Australia have won the Women’s T20 World Cup, beating England by seven wickets in the final at Lord’s on Sunday to take a seventh title in the format. Set 151 to win, Australia reached 153 for 3 with 17 balls to spare, and they went through the tournament without a defeat.
England batted first after Australia won the toss and elected to field, and made 150 for 4 from their 20 overs. England were 39 for 2 in the powerplay and 70 for 4 when Nat Sciver-Brunt and Freya Kemp came together. Sciver-Brunt finished 58 not out off 53 balls, and Kemp 44 not out off 28 (four fours and a six). Their unbroken fifth-wicket stand passed fifty in 35 balls and set Australia’s target of 151.
Beth Mooney’s 64 from 49 balls was the highest score of the final, and she hit ten fours. Phoebe Litchfield made 48 from 35 with six fours and two sixes. After Georgia Voll was bowled by Bell for 9 in the second over, the pair put on 100 in 66 balls. When Litchfield was bowled by Dean, Australia needed 34 from 42 balls; when Mooney fell lbw to Ecclestone, they needed 11. Ellyse Perry finished 13 not out and Ashleigh Gardner 3 not out, and the winning runs came in the 18th over, five wides from Ecclestone. Mooney was named player of the match and player of the series.
Australia’s captain, Sophie Molineux, called the campaign a “whirlwind” and was candid about her start in the role. “When I took over, I was a bit messy at the start, to be fair,” she said. She acknowledged the doubts around the team at that stage. “There were a few doubts internally, there were a few doubts externally,” Molineux said. “I’m incredibly lucky that people believed in me.” Her comments were reported by ABC News.
Phoebe Litchfield put much of the result down to the captain. “A lot is down to our skipper, who has done a brilliant job to set us up physically and mentally,” she said in comments published by ABC News.
England’s 150 “always looked below par”, and BBC Sport said the side “put in their worst bowling performance of the tournament”. Sciver-Brunt was “hugely disappointed” and said England were “outplayed today by a classy Australian side”. Danni Wyatt-Hodge finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer. It was England’s first defeat in a World Cup final at home, ABC News reported.
At Lord’s, BBC Sport described “a capacity crowd in another landmark moment for the women’s game”. Molineux said “in every match, there has been a massive crowd”, and was in tears after her first trophy in the role, ABC News reported.
The title is Australia’s seventh in 10 editions and the first since 2023. The route to the final was unbeaten: wins over Pakistan and India in the group stage and the semi-final win over the West Indies on 30 June, when Gardner took 2 for 13, Mooney made 61 not out, and Australia won by eight wickets with 42 balls to spare.
Perry retired hurt in that match, which Molineux called “precautionary”, before passing a fitness test and playing the final. Ashleigh Gardner and Ellyse Perry were among those in the celebrations at Lord’s. ABC News has reported speculation about the future of Perry, 35, after the final, and nothing has been confirmed.
A Seventh Title
The seventh title came at the end of an unbeaten run through the tournament, and the chase was finished with 17 balls to spare. Molineux collected the trophy from ICC chairman Jay Shah. Her measure of the standard the side has set is that there is more to come. She said Australia had not “reached any ceilings yet”. “Dad’s here as well, it is a special day,” she said.
Sources: ABC News, “Australia defeats England to win ICC Women’s T20 World Cup”, 6 July 2026; BBC Sport, “England’s hopes crushed as Australia win T20 World Cup”, 5 July 2026; ESPNcricinfo, final scorecard and match centre, England Women v Australia Women, Lord’s, 5 July 2026; ESPNcricinfo, semi-final report, Australia Women v West Indies Women, Kennington Oval, 30 June 2026; International Cricket Council, Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 final coverage
Photo: Spike ’em, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Georgia Wareham bowling for Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final against the West Indies on 30 June 2026. Australia went on to win the final against England at Lord’s on 5 July; this photograph is from the semi-final.
