A week in the world of women's sport: T20 World Cup glory for Australia in front of record crowd
A week in the world of women's sport
In our weekly feature on the ins and outs in women's sport, Australia are crowned Women's T20 World Cup 2020 champions while the England Red Roses secure the Triple Crown in the Six Nations.
Cricket
Congratulations Australia!
The host nation won the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 after they blew India away in the final to win the fifth title, and they did so in front of a record crowd of 86,174 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney gave Australia a brilliant platform as they shared a stand of 115 with Healy smashing a 39-ball 75 and Mooney notching up an unbeaten 78 from 54 balls to lead the hosts to 184 for four.
India's chase never got going as they slumped to 58 for four and, although Deepti Sharma (33) added some respectability to the score, they were bowled out for 99 and lost by 85 runs.
Megan Schutt was the chief destroyer as she claimed four for 18.
"I'm really proud of this group of players - we've had everything thrown at us, we've had our ups and downs and scraped through the tournament but it was our best performance on the biggest stage," Australia captain Meg Lanning said.
"After we lost that first game, there was a lot of expectation on us and a lot of tough times, but we stuck together and we had each other's backs throughout."
The crowd of 86,174 was a new record for a women's sporting event in Australia, but came up just short of the 90,185 world record.
Golf
There were no Ladies European Tour or LPGA Tour events over the weekend so why don't you enjoy this behind the scenes video about the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed that will be hosted by Annika Sörenstam and Henrik Stenson in June.
Football
England are up and running in the 2020 SheBelieves Cup as they beat Japan 1-0 thanks to a late from Ellen White.
"It’s good for everybody to feel the win," England manager Phil Neville said after the match. "Winning will give us the ability to build a new team spirit, a new togetherness. You can’t manufacture togetherness."
The Lionesses lost their opening match 2-0 against the United States with Christen Press and Carly Lloyd score the goals.
Reigning world champions, the US, made it two wins from two matches as they edged Spain 1-0 with an 87th minute Julie Ertz goal while Spain defeated Japan 3-1.
England take on Spain in their final game on Wednesday before the United States and Japan wrap the tournament up.
Off the pitch, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) has created a new women's football department with Marie-Christine Bouchier the woman in charge.
"We want to keep helping to push the game forward, and this department enhances the support system we already have in place for female players," she told the official PFA website.
She added: "The players can also be reassured that we are adapting to change as the game continues to progress. We always reassess to make sure we are current and forward-thinking, and ultimately that's what led to the creation of the Women's Football department."
Netball
Defending champions Manchester Thunder and Team Bath continued their perfect start to the 2020 Netball Superleague season as they made it three wins from three matches.
Playing in front of a new home crowd record of 1,951 fans, the Thunder staged an excellent comeback to beat Loughborough Lightning 67-64.
Lightning enjoyed 12-goal advantage in the third quarter, but the Black and Yellows won the final quarter 21-9 to ease to victory.
Team Bather are also still unbeaten as they defeated 2019 runners-up Wasps 62-51 after overturning a five-goal half-time deficit.
In other results, Saracens Mavericks beat Severn Stars 61-45 while Strathclyde Sirens got their first win of the campaign as they defeated Surrey Storm 61-53.
London Pulse will host Celtic Dragons in the final fixture of round three on Monday evening.
Rugby
England secured the Triple Crown as they hammered Wales 66-7 in the only Women's Six Nations Championship match played over the weekend.
A record-breaking crowd of 10,974 turned up to watch at Twickenham Stoop and they were rewarded with 10 tries from the hosts.
Poppy Cleall scored a hat-trick while Katy Daley-Mclean, Vicky Fleetwood, Harriet Millar-Mills, Amy Cokayne, Zoe Aldcroft, Hannah Botterman and Sarah McKenna also touched down.
Tennis
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is back on track as the American won her second WTA Tour title after beating Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the Lyon Open final.
Kenin struggled after her Melbourne success as she lost her openers in Dubai and Doha, but she produced battling display after battling display as four of her five matches went to three setters.
But she was the final player standing on Sunday.
"I'm going home with a win, which is very good," the 21-year-old said. "I'm very happy to have won after a good week. It hasn't been easy. All the matches were very hard-fought."
She added: "I had two tough losses but I knew I needed to regroup, and I'm so happy that I won it."
Elina Svitolina also tasted trophy success this weekend as the Ukrainian won her first title in over a year as she beat Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the Monterrey Open final.
The world No 5's last title was at the WTA Finals in October 2018, but the drought is over.
By Shahida Jacobs, editor of Tennis365.com
Tagged in Women's Sport