Australia beat England by 7 wickets with 17 balls remaining in the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup final at Lord's, sealing a seventh T20I World Title and ending the match in control rather than chase. Beth Mooney’s 63 anchored the pursuit of 151, and when the winning runs arrived, the final had long since tilted away from England.
The result mattered because this was the championship game, played on Sunday in London, and it settled who would leave with the World Title. England had enough in their total to ask questions, but Australia kept finding answers through the middle overs, with Phoebe Litchfield’s reverse-swept six off Smith in the 11th over underlining how firmly they had taken charge. By the 16th over, Mooney was gone with Australia needing 11 runs, and the finish was still routine rather than desperate.
Late drama did briefly interrupt that calm. Sophie Ecclestone appeared to have dismissed Ellyse Perry after taking the catch, but the third umpire ruled Perry not out, leaving England to stare at a decision that did not go their way. Australia still needed only five more runs in the 17th over, and the chase moved on almost immediately from that moment, with the final act coming just as England’s hopes were fading.
What remained after the last ball was less about one close call than the scale of Australia’s edge. England players were left in tears, while Georgia Voll consoled Ecclestone after the defeat. It was a hard ending for England and another familiar one for Australia: a final won, a major title added, and a margin that made the outcome clear long before the scoreboard stopped moving.
