Australia v England: Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 final – live! | sport

14th over: Australia 63-0 (Alyssa Healy 26, Rachael Haynes 34)

So far we’ve had two sightings of Mitchell Starc on screen – let’s keep track of how many we get during the game. Hopefully we get as much Alyssa Healy the next time she’s in the stands to watch him play. Dean misses his line amid repeated attacks from Haynes and cuts it late for four. Dean has yet to have the effect England hoped for and Haynes finds another one she likes on the last ball of the plus with borderline practice this time.

13th over: Australia 54-0 (Alyssa Healy 25, Rachael Haynes 26)

Australia has bumped the run rate above four and it’s a great platform to get started. They’ve been talking about the 50 partnership since the Sciver’s first ball. It’s an economic start for England, but Australia find these singles a bit too easy and England need to put more pressure on.

12th over: Australia 49-0 (Alyssa Healy 22, Rachael Haynes 24)

We have our first look at Charlie Dean for today as England look to pick up some pace in the game and make Healy and Haynes work a bit harder for their runs and maybe take a few risks. Dean is an offensive spinner and she will be looking to take wickets here. Healy is quick to find a ball he likes, runs down the field and makes a long pass for four.

11th over: Australia 42-0 (Alyssa Healy 16, Rachael Haynes 23)

Sciver continues and Healy takes a risky run from him on the second ball – a better throw would have easily eliminated Haynes on the keeper side. Haynes celebrates surviving this exhaustion attempt by eagerly hanging on to a short ball and pulling it out for four.

10th over: Australia 37-0 (Alyssa Healy 15, Rachael Haynes 19)

Shrubsole keeps his place at the end of town and Healy plays a few points before playing a nice straight past the bowler for four. Healy looks very confident now and cuts the next ball for a single to give Haynes the hit. Haynes is comfortable going over and Australia goes unscathed from the power play.

9th over: Australia 32-0 (Alyssa Healy 10, Rachael Haynes 19)

Brunt was replaced by Sciver at the end of Port Hills and Healy is quite happy with the change once she is on strike and begins to make her mark on the game with a confident frontier.

8th over: Australia 26-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 18)

Shrubsole starts the game well, pressing Haynes and the outfielders maintaining the pressure with great urgency to back her up and prevent quick singles. Haynes doesn’t seem too bothered by this, his strength against Brunt gives him plenty of room to maneuver and eventually a nice straight ride gives him the opportunity to retire.

7th over: Australia 25-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 17)

Haynes finally gets the ball she’s been looking for – Brunt hits a low kick and Haynes brings it back to the limit for four. A long ball is defended before Brunt gives another one a little too short and Haynes revels in another shot to the boundary. It’s the best for Australia so far and Brunt will have to think about its length.

6th over: Australia 16-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 8)

Shrubsole starts the pass around the wicket towards Haynes – a change she makes from time to time in an attempt to destabilize the southpaw and put the LBW into play. The first two balls are good, but the third drifts too far to the side of the leg and receives a wide. She continues around the wicket, but backs her line up a bit and offers Haynes nothing but a single to stop the strike. Shrubsole comes back on the wicket to right-hander Healy. She plays very well on her own pitch, so despite some good shots, Healy can’t get the ball past the defenders. There’s an appeal on the last ball of the plus but the umpire says no and Shrubsole can’t convince Knight to review.

5th over: Australia 14-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 8)

It’s a good crowd today, which is great news considering New Zealand didn’t make the final four. The tournament organizers have done a great job keeping the crowds engaged and giving it a real big event feel, so it doesn’t matter for the fans playing, they just want to be a part of it. Brunt has big appeal early in the over, but it slides down the leg and she’s smart enough not to see it again. The next ball is even better, she does so much she could be a team member before too long. Haynes hits one on the ground late in the game that’s quick enough to evade Brunt, but just short enough for a single.

4th over: Australia 11-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 6)

It’s been a bit of a cat and mouse game so far – England bowlers mostly play very good line and length and Australian batters are just waiting for opportunities for the slightly looser balls to pop above. This is a very good over from Shrubsole, just one of those.

3rd over: Australia 10-0 (Alyssa Healy 5, Rachael Haynes 5)

Brunt resumes and Healy seems a bit cautious. In the past, that would have been a bad sign for her, but she seems to have calmed those nerves lately and is able to work her way into a game even with a cautious start. It doesn’t take long before she finds a shorter Brunt ball that she likes the look of and cuts a beautiful deep backstitch for her first boundary. Brunt tightens his length and finishes with two point balls.

2nd over: Australia 6-0 (Alyssa Healy 1, Rachael Haynes 5)

Anya Shrubsole takes the new ball from the end of town – no surprises there. Haynes defends one against her, then plays a delivery that heads very well to the leg stump and down past the fine leg for the first boundary of the game. Shrubsole is tightening up his left-handed line and it’s been a good game between these two so far. Shrubsole won’t want to let Haynes settle too much, she’s dangerous once she gets her eye.

1st over: Australia 2-0 (Alyssa Healy 1, Rachael Haynes 1)

We are in progress at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch! Brunt takes the new ball from the Port Hills side. She starts with a point ball to Healy, then throws a nice one that dances just past the outside edge of Healy’s bat. His length is very good today and in the middle of the over, Healy manages to find a little something and pulls it away for a single to get out of bounds and bring Haynes to strike. Haynes fires one for a single and Healy finishes with a defensive shot to make it a good first for Brunt.

Well, the big news from the squad rosters is that Ellyse Perry is back for Australia. She’s unlikely to bowl, but she’s hoping for a big game with the bat. Despite being Australia’s biggest name, I don’t think it would have bothered the favorites too much if Perry hadn’t been able to play. But she really deserves this opportunity and after missing the T20 World Cup final in 2020, it’s a big moment for her. England arrive with an unchanged line-up since the semi-final – no surprises there, as they were strong in all areas of this match.

Heather Knight says they want to come out as a team to start this game and thinks this pitch could do a bit. Of course, playing on his mind has to be the fact that Meg Lanning absolutely loves a chase, so this could be the first step in pushing them out of their comfort zone. Of course, many teams forced Australia to beat this World Cup first and that didn’t particularly help! But it’s definitely a confidence boost and if they can take early wickets they’ll be bought by it.