Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney share limelight as Australia retain T20 World Cup crown in one-sided final

Mooney ended the tournament as the top run-scorer - her 258 is the biggest individual haul in a single Women's T20 World Cup. Once she and Healy had finished their assaults on India's bowling, the game was all but over as a contest

• Scorecard

Australia have won their fifth T20 World Cup after beating India by 85 runs in front of a mammoth Melbourne crowd.

In a game that bookended the tournament – Harmanpreet Kaur’s side won the opening game of the competition in Sydney on a slow surface, Meg Lanning’s team responded in style when it mattered most, with 86,174 people in attendance to witness it.

It was a remarkable occasion at the MCG; never has women’s cricket seen anything quite like it - the biggest ever turnout for a women's sporting event in Australia. Crowds flocked outside long before the first ball was bowled by Deepti Sharma. There was a pre-match cameo from Katy Perry and an inspirational message from Billie Jean King as a landmark final unfolded on International Women's Day.

Lanning then won a crucial toss and the scene was set. India’s win in the group game between the nations had been characterised by Australia’s struggles against spin on a slow pitch, as well as Shafali Verma’s powerplay cameo in setting a challenging target on a tough surface.

This, however, was the opposite. The wicket was true and the stage belonged to the hosts. Alyssa Healy whipped the first delivery of proceedings through midwicket for a boundary and it took until the fourth ball of the final for Sharma to land one, such was the pressure on India and the magnitude of the evening.

Fourteen came from the first over, with a dropped chance to boot. How costly that would become as Healy got into her work; she took 23 off six deliveries from Shikha Pandey, with three successive maximums in a blistering show of brutality on the biggest stage.

Healy and Beth Mooney plundered 115 together in just 70 balls, before Healy finally fell, slapping Radha Yadav to long-on as she looked to continue a quite brutal assault. In truth, the damage had been done. India had been terminally rattled; Healy’s departure only sped up Mooney, who had until then been content to play a supporting role.

She raced to an unbeaten 78, overtaking Healy – whose 75 used up just 39 balls and featured 58 runs in boundaries.

It was an effort that left Mooney as the tournament’s top run-scorer. Lanning came and went for an enterprising 16, while Ashleigh Gardner and Rachael Haynes both fell cheaply as they attacked with reckless abandon in search of a match-winning total.

^{Beth Mooney ended the tournament as the top run-scorer - her 259 is the biggest individual haul in a single Women's T20 World Cup}

For India’s bowlers, it had been a chastening experience. Pandey conceded 52 runs from her four overs, while Poonam Yadav – so dangerous at the Sydney Showground Stadium in the teams’ first encounter – was neutralised easily on a far truer surface. Matthew Mott’s side had learnt from its previous mistakes: rather than running at the loopy leg-spinner, they sat back and waited for her to drop short.

In a sense, India’s group stage win might have assisted in their undoing here. Australia looked a different side. They made none of the same errors, while India dropped Healy on nine and Mooney on four – both presentable opportunities to Verma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

In response, Australia simply had too many runs. The pressure on an Indian top order – out of form, Verma apart – was immense, and it showed.

The 16-year-old has scored more runs in this tournament than Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues combined. Once she edged behind off Megan Schutt just three balls in, India’s charge was all but over.

When Rodrigues, Mandhana and Kaur then followed inside the powerplay, the game as a contest was finished. Richa Ghosh made some history by becoming the first concussion substitute in a global final, replacing Taniya Bhatia after the wicketkeeper was hit on the helmet while attempting to sweep Jess Jonassen.

She and Sharma put on an encouraging stand late on, but only as Lanning's side and a jam-packed MCG began to soak in the significance of a phenomenal occasion. Australia the champions, women's cricket the winner.