OTD| Australia won their sixth Women’s T20 World Cup title in 2023

The Australians have been an unbeatable force in women’s cricket and no other team has been able to challenge their hegemony. On this day last year, the Kangaroos added another trophy to their cabinet by winning their sixth Women’s T20 World Cup title. They defeated the hosts South Africa in a tightly contested final in Cape Town. 

First Innings

Meg Lanning won the toss for the five-time T20 World Cup champions and opted to bat first. Openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney gave Australia a solid start. The opening pair added 36 runs in the first five overs before Alyssa Healy was dismissed by the experienced Marizanne Kapp. However, Healy’s dismissal did not deter Beth Mooney from making runs at a rapid rate. She stitched a partnership with Ashleigh Gardner to establish Australia in the contest. 

Gardner scored 29 runs off 21 balls but the Australian team would have wanted more runs from her as after her dismissal the Kangaroos lost the momentum. South Africa made a comeback by slowing down the run rate and they got the reward soon in the form of multiple breakthroughs. Wickets at regular intervals prevented Australia from posting a massive target for South Africa to chase but they still managed to cross the 150-run mark courtesy of Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 74 runs. 

Second Innings

The Proteas had to chase 157 runs to lift the T20 World Cup title for the first time. South Africa suffered early setbacks as Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp were back in the pavilion even before they could add 50 runs to their tally. These early blows gave Australia an edge in the second innings and the Kangaroos kept riding on the early momentum. In the middle phase, there was a partnership between Laura Wolvaardt and Chloe Tryon which raised the hopes but it soon fizzled out as Jess Jonassen got the better of Tryon. 

Once this partnership was broken Australia got themselves in complete control and shattered the South African hopes. The Proteas could only score 137 runs in the run chase and Australia won the match by 19 runs to lift their sixth T20 World Cup title. 

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