3 reasons why India will defeat Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup final

Hosts Australia will take on India in the final of 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday (March 8^th). While Group A winners India qualified for the summit clash (since they were the Group A winners) after their semi-final clash against England was washed out due to rain, the Meg Lanning-led Australian side reached the final having defeated South Africa by 5 runs (by DLS method) at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

For the Women in Blue, this will be their first-ever T20 World Cup final appearance having lost in the semi-finals on three occasions earlier- 2009, 2010 and 2018. Meanwhile, the hosts who are the most successful team in the history of Women’s T20 World Cup with four titles (2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018) will be looking to defend their title at Melbourne.

With these two top teams making the grand-finale one thing is for sure- we are in for a cracker of a contest in which the excitement and quality of cricket will be at a different level at the MCG. But it looks like the Indian Women’s team will lay hands on the trophy for the first time this year.

On that note, let us look at three reasons why India will win the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup by defeating hosts and favourites Australia in the final.

1. The winning momentum

The last time when these two sides met each other in the tournament opener at the Sydney Showground Stadium on February 21^st,  the Women in Blue emerged victorious by 17 runs. Despite managing just 132 runs, India managed to defend their modest total- thanks to a splendid display of bowling. That win gave them the much-needed momentum going forward.

They followed it up with an 18-run win over Bangladesh at the WACA, Perth in their next game. After two successive wins, India, however, were put to test against New Zealand at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. Having scored 133-8 after being invited to bat first, India eventually won the contest by just three runs restricting the White Ferns to 130-6 in 20 overs. A convincing seven-wicket win in their last group fixture against Sri Lanka helped India secure the pole position in Group A before heading to the knockouts.

With the semi-final against England abandoned without a ball being bowled, Harmapreet’s girls who are still unbeaten in the tournament will be determined to go all the way by maintaining their winning momentum. Having defeated Australia already in the group stages, the Indian women will be confident of continuing their perfect winning streak at Melbourne on Sunday.