Australia lifted their seventh Women's T20 World Cup trophy with a dominant win over England at Lord's. Here's where the match was won and lost.
The Toss: Advantage Australia
On what can be a notoriously tricky white-ball surface at Lord's at the end of big tournaments, Australia landed an early blow by winning the toss. In seven women's T20Is at Lord's, the side batting first has only won twice. The caveat to that was that England had won seven out of the last nine T20Is they batted first in, whereas Australia won five out of the last six T20Is they fielded first in. On the balance of all of that, winning the toss and choosing to bat gave Australia a slight edge at the start of the game.
Australia's powerplay squeeze
England were 39-2 at the end of the powerplay, their second-worst score after six overs of the tournament, only behind their semi-final collapse to 38-3. Lucy Hamilton has been excellent at the start of the innings for Australia when she's played in this tournament, accruing an economy rate of less than five. She delivered again when it mattered most, getting Amy Jones out with her second delivery. Kim Garth conceded only three runs off the next over, leaving England playing catch-up to make the most of the fielding restrictions.
England's struggle to score quickly
Alice Capsey's wicket was a crucial moment in England's innings. Having hit three boundaries in one over off Ash Gardner, she attempted to reverse sweep Sophie Molineux twice, the second of which got her out. Capsey averages 11 when playing reverse sweeps in T20s, and has been out playing it five times. In the five overs after her dismissal, England scored 37 runs, hitting just three boundaries, all from Freya Kemp's bat. Nat Sciver-Brunt's half-century was the glue that held the innings together, but in comparison to the rate at which both Kemp and Australia's batters were able to score, in hindisght it looks sluggish. Having kept the innings together in the middle, she lacked the accelertion alongside Kemp at the end, leaving England at least 20 runs short.
The Dean-Mooney match-up that didn't come off
England opened the bowling with Charlie Dean, breaking their established plan of starting up with Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith. It appeared a clear match-up to Beth Mooney, a left-hander, facing up to Dean as a right-hander. Mooney has been excellent in this tournament, scoring a half-century in the semi-final and finished her campaign second only to Danni Wyatt-Hodge in the overall runs chart. However, Dean only got three balls at Mooney in her opening over. She was brought back for the last over of the powerplay, in which she bowled entirely at Phoebe Litchfield and went for two boundaries. Dean did eventually get Litchfield out, at which point she had scored 48 runs off 35 balls.
England's extras count
Australia had to chase a world-record total to lift the trophy for a seventh time – the highest previous successful chase in a women's T20 World Cup final was the West Indies' 149 against Australia in 2016. Nevertheless, England would have known they were short going into their fielding innings. Their extras count at the end was nine – including four and a no-ball when Lauren Bell sprayed one off the cut strip in her opening over, and another five from Sophie Ecclestone to finish the game. Australia are known for being clinical in the field, and England have made big strides in that department. To defend 150 today, they needed to be perfect.
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