Australia seek a London stamp to their World Cup dynasty

Every sport dreams of dynasties until it has to live through one.

If it's a Women's World Cup, Australia are never really out of it. Seven months of not being called the world champions has tricked no one into believing they weren't returning to hunt it down again.

Centurion. Sydney. Bridgetown. Mumbai. Colombo. Dhaka. North Sound. Melbourne. Christchurch. Cape Town.

Australia seek to add the stamp of London to its glittering 21st century trophy diary. But it's a city where England have never ceded ground.

After a brief hop-skip-jump, the World Cup is back to a familiar place, with England and Australia – having reaffirmed their positions as the best in the women's game – competing for the title in front of a packed Lord's.

Captaincy succession and retirements have done little to impact Australia's performance factory. They have simply forgotten what a losing streak means. England, on the other hand, are on a revival spree, trying to reclaim what was long theirs – the undeniable stamp as No. 2 of world cricket.

Both teams will walk to the final unbeaten – and almost unscathed.

There is little to separate them. England have always won a home World Cup. Australia have never lost to England in a T20 World Cup final. England have won each of its 11 T20 World Cup matches at home. Australia have a 5-2 advantage over them in T20 World Cups.

When: Sunday, July 5, 2026, 3:30 PM Local / 8:00 PM IST

Where: England vs Australia, Final, Lord's, London

What to expect: It's not been a venue where picking wickets has been easy. Through the middle overs since 2025, the scoring rate has dropped significantly at Lord's. Heat shouldn't be a factor as it's expected to be cloudy.

England: Despite Alice Capsey's recent struggles (74 runs in 4 innings), England might persist with her at No. 4.

Probable XI: Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Danielle Gibson, Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith

Australia: Ellyse Perry, who retired due to a minor quad strain in the semis, has returned to training. Sophie Molineux has not confirmed her availability for the final.

Probable XI: Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry/Grace Harris, Ash Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (c), Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton

• England and Australia have played three T20 World Cup finals; Australia have always won
• Both teams have won nine out of their last 10 T20Is
• In 12 T20s, Lauren Bell has never dismissed Beth Mooney

"The group feels really calm; that's all we could really ask for." – Sophie Molineux, Australia captain

"I guess Heather, myself, and Danni will probably be thinking about it (the 2017 World Cup final) a little bit. We watched Saving Private Ryan in the team room (before the 2017 World Cup final). I'm not really sure why, but we only managed half of it." – Nat Sciver-Brunt, England captain