Sports

Australia win ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 with special victory over England

Published

4 years ago

2022/04/4

Australia won their seventh ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with a 71-run victory over England in Christchurch.

Alyssa Healy’s staggering innings of 170 saw Australia put on 356 for five as England’s bowlers had no answer to a batting masterclass, Anya Shrubsole’s three for 46 the only highlight for the defending champions.

Nat Sciver once again steered England’s reply by battling to her highest score in international cricket with 148 not out, but it proved in vain after Shrubsole was dismissed to hand Australia the trophy once more.

Having been put in to bat in the bright Hagley Oval sunshine, Australia were measured in the powerplay, taking 37 off the seam attack of Katherine Brunt, Shrubsole and Nat Sciver.

But the introduction of spin in the form of Charlie Dean proved Healy and Rachael Haynes’ cue to start finding the boundary regularly.

England’s fielding errors – that had started in their opening group game against the same opponent -re-emerged as Haynes was dropped on 47 before Healy was put down on 41 in the same Kate Cross over.

As against the West Indies in the semi-final, Haynes’ half-century came first – off 69 balls – before Healy’s was brought up off 62 as they eased their way to the highest opening partnership in a World Cup final.

Even as Dean continued to be targeted, spin made the breakthrough as Sophie Ecclestone took her 21st and final wicket of the tournament to dismiss Haynes for 68, Tammy Beaumont holding on to a mistimed shot as Haynes ended the World Cup on 497 runs.

The partnership had ended on 160 runs, but Healy built a new one with Beth Mooney who was promoted up the order from five.

But first Healy became only the second woman to score a hundred in a World Cup final, going at a run a ball as she became the only player to score two centuries in the knockout stage of a World Cup.

And she then surpassed the highest score in a Women’s World Cup final as she moved to 111 with a four off Cross.

More records came when Australia reached 260 for one to rack up the highest score in a World Cup final – with eight overs still to go.

Amy Jones twice sent the umpire upstairs to review stumpings before she finally grabbed her wicket, stumping Healy who ended on a spectacular 170 from 138 balls – the highest individual score in a Men’s or Women’s World Cup final – with over 100 runs coming in boundaries.

A packed Hagley Oval rose to applaud as Healy departed with Australia on 316 for two before another wicket came in Shrubsole’s over as Ashleigh Gardner was run out for one.

Meg Lanning, making her 100th ODI appearance, did not last too much longer as she departed for 10 before Mooney was out off the very next ball following a sparkling 62 from 47.

New batter Tahlia McGrath negotiated the Shrubsole hat-trick ball as she and Ellyse Perry added 25 off the final 13 balls to see Australia post 356 for five.

In reply, England’s opening partnership failed to fire once again as Danni Wyatt was bowled by Megan Schutt for just four.

Australia’s young seamer Darcie Brown was the target of England’s aggression, with Beaumont leading the charge until she was dismissed LBW by Schutt for 27 from 26 balls.

Sciver was again called upon to deliver against Australia, having made 109 not out in the group game, and this time her presence at the crease gave England faint hope.

She saw an LBW overturned off the bowling of Alana King before partner and captain Heather Knight was given out the same way two balls later for 26.

Jones fell for 20 to end a promising partnership as England slipped to 129 for four before Sophia Dunkley was again part of an England rebuild.

But she was bowled by King two balls after the fifty partnership was brought up, the leg-spinner extracting turn to bowl her round her legs for 23.

Brunt then went for one as Healy got a stumping of her own before Ecclestone departed for three, out LBW to McGrath.

Jess Jonassen grabbed another caught and bowled against England as Cross went for only two to leave Knight’s side needing an unlikely 144 with only two wickets remaining.

Sciver was joined by Dean in time for her to bring up another brilliant century, coming off 90 balls with 10 fours and one six.

The pair built a partnership of 65 before Dean holed out to Jonassen at third man attempting a reverse sweep.

Shrubsole, the hero in 2017 as England beat India in the final, was once again involved in the closing action as she was the final wicket to go, Gardner taking the winning catch as England fell 71 runs short with Sciver stranded on 148 not out.

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England survive Nepal scare to clinch last-ball thriller

Published

11 mins ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

Sam Curran defended nine off the final over (Cricinfo)

Nepal came within a single blow of off the biggest win in their sporting history, falling agonisingly short of chasing 185 against England in Mumbai. They needed 13 off the last nine balls after Lokesh Bam’s late assault, but Sam Curran’s nerveless, five-run final over allowed England to breathe a huge sigh of relief as they made a winning start to the T20 World Cup.

Tasked with chasing a stiff target after half-centuries from Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook, Nepal came out swinging. Kushal Bhurtel set the tone by hitting three boundaries in four balls off Jofra Archer, before Dependra Singh Airee and Rohit Pandel’s superb stand – worth 82 off 54 balls – left 62 runs required off the final six overs.

When both men fell in the space of eight balls, the game looked as good as done. But nobody told Bam, who hit consecutive streaky boundaries off Curran before launching Archer for two towering sixes. Luke Wood’s 19th over cost 14 runs as he struggled to find his line, slashed away for two more boundaries by Bam, leaving ten required off the last.

But Curran stuck to his yorker plan at the death, leaving Bam needing to clear the ropes off the last ball. He could only toe-end it out to deep extra cover, and England celebrated a nerve-jangling win. It was more heartbreak for Nepal, after their one-run defeat to South Africa in St Vincent in the 2024 edition of this tournament, but they ran England incredibly close.

Will Jacks was named player of the match, dismissing Bhurtel and belting 39 not out from No. 7, including three final-over sixes to end England’s innings on a high note. The contrast with Nepal’s run chase was evident and Paudel must have rued his decision to return to his seamers at the death, leaving the effective Airee’s fourth over unused.

“The whole of Nepal came here to support us,” Paudel said after a heart-breaking defeat. “It’s great to see them here and that motivates us: when we went to the ground, we carry your hopes, we carry your belief. Today, we gave everything, and all of Nepal will be very proud of us.”

England came into this World Cup riding high after a 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka, but looked off the pace with the ball. Liam Dawson, finally playing his first match at an ICC event aged 35, was the exception, taking 2 for 21 from his four overs, but Archer and Adil Rashid – usually England’s bankers – were uncharacteristically expensive as Nepal took them down.

Paudel and Airee built steadily, running hard between the wickets and seizing on any width. Airee was strong on the sweep and reverse, while Paudel hoisted Rashid over midwicket for a slog-swept six. Nepal were slightly behind the required rate for most of the innings, but never let it creep past 12 runs per over.

The pair took 19 runs off Rashid’s third over, the 14th of the innings, as England’s legspinner went wicketless for the first time in 25 T20Is. Paudel clattered a drag-down for six, Airee drilled him through the covers, and then played the shot of the night when reverse-slog-sweeping him over point.

Both men were caught in the deep in quick succession, Airee holing out to cover off Curran and Paudel brilliantly held by a diving Salt at midwicket off Dawson. But Bam was rewarded for his attacking intent, slamming two slower balls for six during Archer’s 22-run final over, and taking the game right down to the wire.

England looked to exploit the fielding restrictions on a pitch that they expected would slow down as the day wore on, but lost three wickets within the first 6.1 overs. On each occasion, a Nepal bowler struck inside the first three balls of their first over, perhaps benefitting from the fact that they had never previously come up against England in any international match.

Neither England opener made it out of the powerplay. Sher Malla, the debutant offspinner, sparked wild celebrations when his first ball was top-edged to short fine leg by Salt, while Jos Buttler fiddled Nandan Khan’s length ball behind for 26, just as he looked like he was about to take the game away from Nepal.

Tom Banton, preferred to Ben Duckett at No. 4 after a strong series in Sri Lanka, was given an early life when Malla put down a caught-and-bowled chance in his follow-through off the final delivery of the powerplay. But he did not make Malla pay for his drop, and was trapped lbw by Sandeep Lamichhane off the very next ball of the innings to leave England 57 for 3.

Jacob Bethell brought up a half-century (Cricinfo)

Bethell has had a quiet run at No. 3 for England in T20Is, but was not in the mood to second-guess himself in his first innings at a senior ICC event. He belted Malla for four, six, four to get his innings moving, and reached a 28-ball half-century with consecutive towering blows of Bhurtel’s legspin.

Brook also got going after a slowish start, launching Lamichhane for a huge six over long-on, but got stuck at the non-striker’s end after Bethell picked out long-on off Airee’s offspin. He only faced seven of the next 26 balls as Curran and Jacks both struggled to get going, Curran dragged Airee onto his own stumps.

Brook miscued to deep point after reaching a 31-ball 50 with a six over midwicket, but Jacks tucked into Karan KC’s final over, shimmying outside leg stump to launch him over the off side for three sweetly-struck sixes. “The way that he batted at the end there has won us the game,” Brook reflected.

Brief scores:

England 184 for 7 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 26, Jacob Bethell 55, Harry Brook 53, Will Jacks 39*; Sher Malla 1-35, Dipendra Singh Airee 2- 23, Nandan Yadav 2-25, Sandeep Lamichchane 1-25) beat Nepal 180 for 6 in 20 overs (Kushal Bhurtel 29, Dipendra Singh Airee 44, Lokesh Bam 39*, Rohit Paudel 39, Aarof Sheikh 10; Luke Wood 1-31, Jofra Archer 1-42, Liam Dawson 2-21, Will Jacks 1-17, Sam Curran 1-27) by four runs

(Cricinfo)

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Ireland opt for an extra batter as they ask Sri Lanka to bat

Published

1 hour ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

Ireland will hope to restrict Sri Lanka to a chaseable total (Cricinfo)

Ireland captain Paul Stirling won the toss and opted to bowl against Sri Lanka in the Group B match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Stirling said the pitch looked “hard and firm” but was a bit drier than the last time they were here. “We have got good all-round options in the middle, so we have picked an extra batter tonight. Hope that will come in handy at the backend of the game.” As suspected, there was no room for Josh Little.

Sri Lanka went in with five batters and five bowlers. Their captain Dasun Shanaka felt “anything over 170 would be very good on this pitch”.

The square boundaries are 71 metres and 77 metres. The straight one is 84 metres.

Sri Lanka and Ireland have faced each other only three times in T20Is, with Sri Lanka winning on all three occasions.

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana

Ireland: Paul Stirling (capt), Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Curtis Campher, Ben Calitz, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys

(Cricinfo)

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England bat; Nepal hand debut to Sher Malla

Published

5 hours ago

2026/02/8

Priyan

Sher Malla made his debut against England [Cricinfo]

Rohit Paudel warned Harry Brook that a used pitch at Wankhede Stadium could play into his team’s hands as Nepal were asked to bowl first in their first-ever international match against England.

Sunday afternoon’s game will be played on the same strip where India’s powerhouse batting line-up eked out 161 for 9 against United States on Saturday night. Brook won the toss and chose to bat first with conditions in mind, but Paudel said that Nepal’s players “love slow tracks” and that they hoped the surface would suit them.

“We love slow tracks, and it’s a used wicket so I think it will spin a little bit,” Paudel said. “I think, if that happens, it will help our team… To be honest, we would have bowled first. Looking at the conditions, I think chasing is a good option.”

Young spinner Sher Malla made his T20I debut for Nepal, while Lokesh Bam was preferred to the veteran Sompal Kami in the middle order.

Nepal play all four of their group games at the Wankhede and will be cheered on by thousands of their fans in Mumbai. “Playing all the games here will always be an advantage to the team playing all four games here,” Paudel said. “As a team, playing in Asian conditions always helps Nepal.”

Brook predicted that the pitch would get worse as the game wore on. “We feel like the pitch is going to be in the best shape for the first innings, and then hopefully we can bowl well and defend our score in the second innings… It looked like there was a little bit of spin in it, and a little bit of bounce, so hopefully we can utilise that in the second innings.”

England named their team on the eve of the match, with Luke Wood preferred to Jamie Overton. “We wanted to go with two out-and-out seamers up top with the new ball to see if we can get it to swing and get a few early wickets in the powerplay,” Brook said. “Pretty much everything else was already settled.”

England’s build-up to the tournament has been overshadowed by Brook’s now-infamous night out in Wellington last October, but he has tried to draw a line under the incident. “I’m feeling good,” he said. “I’m feeling good with the bat, and hopefully I can make some good decisions as captain as well – on and off the field.”

England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.

Nepal: Aasif Sheikh (wk), Kushal Bhurtel, Rohit Paudel (capt), Dipendra Airee, Aarif Sheikh, Lokesh Bam, Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Sher Malla, Nandan Yadav, Sandeep Lamichhane.

[Cricinfo]