Bumpy start, smooth finish - England's road to the World Cup final

England have enjoyed quite the turnaround at the Women's World Cup.

Three defeats in a row at the start of the competition left the defending champions on the brink of elimination - but now five wins on the spin has them one more victory away from retaining the title.

Standing in their way are the mighty Australia, who are unbeaten in this tournament, have won 37 of their last 38 ODIs and who thumped England 12-4 in this year's multi-format Women's Ashes.

But Heather Knight's side have momentum at the perfect time and real belief they can to back-to-back.

Ahead of Sunday's showdown, which you can watch live for free on Sky Showcase, PICK and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel, we chart England's road to the final…

Australia 310-3 (50ov) beat England 298-8 (50ov) by 12 runsSeddon Park, Hamilton - Saturday, March 5Match Report | Scorecard

England's campaign got off to rocky start as they suffered yet another defeat to Australia - albeit a slender one as the defending champions pushed the tournament favourites all the way in pursuit of a record chase of 311.

Nat Sciver took the game right down to the final over with a magnificent, unbeaten 109 from 85 balls; England needed 16 from the final six deliveries but fell 12 short as Katherine Brunt (25) and Sophie Ecclestone (1) were both dismissed in a brilliant final over from Jess Jonassen, with Sciver starved of the strike.

Earlier, England's bowlers had no answer for Rachael Haynes (130 off 131 balls), who struck a sensational century of her own, while captain Meg Lanning chipped in with 86 on a belting batting track at Seddon Park. Leg-spinner Alana King was also, fittingly, a star performer on the day, taking 3-59 less than 48 hours on from the tragic loss of