Australia win the T20I World Cup!
There it is! A still spewing Ecclestone spears down five wides and that’s the final act! Australia win by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining. A seventh, SEVENTH (!) T20I World Title. Too Easy. Too Good.
Updated at 13.51 EDT
Key events
Read ‘em and weep (if you are anything other than Australian)
Australia’s record in women’s T20 World Cup:
2009 – Semi-finals
2010 – Champions
2012 – Champions
2014 – Champions
2016 – Runners-up
2018 – Champions
2020 – Champions
2023 – Champions
2024 – Semi-finals
2026 – Champions
A number of England’s players are in tears on one side of the outfield, no home world cup winning moment for them and it’s a bitter pill to swallow. They’ve had a great tournament but we’re outclassed in every department by the Aussies today. A touching moment as Georgia Voll consoles Sophie Ecclestone.
The Australians celebrate with family and friends on the outfield, it’ll be time for the presentations in a moment.
Australia’s players stream out onto the sun strewn Lord’s outfield to embrace Ash Gardner and Ellyse Perry! They’ve been ruthless all tournament and they bossed England off the park this afternoon.
ShareAustralia win the T20I World Cup!
There it is! A still spewing Ecclestone spears down five wides and that’s the final act! Australia win by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining. A seventh, SEVENTH (!) T20I World Title. Too Easy. Too Good.
Updated at 13.51 EDT
17th over: Australia 146-3 (Perry 13, Gardner 1) Right, after all that hoo haa, Australia need just five more runs to win the World Cup.
Late drama at Lord’s as Sophie Ecclestone catches Ellyse Perry but somehow the third umpire gives it NOT OUT. Ecclestone is apoplectic, Charlie Dean does really well to stop her from marching up the the umpire with all the frustration of the occasion firing through her. Curious decision but Perry survives.
16th over: Australia 140-3 (Perry 6, Gardner) Ash Gardner joins Perry in the middle, will the latter hit the winning runs?
ShareWICKET! Beth Mooney lbw b Ecclestone 64 (Australia 140-3)
This is not a drill! Beth Mooney is out in a world final! It took an age for the DRS to give it but I think it is the right call, she missed a straight one from Ecclestone and has to drag herself off the field with just eleven runs needed. What a fantastic knock though, she is master of the run chase.
Amy Jones appeals for lbw on Australia’s Beth Mooney. Photograph: Alastair Grant/APShare
Updated at 13.45 EDT
15th over: Australia 137-2 (Mooney 63, Perry 6) Ellyse Perry comes to the party with a clean hit over mid off for four. This has been a tour de force by Australia, they are winning this World Cup at a canter.
14th over: Australia 129-2 (Mooney 62, Perry 0) Beth Mooney continues in ice veined fashion, she’s a marvel in World Cup finals! A loft for four is played with ease and she collects two more boundaries too, one edged fine and another clipped off her pads with ease. Australia need just 22 more now.
Updated at 13.34 EDT
13th over: Australia 117-2 (Mooney 50, Perry 0) Ellyse Perry joins Mooney in the middle. She’s very nearly run out at the non striker’s end without facing a ball but Freya Kemp failed to get a touch on it during her follow through.
ShareWICKET! Phoebe Litchfield b Dean 48 (Australia 117-2)
Beth Mooney goes to a wonderful fifty but Litchfield falls just short of reaching the same. Charlie Dean is pumped up as she knocks back the stumps but it all feels too little too late.
Charlie Dean celebrates after dismissing Phoebe Litchfield. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.27 EDT
12th over: Australia 113-1 (Mooney 49, Litchfield 46) Mooney launches Ecclestone over cover for four. She loves these occasions, she’s bringing it home again for her side, just 38 more needed.
11th over: Australia 107-1 (Mooney 44, Litchfield 46) What a shot from Phoebe Litchfield! She reverse sweeps Smith for SIX behind square. Smith can only stand and stare. England look shellshocked.
Updated at 13.17 EDT
10th over: Australia 98-1 (Mooney 42, Litchfield 39) Lauren Bell is recalled for her third over but it is brutal stuff from Litchfield who smashes a full ball back past her for four and then spanks a full toss over midwicket for another boundary. Ten overs done, Australia need just 53 runs from the next ten overs. Barring a miracle, the World Cup is theirs.
9th over: Australia 87-1 (Mooney 40, Litchfield 30) Shot! Dani Gibson is thrown the ball by Nat Sciver-Brunt but the all-rounder can’t get the wicket her side desperately need. She is instead pumped unceremoniously down the ground by Litchfield for four.
The situation is looking ominous for England, Australia are putting on a masterclass.
8th over: Australia 80-1 (Mooney 38, Litchfield 25) Time for Sophie Ecclestone, this is probably England’s last hope. Australia have got the chase down to a run a ball already and they are ticking them off with ease, Litchfield sweeps fine for four.
Beth Mooney is taking the game away from England. Photograph: Sameera Peiris/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 13.04 EDT
7th over: Australia 72-1 (Mooney 36, Litchfield 19) Freya Kemp into the attack but she can’t stem the bleeding. Mooney flicks for two into the leg side and then gets an under edge on a full ball that runs away for four. England are hurting here, can someone put their hand up and get them back into the game? Australia are running away with it at the moment.
6th over: Australia 62-1 (Mooney 28, Litchfield 17) Beth Mooney is lightning quick onto a short ball from Smith, she pulls away for four in style. England need a magic spell from someone. Time for Sophie Ecclestone? Time for a drink first. Gulp.
5th over: Australia 55-1 (Mooney 22, Litchfield 16) Phoebe Litchfield launches Charlie Dean for SIX down the ground and then sweeps powerfully for four. Australia are making this wicket look so much easier to bat on than England did, there’s a green and gold hand on the World Cup trophy already.
4th over: Australia 45-1 (Mooney 22, Litchfield 6) Beth Mooney walks down to Lauren Bell and drives pristinely through mid off for four. Amy Jones calls for the helmet, she reverts to standing up in order to try and keep the Aussies tied to the crease. Scruffy from Bell who slides down the leg side. Mooney then steps away to loft for four over mid on and deepens England’s pain with a cut for four more. 16 off the over, the Aussies bossing the run chase at the moment.
3rd over: Australia 29-1 (Mooney 9, Litchfield 5) Linsey Smith into the attack, this pitch should suit her assortment of tricks. Gah! Dani Gibson misfields in the deep to gift Mooney a boundary. Smith varies her pace and pulls off a neat diving stop in her follow through to save a couple. Eight off the over.
2nd over: Australia 21-1 (Mooney 2, Litchfield 4) Phoebe Litchfield joins Mooney. Shot! She walks down the wicket first ball and times Bell away for four. What a shot. It’s all about wickets for England, they probably have to bowl Australia out to have a chance here.
ShareWICKET! Georgia Voll b Bell 9 (Australia 17-1)
England needed that! Lauren Bell gets some extra bounce and Voll chops on to her own stumps!
England needed that wicket. Photograph: Chris Foxwell/ProSports/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 12.39 EDT
Lauren Bell starts from the Pavilion End. Beth Mooney takes a huge swipe at her first ball but connects only with North West London air. Close! Bell has a shy at the stumps in her follow through but she misses the stumps! Georgia Voll was nowhere near home after backing up too far, Bell can’t believe she’s misses as she had all three stumps to aim at. Four wides! Big swing from Bell but it is a wide and wild delivery that misses the cut strip and is thus given as a No Ball. Free hit incoming. Voll slaps the short ball freebir for four and the air is sucked out of Lord’s.
1st over: Australia 6-0 (Voll 5, Mooney 1) Voll pumps Dean’s first ball back over her head for four! Ah. But hang on, has the gamble paid off for England and Dean?! Voll is given out LBW… but the DRS shows clearly that the ball pitched outside leg stump so the decision is overturned. England thought they had an early one but it is chalked off. A decent comeback from Dean though, just six off it in total.
Georgia Voll of Australia. Photograph: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 12.31 EDT
You’d think England are at least twenty runs short but they do have runs on the board and can put some pressure on with early wickets. Nat Sciver-Brunt calls her side into a huddle as the Australia opening pair of Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney stride out. Charlie Dean is going to start with the ball for England, Sciver-Brunt mixing it up already…
ShareEngland make 150-4 off their 20 overs
Australia need 151 runs to win the T20I World Cup. Freya Kemp launches Sophie Molineux down the ground for SIX to haul England up to a target they can defend if they bowl out of their skins. They’ll need to, Australia will fancy this chase but the wicket is a classically stodgy Lord’s one. Pace off and spin will play a big part.
Nat Sciver-Brunt held the innings together for England, albeit her strike rate of 109 is indicative of how tricksy the pitch is. Freya Kemp added some much needed left-handed impetus for the home side, hitting five boundaries to make 44 off 28 balls.
Don’t go anywhere, this could be a bum squeaker.
19th over: England 137-4 (Sciver-Brunt 55, Kemp 34) Excellent penultimate over from Sutherland, just six runs off it. NSB clubs a full toss to the boundary rider, on such margins a game like this can hinge. England need a strong finish, a crucial six deliveries coming up.
Nat Sciver-Brunt celebrates her half-century. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianShare
Updated at 12.25 EDT
18th over: England 131-4 (Sciver-Brunt 51, Kemp 32) Fifty to Nat Sciver-Brunt! This has been a real Captain’s knock but she still needs to open the shoulders and capitalise. Kemp rocks back and slaps four through the leg side.
England have 12 balls left with Dani Gibson waiting in the wings. Everything must go!
17th over: England 122-4 (Sciver-Brunt 49, Kemp 26) Kim Garth’s slower ball is a thing of beauty. Slower balls and cutters have been effective on this surface, England will have noted that. They also have their trio of spinners who can get some purchase on a dry pitch.
Cripes! Sciver-Brunt top edges a scoop over the keeper and away for four to bring up the fifty partnership. Eight off the over and Garth finishes her four overs with 1-20.
16th over: England 114-4 (Sciver-Brunt 43, Kemp 25) Sophie Molineux to Nat Sciver-Brunt. Captain to Captain. Four! NSB plays a lovely drive through cover for four to win the first battle. A pull to deep midwicket brings Kemp on strike. Two welcome runs off an edge behind. England rotate strike to make it nine runs off the over. Four overs to go for England to get as many as they can, Kim Garth is back for her final over.
15th over: England 105-4 (Sciver-Brunt 37, Kemp 22) Freya Kemp pulls the first ball after drinks for four and then times the undercrackers off a whip through the leg side for another welcome boundary and it brings the 100 up.
England still have Dani Gibson in the hutch and have pushed the accelerator.
14th over: England 93-4 (Sciver-Brunt 35, Kemp 12) Ten runs an over from here gets England 155, that’s below par in my book. Australia will be licking their lips at anything under 170. Lots resting on Nat Sciver-Brunt who is currently going at less than a run a ball. Some nifty running between the wickets gets England
Time for a drink. Rocket fuel please.