Kolkata, April 3 (IANS): Australia skipper Meg Lanning on Sunday praised the West Indian batswomen for chasing down a challenging total to clinch the World Twenty20 women's title here.

The West Indies beat Australia by eight wickets in the final at the Eden Gardens here.

For the West Indies, Hayley Matthews (66) and captain Stafanie Taylor (59) were the top two run-scorers chasing Australia's total of 148/5.

"Full credit to the West Indies, the way they came out with the bat, disappointing for us did not quite get the result we wanted. Congratulations West Indies," skipper Meg said at the post-match presentation ceremony here.

"We felt we were a little bit short of the total we wanted, we didn't finish off well like we would have loved to. (A score of) 160 would have been nice for us. Having said that, if we bowled well we would have defended. Really exciting, tough road into the World Cup, proud of the effort that everyone has put in," she said.

This is the first time the West Indies women have won the trophy. By winning, they put a halt to Australia's juggernaut that had won three consecutive World T20s from 2010 onwards.