Watch the Women’s World Cup final between defending champions England and six-time winners Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 1.30am on Sunday; Danni Wyatt scores a century and Sophie Ecclestone takes six wickets as England defeat South Africa by 137 runs in the semi-final
England Women are one win away from successfully defending the World Cup title after a 137-run crushing victory over South Africa that set up a clash with Australia in Sunday’s final.
Danni Wyatt (129 from 125 balls) punished South Africa for dropping her five times as her second ODI hundred powered England to 293-8 from 50 overs in Christchurch.
English spinner Sophie Ecclestone then bagged 6-36, the best tallies by a female bowler at this World Cup and her first haul of five wickets in ODI cricket, as South Africa took 156 from 38 overs.
England’s opener Wyatt spilled at 22, 36, 77, 116 and 117 with her first World Cup ton, and 116 runs with Sophia Dunkley (60) for the fifth wicket, leaving the Proteas facing a daunting chase.
South Africa, whose wait for a first World Cup final appearance continues, lost starters Laura Wolvaardt (0) and Lizelle Lee (2) within four overs to fall to 8-2, Anya Shrubsole (2-27 ) with both fields.
Sune Luus’ team never really recovered and Ecclestone, the top-ranked female bowler in both ODI and T20 cricket, went berserk after coming into the attack in the 24th with her sacking of Trisha Chetty, perplexed by the wicketkeeper Amy Jones closing out the England full. victory.
Heather Knight’s team’s hopes of retaining the trophy hung by a proverbial thread after losing their first three round-robin matches to Australia, the West Indies and South Africa.
But they won their last four pool games to secure a place in the semi-finals and then dominated South Africa, beating Proteas in the last four for the second consecutive Over-50 World Cup.
England now aim to topple favorites and six-time champions Australia, who won all eight of their games in this year’s competition and came through Sunday’s showpiece with a 157-run demolition of the West Indies on Wednesday.
Australia are the only team in history to win consecutive Women’s World Cups – the Southern Stars triumphed three times in a row in 1978, 1982 and 1988 – but England will become the second if they win this weekend, a result that would make them five times overall champions.
Australia have won 37 of their last 38 one-day internationals against all opposition, including the last seven against England, with the teams’ most recent meeting coming during the opening weekend of this tournament, when the Southern Stars they were winless from 12 races at Seddon. Park in Hamilton.
England will head into Sunday’s title match full of confidence having extended their winning streak to five games with a thoroughly clinical performance against South Africa, whose only defeat in the group stage came at the hands of undefeated Australia.
England were in danger of reeling at 126-4 in the 26th when Jones (28) was caught midwicket off Marizanne Kapp (2-52) with Nat Sciver (15), captain Knight (1) and the opening partner of Wyatt Tammy Beaumont (7) have fallen cheap before.
However, Wyatt and Dunkley shared a century post, during which Wyatt notched his first ton of ODIs since 2019 from 98 deliveries and received a series of reprieves for sloppy South African fielding – the right-hander racked up 12 fours in total during her slam.
Dunkley played a key role and scored his third ODI fifty, four days after scoring his second in the 100-run success against Bangladesh that secured England’s place in the semi-finals.
Wyatt and Dunkley were sacked in the closing stages: Dunkley caught Shabnim Ismail (3-46) from three wickets, but Ecclestone increased England’s score with three straight bounds against Ismail in the final before she was castled on the last ball .
Ecclestone had a watchful roundup for the first section of the chase as Shrubsole took out Wolvaardt, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, and Lee within the first four overs, caught, bowled and bagged by Sciver at midwicket. respectively.
Kate Cross (1-27) and Charlie Dean (1-41) then struck in the middle overs as South Africa fell to 67-4 in the 19th, before Ecclestone dismantled the middle and lower order to move to 20 wickets for the tournament.
The spinner dropped Kapp (21) and Mignon du Preez (30), caught Chloe Tryon (3), Ismail (12) and Masabata Klaas (3) and then polished proceedings by making Chetty stumped to leave England to a victory of completing a pretty amazing turn.
Watch the Women’s World Cup final between England and Australia live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup from 1am on Sunday.
