Favorites Australia won their third consecutive T20 World Cup and sixth overall after Beth Mooney shone with the bat and the bowlers followed that up with a masterful performance. The hosts South Africa struggled to get going with the bat while chasing 157 runs, having to play catch up and ultimately losing by 19 runs. Australia, who chose to bat first in the important match, got off to a slow start by their standards, during which time the dangerous Alyssa Healy left the field after scoring an unusual 18 off 20. A hard-length ball that bounced and sliced off Healy’s bat to cover was the reason for that elimination. Then Ashleigh Gardner went out to bat before skipper Meg Lanning, which helped her team get going. In a 46-run partnership with Beth Mooney, who had recovered from a shaky start to anchor the innings and was unbeaten on 74 off 53 balls, Gardner, who hit two sixes and two fours in the seventh and eighth overs, made 29 off 21.
Nine boundaries and a six were included in Mooney’s 53-ball stanza. Gardner exited with 30 points remaining and took advantage of the chance to increase her scoring rate. She began by hitting a few boundaries off Nadine de Klerk in the 13th over, and after 44 deliveries, she had reached fifty, becoming the first woman to reach that milestone twice in the T20 World Cup finals. She attacked Shabnim Ismail in the last over, who had previously had figures of 3-1-14-0, which enabled Australia to pass the 150-point mark and achieve a difficult total on an uneven surface. With 34 runs scored in the final three overs, Australia had the upper hand.
South African Women has defeated England in the semi-final for reaching to the world cup finals by 6 runs.
With only one boundary in the first 32 deliveries, South Africa’s openers immediately felt the pressure. Marizanne Kapp only scored a convincing boundary off Megan Schutt in the sixth over, but they were already in trouble due to their PowerPlay total of 22/1. Similar to Mooney earlier in the day, opener Laura Wolvaardt simmered through the first part of her innings before teeing off and reaching her fifty off 43 deliveries. She kept South Africa hopeful by adding 55 runs for the fourth wicket with Chloe Tryon.
With a solid batting pair at the crease, South Africa required 59 off the final five overs, and for a brief moment, a target of 157 on a difficult surface and against Australia’s relentless bowlers seemed doable. But Australia then did what they do best: recover. The hosts’ aspirations were dashed when Schutt returned and bowled Tryon in the next over and trapped Wolvaardt lbw in the 17th. With a 19-run win, Anneke Bosch’s runout decided the outcome.
