In the T20 World Cup 2023 Final between AUS-W and SA-W, it’s worth noting that only Australia has multiple championship wins. Specifically, they claimed the title in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020. No other team has achieved this level of success in the tournament.
Australia secured their sixth Women’s T20 World Cup title, making it three in a row, with a 19-run victory over South Africa in the final held at Newlands in Cape Town. The win was secured by the excellent performance of the bowlers and the half-century scored by opener Beth Mooney. With this win, Australia became the only team to have won the tournament more than once, having previously claimed the title in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2020.Australia beat South Africa to win the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023
Mooney’s unbeaten knock of 74 runs from 53 deliveries, which included nine boundaries and a six, along with her opening partnerships of 36 runs with Alyssa Healy (18) and 46 runs with Ashleigh Gardner (29) helped Australia score 156 runs. Australia’s bowlers, led by Mooney’s six wickets, restricted South Africa to 137 runs for the loss of six wickets, despite opener Laura Wolvaardt’s half-century. Wolvaardt scored 61 runs off 48 deliveries, including five fours and three sixes, before being dismissed.
With the exception of Wolvaardt, who scored 61 runs, Chloe Tryon was the only South African player to exceed 20 runs, contributing 25 runs. Additionally, they partnered to score 55 runs for the fourth wicket.
Ashleigh Gardner (1/20 in 4 overs), Megan Schutt (1/23 in 4 overs), and D’Arcy Brown (1/25 in 4 overs) bowled economically for Australia, who were playing in their seventh consecutive final. Each of them took one wicket while bowling.
In their first-ever appearance in a T20 World Cup final, the South African team started their chase but lost Tajmin Brits in the fifth over, who had scored 10 runs off 17 balls before being caught by Tahlia McGrath off D’Arcy Brown’s bowling. During the power play, the hosts could only score 22 runs for one wicket. However, opener Laura Wolvaardt stepped up and struck a four off Brown’s bowling and a six off Jess Jonassen’s delivery.
On Ashleigh’s delivery, Marijne Kapp was caught by Brown at short third base, scoring only 11 runs. Wolvaardt brought up the team’s half-century in the 10th over with a boundary off Georgia Wareham, but soon after, captain Sune Luus was run out for two runs, leaving the team struggling at 54 for three.
Despite Wolvaardt and Tryon’s efforts to boost the run rate, Australia’s bowlers kept the pressure on South Africa’s batters. Wolvaardt scored sixes off Tahlia McGrath and Georgia Wareham, while Tryon blasted Wareham’s delivery to the boundary as well.
Wolvaardt reached her fifty in 43 balls by hitting a boundary off Brown’s delivery. South Africa required 59 runs to win in the last five overs. In the 16th over, bowled by Ashleigh, the hosts managed to score only six runs. Tryon hit a four off Megan Schutt’s delivery in the next over, but the fast bowler dismissed Wolvaardt by lbw, dealing a significant blow to the South African team.
Tryon smashed a six off Jonassen’s delivery but her dismissal on missing a straight ball from the left-arm spinner shattered South Africa’s hopes of a comeback. Anneke Bosch (1) was also run out in the same over. With 35 runs required in the last two overs, South Africa could only score eight runs off the 19th over by Schutt. In the final over, Ashleigh conceded only seven runs, ensuring Australia’s victory.
Australia’s captain Meg Lanning won the toss and elected to bat first. The opening pair of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney cautiously started the innings. While Mooney took some time to get going, Healy looked in good touch, scoring a boundary off the second delivery of Nonkululeko Mlaba and hitting Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail for further fours.
After a good start, Alyssa Healy was dismissed when she played a bouncing delivery from Shabnim Ismail straight into the hands of Nadine de Klerk in the covers. Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner then steadied the innings and took the score past 50 in the eighth over, with Ashleigh hitting two consecutive fours off Nonkululeko Mlaba. She also hit two consecutive sixes off Nadine de Klerk, but was caught by Sune Luus off Chloe Tryon’s bowling. Ashleigh faced 21 balls and hit two fours and two sixes.
Mooney held one end and played some attractive shots intermittently. She hit two consecutive fours off De Klerk. In the 14th over, Grace Harris (10), who had completed Australia’s century with a four over Tryon, was bowled by Malaba in the following over.
Australia faced difficulty accelerating the run rate during the closing overs. Lanning was caught by Trion on Cap’s delivery after scoring 10 runs in 11 balls. Meanwhile, Mooney managed to complete his half-century in 44 balls, hitting fours on Cap.
During the final over, Mooney smashed consecutive sixes and fours off Ismail’s bowling. Ismail did manage to dismiss Alice Parry (07) and Georgia Wareham (00) on successive deliveries. Ismail finished the match with 26 wickets to his name, while Cap took two wickets, conceding 35 runs.
