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Lord’s, London: It just had to be them! Australia crushed England by seven wickets in the final of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Sunday, July 5, winning their seventh T20 World Cup title. A restrictive focused bowling performance saw a comfortable chase done through with the bat by the likes of Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield with 17 balls to spare, giving the T20 World Cup title back to Australia after just three years.
England were put to bat first by Australian captain Sophie Molineux, noting Lord’s notorious chase friendly track. Lucy Hamilton gave the Aussies a dream start by dismissing keeper Amy Jones, forcing a cover drive and edging it to Georgia Voll at short third. The tournament’s top scorer Danni Wyatt-Hodge would not last the powerplay, getting caught behind by Beth Mooney off Annabel Sutherland after a review.
Alice Capsey and skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt moved to survival mode, as Australia kept the pressure on with their trademark sharp fielding. Capsey had just begun to show intent but was lost in the spin by Molineux, getting bowled on. Veteran Heather Knight could not do much damage, and a Kim Garth slower inswinger struck her pads for an LBW. Sciver-Brunt stayed on playing her anchor innings, with Freya Kemp sporadically attacking on the other end.
Australia once again tactically placed their field, keeping the pair in struggle. Yet they got a 50-run stand in just 37 balls, and then Sciver-Brunt completed her half-century in 45 deliveries. The half ton called for a late innings charge that Sciver-Brunt was just not willing to unleash, but luckily Kemp was. Some big hits and sharp running got England up to a respectable 150/4 in the end, with Kemp finishing on an unbeaten 44 off 28.
Lauren Bell gave England a dream start, bowling Voll with a clipped back cut, similar to how Renuka Singh dismissed her at Lord’s a week back, and the dream lived on for England. But Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield just as swiftly began to kill that dream, going all out at the rotating English bowling, scoring 62 runs in the powerplay. Mooney and Litchfield had done the damage, and then just agonizingly chipped away the target with a hundred run stand, leaving England without answers. Mooney completed a 38-ball half century, her second in a row.
Litchfield just fell short of joining her, being bowled by the off spin of Charlie Dean on 48. Australia just got to strolling to the target but not without some road bumps. Mooney’s innings came to a close courtesy of a Sophie Ecclestone LBW. Controversy arose in the next over when
Sophie Ecclestone seemed to have caught Ellyse Perry at mid-off, but the ball seemed to have touched the ground upon the umpire’s review. Perry had seemingly walked off with the incoming Georgia Wareham at the crease with Ash Gardener, but Perry was called back in by the umpire, much to the frustration of Ecclestone. It didn’t matter much, as Gardener scored the winning boundary in the next over, winning the final for Australia by seven wickets.
What we learned
The Goliath of Goliaths: With the final shot, the keyboards in the press box clacked a very familiar tune. This is Australia’s seventh T20 World Cup title from the ten editions that have been held and thus calling them dominant is the understatement of the century. It was a perfect run to the final for both sides, and on a rare occasion odds were 50-50. But Australia from ball one, if not the toss, showed why they have seven world titles to their name.
The sheer champion mentality is just overwhelming to bear, let alone imagine for any opposition they face, regardless of the stage. The narrative of Australia being favorites in any game is a well-earned point, and even if they lose the expectation for them to bounce back, in an almost brutal fashion is always present. For the sake of all other teams, Mr. Jay Shah, please hold the next World Cup without Australia.
A frustrating stumble: As said earlier, Australia usually enter every fixture as the guaranteed favorites. But in this home T20 World Cup, England had a just as dominant campaign. A perfect and convincing run in the group stages, followed by a thumping of South Africa, England were in the perfect position to continue their unbeaten run at home World Cups. But the gulf in quality and mentality was on full display in this final.
England could not produce a single moment where they showed they were there to win it, first being completely silenced by Australia bowling, and just left watching haplessly as Australia chased the mediocre target set by them, much to the dismay of the sold-out crowd at Lord’s.
Yet, despite the result, this is still a positive campaign for England following their leadership overhaul in 2025. It was a run England can be proud of, seeing how they did perform better than sides such as South Africa and India who they are often clubbed with. But Australia is a beast that remains elusive as always, and beating them has to involve a moment of magic, and unfortunately for England that moment just could not come on the day it mattered.
What they said
On the legacy of this T20 World Cup, England captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, said “I hope they’re (the fans) really inspired by what we’ve done, what every team has done throughout this tournament.
“We know from 2017 that people in the crowd are now in England, which is incredible. So, I guess you never know who will be the next person in, I suppose, to have watched this tournament, been inspired by what we’ve been able to do and more motivated to live their dreams. So yeah, I guess when you summarize a tournament through that lens, it just makes us extremely proud of what we’ve been able to do.”
On the upcoming Lord’s Test match, Sciver-Brunt added, “I guess that’s the thing with a cricket calendar, it doesn’t stop. We’re obviously hugely excited about coming back here and being able to play the Test match, which I don’t think anyone really expected to be able to do during their career.”
Australian captain, Sophie Molineux said, “It’s been the most amazing day, I don’t know, to have walked away with the World Cup under our arms in front of nearly 30,000 here at Lord’s. It was an incredibly special day and yeah, I was just so so proud of the group,” adding “I think the way that we’ve played all tournament and then being able to do it on the biggest stage today, yeah, it’s just, you know, a true testament to the character of the group.”
