After 27 exciting round-robin encounters and two one-sided semifinals, all the excitement boils down to April 3 – a date with destiny – as England and Australia prepare to lay their hands on the coveted ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 title. Australia are in a strong position after Alyssa Healy's century.
The Hagley Oval in Christchurch will play host to the showpiece event. Australia will eye a record-extending seventh title, while England look to defend their crown. The Australia women vs England women match will start at 6:30 AM IST. The match can be watched on Star Sports channels, and the live streaming is available on Disney+ Hotstar.
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Australia have lost only one Women’s World Cup final but it was not too far away from the setting of Sunday’s finale. Back in 2000, just down the road from Christchurch at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, Australia lost the closest final the tournament has ever seen, defeated by New Zealand by just four runs.
That year, England recorded their worst-ever Women’s World Cup finish of fifth before fighting back to take the trophy from Australia in 2009. In doing so, they would go on to have a remarkable year -- also claiming their first, and only T20 World Cup as well as an Ashes victory.
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It is something that Australia are hoping to match 13 years later. They already hold the T20 trophy having secured that on home soil in 2020 before the Ashes were wrapped up with two games to spare in February. But the ODI World Cup evades them.
Australia would be happy that star all-rounder Ellyse Perry is on track to take her place in the showpiece, having missed the team's last two matches in New Zealand with a back issue. She underwent two crunch training sessions in Christchurch ahead of the final.
Statistics
# Despite having won 10 of the previous 11 World Cups between them, England and Australia will face off in an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final for the first time in 34 years.
# Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes already has a winner’s medal from 2013. The Australian opener sits second in the highest run-getters chart with 429 runs and just needs five runs to displace South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt from the top. Haynes is 27 runs behind Debbie Hockley of New Zealand for all-time best set in 1997.
# England spinner Sophie Ecclestone has the chance to surpass Australian Lyn Fullston, whose haul of 23 wickets in 1982 remains the mark to beat. Ecclestone sits at the top this edition with 20 wickets having taken her maiden international five-wicket haul in the semifinal against South Africa ending on six for 36.
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# Heather Knight has the chance to create history as the first England captain to guide her side to back-to-back trophies. She guided England to the title at Lord’s in 2017 beating India in the final.
Where to Watch AUS-W vs ENG-W Live
Star Sports has the broadcast rights for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 in India. The Australia women vs England women live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar from 6:30 AM IST.
Road To Final
Australia
Beat England by 12 runs
Beat Pakistan by 7 wickets
Beat New Zealand by 141 runs
Beat West Indies by 7 wickets
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Beat India by 6 wickets
Beat South Africa by 5 wickets
Beat Bangladesh by 5 wickets
Beat West Indies by 157 runs (Semifinals)
England
Lost to Australia by 12 runs
Lost to West Indies by 7 runs
Lost to South Africa by 3 wickets
Beat India by 4 wickets
Beat New Zealand by 1 wicket
Beat Pakistan by 9 wickets
Beat Bangladesh by 100 runs
Beat South Africa by 137 runs (Semifinal)
AUS-W vs ENG-W Head-To-Head
So far, Australia and England played in 82 games with the former winning 56 times. Three games ended in no result while one match ended in a tie. The rest were won by England. In the Women’s World Cup, both teams faced each other 18 times with Australia winning 12 of them. One game ended in no result and one was a tie.
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Squads
Australia: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda Wellington.
England: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Charlotte Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Natalie Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danielle Wyatt, Natasha Farrant.
Match Officials
India’s GS Lakshmi has been named as the match referee for the final. Lauren Agenbag of South Africa and Kim Cotton of New Zealand will be the two on-field umpires while West Indies’ Jacqueline Williams will take charge as the TV umpire. Langton Rusere of Zimbabwe will be the fourth umpire.
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(With ICC inputs)
