Beth Mooney’s fifty and spin web power Australia into yet another final

Australia cruised into their 8th Women’s T20 World Cup final with an 8-wicket win over West Indies in the semi-final at The Oval on June 30, 2026.

Australia elected to bowl and restricted West Indies to 125/7. The spin trio dominated: Ashleigh Gardner 2/13, Georgia Wareham 2/17, Sophie Molineux 2/30West Indies collapsed from 47/1 to 83/6Deandra Dottin’s late 26_ off 16 balls pushed WI to 125/7.

Australia chased 126 in just 13 overs, finishing 127/2. Beth Mooney smashed 61_ off 36 balls, reaching fifty in 29 deliveries. Ash Gardner backed her up with 35* off 20 balls. The pair added an unbroken 84-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Georgia Voll gave a fast start with 16 off 11 before falling. Ellyse Perry retired hurt on 2 with a quad issue.

Chasing just 126, Mooney's unbeaten 61 off 36 balls eased Australia to victory with a massive seven overs to spare. It wasn't all easy from their point of view, with Ellyse Perry, the most in-form batter in the tournament after England opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, retiring hurt with a quadricep issue.

West Indies endured some drama of their own when Deandra Dottin took ill moments before the match then recovered in time to bat down the order and give West Indies' bowlers something to defend before a decent crowd of 10,023 given the Tuesday afternoon timeslot.

Dottin, West Indies' vastly experienced top-order batter, sent a scare through the West Indies' camp when she had to be carried from the field shortly after the anthems and spent about half an hour being treated in the medical room for an undisclosed medical issue. With her side 83 for 6, however, she staged a remarkable recovery and ran out to the middle at No. 8.

From there, Dottin reeled off a 16-ball 26 including four fours, her best innings of the tournament and West Indies' second-best for the day behind Hayley Matthews, raising questions over how bad things might have been for them had she not recovered in time.

Joseph survived when Georgia Voll put down a straightforward catch at deep midwicket and she finally looked set to get going when she sent an Annabel Sutherland offcutter into the seats beyond long-on. But then Wareham entered the attack in the ninth over and immediately rattled Matthews' exposed stumps as she sidestepped for an ill-conceived lap and paid the price. West Indies head coach Shane Deitz winced and put his head in his hands as the wicket fell, sparking a collapse of four wickets for 12 runs in the space of 17 balls.

Key takeaway: This is Australia’s 8th final in 10 T20 World Cups. They now await the England vs South Africa winner for Sunday’s final at Lord’s.

After Perry headed off for medical assessment having scored two in seven balls, Mooney and Gardner settled into an unbroken stand worth 63 off 37 deliveries. Mooney struck eight fours on her way to an eighth half-century at T20 World Cups, equalling newly retired New Zealand legend Suzie Bates' record for the history of the tournament.