Australia dominate England to win T20 World Cup

LONDON, July 5 : Australia crushed England by seven wickets in a one-sided final to land their seventh T20 women's World Cup at a sold-out Lord’s on Sunday.

A sparkling second-wicket century partnership between Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield helped Australia chase down a victory target of 151 with 17 balls to spare.

Having beaten England 16-0 in the multi-format Ashes 18 months ago, Australia comprehensively outplayed their rivals again to claim the trophy.

"That’s the only way in T20 cricket - throw the first punch. We just tried to get the run rate down as fast as possible," said Litchfield, who made 48 off just 35 balls.

"'Moods' made it look easy out there and took the pressure off me and we had an awesome partnership. It’s always lots of fun batting with 'Moods', running hard and getting creative.

"It’s such a cool feeling to contribute and to win the World Cup is incredible."

Mooney was named player of the tournament after her 64 from 49 balls for an Australia side who went through the tournament unbeaten.

"I just tried to make sure we got ahead of the game as early as possible," she said.

"This is an amazing icing on the cake for what has been a pretty amazing tournament for the group."

BELOW-PAR TOTAL

England’s under-par total of 150-4 was built around an unbroken partnership of 80 between captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Freya Kemp.

Sciver-Brunt made 58 from 53 balls, with Kemp striking 44 from 28 including a straight six off Sophie Molineux in the final over but they were starting from too far back after a sluggish start.

Australia reduced England to 39-2 in the first six overs. Lucy Hamilton picked up her first wicket in the World Cup, slanting a delivery across Amy Jones to have England’s opener caught low down by Georgia