Women’s Cricket World Cup Final: It’s a sell-out at Lord’s as England go for glory against India

A Women’s Cricket World Cup that has torn down walls culminates in a sold-out Lord’s final on Sunday, as England and India battle for the trophy in front of 26,500 spectators.

India booked their place yesterday with a 36-run win over Australia in the second semi-final.

That margin of victory barely touches on the events in Derby.

Harmanpreet Kaur, one of the cleanest ball strikers in the game, did her reputation no harm with an unbeaten 171 from just 115 balls.

That meant, even in a rain-reduced match of 42 overs a side, India posted 281 for four.

Australia pushed things as close as they could: Alex Blackwell’s 54-ball 90 made the final throes nervous for India but Kaur’s star turn was too great.

On Tuesday, England overcame South Africa — just — with two wickets and just two balls to spare.

Both sides in their own ways have been through the wringer to get here. So the game that closes this tournament is also the one that opened it.

India triumphed by 35 runs then but on Sunday, with no spare tickets going, it won’t matter that much.

However, India captain Mithali Raj disagrees. She said: “When you defeat a world-class team, your confidence is high. And we’ve already defeated England in this tournament.”

Of course, it’s not the same England. Since then, they’ve passed 370 twice and five of their players have hundreds — two, in the case of Nat Sciver.

They have won in different ways: chasing, defending and that last-over special against South Africa, when they grabbed victory with two balls to spare.

England’s bowlers, too, are kicking on at the right time.

Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole were carrying niggles going into the tournament and, now, have overs and wickets behind them to peak at the right time.

Their spinners, for the most part, have carried the responsibility to stem the run flow and get out the big guns.

Take, for example, 23-year-old left-armer Alex Hartley who, despite missing a game, has got through 62 overs — the most of any England bowler — and has taken eight wickets.

And most of those have been valuable ones: Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning of Australia, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, along with West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, who was player of the match in last year’s World T20 Final. Without doubt, we have the best two sides here. Two teams whose success could have wide-reaching effects on the women’s game.

The smartest move by the ECB has been to capitalise on the swell of overdue support for women’s sport and the benefits are clear.

History shows that if India win, they could enjoy a huge boost back home. The men enjoyed a massive leap forward in the ODI game when they won the World Cup in 1983.

As for their success in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 — the Indian Premier League started a year later and the rest is history.

Could victory on Sunday illicit something similar? Why not.

This has been the most visible women’s World Cup. India’s semi-final win over Australia and Kaur’s heroics drew praise from seemingly all of India’s cricketing royalty.

Even going into this competition, India were able to draw on the expertise of a fielding coach for the first time. The improvement in their work on the ground, in particular, is stark.

Whichever way Sunday goes, whether it is the hosts or the challengers who take the spoils, women’s cricket, as it has been over the last month, will invariably be the winner.