One of sport’s great anomalies was resolved last Sunday. Australia’s women’s cricket team won a World Cup. After a gap of three years.
For a team that was so used to winning and that too when it had so many match-winners, not having an ICC trophy for that long in the cabinet must have been a bit frustrating. Players like Ashleigh Gardner had admitted as much, ahead of the T20 World Cup final against England at Lord’s.
At the 2025 ODI World Cup, the Aussies were beaten in the semifinal by India, or by an innings of a lifetime by Jemimah Rodrigues to be more precise, at Navi Mumbai. A year earlier, they were knocked out of the T20 World Cup in the UAE, too; they were humbled by the South Africans, who duly went on to crumble in the final against New Zealand.
In fact, it was after defeating the Proteas, in their own backyard, that the Australians had last won a World Cup. That was the sixth T20 World Cup for them. And that was only the eighth edition of the tournament.
So the Australians have now won seven of the 10 World Cups that have been held in the T20 format. After missing out on the inaugural edition in 2009, in which they lost in the semifinals to England, they triumphed in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and finished runner-up in 2016 to the West Indies. Then they scored another hat-trick of titles, in 2018, 2020 and 2023.
Impressive record
Thus, in every edition, they reached at least the semifinals. You may struggle to find another team that has as good a record in a global event, in any sport.
For all their previous triumphs, this one in England would have tasted particularly sweet. Not just it came after that three-year gap, for this was a team in transition and there was a new captain, whose appointment had surprised a few.
But, Sophie Molineux silenced all her critics. And she had to conquer her own doubts and concerns as well. Injuries hadn’t helped, and she had to be played purely as a batter, which wasn’t exactly an ideal situation. She, however, recovered in time for the World Cup, where her left-arm spin rarely failed to produce a wicket for Australia. She went wicket-less only once in the seven matches, and often it did not take her long to strike.
Molineux was indeed relieved that she could lift that World Cup for Australia. When she was asked if there was a personal satisfaction for her after people had doubts about even her own place in the team, she replied with a smile: “Yep.”
She admitted it hadn’t been easy. “When I took over, I was a bit messy at the start, to be fair,” she explained. “Captaining a couple of games and getting injured; it was a shock, and I suppose there were a few doubts internally, a few doubts externally. But I think what maybe I have learned over my journey so far is that you just have to keep believing and I am incredibly lucky that people believed in me. I believe in this team and this group more than anything as well, so it is really satisfying.”
Molineux recalled the difficult days. “When I did miss those games at the start of the summer, after just being announced captain, it probably made me feel it might not work out,” she said. “But I am so incredibly lucky with the support I have had over the last, not only just the last six months, but it has been 10 years in this team for Australia. The group has just been incredible in terms of being open to anything and being flexible and we have grown and evolved in the last six months more than I have ever seen.”
The guide
Guiding that group quietly has been the coach, Shelley Nitschke. She was part of the Australian team that was the first to win the T20 World Cup, in 2010.
She said Sunday was one of the greatest days for her as a coach. She had been in charge of the team since 2022. “It was super pleasing to come out here and play like we did on the biggest stage in the T20 World Cup,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the players and how they have gone about it this whole tournament.”
Indeed. It was a totally dominant show by Nitschke’s girls in the tournament. In the group stage, they began their campaign by crushing South Africa by 65 runs and followed it up with a thumping nine-wicket win against Bangladesh by nine wickets, a massive 98-run victory over the Netherlands and an even bigger win against Pakistan by 113 runs. Then in the last match of Group of Death, they beat India by six wickets.
And that was a match Harmanpreet Kaur’s women needed to win if they wanted to remain in the competition. Thanks to a brilliant 27-ball 56 by the captain, India, cheered on by the big partisan crowd at Lord’s, set a target of 171, but masterly century partnership by Ellyse Perry and Gardner, two of the finest all-rounders in the history of the women’s game, shut India out of the match.
The West Indies was brushed aside by eight wickets in the semifinal. And in the final, in a huge disappointment for the full house at Lord’s, England was beaten comfortably by seven wickets. The host stood little chance after managing just 150 for four. Making England bat indeed proved a great decision by Australia. It was the seasoned campaigner Beth Mooney who orchestrated the chase. And that was after coming up with a superb show behind the stumps.
Pat for Mooney
The coach was full of praise for Mooney. “She was unbelievable. We all know how good a player she is, but to be able to do that on the biggest stage certainly takes something special,” said Nitschke. “And I think not only that, but probably the way she took the game on early in the piece and really took it to them in the PowerPlay and put us in a winning position. It takes a lot of bravery to do that.” Nitschke said the tournament was a satisfying one for her personally too, after the disappointments of the last two World Cups. “It is really pleasing,” she said. “I think you learn pretty quickly, you don’t take anything for granted. So you need to make sure you enjoy it while you can, because we certainly know that it is really hard to win.”
She said the most satisfying thing was the way Australia played. “I think when we lost the semifinals in Dubai at the last T20 World Cup, we were pretty disappointed with how we were playing,” she said. “And I think just the style of cricket that we’ve played, and obviously got the results as well, has been really pleasing. Again, just seeing the girls take the game on the biggest stage, that is pretty brave to do.”
The coach said Molineux had been amazing as a captain. “She has shown how we could play, the freedom that we have played with,” she said.
“She came on that West Indies tour as a batter only, and we felt like that was a good opportunity for her to get some game time as captain, and be out there working with the bowlers and leading the team on and off the field. I feel like that was a really important part of her journey, and started to really gel the group there, and then it built nicely into this World Cup.”
Nitschke has watched from close quarters how Australia over the years evolved into an all-time great side. Women like Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy, Megan Schutt, Tahlia McGrath, Gardner, Perry and Mooney have all played their parts, and now younger players like Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Annabel Sutherland and Lucy Hamilton have shown how easily they could settle into international cricket and continue the legacy. “I think we are very lucky (to have such players),” Nitschke said.
“We certainly don’t take the competitions for granted. It is a tough competition, and we know from the last couple of World Cups, that you need to be on at the right time and in the big moments. We are pretty driven by that, and continuing to get better and continuing to drive the game. It is a tough environment, the women’s cricket at the moment.”
It is just that Australia is considerably tougher than all the others at the moment.
