Australia proved too strong for the Proteas in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final as they claimed a comfortable 19-run win in front of a packed crowd at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday afternoon.
Batting first, Australian stalwart Beth Mooney struck an important half-century to help her team set the Proteas 157 to win, before the hosts ran out of steam and finished on 137 for six in response.
It was a slow start to the chase that let the Proteas down, although opener Laura Wolvaardt went on to strike 61 off 48 balls (5x4; 3x6) in a losing cause in the end.
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They are champions for a record-extending sixth time.
The Momentum Proteas achieve their best-ever finish in the competition.#HereForHer pic.twitter.com/yIb79Ejt15
Australian legend Ellyse Perry was thrilled with another T20 World Cup triumph, admitting that things did get tense during the Proteas chase.
"Amazing game, I want to say a huge thank you to the crowd for the atmosphere. I know it didn't go well for them. But it was good to be a part of this,” said Perry.
“It was up and down in our bowling innings. Wolvaardt batted exceptionally well and her partnership with Chloe (Tryon) put them in it. It was tense till we broke that partnership. I think it is nice to contribute in the game. It is a thing you do as a team and it is more about effort than skill."
The hosts only managed 13 without loss after the first four overs, and with the pressure mounting, Tazmin Brits (10) tried to relieve it by clearing the infield but only managed to find Tahlia McGrath at mid-on off the bowling of Darcie Brown with them on 17 for one after five overs.
Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp (11) continued to find the going tough as they combined for a 29-run partnership, but when Kapp was caught by Brown at short third off the bowling of Ashleigh Gardner, the Proteas were in trouble on 46 for two after nine overs.
Captain Sune Luus (2) was then run out after a disastrous mix-up in the middle, as the Proteas slipped further into the mire on 55 for three in the 11th over.
Chloe Tryon (25) joined Wolvaardt at the crease and they tried to drag the Proteas back into the contest with a solid 55-run fourth wicket stand off 35 balls.
Wolvaardt was the aggressor, having struggled to score at a run-a-ball up to then. She finally opened up as her six helped 14 come off the 13th over from McGrath.
A boundary from Tryon and another maximum from Wolvaardt saw 15 runs off the 14th over bowled by Georgia Wareham. Two boundaries from Wolvaardt, the first getting her to her third half-century in a row, saw 10 off Brown’s 15th over.
But due to their slow start, the Proteas still had to keep going at over 10 an over and the pressure proved to be too much as Wolvaardt was trapped lbw by Megan Schutt in the 17th over. She was followed by Tryon, bowled by Jess Jonassen, before Anneke Bosch (1) was run out in the 18th as they crashed to 122 for six.
It was a flat end to the innings as Nadine de Klerk (8no) and Sinalo Jafta (9no) were almost resigned as they took the Proteas to the end.
In Australia's innings, Mooney powered her way to an unbeaten 74 off 53 balls (9x4; 1x6) to help her side set the winning total of 156 for six.
The Australian innings got off to a steady start as Mooney and Alyssa Healy (18) moved them to 25 without loss after the first four overs.
The openers then decided to target the fifth over from Kapp, with a boundary off the bat of each seeing 11 runs come off the first three balls, only for Kapp to hit back with two dot balls and then the wicket of Healy as a bouncer forced her to pop an easy catch to De Klerk at cover.
Shabnim Ismail followed that up with a maiden over to Mooney, as Australia ended the powerplay on 36 for one.
Gardner, 29 off 21 balls (2x4; 2x6), was promoted up the order and she started the counterattack, with back-to-back boundaries off the bowling of Nonkululeko Mlaba in the eighth over, and back-to-back sixes off De Klerk in the ninth helping her side move to 73 for one at the halfway stage.
The second wicket stand then moved to 46 runs before Tryon was introduced into the attack and made an immediate breakthrough as Gardner skied a ball to long-off where Luus made good ground to take a good catch and reduce Australia to 82 for two in the 12th over.
Grace Harris (10) helped Mooney get them over the hundred-run mark, but was then cleaned up by Mlaba at the start of the 15th over, with Australia on 103 for three.
Captain Meg Lanning (10) also didn’t really trouble the scorers before being caught on the square leg boundary by Tryon off the bowling of Kapp, with her side slipping to 122 for four at the start of the 18th over.
Mooney, as she has done so often in the past, then took control over the final few overs, reaching her half-century in style with a boundary, before starting the last over bowled by Ismail with a six and a four down the ground.
The third ball of the over saw Mooney dropped by Wolvaardt at backward point, but the batters crossed, which allowed Ismail to hit back as she had Perry (7) caught by Brits at midwicket, and then had Wareham bowled first ball as Australia could get just two runs off the last four balls.
PROTEAS: Tazmin Brits, Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, Suné Luus (capt), Chloe Tryon, Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululekho Mlaba
AUSTRALIA: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (capt), Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown