England's road to Women's World Cup final: How Heather Knight's side turned fortunes around
England lost their first three matches at the Women's Cricket World Cup but have since reeled off five wins in a row and will now face Australia in Sunday's final; watch live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket World Cup channel, Sky Showcase and Sky Cricket YouTube channel
Last Updated: 01/04/22 6:58pm
England have enjoyed quite the turnaround at the Women's World Cup.
Three defeats in a row at the start of the competition left the defending champions on the brink of elimination - but now five wins on the spin has them one more victory away from retaining the title.
Standing in their way are the mighty Australia, who are unbeaten in this tournament, have won 37 of their last 38 ODIs and who thumped England 12-4 in this year's multi-format Women's Ashes.
But Heather Knight's side have momentum at the perfect time and real belief they can to back-to-back.
Ahead of Sunday's showdown, which you can watch live for free on Sky Showcase, PICK and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel, we chart England's road to the final…
England denied record run-chase in another Australia loss
Australia 310-3 (50ov) beat England 298-8 (50ov) by 12 runs
Seddon Park, Hamilton - Saturday, March 5
Match Report | Scorecard
England's campaign got off to rocky start as they suffered yet another defeat to Australia - albeit a slender one as the defending champions pushed the tournament favourites all the way in pursuit of a record chase of 311.
Nat Sciver took the game right down to the final over with a magnificent, unbeaten 109 from 85 balls; England needed 16 from the final six deliveries but fell 12 short as Katherine Brunt (25) and Sophie Ecclestone (1) were both dismissed in a brilliant final over from Jess Jonassen, with Sciver starved of the strike.
Earlier, England's bowlers had no answer for Rachael Haynes (130 off 131 balls), who struck a sensational century of her own, while captain Meg Lanning chipped in with 86 on a belting batting track at Seddon Park. Leg-spinner Alana King was also, fittingly, a star performer on the day, taking 3-59 less than 48 hours on from the tragic loss of Australian greats Shane Warne and Rod Marsh.
The defeat made it four in a row in ODIs for England against Australia following on the back of the multi-format Women's Ashes in which they failed to win a single match.
Windies earn first WC win over England; South Africa add to their woes
West Indies 225-6 (50ov) beat England 218 all out (47.7ov) by seven runs
University Oval, Dunedin - Wednesday, March 9
Match Report | Scorecard
England 235-9 (50ov) lost to South Africa 236-7 (49.2ov) by three wickets
Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui - Monday, March 14
Match Report | Scorecard
Defeats to Australia may have began to feel familiar, but the one that followed was a real shock - a first-ever Women's World Cup defeat for England against the West Indies.
In a super sloppy display, England missed six chances in the field, conceded 23 runs in wides and then made a mess of their chase of 226. Having looked set to sneak over the line thanks to a ninth-wicket stand of 61 between Ecclestone (33no) and Kate Cross (27), the latter was run out with nine needed and then two balls later Anya Shrubsole was bowled to confirm a second-straight loss.
With little margin for error allowed for the rest of the tournament thereafter, England's path only became more precarious as they suffered yet another agonising defeat just five days later, this time to South Africa and an outstanding all-round performance by Marizanne Kapp.
Kapp claimed 5-45 with the ball to limit England to 235-9 batting first - Tammy Beaumont top-scoring with 62 and Amy Jones chipping in with 53 - before star-of-the-tournament Laura Wolvaardt's 77 first laid the foundations for the Proteas chase, with Kapp then contributing a crucial 32 late on as South Africa got over the line with four balls to spare to maintain their unbeaten start to the tournament.
Dean spins out India to inspire first victory
India 134 all out (36.2ov) lost to England 136-6 (31.2ov) by four wickets
University Oval, Dunedin - Wednesday, March 9
Match Report | Scorecard
One more slip up and England's ambition of defending their World Cup title would already be over, and next on the agenda were the very team they beat to claim the title in such dramatic fashion in 2017.
This time though India proved to be far more amenable opposition as they were skittled for just 135 in 36.2 overs after being inserted by England - off-spinner Charlie Dean the standout with superb figures of 4-23.
Hearts would have been in a few mouths as, despite the meagre target, England lost both openers in the first three overs and with only four runs on the board. But Sciver sparked the chase into life with a 46-ball 45, before Knight's unbeaten 53 helped see her side to a first win of the tournament.
Shrubsole knocks out New Zealand in nerve-shredding win
New Zealand 203 all out (48.5ov) lost to England 204-9 (47.2ov) by one wicket
Eden Park, Auckland - Sunday, March 20
Match Report | Scorecard
If the win over India proved to be fairly routine, this one was anything but. Facing a New Zealand side also on the brink of elimination in their home tournament, England overcame a late collapse to clinch a nerve-shredding one-wicket win.
The first half of the game at Eden Park could not have gone much better for England, bowling out the White Fearns for just 203, Dean (2-36) again among the wickets along with fellow spinner Ecclestone (3-41) and seamer Cross (3-35), who also pitched in with three.
But, in reply, England's top-order troubles continued as Danni Wyatt (12) and Beaumont (25) both departed inside the opening powerplay. Sciver (61) was again the bedrock of the innings, sharing in vital partnerships with Knight (42) and Sophia Dunkley (33) and even when the latter fell to spinner Frances Mackay (4-34), England needed only 28 runs in more than nine overs.
Yet, Sciver swiftly departed and Mackay then accounted for Ecclestone and Cross in the same over to have England on the edge of elimination, only for No 11 Shrubsole (7no) to hold her nerve, hit the winning runs and cue wild scenes of celebration.
England breeze past Pakistan; Dunkley stars to clinch semi-final spot
Pakistan 105 all out (41.3ov) lost to England 107-1 (19.2ov) by nine wickets
Hagley Oval, Christchurch - Thursday, March 25
Match Report | Scorecard
England 234-6 (50ov) beat Bangladesh 134 all out (48ov) by 100 runs
Basin Reserve, Wellington - Sunday, March 27
Match Report | Scorecard
After the nail-biter against New Zealand, England knew that, with other results going their way, they would reach the semi-finals if they saw off the two perceived lesser teams in the competition in Pakistan and Bangladesh. There could be no slips-up and there were none.
Brunt and Wyatt returned to form against Pakistan, with bowler Brunt striking three times - including from the first ball of the match - to end a run of four games without a wicket and Wyatt then making her first real impact with the bat, hitting 76 not out.
Brunt's brilliance, allied with another three-wicket haul for spinner Ecclestone, saw Pakistan skittled before Wyatt punished her opponents for dropping her on four as she hit 11 fours in a 68-ball knock and England eased home with 184 balls to spare.
The batting was not quite as clinical to start with against Bangladesh as England slipped to 96-4. However, Dunkley (67 off 72) led a middle and lower-order revival as Knight's team posted 234-6 from their 50 overs. Then it was over to the bowlers.
Ecclestone (more on her in a moment) bagged three wickets for the third game running, on this occasion picking up three of Bangladesh's top four in a run chase that never got going. Fellow spinner Dean also struck three times and seamer Freya Davies twice as England secured third place in the table and booked a semi-final against South Africa.
Wyatt and Ecclestone star as England storm into final
England 293-8 (50ov) beat South Africa 156 all out (38ov) by 137 runs
Hagley Oval, Christchurch - Thursday, March 31
Match Report | Scorecard
South Africa had been strong in the group stage with their only defeat coming against table-toppers Australia, so hopes of reaching a maiden World Cup final were high.
England crushed those dreams with a dominant victory at Hagley Oval to ensure it would be they who would return to the venue on Sunday to face Meg Lanning's Australia.
South Africa were complicit in their own downfall to a large degree, dropping Wyatt five times as the England opener went on to make 129, her first ODI century since 2019 and second overall. Dunkley offered fine support, adding 116 with Wyatt from 126-4.
The Proteas' run chase got off to woeful start as Shrubsole removed the leading run-scorer in the tournament, Laura Wolvaardt, for a duck and then her opening partner Lizelle Lee for just two. South Africa were reeling at 8-2 - and then dismantled by Ecclestone later on.
Ecclestone bagged 6-36 from eight overs - her first five-wicket haul in international cricket - having come on in the 24th over with South Africa 86-4. The Proteas had no answer to the top-ranked bowler in both ODI and T20I cricket as she took her tally of wickets in this year's tournament to 20.
Watch the Women's World Cup final between England and Australia for free on Sky Showcase, PICK and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel from 1am on Sunday. The game is also being shown on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup and Sky Sports Main Event.
