Final of the Women's World Cup: Australia defeats England to win the title.

Australia's victory over England in the Women's World Cup confirmed their reputation as the world's best international sports team.

In Christchurch, the Australians obliterated records on their route to adding the 50-over World Cup to their T20 World Cup and Ashes titles.

Alyssa Healy hit the highest score in either a women's or men's World Cup final, smashing 170 off 138 balls. Her 160-run partnership with Rachael Haynes, as well as Australia's 356-5 total, are both women's final bests, with the latter being a record for any side versus England.

England, who were massive outsiders to defend their crown from 2017, will be kicking themselves for opting to bat first in ideal batting conditions. Healy and Haynes were also dropped in the same over.

In the face of such a massive chase, England lost too many wickets to ever be in contention, although Nat Sciver batted brilliantly for a century of her own.

When England were finally wiped out for 285, Sciver was 148 not out, with spinners Alana King and Jess Jonassen each taking three wickets in Australia's 71-run victory.

It was a heartbreaking finish to England's remarkable comeback, which saw them reach the final after losing their first three games.

Meanwhile, with a perfect record of nine wins from nine matches, Australia was declared world champions for the seventh time.

The expectation was that England would need everything to go their way to beat an Australia team that had only lost one one-day international in their previous 38 matches.

Given England's - and Australia's - preference for chasing, Heather Knight's decision to give up the opportunity to bat first appeared like a gift.

The defending champs squandered the opportunity to put pressure on the Australians, who controlled the game throughout.

England's bowling was not particularly poor, but the dropped catches were a major setback. Healy was playing some ridiculous strokes by the end, scoring runs at free.

Despite Sciver's outstanding innings, the game was basically gone before halftime, with the most dramatic World Cup ever failing to reach the final it deserved.

Knight said BBC Radio 5 Live, "I was pretty 50/50 at the toss." "It was one of those situations when you wouldn't have been upset if you hadn't won.

"It demonstrated that it was definitely the right option - it was a nice surface to chase on if we had more wickets at the end there, and if someone had batted with Nat, you could lengthen the partnership and chase.

England's comeback comes to a halt with a decisive defeat.

Given their three early defeats, England's mere presence in the final was a huge achievement. They were one wicket away from being knocked out if they lost to New Zealand.

They rallied with five straight victories and appeared to be at ease when the final began, only to be swept aside by the Australians.

Sophie Ecclestone, the tournament's leading wicket-taker, gave up 71 runs in her ten overs, veteran pacer Katherine Brunt gave up 69 in hers, and young off-spinner Charlie Dean was expected to take four wickets for 34 runs.

Only Shrubsole, England's match-winner in the final five years ago, managed to avoid the carnage with a 3-46.

Despite the fact that England scored more swiftly than Australia on such a fantastic pitch, only Sciver scored more than 27.

Despite the odds, she scored heavily on the leg side, often with cleverness, reaching three digits from 90 balls.