On 3rd April 2016, the T20 World Cup final took place at Eden Gardens Kolkata between Australia and West Indies.
Both teams finished second in the group stages behind New Zealand and England. Australia defeated England by 5 runs in their semi-final while West Indies defeated New Zealand by 6 runs to win a place in their first World Cup final. Australia, playing in their fourth consecutive final and chasing their fourth consecutive win, were rightly regarded as favourites.
Meg Lanning won the toss for Australia and chose to bat first and the batters did the job, scoring 5/148 from their twenty overs. Elyse Villani and Meg Lanning both scored half centuries while Ellyse Perry finished the innings with a quick fire 28 which included two sixes.
Hayley Matthews opened the batting for the West Indies with her skipper, Stafanie Taylor. Together they put on a match winning partnership of 120 runs. The Australians had no answers as both players plundered the bowling. Matthews was particularly aggressive and her innings of 66 from 45 balls paved the way for her team and earned her Player of the Match.
This was a wonderful victory for West Indies. It was their first title and the first team outside of Australia, England and New Zealand to win a World Cup. Stafanie Taylor, the player who scored the most runs (246) was named Player of the Series.
Scores
Australia 148/5 (Elyse Villani 52, Meg Lanning 52, Deandra Dottin 2-33) lost to
West Indies 149/2 (Hayley Matthews 66, Stafanie Taylor 59, Kristen Beams 1-27) by 8 wickets
POTM: Hayley Matthews