Hussain: England must take no 'mental baggage' into Australia final

Nasser Hussain says England must take no "mental baggage" into the Women's T20 World Cup final if they are to stand a chance of toppling favourites Australia.

England and Australia - who meet at Lord's from 3.30pm on Sunday - have won all six of their matches at this year's tournament, with the host nation securing their spot in the showpiece game by thumping South Africa at The Oval on Thursday night.

Now, though, comes the heavyweight challenge of the six-time T20 World Cup champions, who trounced England 16-0 in the 2025 Ashes and also beat them in a warm-up match in Cardiff ahead of this year's competition.

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Sky Sports pundit Hussain said: "The first thing is the mind games with themselves. Do they really believe they can beat Australia? That is the first hurdle to get over.

"No mental baggage, no scarring. It needs to be, 'we are a new England, under a new coach [Charlotte Edwards took over after The Ashes], we are coming at you, Australia'.

"I don't see many weaknesses in that Australia side, to be honest, and their biggest strength is a long batting line-up that keeps coming at you.

"The only thing is that maybe sometimes because they have such a long batting line-up they occasionally may think, 'I can leave it to the next batter, then the next batter' and then all of a sudden they find themselves in a bit of trouble.

"In a one-off final at Lord's, with a massive home crowd behind them, can England beat Australia? Of course they can.

"But Australia are favourites."

Knight, Sciver-Brunt and fielding stand up under pressure

England's hopes of making their first T20 World Cup final since being beaten by Australia in the Caribbean in 2018 took a hit as they slipped to 23-3 inside four overs against South Africa, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones and Alice Capsey out cheaply.

However, fit-again captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who missed the final three group games with a calf complaint, and former skipper Heather Knight hit half-centuries and shared a stand of 133 from 90 balls to help propel their side to a total of 169-5.

South Africa were limited to 129-8 in reply as England bowled smartly and fielded sharply - Sophie Ecclestone taking excellent catches at mid-on and short fine leg to go with figures of 1-21 from four overs.

Hussain added: "I remember doing a women's game at the start of the summer and was asked about Knight as she was struggling a little bit with her form.

"I said England would need the experience a little bit and realise that even in 20-over you can give the opposition five overs and catch up.

"Her partnership with Sciver-Brunt in the semi-final was outstanding and Sciver-Brunt was brilliant. She picks up length really well like all great players.

"In terms of the fielding, this was always going to be the big test.

"It is one thing putting on a display in group stage games when they will be a tomorrow but if you mess up in a semi-final there is no tomorrow.

"There was a lot of energy in the field and I think that will have pleased [head coach] Charlotte Edwards the most.

"Their fielding has gone missing under pressure before but under pressure here it really came to the fore."

Watch the Women's T20 World Cup final between England and Australia, at Lord's, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 2.30pm on Sunday (3.30pm first ball). You can also watch the match live for FREE on the Sky Sports App.

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