Sunday 29 / December / 2024
Melbourne: It's been a week since Australia and India went head-to-head in front of a record 86,174 fans in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. We relive the final and the build-up towards it through a unique behind the scenes lens.
India, who had topped their group after defeating all teams, including Australia, progressed into their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup final after their semifinal match against England was washed out on a wet day in Sydney, while Australia romped their way into the big day with a commanding win over South Africa in a truncated semifinal.
The 'behind the scenes' clip takes an intimate look at the raw emotions surrounding the event. As first-timers in the finals of the biggest T20 spectacle in women's cricket, India's players appear to be in equal parts excited and nervous. The team's young batting (and social media) star Jemimah Rodrigues says she is "super excited" about the chance to make history. "We have done well as a team, and we just want to continue the same in front of 90,000 people," she says on 6 March, two days out from the final.
The magnitude of the event isn't lost on Meg Lanning and co., who are set to play their sixth final. The anticipation of a packed home crowd at the MCG helps add to the sense of occasion. "This build-up to the game is something I've never experienced before and to be involved in the biggest game of women's cricket there's ever been... everyone's just looking forward to the occasion," captain Lanning tells reporters on the eve of the game.
On the day of the game, the ground is buzzing, with people lining up for a momentous occasion in world sport in huge numbers. Australia enjoy huge home crowd support, but Indian fans turn up in numbers too.
Lisa Sthalekar is overwhelmed by emotion as the country she herself won several ICC events with, captures yet another world title, a feat made more memorable by the presence of an enormous crowd; the largest seen at a women's sporting event in Australia as well as the largest recorded crowd at a women's cricket match ever.
