Australia won the Women’s T20 World Cup for the sixth time after they defeated South Africa by 19 runs in the final at Newlands on Sunday.

The Australian innings was led by the first batter, Beth Mooney, who scored an unbeaten 74 out of a total of 156 for six.

Even though South Africa’s first batter, Laura Wolvaardt, hit 61 runs off 48 balls, they were never able to keep up with the required run rate. They were only able to get to 137 for six.

“It’s pretty special from the group,” said Australia captain Meg Lanning.

“We felt like it was a good score but we had to bowl well and put pressure on South Africa.

“It was about enjoying the process, about keeping things simple when the pressure is on.”

South Africa’s captain, Sune Luus, praised Australia for “setting a standard for other teams to live up to” after his team lost its first two games of the tournament.

She added: “If you would have told me before the game that Australia would have scored 156, we would have taken it. We lost wickets at crucial times.”

Wolvaardt and Tazmin, the heroine of the semi-final, Brits had a hard time finding holes in the field and only scored 17 runs before Darcie Brown caught Brits at mid-on with the last ball of the fifth over.

Marizanne Kapp hit two boundaries, but she was out for 11 and South Africa’s captain, Sune Luus, was run out for two. At that point, the home team needed 103 more runs in 56 more balls.

Wolvaardt and the hard-hitting Chloe Tryon gave hope to the nearly full crowd of about 15,000 with an attacking fourth wicket partnership of 55 off 37 balls, but the match was basically over when Wolvaardt was leg before wicket to Megan Schutt in the 17th over.

Mooney, who bats left-handed, played a steady game, scoring 74 runs in 53 balls while her partners batted quickly.

Meg Lanning was the captain, but Ash Gardner and Grace Harris both batted before her and seemed to be told to go for their shots.

South Africa’s bowlers were consistent, and the fielders worked hard to back them up. Shabnim Ismail and Kapp, who were both very strong, each took two wickets.

But Australia showed how good they were by defending their score with athleticism and determination, which put constant pressure on the South African batters.

They have now won six of the eight T20 World Cups, in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, and 2023.

Only England, which won the first tournament in 2009, and West Indies, which won the tournament in 2016, have been able to break the stranglehold.

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