Sophie Molineux almost missed World Cup final: Australia coach

Australia women's coach Matthew Mott has admitted that he didn't expect allrounder Sophie Molineux to play the final of ICC Women's T20 World Cup on March 8.

Molineux was sidelined throughout the group stage due to a corked thigh and one week out from the final Mott was convinced thather tournament was over.

But allrounder Ellyse Perry suffered a hamstring injury, paving the way for Molineux to return for the semi-final against South Africa.

"I must admit, I didn't expect her to get back up. I did see a scan and it didn't look pretty, so she must have been dealing with a lot of pain and it restricted her running," cricket.com.au quoted Mott as saying.

"You wouldn't normally pick a player who was that uncertain, but once we lost Perry we thought it was worth the risk," he added.

The 22-year-old cricketer took one wicket and gave away just 21 runs in the final of the mega event.

Australia defeated India by 85 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to win its fifth Women's T20 World Cup title.