- Australia won their third consecutive T20 World Cup title with a 19-run victory.
- Their sixth in the format overall and 13th when the ODI event is included.
- The team never gets tired of winning and strives to be better.
If you ask Beth Mooney how many more titles Australia has left, she replies, “As many as there are out there.” That is the key to this team’s extraordinary success.
After winning their third consecutive T20 World Cup title with a 19-run victory over hosts South Africa on Sunday, their sixth in the format overall and 13th when the ODI event is included, this team never gets tired of winning and always strives to be better.
“We never get tired of it,” Mooney said after scoring an unbeaten 74 off 53 balls on a difficult batting surface at Newlands. “Something we talk about as a group is making sure we’re always evolving along the way. We’ve seen in this tournament teams from all over the world getting better and better as the years go on, and we know we’re being hunted. People are looking at us for what we do and how we do it, so it won’t last forever, but we’ll enjoy it for as long as we can and hopefully keep piling up those trophies.”
Yes, Australia ended the host nation’s title hopes after becoming the first senior South African cricket team to reach a World Cup final, but that’s why they came.
Throughout the tournament, there was unmistakable admiration for Meg Lanning’s team, which went undefeated, mixed with unmistakable undertones of ‘oh no, not them again’ and ‘wouldn’t it be nice if someone else won for a change?
Sune Luus, the captain of South Africa, who had previously called Australia “really annoying” during the on-field awards ceremonies, even rolled her eyes when questioned about it in the post-game press conference. However, she acknowledged that in terms of professionalism and organizational structures, Australia had long set the standard.
While it may appear that the rest of the world wants Australia to apologise for being so good (which we know they will never do) and believes that having a different winner would be better for the game, Australia’s unrivalled success is equally beneficial to the game in that it shows the way. Their domestic structure and long-standing WBBL have been imitated elsewhere, most notably in England and India, which will hold its first WPL immediately following this tournament, as well as in the West Indies with the Women’s CPL.
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