This tournament, with its sea of finals, required a competitive final, but Australia had not read that script. Their version was to be stacked first on the tracks, mocking Heather Knight’s decision to make a bowl first. Australia had 160 before England managed to make a major breakthrough – the highest level ever for a wicket in a World Cup final – and 316 before the next one. With 356 runs on the board during the break, England could well have been on the plane from then on, although an unbeaten 148 by Nat Sciver in the run gave them at least something to cheer for as they saw the fruits of their victory. in 2017 passed through their fingers. As for Alyssa Healy’s innings – 170 off 138 balls, including 26 limits – what can you say? England had kept her relatively quiet for the top ten, but when she danced on the track and lifted Charlie Dean by four in the middle in the 12th over, she set the stage for what was to follow: not just the highest individual innings in any World final Cup (women or men), but also the most daring. The runs were thick and fast, around the ground – Katherine Brunt’s short balls were pulled wild, Dean was sent off the attack and tournament winner Sophie Ecclestone made 71 of her 10 overs. Healy reached the 35th over and from there, all bets were off as it added another 70 runs in just 38 deliveries. All this time England had to deal with the knowledge that Nat Sciver had put the corkscrew in the midwicket at 41 – a mistake that cost her 129 streaks. Nat Sciver managed 148 unbeaten streaks in England’s response, but it was not enough. Photo: Phil Walter / ICC / Getty Images Rachael Haynes (68 out of 93) was her first partner in crime, scoring her fourth over 50 points in the tournament, as she too enjoyed a disappointment from England, falling behind Danni Wyatt at 47. England eventually had caught her in the same position in the 30th over, but until then, with a 160-lane platform in her place, No. 3 Beth Mooney (62 out of 47) could afford to throw her bat into the ball with complete abandonment – her own of 156 run Partner with Healy who gets just 98 balls to collect. This was going to be a one-day international cricket, but as Healy and Mooney broke the boundaries, there were echoes of March 2020, when the pair wiped out India in the T20 version of this match. Between the 41st and 45th overs, English bowlers were penalized for an average of 16 scenarios. Australia could have added even more to their mammoth ensemble had it not been for a vicious death bowling alley by Anya Shrubsole (three in 46), who opened the scoring to put Hillie on, just as she was searching for a double hundred. . Three balls later, Shrubsole removed the balls to run out of Ash Gardner, returning for a second run after Mooney hit Kate Cross’s hand in the long-on. The next day, Shrubsole took a couple of laps, catching Lanning before Sciver was held in the deep as Mooney finally left. Shrubsole was famously the heroine of England in the 2017 final with a pile of wickets on the back. this time the achievement was tantamount to limiting the damage. In response, England refused to surrender their title without a fight: Tammy Beaumont, Knight, Amy Jones and Sophia Dunkley entered the 1920s. Even when the holders lost eight wickets after 34 overs, a 65-way partnership between Sciver and Dean with just 53 balls gave a glimmer of hope. But Australia made regular raids: Megan Shoot’s opening spell, full of dramatic alternations, had Danny Wyatt bowling and Beaumont lbw in powerplay, while Alana King’s spin gave her three wickets for 64. Subscribe to The Spin, our weekly cricket newsletter King could easily have had another – Sciver received a deferral from the DRS at 23, with ball-tracking indicating that the spinner delivery was simply missing the stumps. Instead, Sciver hit her for only six of the fights over the deep midfield before patiently advancing into her second-century tournament, even as her teammates went to the other end. Shrubsole was the last to go halfway through the 44th minute to give Jess Jonassen not only the third wicket of the day, but a medal for the World Cup winners after Australia’s ninth win in nine games this season. tournament. . Any other day, against any other opposition, an innings like Sciver’s and a run chase 285 in 44 over would win England the game. But this is Lanning’s Australia, and even the best of England just could not cut it.
