3 reasons why the Australian Women's team can be considered greatest cricket team ever
The Australian Women’s team continued their domination in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, winning the 2023 edition in South Africa on Sunday (February 26) by beating the hosts by 19 runs in the final. Batting first after winning the toss, the Aussies put up a competitive 156-6, with opener Beth Mooney scoring an unbeaten 74 off 53.
In response, South Africa were restricted to 137-6. Opener Laura Wolvaardt (61 off 48) played a fine knock. However, the rest of the batting line-up, barring Chloe Tryon (25 off 23), did not offer much resistance as the hosts fell well short. Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown, Jess Jonassen, and all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who earlier smashed 29 off 21 with the willow, claimed one wicket each.
With Australian Women having lifted yet another World Cup title, we look at three reasons why they can be considered the greatest cricket team ever.
#1 Australia Women’s incredible record speaks for itself
While the women’s team play very limited Test matches, the Aussies have been exceptionally dominant in both ODIs and T20Is, andwe are not referring just to World Cups. They have lost only one of their last 42 one-day games they have featured in since the start of 2018.
The amazing winning streak began in March 2018 when Australia beat India in Vadodara by eight wickets. The Aussies went on to win a world record 26 games in a row. Their unbeaten spree ended when India beat them by two wickets in Mackay.
The Women in Blue chased down a target of 265 with two wickets in hand as Jhulan Goswami starred with 3-37, and Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia struck half-centuries.
Since their defeat to India, Australia have hit another winning streak. They have won 15 games in a row, while also capturing the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand.
In T20Is, during the same period, they have won 56 of 70 games, losing only seven. Two games have been tied, and five have produced no result.
#2 They have a game-changer for almost every situation
What stands out about the Australian Women’s team is that they know how to fightback from any situation, even when victory seems near impossible. This unique ability of theirs has been on display innumerable times over the last few years and twice against India recently.
In the 2022 Commonwealth Games final in Birmingham, India Women seemed to be cruising to victory against Australia. Chasing 162, the Women in Blue were in a commanding position at 118-2. However, the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues (33) against the run of play, bowled by Megan Schutt, led to a stunning batting collapse. India lost their last eight wickets for a mere 34 runs as Australia once again prevailed under pressure.
Something similar transpired in the semifinal of the 2023 T20 World Cup too. Chasing 173, India looked set to pull off an upset win courtesy of a brilliant partnership between Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur. However, as it has happened often, Australia found a way out.
Rodrigues was undone by Darcie Brown, while Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner combined to run out Harmanpreet. Yet again, Australia recovered from a dicey situation and passed the test with flying colours, while India floundered.
Mooney, who scored a half-century in the final, top-scored in the semis against India too. From keeper-opener Alyssa Healy to captain Meg Lanning and all-rounders Gardner and Ellyse Perry to Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt, Australia have players who can put their hands up in any situation and bail the team out.
Few cricket teams in history - men or women - can boast of such an array of match-winners in one team.
#3 They have been near invincible in World Cups
The invincibility factor in World Cups is another reason why the Australian Women’s team can stake claim to being the greatest cricket team in the history of the sport. They were unbeaten in the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
They won all seven of their league games to top their group. The Aussies were then completely dominant in the knockouts. They hammered West Indies by 157 runs in the semifinal and then registered a 71-run triumph over England Women in the final as Healy slammed 170 off 138.
Also, Australia have been unbeaten in the Women’s T20 World Cup since going down to India by 17 runs in their first group game in the 2020 edition. They eased through their other games in the group stage before beating South Africa by five runs (DLS method) in the semifinals. In the summit clash, they thumped India by 85 runs to assert their dominance.
The Aussies did not drop a single game en route to defending their T20 World Cup crown. They registered comprehensive wins over New Zealand (97 runs), Bangladesh (8 wickets), Sri Lanka (ten wickets) and South Africa (6 wickets).
India gave them a fight, but the champion side staved off the challenge before killing the Proteas’ dream of lifting their first World Cup title.