By Razeen Gutta
Australia defeated South Africa by 19 runs in the final of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup at Newlands on Sunday.
The Cape Town crowd backed the girls with all they had on an afternoon that produced some great cricket and an even better atmosphere.
The Aussies won the toss and chose to bat first on a track that looked certain to produce somewhere around the 140 mark.
South Africa’s bowlers would have known that would be par and got off to a decent start to pick up Alyssa Healy inside the power play.
At the other end, Beth Mooney could not be stopped, hitting 74 off 53 balls to get Australia past the par score to a strong total of 156/6 in their 20 overs.
Laura Wolvaardt was brilliant when the Proteas came out to bat, getting to her seventh half century in T20 internationals.
She just could not stay until the very end, though, with Megan Schutt dismissing her leg before in the 17th over.
Chloe Tryon got to 25 but the total was just too much for the Proteas to chase down; with 137/6 their final score as they missed out by 19 runs.
“It’s been such an incredible tournament to be part of. This is my home ground, I live just down the road,” Wolvaardt said post-match.
“Australia are always going to be a tough side to beat in the final. We didn’t get off to a great start and it was always tough to catch up towards the end.
“You could hear every single cheer. It’s something I’ve never experienced — a crowd like this. I could do this every day. Very cool experience. I think it’s been amazing as a group.”
Pictured above: Laura Wolvaardt
Image source: @proteaswomencsa
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