Australia beat South Africa by 19 runs to clinch the Women’s T20 World Cup for the sixth time on Sunday at the Newlands Cricket Ground.
Beth Mooney struck a match- winning unbeaten 74 as Australia claimed its sixth Women’s T20 World Cup title with a 19- run palm over host South Africa at a vibrant Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday.
Australia won the toss and tagged to club, knowing South Africa prefer to set a aggregate, and posted a par score of 156 for six in their 20 overs. The home side plodded to keep up with the rate from the launch and were confined to 137 for six in reply.
Laura Wolvaardt scored a superb 61 for South Africa but there was too little support around her, and Australia’s clever use of pace and length strangled the scoring rate for large corridor of the innings.
Australia was pre-match favourites against a South African side playing in their first ever final and that experience with club and ball showed on a slow gate as it retained the title it won on home soil in 2020.
Whatever the result in Sunday’s Women’s T20 World Cup final against hustler Australia, South Africa captain Sune Luus says the platoon formerly feel like winner having come the first side from the country to reach a global final.
South Africa will be outright sacrifice against the five- time champion, despite having a strong bowling lineup and the home ground advantage at what’s likely to be a vended- out Newlands in Cape Town.
But having stupefied England in a tense semifinal on Friday, Luus believes they laid down a marker for women’s justice in the country from which they can grow.
“We’re achieving our pretensions, we wanted to inspire a nation and put women’s justice on the chart, to get youthful boys and girls to pick up a club and ball. Hopefully hereafter is just another step in that, ” Luus told journalists on Saturday.
“We no way allowed people in our country would stand in long ranges to buy tickets for a women’s justice match. It’s commodity special. I hope once this World Cup is finished, that will stay the same.
“There are a lot of good effects to come out of this tournament. However, also there’s no stopgap, If people don’t take women’s justice seriously by now. ”
South Africa had been to five former World Cup semifinals across all formats without success, but now stand on the point of a career- defining moment for what’s largely a youthful group of players.
Luus said that in the final staying concentrated and not letting the occasion get to them would be pivotal.
“We’ve always known we’ve the capability to be in the final, it was just to break the semi-final curse, ” she says.
“For us it’s to stay calm and concentrate on what we do stylish. We need to trust our chops and capacities. ”
South Africa has lost all six former T20 meetings with Australia, including a six- gate defeat in the pool stages of this competition when it disaccorded in Gqeberha.
“We were 20- 30 runs short in that game, ” Luus says. “ Australia club extremely deep. Whether we club or coliseum first, we’ve to put up a big fight, we’ve to take it as deep as possible.
“Our pace attack is one of our strongest (attributes). Australia know what’s coming. It’ll be an indeed contest between one of the stylish fur lineups in the world and one of the stylish bowling attacks. ”
Australia survived a nervy semi-final against India when Lanning admits it wasn’t at its stylish, and a fired- up South Africa, playing its first- ever final, will be keen to exploit any drop in performance.
“There’s pressure on everyone, it’s a World Cup final, there are no guarantees, ” Lanning told journalists on Saturday.
“It’s about what happens on the day. South Africa have been playing some good justice. If you get to a World Cup final you have beaten some good brigades.
“We’re awaiting them to come out and play to their full strength and they’re riding a surge of emotion as well. We’re set for that. It’s about executing as stylish you can.
“It’s going to be an inconceivable atmosphere and a great game at an amazing venue, one of the stylish I’ve ever been to. So we’re pumped, we can’t stay to get out there and play. ”
With a number of South African players having featured in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, there will be little riddle between the two sides.
“We’ve played some really close games over the times and come out on top, but we’ve been pushed a long way, ” Lanning says. “ We’re awaiting a tight contest, we know them really well, as they do us.
“We’ve played alongside some of their players in the colorful competitions. There’s nowhere to hide, everybody knows what’s coming it’s just about holding your whim-whams under the pressure of a World Cup final.
“There will be moments when South Africa will be on top and will have the crowd behind them. We accept that it’ll be, but when we get the chance to put our footmark on the game, we’ve to make sure we do that. ” Know More Women Cricket News…
