Mooney shines as Australia crush England’s T20 World Cup dream at Lord’s

Beth Mooney with her Australia teammates
Beth Mooney with her Australia teammates (PC: ICC)

England’s remarkable record of winning every Women’s World Cup held on home soil (across formats) came to an end as Australia defeated them by seven wickets in the final of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Lord’s. After being restricted to 150/4 in their 20 overs, England could not stop the Aussies from clinching a record-extending seventh Women’s T20 World Cup title, with Australia chasing down the target with 17 balls to spare.

Australia skipper Sophie Molineux won the toss and opted to bowl first, backing her side’s strength of chasing. The decision proved to be the right one as the visitors never allowed England’s batters to dominate at any stage of the innings.

Both England openers fell cheaply, with Amy Jones scoring 8 off 9 balls and Danni Wyatt-Hodge managing just 6 off 6. Alice Capsey looked promising during her 23 off 20 deliveries, but while attempting a reverse sweep against Molineux, she completely made a mess of it as it crashed into the stumps.

Just like in the semi-final against South Africa, England were hoping for another rescue act from Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight. However, Knight was trapped LBW by Kim Garth for just two, leaving the hosts struggling at 70/4 after 9.1 overs.

Australia Women
Australia Women (PC: ICC)

Freya Kemp then joined Sciver-Brunt and immediately looked to counterattack, while the England skipper anchored the innings from the other end. The pitch appeared slightly slow and tricky, and Australia’s bowlers deserved credit for sticking to their plans, bowling disciplined lines according to the field placements and rarely offering any width.

Kemp played an impressive unbeaten knock of 44 from just 28 balls, while Sciver-Brunt remained unbeaten on 58 off 53 deliveries. Although the pair stitched together an unbroken 80-run partnership for the fifth wicket, England’s total of 150/4 always looked 20-25 runs below par. With capable batters like Dani Gibson and Charlie Dean still to come, England perhaps could have taken a few more risks in the closing overs to push for a bigger total.

Even then, there was hope for the hosts. England had one of the tournament’s best bowling attacks, and much depended on making early breakthroughs inside the powerplay.

England vs Australia, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 final
England vs Australia, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 final (PC: ICC)

Lauren Bell provided the perfect start by dismissing Georgia Voll early. However, Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield quickly took control, attacking the England bowlers as Australia raced to 62/1 in the first six overs.

Mooney continued her superb tournament form, using all her experience alongside Litchfield as the pair added a match-defining 100-run partnership. Litchfield eventually departed for 48, but Mooney carried on, bringing up her third half-century of the tournament before being dismissed for 64. By then, however, the match had already slipped away from England.

A controversial moment arrived on the third ball of the 17th over. Linsey Smith induced an aerial shot from Ellyse Perry towards mid-off, where Sophie Ecclestone appeared to take a clean diving catch. After several replays, however, the third umpire ruled there was insufficient evidence to confirm a clean catch, and Perry survived. The decision visibly frustrated Ecclestone, with Charlie Dean seen trying to calm her down.

A Jam-packed Lord's
A Jam-packed Lord’s (PC: ICC)

Perry and Ashleigh Gardner then guided Australia comfortably to the finish line, sealing a seven-wicket victory with 17 balls remaining.

Beth Mooney was deservedly named Player of the Match and also Player of the Tournament after finishing with 238 runs from seven innings at an average of 47.60 and a strike rate of 142.51, including three half-centuries.

A crowd of 28,887 spectators, the majority supporting England, packed Lord’s hoping to witness the hosts lift their second Women’s T20 World Cup title. Instead, Australia once again proved why they remain the benchmark in women’s cricket, producing another dominant performance to lift a record-extending seventh Women’s T20 World Cup crown.

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