Australia beat South Africa for hat-trick of T20 WC wins

Press Trust of India

Cape Town: The Australian women’s team extended its enviable dominance in world cricket further by winning an unprecedented sixth T20 World Cup trophy with a comfortable 19-run win over a fighting South Africa in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Riding on Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 74 off 53 balls, Australia first posted a competitive 156 for 6 and then restricted the home team to 137 for 6. Mooney’s knock proved to be the deciding factor as she single-handedly carried the Australian innings with nine boundaries and one hit over the fence. In the chase, opener Laura Wolvaardt (61 off 48 balls) played a valiant lone hand while wickets kept tumbling at the other end for the hosts.

Wolvaardt hit five boundaries and three huge sixes during her knock. South Africa made a sedate start, losing Tazmin Brits in the fifth over, caught by Tahila McGrath at mid-on. McGrath ran backward to complete a catch above her head off the bowling of Darcie Brown.

Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp (11) then shared a 29-run stand for the second wicket before the latter was caught by Brown off the bowling of Ashleigh Gardner. An over later, there was more misery for South Africa as skipper Sune Luus fell to an unwanted run out to slump to 54 for 3 in 10.4 overs. With runs drying up, Wolvaardt went for a huge heave towards the inside off a Megan Schutt full delivery, only to miss it and be adjudged LBW.

The batter, South Africa’s last hope, went for a review but was unsuccessful as Australia all but sealed the fate of the match. Left-arm orthodox spinner Jess Jonassen then accounted for Chloe Tryon (19) in the next over before Anneke Bosch was run out a ball later to dash South Africa’s slim hopes.

Electing to bat, Australia lost Alyssa Healy (18) early, caught at covers by Nadine De Klerk off the bowling of Marizanne Kapp (2/35) in the fifth over. Then Ashleigh Gardner (29 off 21) joined hands with Mooney and the pair’s 46 runs for the second wicket stabilised the innings before the former was brilliantly caught at long-off by South Africa skipper Sune Luus off the bowling of leftarm spinner Chloe-Lesleigh Tryon.

But Mooney went about her business in blistering fashion and dispatched the bad deliveries to the fence to keep the scoreboard ticking. Grace Harris tried to up the scoring rate but was cleaned up by left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba in the 14th over as the batter went for a wild heave over the square-leg boundary.

Next in, skipper Meg Lanning showed intent from the word go, scoring her first runs from a boundary through the point region before being brilliantly caught by Tyron at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Kapp. Mooney, however, remained unperturbed as she kept consolidating the Australia innings, picking up boundaries with ease. Even as Mooney held one end up, wickets kept tumbling at the other side as Australia tried to find boundaries towards the end of the innings.

South Africa brilliantly pulled things back towards the end of the innings by picking up wickets at regular intervals with Mooney remaining stranded at the other end. South African pacer Shabnim Ismail (2/26) had a big role to play in restricting Australia, claiming the wickets of Ellyse Perry and Georgia Wareham off consecutive balls. She was on a rare hat-trick in the final over but Tahlia McGrath denied Ismail the feat, managing a single off the last delivery of the innings.