Australia Women beat England Women in the 1982 World Cup finals in Christchurch

This is a historic day for women’s cricket in Australia as the Australian women’s team won the 1982 World Cup for the second time. They defeated arch-rivals England in a thrilling final at Christchurch. This World Cup victory asserted Australia’s dominance in women’s cricket as it was the consecutive World Cup victory for them. 

Poor English batting display

Susan Goatman opted to bat first after winning the toss for England. The call did not go in her favour as the English team could never settle in their batting stint. The Australian bowlers gave early setbacks to England with a few quick dismissals. These early blows slowed the innings down for England which barely recovered in the end. Middle-order contributions from Jan Allen and Rachael Heyhoe-Flint took the team to a fighting total. England scored 151 runs in their quota of 60 overs in the first innings. It was surely not a convincing total but considering the pressure of a final it was a tricky target for the defending champions. 

Glory for Australia

England put up a resolute front in the second innings to defend the target. The Aussies had a disappointing start to their run chase as England took three early wickets with just 28 runs in the Australian account. Karen Read and the skipper Sharon Tredrea stabilized the run chase with a crucial partnership to stave off the pressure. However, once this partnership was broken England once again made a comeback in the contest. But the resilience from Jen Jacobs and Marie Cornish paid off and Australia completed the run chase in the second last over. The late fightback from England could not change things as Australia had already travelled the distance. 

Since then, the Aussies have added five more ODI World Cup titles to their trophy cabinet and their hegemony in women’s cricket is still unassailable. It would be a humongous task for any team to challenge this dominance.