MUMBAI, India (CMC):

Crippled by their chronic weak batting, West Indies failed in their bid to win the ICC Women's World Cup for the first time when they went down to five-time champions Australia by 114 runs in yesterday's final at Brabourne Stadium.

Chasing a challenging 260 for victory, the Windies' batting collapsed yet again as they tumbled to a disappointing 145 all out off 43.1 overs, to end their fairy-tale run in the tournament.

Captain Merissa Aguilleira top-scored with 23 and the aggressive Deandra Dottin chipped in with 22, but the batting once again failed to shine when it was most needed.

Aguilleira blamed the poor batting show for the loss.

"Batting has been the downfall for us throughout this tournament. We went out there and we didn't execute well. That was one of the areas, we had to perform today and we couldn't manage that as planned," said the 27-year-old from Trinidad.

Despite the loss, she said the West Indies had a lot of positives to look forward to.

"Today we did not go out there and execute, but we have a lot to be thankful for. Before the tournament we were ranked fifth in the ICC rankings and now we have finished second in the world, it's a huge achievement. We got to the final for the first time. Deandra and Stafanie played well and so many people got a chance to see what Deandra can do out there as a player, but we know now that there is room for further improvement."

West Indies were undone by an outstanding spell from seamer Ellyse Perry, who finished with three for 19 from her 10 overs, while off-spinners Lisa Sthalekar (2-20) and Erin Osborne (2-26), along with pacer Megan Schutt (2-38), all weighed in.

Earlier, Jess Cameron stroked 75 from 76 balls and opener Rachael Haynes, 52, as the Aussies piled up 259 for seven from their allotted 50 overs after they opted to bat first.

Teenage leg-spinner Shaquana Quintyne was the leading bowler with three for 31 for her 10 overs.

Solid start

The heavy favourites were away to a solid start with Haynes and Meg Lanning, who scored 31, posting 52 off 60 balls for the first wicket. Haynes, an attractive left-hander, faced 74 balls and struck six fours, while Lanning spent 41 balls at the crease for a similar boundary count.

Once Lanning holed out to mid-off attempting to clear the infield with Taylor, Cameron took centre stage, anchoring two partnerships as Australia dominated the middle overs. She put on 64 for the second wicket with Haynes and when Alex Blackwell fell cheaply for three, added a further 55 for the fourth wicket with Lisa Sthalekar (12).

Cameron, a right-hander, struck eight fours and two sixes in a fine innings which was ended when she suffered an error in judgement and smashed a full toss from left-arm spinner down the throat of Kycia Knight on the midwicket boundary at 181 for four in the 36th over.

West Indies then reined in Australia's scoring as four wickets fell for 28 runs until captain Jodie Fields, who finished on 36 not out off 38 balls, and Perry, who stroked an unbeaten 25 from 22 balls, broke the shackles in a unbroken 50-run, eighth-wicket partnership off 40 deliveries.

Fields said that the Aussies went into the final with an aggressive intent.

"I was very disappointed with performance in the Super Six stage against West Indies. We really wanted to go into that match and dominate and go through the tournament undefeated," said the 28-year-old.

"But credit to West Indies, they played well in that match. We knew we had to step it up at bit and prove our game and, to the team's credit, they did that," she added.

The Caribbean side started their run-chase solidly, but slowly as Kycia Knight (17) and Natasha McLean (13) consumed 60 balls in raising 32 for the first wicket.

Perry broke the stand when she trapped the left-handed Knight lbw with one that nipped back, sparking a slide that saw the Windies lose their next two wickets for the addition of just nine runs.

Taylor caught and bowled

The right-armer had the prolific Stafanie Taylor caught and bowled for five in her next over and also sent back McLean, lbw playing across a full-length delivery, another over later.

Aguilleira and Kyshona Knight (21) were attempting a repair job when the latter hobbled off with an injury on five at 57 for three in the 22nd over. But Dottin joined Aguilleira to stretch the fourth-wicket stand to 47, with both playing positively.

Aguilleira hammered two fours and a massive six over deep mid-wicket off 36 deliveries while Dottin was her usual cavalier self, blasting a pair of sixes off seamer Sarah Coyte along with a four in her 28-ball knock.

Sthalekar bowled both to leave West Indies needing a miracle at 109 for five, but hope evaporated quickly as the last five wickets perished for 36 runs.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Suzie Bates was declared Player of the Tournament for her 407 runs with three half-centuries and a ton at an average of 67.83. She also took four wickets while captaining her side to a fourth-place finish in the tournament.

"It was tough to be watching the final and not playing in the World Cup final, but on a personal point of view, winning a trophy at the end of this tournament is better than receiving nothing at all," said Bates.

"I'm honoured to have been named the Player of the Tournament, but now it's time for us to go back to the drawing board as New Zealand cricket and make sure we continue to improve, similar to the rapid progress that West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa have made. I still believe New Zealand can achieve great things despite finishing fourth here in India."

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA

Did not bat: J Hunter, M Schutt.

Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Lanning, 10 overs), 2-116 (Haynes, 25), 3-126 (Blackwell, 27.5), 4-181 (Cameron, 35.5), 5-187 (Sthalekar, 37.1), 6-190 (Coyte, 39.2), 7-209 (Osborne, 43.2).

Bowling: Daley 10-0-43-1 (w1), Smartt 5-0-43-1 (nb4), Taylor 9-1-44-1, Quintyne10-1-27-3 (w1), Mohammed 10-1-61-1, Kyshona Knight 3-0-23-0 (w1), Campbelle 3-0-15-0 (w1).

WEST INDIES

Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Kycia A Knight, 10), 2-38 (Taylor, 11.4), 3-41 (McLean, 13.3), 3-57(Kyshona A Knight, ret. not out, 21.3), 4-88 (Aguilleira, 26.1), 5-109 (Dottin, 30.4), 6-109 (Campbelle, 31.1), 7-114 (Quintyne, 34.1), 8-114 (Daley, 35.4), 9-141 (Mohammed, 42.2), 10-145 (Smartt, 43.1).

Bowling: Schutt 10-2-38-2, Hunter 4.1-0-18-1 (w3), Sthalekar 10-3-20-2, Perry 10-3-19-3 (w3), Osborne 7-2-26-2, Coyte 2-0-15-0.

Result: Australia won by 114 runs.

Series: Australia Women win ICC Women's World Cup.

Player-of-the-Match: Jess Cameron.

Player-of-the-Series: Suzie Bates

Umpires: S George, V Kulkarni; TV - R Palliyaguruge.