Australia wins the Women’s T20 World Cup after crushing England in the Lord’s final

LONDON (AP) — Australia won the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup after smashing England in the final by seven wickets at Lord’s on Sunday.

Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield supercharged the chase of 151 runs from the second over to the 13th in a 100-run partnership off 67 balls.

Litchfield fell 34 runs from victory and Mooney was out 11 runs from the inevitable end after her third match-winning half-century in Australia’s last three successful finals.

Overseeing the winning runs in the middle with 17 balls to spare was another Australian cricket stalwart, Ellyse Perry, winning her seventh world T20 trophy.

Australia pulled off the highest successful chase in a final at 153-3 after restricting England to 150-4.

This was the 10th, biggest and most popular Women’s T20 World Cup and Australia extended its staggering record to seven titles from eight finals.

After missing out on a World Cup title in the 20-over and 50-over formats in 2024 and ’25, Australia’s serial champion women were back in business under new captain Sophie Molineux.

“The atmosphere, the occasion, it’s phenomenal,” Perry told broadcaster Sky. “For it to fall our way is super special. Amazing performance from the girls against an awesome England team.

“To get over the line in Soph’s first World Cup (as captain), it’s a joy to be a part of. We’ve hopefully taken our game to a new level. To have the chance to be part of that is the privilege of a lifetime.”

The sold-out final in front of a sun-baked crowd of 28,887 was going to break one maxim: England had won all four of the Women’s World Cups it has hosted across formats while Australia had won all six of the finals between the teams across formats.

In the end it wasn’t a contest.

Sent in to bat, England openers Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt-Hodge were dismissed in the powerplay. Wyatt-Hodge became the first player to pass 300 runs in a single T20 World Cup but she was gone for 8. Alice Capsey was bowled in the 10th over at 67-3 and England was struggling to rouse its home crowd.

It takes something special to knock out Australia in a T20 World Cup: The unbeaten 122-run stand between Claire Taylor and Beth Morgan for England in the 2009 semifinals; Hayley Matthews’ 66 for West Indies in the 2016 final and Anneke Bosch’s 74 for South Africa in the 2024 semifinals.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt had her shot and hung tough with her record ninth half-century in a T20 World Cup but her unbeaten 53-ball 58 was too slow. Freya Kemp was unbeaten on 44.

“Gutted,” England coach Charlotte Edwards said. “We came here with so much belief and confidence to pull off something really special. But (Australia) are a very, very good team and we were completely outplayed.”

Australia’s miserly bowlers were led by quicks Lucy Hamilton (1-19) and Kim Garth (1-20).

Over the Mooney

The chase was a cruise. England pacer Lauren Bell dismissed Georgia Voll in the second over. But in her next over, Bell was smacked for three boundaries by Mooney.

Australia was 62-1 after the powerplay. Litchfield reverse-swept Linsey Smith for six over deep square leg and Mooney reached her fifty off 38 balls. But in the same 13th over Litchfield was bowled on 48 off 35 balls.

On the brink of victory, Mooney was out on review, pinned by spinner Sophie Ecclestone for 64 from 49 deliveries with 10 boundaries. Mooney was voted the player of the match and tournament.

“It’s been well documented that we haven’t made it in the last two ICC events. I woke up this morning pretty grateful we have made it this far,” Mooney said.

“I started the tournament a little rusty but I warmed up. I have had plenty of help. The game plan was to settle the dugout in the powerplay in a big game. I tried to make sure we got ahead of the game as early as possible.”

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket