australia are the World Champions. What a fitting climax. Shrubsole did it with the ball for her side in the 2017 World Cup and now she is at the opposite end, locking herself inside the helmet perhaps realzing that she may not play another World Cup. All that for later, but spare a thought for Nat Sciver. She is trying her hardest to arrest the tears. Her partner Brunt gives her a warm, tight hug. Shrubsole is in tears. She is inconsolable at the moment. It was a full delivery from Jonassen, Shrubsole tried to go downtown but couldn't get the timing and elevation, chips it off the toe-end and mid-off runs back to complete the catch. Shrubsole c Gardner b Jonassen 1(4)

Jonassen to Shrubsole, THATS OUT!! Caught!!