Australia crushed England by 7 wickets in a sold-out final at Lord’s on Sunday to claim a record-extending seventh Women’s T20 World Cup title.
Chasing a modest target of 151, Australia were powered by Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 64 and Phoebe Litchfield’s 48, with the pair adding 100 runs for the second wicket as they sealed victory with 17 balls to spare.
Australia not only defeated their bitter rivals England on Sunday, but also ended their record of winning every major international women’s cricket event they had hosted. With this victory, Australia have now won all seven of their world finals in both one-day international and Twenty20 cricket.
Australia came in England not holding either the 50-over or T20 world titles, with player-of-the-match Mooney quoted by AFP as saying at the award ceremony: “We’re just happy to be here — it has been pretty well-documented that we haven’t made it this far in the last two ICC events. I thought Georgia Voll hit the ball really well before her unfortunate dismissal. Phoebe Litchfield came out and nailed it from ball one. I just kept going and tried to make sure we got ahead in the game as early as possible.”
Australia’s disciplined bowling and sharp fielding kept England in check, restricting them to a below-par 150/4. England recovered from a precarious 70/4 thanks to an unbroken 80-run partnership between captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who finished unbeaten on 58, and Freya Kemp, who made an unbeaten 44.
In Australia’s maiden global final at Lord’s, the new-ball combo of Kim Garth (1-20 in four overs) and Lucy Hamilton (1-19 in three) were the most effective.
“I thought the bowlers did an exceptional job to hold them (England) to that total,” said Australia’s Annabel Sutherland.
With a 16-0 loss to Australia in the most recent multi-format Ashes still fresh in their minds, England, vying for their first major title since winning the 2017 50-over World Cup final at Lord’s, hardly looked in with a hope.
With both teams undefeated at the event prior to the final, Sciver-Brunt had pledged that her team will play Australia “toe-to-toe.” However, England’s innings rarely had momentum.
“I am stood here hugely disappointed,” said Sciver-Brunt. “We have had a great competition to this point so for it to end like that is a bit sour in the mouth at the moment.
Sciver-Brunt, accompanied by her son Theo onto the outfield for the pre-match anthems, added: “When the pressure was on, their bowlers made it very difficult for us.”
After experiencing multiple victories against Australia throughout her playing career, dejected England coach Charlotte Edwards was called in after the Ashes fiasco., said: “Gutted, really.
“We came here with so much belief and confidence to pull off something really special… but they (Australia) are a very, very good team and we were completely outplayed there in the end.”
Voll played on to Lauren Bell after lofting the first ball of the chase for four, putting Australia ahead 17-1. However, the runs continued to flow. In her 38-ball fifty, Mooney, who had previously skillfully kept wickets, guided Bell through backward point for one of seven fours.
Litchfield lofted the off-spinner for six over extra cover after sweeping Charlie Dean for four. Australia had one hand on the trophy at 68-1 at the conclusion of the six-over powerplay.
Dean ended a stand of 100 on 67 balls by bowling Litchfield. and Mooney was ultimately dismissed by left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, but Australia now had a chance to win at 140-3.
Australia’s winning runs, which came from five wides from Ecclestone’s legside delivery that raced to the boundary, summed up England’s day.
Earlier, Australia’s Amy Jones edged Hamilton to gully shortly after skipper Sophie Molineux won the toss.
Veteran opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge became the first batter to hit 300 runs at a women’s T20 World Cup but fell for 8 when she gloved Sutherland and was superbly caught down the legside at the second attempt by a diving Mooney.
Alice Capsey scored 23, but England fell to 70-4 as Heather Knight, who had just scored a brilliant fifty in a 40-run semi-final victory over South Africa, was plummeted lbw for just two to Garth’s leg-cutter.
