'I've never felt as sick heading into that final'

The Australian team huddle on the boundary of Antigua's Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, arms linked, bouncing on their heels in anticipation. 

It is so close they can taste it. Just one more run. 

For the old guard – Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen – this is a familiar feeling, but one they have been denied for four long years. 

The newcomers – Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Tayla Vlaeminck – are on the cusp of something they have only ever dreamed about. 

In the middle, Natalie Sciver bowls to Meg Lanning, who dabs the ball in front of point and dashes off for a single. 

The Australian captain lets out a roar, turns and takes a running leap into the arms of Ashleigh Gardner.

Normal service has been resumed and Australia are once again champions of the world. 

Image Id: D115C08184394DD3898B6F9050818004 Image Caption: Lanning and Gardner are swamped by their teammates // Getty

***  

The way Australia coach Matthew Mott puts it, Australia did not go into the 2018 T20 World Cup with a monkey on their back, it was a gorilla. 

Despite being consistently rated the best team in the world, with talent and resources other sides could only dream of, they lost the 2016 final to a rampant West Indies with nothing to lose and everything to gain, while in 2017, they were knocked out in the semi-finals of the one-day World Cup by a similarly free-wheeling India.  

Image Id: F2C71D8359DC45BEB037CCFD5B0EDABA Image Caption: Lanning walks off after being bowled for a duck // Getty,br>

"I actually kind of remember 2016 more than any others," allrounder Perry admitted last year, when asked about Australia's T20 World Cup triumphs. 

"It's fairly hollow when you get all the way to the final and you don't win." 

Image Id: 2A87823330E9439E9588E22BAE866B97 Image Caption: West Indies celebrate winning the 2016 T20 World Cup // Getty

Those disappointments had prompted a no-holds-barred review into every facet of Australia's culture, strategies and selection. 

'Fearless cricket' became the catch cry, while 2018 also heralded the arrival of Molineux, Wareham and Vlaeminck into the national side. 

The Australian squad arrived in the Caribbean already well drilled after a limited-overs series against Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur, their return to the West Indies triggering happy memories for the likes of Healy, Perry, Elyse Villani and Rachael Haynes, who had been involved with their maiden T20 World Cup win in 2010. 

But Australia's campaign did not exactly start amid a backdrop of picture-perfect beaches and pina coladas – instead, it was in Guyana, on the mainland of South America, that Lanning's team kicked off their quest for redemption.  

On field, everything went smoothly for Australia through their first three group matches. 

Led by a barnstorming Healy at the top of the order, Pakistan and Ireland were disposed of with ruthless efficiency, by margins of 52 runs and nine wickets respectively, before Healy's half-century laid the foundation for a 33-run win over New Zealand to cement a semi-final berth. 

The team was humming both on and off the field. A visit to a local school in Georgetown proved to be a highlight of the tour – thanks in large to Molineux's impromptu decision to man the DJ decks and treat players and children alike to the song that became Australia's unofficial theme of the tour: Cher's 'Believe'. 

As they were in 2017, it was Harmanpreet Kaur's India that would prove Australia's stumbling block. 

Fortunately, this time it came in a group game, not a knockout, as Smriti Mandhana and Kaur took on the Australian attack to carry India to 8-167. 

But it was the shoulder of Schutt which caused the biggest headache for Australia and, quite literally, for Healy. 

The Australian 'keeper had raced down the pitch attempting to catch a skied chance, only to slam into the shoulder of Schutt, who was likewise charging down the wicket, head turned to the sky. 

Image Id: AC3DF0F63C554814904CFE422D11FF0C Image Caption: Healy moments after colliding with Schutt // Getty

Healy came off the worst of the pair, diagnosed with concussion and ruled out of the remainder of the match. 

Without their in-form opener leading the charge, the chase went disastrously for Australia, who were bowled out for 119. 

It left Healy facing a race against time to be fit for the semi-finals, while Australia were to face hosts and 2016 heartbreakers West Indies. 

*** 

Leaving Guyana behind, Australia headed to Antigua, where Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was to host all three elimination matches. 

All the talk was about Healy, who needed to prove she had recovered to take her place in the semi-final XI. Fortunately for Australia, their star 'keeper-bat passed her fitness test with flying colours. 

West Indies had the crowd on their side, but Australia were driven by the anguish of past disappointments. 

"We had that hiccup in the final group stage against India, and I think that probably just burned the desire within the group a little bit more," Haynes said. 

"We didn't want that to happen again, so when we got to our semi-final against the West indies, you could just see the team was switched on. 

"I guess we wanted to silence the crowd a little bit as well, because it was their home tournament and you could tell they were right behind their side." 

Batting first in the semi-final, Healy showed no ill-effects of her concussion scoring 46, before Haynes' late flurry lifted her team to 5-142. 

Image Id: 675E98C9C1734DEEAA83EE377B427962 Image Caption: Dottin is castled // Getty

The Australians were like a team possessed in the field. Healy's sharp glovework had Hayley Matthews run out in the second over, then Perry bowled the damaging Deandra Dottin five balls later. 

Wickets tumbled as Australia rolled the defending champions for 71, claiming their place in the final and leaving their shell-shocked rivals in tears. 

*** 

For the third time in four tournaments, it was Australia versus England in the final – and despite their heroes being knocked out, the locals still turned up in droves. 

The start time of 8pm meant a long, nervy day for the Australian players, none more so than captain Lanning. 

"I've never felt as nervous or sick heading into a game than I did in that final," Lanning revealed.  

"It was starting at eight o'clock and I was pacing around my room for hours on end, waiting for the game to come."  

Those nerves translated into a shaky start after English captain Heather Knight elected to bat first, as three dropped catches and a misfield kept the dangerous Danni Wyatt in the middle. 

Then, everything just clicked. 

Georgia Wareham pulled off a stunning direct-hit run-out from mid-wicket to send Amy Jones packing, before she removed Lauren Winfield and Sophia Dunkley with successive deliveries. 

Gardner's off-spin reaped the huge wicket of Wyatt, while she also put paid to Knight and Anya Shrubsole. 

Needing just 106 runs to raise the trophy, the dismissals of Healy and Mooney gave England hearts the briefest flicker, but they were quickly dashed once Lanning and Gardner came together, with the latter smacking three enormous sixes into the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium crowd. 

Lanning's single sealed an eight-wicket win with 29 balls remaining, as her teammates rushed into the field to greet them. 

"I'm not sure what got into me, usually I keep my emotions in check," said Lanning of the moment she leapt into Gardner's arms, giving her teammate a split lip in the process. 

Image Id: B928A619EC044EC4A0A19DFB11050A05 Image Caption: Split lip but totally worth it // Getty

"I think it was just relief and I guess I'd carried a lot of the 2017 World Cup (disappointment) with me. 

"That was just a moment I felt like we'd been able to make a little bit of amends … to be able to turn that team around and get everyone to really buy into what we wanted to achieve, that was certainly a great moment. 

"It was certainly my favourite of the three T20 wins I've been part of." 

For Healy, named player of the tournament for the 225 runs she scored across her five innings, it was the crowning moment the team had been working towards since that day in Kolkata in April 2016. 

Image Id: 2C48DAEFB50444969C96D75BCD9AA0CF Image Caption: Winners are grinners // Getty

"It's what we'd been looking to do for a long period of time," Healy said.  

"It was a huge build up to that T20 World Cup for us and there was a lot of talk about our team and whether we had changed… so for us there was a lot of expectation, but at the same time I had no thought that we were ever in danger of losing it.  

"We had a really good side and we had the team that should have won the World Cup and to be able to put a really complete performance together in the semi and the final, I think shows how far this team has come. 

"I remember all of us lining up together on the boundary when we needed a couple of runs to win and talking about winning the World Cup… that was a special moment for everyone."