Dominant Australia proves to be in a league of its own

England is gorgeously, soothingly green.

Trees, parks, meadows, vast farmlands that never seem to end. You won’t want to take your eyes off the side-view, be it you are travelling on the road or on the rail. Hardly surprising then that this country has produced the likes of Wordsworth, Keats and Coleridge.

There has, however, been a terrible heatwave that could have given a run to Chennai for its money. And it could be pretty warm over the next one week, too. But it still may not be hotter than the form Australia showed right through the Women’s T20 World Cup, which came to a predictable end in front of a full house at Lord’s on Sunday (July 5, 2026).

They had called it the most open World Cup yet. England, New Zealand, South Africa and India began as genuine contenders, yes. But once the tournament started, and once those magnificent Australian women, sporting green instead of the usual yellow, stepped on to the field and steamrolled the opposition, it became more and more obvious that they were playing their cricket on a different level than the rest.

England seemed the team best equipped to challenge them. The host had a sharp attack, predominantly spin but there was also the pace of Lauren Bell, the top-order led by Danni Wyatt-Hodge was firing, and even a less than fully fit captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was always ready to come up with a superwoman effort.

But, England was only second best. The Australians showed that in no uncertain terms in the final. When they reduced England to 150 for four, it was virtually the game over: even a target of over 200 wouldn’t have been beyond the reach of a powerful batting line-up that was almost as endless as the farmlands in England.

It was Beth Mooney, after a spectacular show behind the stumps, that led the chase. Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Mooney are players who were also parts of an even greater Australian side that had women like Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy. Make no mistake, Sophie Molinuex’s side too is a great one, and youngsters like Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll have made the transition look as if there was no transition at all, just a change of personnel.

That meant the Aussies were never stretched in the seven games they played at the World Cup. India in the last group match, gave them at least 171 to chase, which was accomplished with just one over to spare. That is what the scoreboard would tell you; Australia, thanks to a remarkable Perry-Gardner partnership, had already taken control of the match long before.

It was, of course, a huge disappointment for Harmanpreet Kaur’s women after their historic triumph at the ODI World Cup at home, but this team has some glaring weaknesses and depends too much on a few players. Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands, justified the World Cup’s expansion.

And there were record-breaking attendances, in spite of England’s huge interest at the football World Cup across the pond.