Anya Shrubsole pictured herself playing at Lord's as a child - but even she could scarcely believe just how dramatically her dreams came true.
Shrubsole tore through the India lower order in a thrilling finish as England won the Women's World Cup by nine runs at a sold-out Lord's.
The swing bowler took six for 46, including five in 19 balls, to snatch an extraordinary victory from the jaws of what appeared an inevitable defeat.
Her heroics came just two days after father Ian posted a snap of his then nine-year-old daughter gazing across the Lord's outfield on Twitter, along with the caption: "What a place! I'd like to play here. for England. in a World Cup final."
Shrubsole said: "It was just an unbelievable game. It looked for a minute like we were out of it, but one of the great things about this team is we never give up.
"It was just an amazing game from start to finish and I think it's a very fitting final for what's been a brilliant World Cup.
"It's a dream and a dream you never think is going to come true."
England did indeed look out of it with India, chasing a modest target of 229, cruising along at 191 for three.
But Shrubsole snared Poonam Raut for 86, and the chaos began.
When Alex Hartley accounted for Sushma Verma for a duck and Shrubsole removed Veda Krishnamurthy and Jhulan Goswami in successive balls, England had a lifeline and suddenly Lord's was hosting a thriller.
Sarah Taylor thought she had Deepthi Sharma stumped, but an agonisingly drawn-out replay could not prove her foot was off the floor at the point of impact.
Yet moments later Shikha Pandey was run out, Sharma picked out Natalie Sciver off Shrubsole and India were nine down.
Unbelievably, Jenny Gunn dropped the most straightforward catch of the match, and maybe even the tournament, from Rajeshwari Gayakwad just to ramp up the tension even further.
But Shrubsole got the job done with the next ball, clean bowling Gayakwad to spark celebrations on the pitch and bedlam in the stands.
Sciver had earlier top-scored for with 51 in England's 228 for seven.
Captain Heather Knight said: "It's what we set out to do - although I guess we have done it the hard way.
''Cricket's a funny game, and pressure's a funny thing. W e knew if we held our nerve we would be in with a chance, but it did feel like it was slipping away.
''But we fought like hell in this tournament and this was no different.''
Source: PA
